Bonnie,
NO! A horse is never too old to learn.
I think of it this way... A horse's mental/emotional development grows to that of a 3-6 year old child and stays there
for the rest of it's life. The body of course ages and limits them to doing only certain things, but the mind stays
fresh and active.
This is why I prefer teaching slightly older horses instead of babies. To me a baby is any horse under the age
of 6. It is not until a horse reaches about 4-6 years old that they can retain information without constant
repetition.
I have yet to meet a horse that was "broke" at 2 with 30-90 days of training retain that training after 1-2 years of
sitting in a pasture or even with being ridden once a week. However if you give 30-90 days of training to
a 6+ horse and leave it sit for a year or two in a pasture. That trainer or someone trained by them will find that horse UNDERSTANDS
and remembers almost everything that was taught... but the body may not be willing. :-)
Unfortunately this excellent memory can work against you when re-training. All of that history is stored in them
and must be dealt with. You would never teach a 30 year old person the same way you would teach a preschooler or kindergardner?
OF course not...One reason is that the 30 year old's mind is more developed, the second reason.. the 30 year old
has experiences to draw upon for similarities.
Linking new information to old experiences is a much FASTER and easier way to teach a new concept to an experienced mind.
This is how you retrain the older horse.
Now to answer the question you didn't ask... HOW?
Gently but confidently assert your place as Friend then PARTNER and then possibly attempt to make a bid for LEADER.
You didn't tell me What your 30 year old pony can or can't do so Let's take teining for example.
If you came at them with a rope and said ... "OK NOW you are gonna tie to this post and I'm gonna make you stay..." You
will break a lot of lead ropes, halters and even maybe a horse's neck.
However if you come out to them at thier normal feeding time and tie them while they eat in thier feeding place and remove
the tie before they finish.... then gently extend the length of time tied to when they are finished, then a little after they
are finished, then a little longer... When you can groom them tied after they are finished eating, Take them out to a
new but still enclosed place to "feed" and groom them while tied.
Eventually this whole tieing thing becomes a "Great New thing" we are doing becuase we introduced it gradually and associated
it with something pleasureable from current and past history. The lesson plan is still basic enough for the First
grade level mind to grasp and respectfull enough to satisfy the mature adult horse.
So break down the lessons to simple easy steps and make sure you never "force" an issue. The re-training will happen
"quickly".
I hope this helps.
Ann Smith
