Is it possible to judge an adult pony's age?

[Wingnut 6,733]

Except for explicitly elderly ponies like Granny Smith, there is almost nothing in the art that allows us to judge a pony's age at a glance.

 

Twilight Sparkle's mom and dad look the same in the wedding cameo as they did in the cutie mark flashback. I personally would've made dad's mane a lighter blue to suggest greying and made the short lines under their eyes a bit longer in the wedding scene.

 

Rarity's mom is interesting. She's overweight like the average middle age person but she doesn't have wrinkles. However, her mane is starting to turn grey which is causing light blue streaks to appear.

 

Rarity's dad shows no sign of age except for his mustache and mane color. It is an odd shade of brown that might be created by salt and pepper hair.

 

Prince Blueblood's eyes just looked strange to me. Maybe it's my imagination but his eyes make me think he's at least 40. They were probably trying to make him extra handsome but whatever. Big Mac's eyes certainly don't look like that.

 

These are the only examples of “mild” aging in the cartoon I could come up with. Otherwise a 16 year old pony looks identical to one that's 46 or possibly older. And I got a big kick out of Granny Smith's ability to give herself a facelift that lasts 10 seconds! 

[GuillermoGage 246]

Well, another thing I wonder is how a "day", and subsequently how a "year" is even measured in Equestria and the planet it is on.

 

The sun and moon are manually moved around by alicorn magic, and, at one time, mass unicorn magic. Ponies have measured time by the phrase "moons" on the show, but how would lunar phases even work there?

[Cowl 128]

What I think is interesting is the fact that the apple family reunion occurs every 100 moons.

 

So assuming that equestria is on earth or that the orbit of the planet and moon are roughly equivalent. The family reunion occurs every 8.1 solar years.

 

Now judging from the photos shown and the fact that applejack appears in one of the family photos besides when she was a foal. We can estimate applejack's age to be approximately between 16.2~17 solar years. This is backed up by a similar age gap in the two family photos of granny smith.

 

It might be possible to extrapolate this to figure out the ages of the other ponies.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Cowl

[Wingnut 6,733]

Now judging from the photos shown and the fact that applejack appears in one of the family photos besides when she was a foal. We can estimate applejack's age to be approximately between 16.2~17 solar years. This is backed up by a similar age gap in the two family photos of granny smith.

So if 100 moons equals 8.1 earth years, Applejack would've been a filly one reunion ago and a foal two reunions ago. I guess they didn't have enough time in the episode to show photos from EVERY reunion. Seeing AJ as a filly and Apple Bloom as a foal might be viewed as excessive fanservice too.

 

To get the thread back on track, this is about visible signs of aging. And frankly, there isn't much of it in this cartoon. But if ponies could somehow see us, they probably wouldn't be able to distinguish our ages except for children or the very old either. 

[PonyEcho 1,610]

well there animated Ponys, the average horse has a life expectancy of 30 years, but there likely to be written into the show having human like lifespans ..... but there cartoon so there all immortal 

[Wingnut 6,733]

well there animated Ponys, the average horse has a life expectancy of 30 years, but there likely to be written into the show having human like lifespans ..... but there cartoon so there all immortal 

Ponies are not immortal.  Watch A Perfect Stallion where Sweetie Belle crashes a funeral.  My personal theory...the decedent wanted it that way. 

[Strawberry Tart 161]

I doubt they will ever make it possible in any way to tell age. And you know why? Pokemon, that's why. Yes, that's right, Pokemon! Remember Ash? He was ten when he started his journey....which was around 15 years ago. He's still ten and people are frustrated. Hasbro didn't want to do that. 

[Wingnut 6,733]

I doubt they will ever make it possible in any way to tell age. And you know why? Pokemon, that's why. Yes, that's right, Pokemon! Remember Ash? He was ten when he started his journey....which was around 15 years ago. He's still ten and people are frustrated. Hasbro didn't want to do that. 

The CMCs have shown more signs of growth in 3 seasons than Ash has in 15.  But the Simpsons take the cake when it comes to defying age. 

[pinkieshyrose 58]

well twilights mom has white  hair mixed with purple and her colors grey somthing which just feels older the colors they use make them a bit older twilights dad just has that older hair feel plus some ponys like humans proably can look younger than they are

 

the cakes  have a older feel to them especially misses cake she has a tired / wrinkle look and  weight gain while mr cake has a longish body