23 year old hack for £1500?

SNORKEY said:
23 isn't old for a fit riding horse. It would only end up in a bad home if the seller sold it to one!
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Get real Snorkey 23 is old. Very old. Most large horses are put down around that age. Try insuring one.

And do you really think I sold my horse to a bad home? She brought one of her liveries with her to vouch for her She provided references. She had BHS qualifications in horse management. Her yard was worth about a million pounds and looked like it too, it was spotless, two arenas, farm ride, the lot. Paddocks like lawns. She signed a contract agreeing what she would and would not do with him.

And after all that she starved him and the only reason that the RSPCA did not prosecute was that my vet didn't want to travel 4 hours to give evidence in court.

You simply cannot be sure that a home really is good no matter how hard you try to vet it.
 
Mollie was 17 when I bought her last year. In many ways, she isn't really what I was looking for and I made a bit of a mistake in buying her. This became apparent very early on, but for reasons I don't want to go into, returning her to the seller wasn't an option.

I told myself I'd give her and me a year, then consider my options.

A year later, we've made progress, she's still not ideal but there's no way I could sell. She's 18, sound and healthy but of unknown breeding, nervous nature, quirky and quite limited as a riding horse. I wouldn't sleep at night if I sold her on.

People talk about older horses having "given their best years" to their owners. Poor Mollie's best years were long before we met. I've found out enough to know that after a promising start, she'd been passed around, had a life full of sadness and loss and a horrendous accident which explains some of her quirks.

She will not be passed around any more. She's happy where she lives now, and will stay here I hope for many years. If for any reason this becomes impossible, I'll make sure she has a peaceful end.

Come to think of it, maybe for Mollie these are her best years, after all.
 
cptrayes said:
Get real Snorkey 23 is old. Very old. Most large horses are put down around that age. Try insuring one.

And do you really think I sold my horse to a bad home? She brought one of her liveries with her to vouch for her She provided references. She had BHS qualifications in horse management. Her yard was worth about a million pounds and looked like it too, it was spotless, two arenas, farm ride, the lot. Paddocks like lawns. She signed a contract agreeing what she would and would not do with him.

And after all that she starved him and the only reason that the RSPCA did not prosecute was that my vet didn't want to travel 4 hours to give evidence in court.

You simply cannot be sure that a home really is good no matter how hard you try to vet it.
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Why on earth did she go to all that trouble (spotless yard ect) to starve him!? did she even bother to try and explain herself? how strange!
hope he is ok now?
 
He's now in America. After getting him well, I gave him to the person who had tried to look after him and get him fed, because she had fallen in love with him anyway. She took him back to America with her when she left the country. What a fairy story, eh? This is him last week in Boulder, Colorado

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cE1ZLvsuuks/UF_Sqpp4C_I/AAAAAAAAAp4/w0cd6KzQi5w/s320/23Sept1.jpg

I have no idea why she starved him, but I found out afterwards that she had done it to other big horses. It was deliberate, not accidental. He was left out in a very cold winter with no hay (she didn't want her spotless paddocks spoiled with hay) and not brought in for any hard food. He went from what he looks like now, to the photo above, in 16 weeks.

I can only think that she was mentally unstable, because she wrote me a letter to be given to me when I picked him up (she couldn't face me, I wonder why?) saying that everything I had been told about her mistreating him was a lie - this in spite of knowing that I was going to be seeing him, and every one of his ribs, at the same time as the letter was given to me.

There was no excuse. He was not ill. He had no medical treatment when I got him home. All he needed was food. I j ust thank goodness that we sold him with a contract. It gave us the moral high ground when we went to negotiate to buy him back. Without it I think she would have laughed in our faces.
 
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im in my forties and got my own horse four years ago.i only want a hack to plod round on.
I paid £2000 thinking he was 10 and found out he was in his teens...and worth every penny in the end.
i would rather pay £1500 for a 23 year old if it was sane sound and sensible than £1500 for younger ex racer or something which would obliterate me.
most ads give a price then a potential buyer would pay what its worth to them..the high price should get rid of the baddies.
Horses for courses!
 
FionaM12 said:
Mollie was 17 when I bought her last year. In many ways, she isn't really what I was looking for and I made a bit of a mistake in buying her. This became apparent very early on, but for reasons I don't want to go into, returning her to the seller wasn't an option.

I told myself I'd give her and me a year, then consider my options.

A year later, we've made progress, she's still not ideal but there's no way I could sell. She's 18, sound and healthy but of unknown breeding, nervous nature, quirky and quite limited as a riding horse. I wouldn't sleep at night if I sold her on.

People talk about older horses having "given their best years" to their owners. Poor Mollie's best years were long before we met. I've found out enough to know that after a promising start, she'd been passed around, had a life full of sadness and loss and a horrendous accident which explains some of her quirks.

She will not be passed around any more. She's happy where she lives now, and will stay here I hope for many years. If for any reason this becomes impossible, I'll make sure she has a peaceful end.

Come to think of it, maybe for Mollie these are her best years, after all.
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just like mine....and i believe at 20 ish he too is having the best ever time of his life!
 
cptrayes said:
He's now in America. After getting him well, I gave him to the person who had tried to look after him and get him fed, because she had fallen in love with him anyway. She took him back to America with her when she left the country. What a fairy story, eh? This is him last week in Boulder, Colorado

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cE1ZLvsuuks/UF_Sqpp4C_I/AAAAAAAAAp4/w0cd6KzQi5w/s320/23Sept1.jpg

I have no idea why she starved him, but I found out afterwards that she had done it to other big horses. It was deliberate, not accidental. He was left out in a very cold winter with no hay (she didn't want her spotless paddocks spoiled with hay) and not brought in for any hard food. He went from what he looks like now, to the photo above, in 16 weeks.

I can only think that she was mentally unstable, because she wrote me a letter to be given to me when I picked him up (she couldn't face me, I wonder why?) saying that everything I had been told about her mistreating him was a lie - this in spite of knowing that I was going to be seeing him, and every one of his ribs, at the same time as the letter was given to me.

There was no excuse. He was not ill. He had no medical treatment when I got him home. All he needed was food. I j ust thank goodness that we sold him with a contract. It gave us the moral high ground when we went to negotiate to buy him back. Without it I think she would have laughed in our faces.
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Its wonderful to see he is in a good home now with someone who obviously cares about him :)

if she wanted spotless paddocks why did she leave him out? what a strange mad women! :confused:

prob a good job she was hidding from you when you picked him up! :eek:

so nice to know it all ended up ok for him though :)
 
luckyoldme said:
i would rather pay £1500 for a 23 year old if it was sane sound and sensible than £1500 for younger ex racer or something which would obliterate me.
most ads give a price then a potential buyer would pay what its worth to them..the high price should get rid of the baddies.
Horses for courses!
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Please dont tie all ex racers in as mad/bad as they are not all like that...
My ex racer is sane, sound and sensible, its how they have been retrained when they leave the race course that will determin how good that horse will be in its ridden career (some are crazy) but it is a minority.
Most of these amazing horses are rushed or treated like schoolmasters because some people dont understand how stressful and scary such a change in management can be to a horse! and some people also think because they have been ridden they know what all the aids mean.
with alot of time and patience these horses can be just as good as any other
 
sorry if offended ex racer owners...
Its just that to some folk a 23 year old would be a total waste of time.. but to me a nice sane elderly gentleman would be worth his weight in gold.
my horse did his hard work for someone who wanted that and now he is being gently ridden now and again which is perfect for this stage of his life.
........... a bit like my bloke really ( i just know i should nt have put that):D
 
luckyoldme said:
to some folk a 23 year old would be a total waste of time.. but to me a nice sane elderly gentleman would be worth his weight in gold.
my horse did his hard work for someone who wanted that and now he is being gently ridden now and again which is perfect for this stage of his life.
........... a bit like my bloke really ( i just know i should nt have put that):D
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That I completely agree with... to the right home the right horse is worth its weight in gold... no matter how old that horse might be, I know mine is priceless to me whether he was 6 or 26 :)
 
Our local pony club has a 26 year old for £1800 - tack extra! I don't care how good an aged horse is, IMO it's unrealistic to expect even half that including tack. I'd be more interested in finding a nice loan home for something that age. Still, if someone is prepared to pay that amount then it is their business, but I wouldn't buy or sell at that price and age
 
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