Age- An advantage or a worry?

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QueenDee_

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Went to see a lovely 15.2hh coloured mare today..she was absoloutley stunning, and such a sweet mare, done everything you can think of..only thing is that she was 17..I was wondering what are your views on older horses? I know that sometimes it can make no difference, we recently sold a pony who was 18 and she hadn't changed in the 5 years we had her; but I also know that sometimes age can present problems for horses.

Jaffa cakes and tea for anyone who helps me out :D
 
ok for start a 5 stage vet with bloods - then look ride and watch - go back few times and if she ticks the boxes go for her - 17 is not old now given what vet comes back with - if fit and healthy can you ask for more - and yep before anyone says insurance maybe jard to get but mmmm safe yummy horse mmmmm
 
Jaffa cake and coffee coming your way! We were going to see if we could have her on a couple of weeks trial (nowadays its so hard to persuade people to do that..better get m grovelling skills practiced!) and we might contact her normal vet to see if shes had any histories etc :p
 
i would be a little concerned but if she is everything you want, then dont let age stand in your way.

Petplan will insure her and will keep her on a "proper" plan until she is 25, then they change her policy to a veteran (injury only).
 
Ellky said:
Jaffa cake and coffee coming your way! We were going to see if we could have her on a couple of weeks trial (nowadays its so hard to persuade people to do that..better get m grovelling skills practiced!) and we might contact her normal vet to see if shes had any histories etc :p
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will the vet tell you? i know mine would divulge any information, certainly not without my permission.
 
if you want something to build your confidence with- hacking, light competing/schooling, before buying something better in a couple of years then yes go for it.

if you want to be out competing, jumping/hunting etc then no.
 
It depends on how good a nick the horse is in I suppose. My horse is 19, and can still do everything with no problem. We haven't been hunting because I'm too scared, but he would easily manage it! The downside is that I will have less time riding him than I would a younger horse, but on the other hand I know a couple people with young horses that have been retired before reaching 10. Tough one, but if the horse is right for what you want then why not? I wouldn't swap my boy for anything!
 
i brought a 14 year old but i got her as i wasnt looking for a horse i wanted her. she is perfect and most people would put her at 6 honestly,

DSC03398.jpg
this is my 15 year old

its just a number, if shes old then it dnt but if she is fit healthy and acting young then get her :)
 
madeleine1 said:
i brought a 14 year old but i got her as i wasnt looking for a horse i wanted her. she is perfect and most people would put her at 6 honestly,

DSC03398.jpg
this is my 15 year old

its just a number, if shes old then it dnt but if she is fit healthy and acting young then get her :)
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What a beautifully coloured horse!

She was in nice condition, she had a few nicks and scars on her legs..but I think those were just from in the field as they do get in their life time, other than that she looked in good nic, I'd probably have put her at about 12ish maybe:)
 
My 18 year old is very much starting to slow down :( Imagine he will be retired very soon. He was however heavily raced as a two year old!

There's a 28 year old near me who still does light competing!!!!! Jumps sort of 2'3/2'6 with littluns, does rallies and so on, they can go on for years!
 
Ellky said:
What a beautifully coloured horse!

She was in nice condition, she had a few nicks and scars on her legs..but I think those were just from in the field as they do get in their life time, other than that she looked in good nic, I'd probably have put her at about 12ish maybe:)
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if you like her and shes what you want and after all her checks shes fine get her
 
I bought a sixteen year old who was everything (and more) I could have wanted, My first priority though before parting with the cash, was to be as sure as I could be, that I wouldn't ever have to sell him again. I am lucky that my brother has a farm and that he could go there when he retired. I had him for ten years and never regretted a second. Mine was vetted and passed. I would say go for it unless you are thinking of selling on in a few years as it will be much harder the older she gets.
 
Depends on the mileage and conformation of her, if she is everything you want, don't let age get in the way. The veteran horse society are very very hotly contested classes with a chance to qualify for Olympia :) :) There are some fantstic horses still competing in the regionals who you wouldn't think could be over 20. Depends what you want to do with your girl.
 
Depends on the individual horse, but don't go down the "oh, she's so old I might only get 10 years out her...." route. I bought an 18month old colt who was PTS at 5 yrs old, then was given a 15 yr old gelding who was PTS at 34, still being regularly hacked at 30, so you never can tell.

I have a friend with a 29yr old horse who still hacks out 2-3 times a week and is still VERY keen to do so. she can do light schooling if asked and did VHS in hand and ridden classes a couple of weeks ago, winning both.

Anyway, if the age is such a concern, why did you go to see her? :)
 
As long as you are prepared to offer her a home for life then I would say go for it. Personally I can't understand people who sell on horses of that age (I have just loaned one out) but there are at least 2 horses I know of regularly competing at quite a high level jumping and both are in their mid twenties.
 
the only concern i would have is whether you can afford to keep 2 horses in the future - or to have a retired non-ridden pet & have nothing to ride
the window of selling older horses is small [ personally, i find it sad when i see 20plus yr olds for sale], so you could find yourself in 5 yrs time with a 22/23 yr old perhaps just hacking a few times a week & a couple of yrs after that maybe just a paddock pet- would that satisfy your riding needs?:)
 
My horse just turned 17. We hack 4 times a week, school 1 day and have a jumping lesson once a week, so she generally gets ridden 6 times a week. I love her to bits. She evented untill a tendon injury 4 years ago but she is sound as a pound and loves her work. She is teaching me so much as well due to her experience. I know she wont go on forever, butif you saw her galloping around in her field messing about you would think she was 2!!
I had an arab as a kid that i got when he was 14, sold him when he was 18 to a small girl to do showjumping, he was fit, firey and in better condition than most younger horses. If you had tried to slow him down he would have refused! and would regularly jump over a 5 foot post and rail fence to escape out of his field....he was 14 hands!

I love older horses and if its the right horse for you go for it. You could buy a 10 year old that could drop dead the next day.
 
Chunkie said:
Anyway, if the age is such a concern, why did you go to see her? :)
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Thats a good point...Wll one of out main problems at the moment is horse funding (not looking after, but the actual buying of horses) because my £4500 Connemara developed osteoarthritis..so thats already alot of money down the sink hole (we've tried things like Tildren, supplements etc) and generally older horses tend to sell for less, but can still be as good as younger horses..or so thats my thought line :p
 
My mare has just turned 15, i bought her 1 year ago- she is fantastic and we do lots together :D A couple of new people at the yard actually thought she was a youngster:o lol.....just remember, you can never guarantee anything with horses, you could buy a 5 year old and could lose it too early, these things do happen unfortunatly. If she ticks the boxes i would say go for it, you might want to ask the owner id the price is flexible given her age but if not I would still pay the ££££s - i did and i have a great horse who has taught me lots and my OH (novice) can ride her too as shes a nice sturdy and sensible warmblood (well sometimes lol) x
 
elsazzo said:
My mare has just turned 15, i bought her 1 year ago- she is fantastic and we do lots together :D A couple of new people at the yard actually thought she was a youngster:o lol.....just remember, you can never guarantee anything with horses, you could buy a 5 year old and could lose it too early, these things do happen unfortunatly. If she ticks the boxes i would say go for it, you might want to ask the owner id the price is flexible given her age but if not I would still pay the ££££s - i did and i have a great horse who has taught me lots and my OH (novice) can ride her too as shes a nice sturdy and sensible warmblood (well sometimes lol) x
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My old part arab pony was 18 and I was often having to tell people that wasn't a baby! Though she did act like it at times, hehehe :o

For what she was (the coloured) she wasn't over priced or anything, we imagine she might have been worth a bit when she was younger (we were going to ask her owner) But her owner has had her since she was 8, loaned her out for a year and has had her the rest, and says she hasn't changes one bit (Though I suppose she wouldn't exactly say 'oh yes, shes got a lot older, stiffer, slower you know how they go!) Hehe :D
 
Well, whether it's an advantage I guess depends on what you are wanting to do with them. I wouldn't personally look to buy an older horse now as I like to get something I can bring on (but then we do have a field full or retired/semi retired beasties now!). My horse is now 20 and still hacks out to the same extent as he always has and we stil compete SJing, XC and ODE albeit it no bigger than say 95cm classes but he's still keen so as long as he stays that way I shall keep him going. The minute he seems not as enthusiastic then I will start to slow him down. I definitely don't think he's ready for retirement yet.

I certainly agree with those who have said if you are to take this horse on you need to be prepared that that is for 'life' as I don't think it is really fair to sell horses on once they are 20+ (I don't know why I just feel it's a bit wrong).
 
rubysmum said:
the only concern i would have is whether you can afford to keep 2 horses in the future - or to have a retired non-ridden pet & have nothing to ride
the window of selling older horses is small [ personally, i find it sad when i see 20plus yr olds for sale], so you could find yourself in 5 yrs time with a 22/23 yr old perhaps just hacking a few times a week & a couple of yrs after that maybe just a paddock pet- would that satisfy your riding needs?:)
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I absolutely agree with this and Scarrymare. As the horse is 17 only buy it if you are committed to keeping it until the end of its life.

IDX
 
I got my boy when he was 18 but that was under special circumstances. But, having said that I would not have any doubts about getting another older horse in the future. Some people will say that the older the horse the more problems it is likely to start having but that can be said for any horse regardless of age really. The only age related stuff is stiffness etc.

You may wish to enquire with pet plan prior to buying as although they say from horses 17 and up sometimes insurance companies won't insure for loss of use on an older horse (I looked to move my policy back to NFU but as I had'nt continuously insured him with them they would not cover him for vets fees and some other stuff, so kept him with PP instead).

As my boy has gotten older he definately gets wiser. He is so laid back now with general life that nothing seems to phase him. Moving the hay through the field yesterday, tractor has a front loader and the hay was covered with a green tarp. I had to get out and physically push him out of the way as he refused to move out of the way and nearly got run over. The other 2 ponies (10 and 13) freaked out :D
 
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