Best age to buy a horse at?

a few friends were actually discussing this last week, it totally depends on your own riding skills and goals

- if you want a schoolmaster you are better bying an older horse
- if you are skilled and want a blank canvas, then as untouched and young as possible
- if you want cheap and only to hack, you get away with an ancient one
- if you need time to develop a horses skills, then they need to be young enough to do it
- if you are a nervous rider then you are better getting one thats gone past its teenage years

its such a variable depending on the buyer!
 
I've bought at four and six, taken one on permanent loan when she was fifteen (my horse of a lifetime), and loaned another when he was rising 18.

The latter two were my sister's first pony and my first horse, and their ages were a definite boon for us. They still had plenty of life left in them, were sound and healthy, but they had enough experience to compensate for any shortcomings on the part of their first-time owners.

The six year old retired at seven, but I thought he was a nice age, because someone had done all of the hard work and then all I had to do was continue his education and give him a little more life experience.

I'd have preferred the four year old to be a little older, as she was backed and broken but barely ridden away, but her personality more than compensated for her youth. That said, I feel like she's undergone some significant mental maturation over the last few months, which makes me realise just how babyish she was when I got her.

If I was buying again, somewhere between eight and 12 would be my ideal, as I'd expect a horse of that age to be an established ridden animal but to still have plenty more years of riding left in them. I think that most people want an animal of around this age though, so their price is likely to reflect this.

If you mean how old should the buyer be, then 18 plus unless you come from a horsey family and have a strong, knowledgeable support network in place.
 
I bought my welsh cob at 8 months - not the most sensible idea but being horse crazed & able to save up from my waitressing job in my teens, he was the first one I could afford. I still have him now - he'll be 15 this year.
My youngster I bought in August last year as a yearling.

In between, I've bought 1 & loaned 2 all ending in a lot of wasted money, vet trips & heart break as I've picked up others broken horses with pre existing various physical & mental issues ultimately resulting in confidence loss. I have come to not trust anyone selling a horse as despite generally a good judge of character, people are are good liars & still pulled the wool on me. So that's why I've bought another youngster direct from a breeder, blank canvas & if he does break, I know about it & can go about it the right way. As much as its an expensive & hard path, its rewarding & I love the challenge - plus eliminates the above. I know there are lots of good sellers out there but my god I have bad luck! lol
 
Looking backI like 6 year olds that have done something... I’ve been given older horses over the years that have been great but the oldest I’ve ever bought was 8 and he was my first ‘proper’ pony ...
 
I have to admit having bought a young 4yo as my first horse I'd go slightly older next time - 6 or 7 so they've been ridden away and have slightly more under their belt although that depends as much on their environment and training as it does their age.
 
Youngest was homebred! Youngest bought was 18months. Oldest was 10.
In general I would buy at 4/5 when it’s becoming clear what you have under saddle.
In the future I would consider an older teenager with higher level tricks programmed just to play on!
 
I don't remember all of them - especially not from when I was a child. My daughter's first was 11 when we got him - and turned 27 now. Most of the Compettion ponies were in the 6 - 8 bracket. I think her more successful 148 was 8. We had the odd older one on loan to compete -including ThunderDash who came to us at 22 and has a short but successful 128 BS career. Now long out of ponies she has a youngster bought to bring on. He was 4 when we got him - now 5.
 
The last two we bought were a newly backed 5yo and an 8 month old colt as I wanted a totally blank canvas. We lost the 5yo to an injury just before she turned 6. The weanling will officially be 1 next month and is the sweetest little horse, though I suspect he'll end up bigger than I ideally wanted, but that's the luck of the draw with babies!

I also have a 16yo who I've had on permanent loan since he was 13. He's my absolute horse of a lifetime and I honestly can't imagine life without him. He requires a fair bit of maintenance given his age and mileage but he's taught me so much in the time I've had him, he owes me nothing. My only hope is that he's still going strong once the baby has been backed as I think I'll need him to help me keep my confidence during any wobbles we encounter.

In terms of the right age to buy, I think that wholly depends on your own experience, the set up/support system you have in place and what you want to do with it.
 
I think it very much depends where you are in life and what you want to do. My first horse after a break from horses was 9years old. I wanted something to compete on but had a bit of mileage. That lead onto two youngsters 3yo and 4yo that had been broken. After years of work and loosing one of them I replaced him with an 10 yr old (again to compete). I’ve now come full circle , a change in work life (doing an MSc) meant I needed to scale back competing and needed a few years without all the hard graft that goes with fit event horses. I now breed my own (as the young mare I bought was a superstar in my eyes anyway). I am now due a foal in May and have a rising three year old to break this year- however I am currently “riding horseless” but as the MSc ends I should have my young horse to play with. I’m also older now and therefore have “time” or patients to wait to develop my youngster
 
I went out looking for a 6/7yo and got a low-mileage rising 7yo. Old enough to have had the basics established and seen a bit of the world, but young enough that we'll (hopefully) have plenty of time together and I'll have the fun of teaching her. If I was loaning, I'd have considered something much older (my share horses were both late-teens/early-twenties) but this is likely the only horse I'll own so I wanted something more likely to last.
 
End of 4th year/start of 5th year :)

Basics done and seen a bit of the world but young enough to still be a reasonably blank canvas! And temperament more of a known
 
My first was 5/6 and I was 12 - should, or could, have been disastrous, but he turned into an epic horse and stayed with me all his life.
Second was 3 (and I was in my 20s at this point). He's epic too, turns a hoof to anything.
Third was 18 months. He's a proper little fun pony.
Fourth was 4, just backed before I got her. She's just super nice and cool.

I like them young, I like a blank (ish) canvas. I love training young horses, and working through things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top