Buying an old Horse

[Charliepup123]

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on buying an old horse? There is one I like at my riding school but he is 22. He doesn't feel that old when you ride him but i'm wondering if anyone can offer any advice on buying an older horse? He'd be my first proper horse and I really only want to do just general riding and hacking and wonder whether it would actually be a good choice for my first horse? How long do people continue riding for provided the horse is in good health and happy to be ridden?

 

[Lanky Loll]

It depends on if you're prepared to offer the horse a home for life or do the necessary when the time comes or not, to me.
If the horse is happy and healthy there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to offer you a good few years yet of whatever work he is capable of. A friend of mine has a retired eventer - he's still out competing (not a lot and at 80-90 level) and winning at 24.
You will start to see signs that they are able to do less as they get older and this will need to be managed, but some just keep going and are best kept in work.

 

[paddi22]

Some keep going forever so you could get years of pleasure from it. A lady on an old yard i was on bought an oldie years ago and it's still going strong. My connie lived till 36 and would have stayed in work for most of it.

On the other hand, the reality is at some stage one of two issues could arise:

- As you get better at riding you will want to do stuff that the horse isn't physically capable of. At that stage you will have an issue selling on a much older horse.
- The horse might get physical issues like arthritis etc, in which case you are alloking at whether you could afford to retire it or would you pts.

But oldies have great value and can be super first horses and confidence givers, and theres no guarantees anyway that issues won't arise, even if you bought a younger horses.

Once you have a plan for any outcomes and issues that might occur then you'l be fine!

 

[be positive]

I am not against buying an older horse but one "retiring" from a RS life may not be suitable as your first horse for several reasons, the first is that it will be a very different life from the one he is used to and not all change for the better, some will find going out hacking alone or even being in a school without others a challenge, he may be getting near to the end of his useful working life, possibly earlier than a horse that has done less, you will be gaining in experience and confidence at the same time as he will be slowing down, possibly needing to fully retire at the same time, which will hold you back rather than allow you to progress.

I would question why a RS is considering selling a good servant at this time in his life, be very careful you do not buy with your heart, you need to be sensible, at his age if he were mine and I wanted to find a good semi retirement home I would be loaning rather than cashing in and selling, he has earned a lot of money if he has been there some time and in my opinion they should not be passing him on at this age unless they remain in control, not saying you would not give him a good home but circumstances do change and an older boy deserves a secure future.

 

[Auslander]

Whilst I would consider giving an old horse a well earned retirement, with a bit of light hacking if it was up for for it - there's no way I'd buy one. Realistically, you will have 5-10 years with a horse of that age, of which most of that will be retirement. He will have worked hard all his life if he's been a riding school horse, and at that age, I would be more inclined to retire him than try to make a bit of money selling him on as a ridden horse. Smacks a bit of the owners trying to make one more chunk of change out of a horse who has already earned himself a happy retirement.
How much are they asking for him, just out of interest?

 

[Charliepup123]

I can see how it looks but it really isn't what it seems - i'm just toying with the idea of approaching them to offer to buy him. He hasn't been a riding school horse all his life only very recently. They may not sell him anyway so they are certainly not trying to make money out of him its just me thinking about possibilities. My gut tells me go for something younger so i have a good long term future with him/her and can go on to do more if I want to.

thanks for all your replies - lots to think about!

 

[Nicnac]

My first horse was 19 when I bought her although I had been riding her for a couple of years as her owner had lost interest when she was in foal. She had show jumped to high level and also bred two foals but had not been injured and was still full of spark. I brought her back into work after her second foal and had another 8 years with her after I bought her. Best thing I ever did and she was cheap as chips to buy and keep. She lat ernannied my second horse who was a weanling and sadly passed away just before newer horse was under saddle.

No regrets.

 

[splashgirl45]

why not approach them and ask if they would part loan him. you get to have the horse for maybe a couple of days and treat him as your own, then you will have a gentle introduction to owning...its a very big responsibility to own a horse and sharing /part loaning would be a good way to start.

 

[Orangehorse]

I don't think a horse over 20 should be sold. Ok to have as a loan. I know we hear of loads of horses in their mid and even late 20s being ridden, but realistically, at 22 it is coming to the end of its ridden life, particularly as you don't know all its past history. It all depends on how many miles it has on the clock!

At a riding school it is presumably having regular work, and hopefully not too taxing. That is the best way to keep an older horse going.

 

[SallyBatty]

I think it depends on what you realistically want to do with your horse over the next few years and how fit and healthy it is now. I got mine when she was 16 and she is now 26. We still hack out regularly and can be out for about 3 hours riding at all paces although she can't keep going at the canter and gallop for so long now. We also still do low level jumping up to 2'6". The last 2 years we have been really improving her flat work and even managed to get a lovely collected canter in our last lesson - not bad for an oldie who used to be totally on her forehand. You will need to be aware that you would be the horse's last home so will need to be prepared to keep in retirement or pts when it can no longer be ridden. But that can happen with much younger horses too.