Buying an older horse - thoughts?

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diddy

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Hi everyone,

Currently horse-hunting & have seen some nice ponies advertised at about 15 or older. We have an oldie ourselves so not against the idea in principle but we are looking for something that can do SJ & potentially XC so not sure whether we should rule out anything getting on in years. Obviously, key consideration here is the price as we can get something much nicer if we look among an older crowd - but we would need the horse to be pretty active for a few years yet so not sure if we should rule it out? What d'you lovely people reckon?

Thanks!

D. xxx
 
If you're wanting to do plenty of jumping then I probably wouldn't, an older horse is bound to have more wear and tear anyway, and no point in having something nicer if it can't do the job you want for long.
 
A lot of the horses competing at badminton were not youngsters. I've just bought a 16 yr old. Vet said best flexion tests he'd ever seen. I have a 9 yr old sitting in the field with knackered hocks and stiffles. Never even got to compete him.
 
Thanks for your replies - interesting to hear your differing views. We're looking for something 14.2/15 hh-ish for the little Diddys to compete on at PC level. If/when one of them is ready to go to Badminton we can get something bigger :) Hadn't thought much about the size issue but I guess Gloi may have a point that it might be less of an issue in a pony. Obviously there are lots of great younger ponies out there but some of the prices are a bit eye-watering. Obviously I wouldn't want to put a price on my children's happiness/safety etc. etc. but blimey!!!
 
I would buy an older horse: just have them fully vetted beforehand.

I have a 24 year old who is still going strong: he is super healthy and still enjoys a jolly around the odd xc course. I wouldn't buy him at this age for what you wanted, but a horse 5 to 10 years younger than him would be more than okay!

In the end I am so glad I went for my boy, but I know I can offer him a forever home and that I don't need to get the money back I spent on him when I first got him. As long as you know you can give an oldie a future, without needing to get rid of or make money out of them, then it sounds like a good idea :)
 
Older horses are the best (not that I'm biased!) Another livery has a 23 year old 14.2hh Heinz 57 for her13 year old daughter, and he keeps her safe enough to showjump 3ft courses. XC is another matter as he gets too strong!

Get them vetted and find one with "low mileage" and no previous health issues and they can be great teenagers horses.
 
Thanks for new replies :) Sorry should have said - we don't have masses of room but could potentially keep a retired horse here so selling on is less of issue (just don't tell my OH!)
 
I bought a 16 yo TB x Section D who is now 21; she's more fit and active than any of my friend's horses who are all at least 10 years younger than her. She out run two 9 year olds on the gallops on Saturday - we don't do sedate riding by any means. If you keep an older horse active and give it time to recover properly then I don't see why it shouldn't compete successfully at PC level. My mare was very peeved to have to a trotting fitness ride yesterday and not to be blatting on the gallops all over again.
 
I bought an 18 year old last year - he is as sound as a pound and will go forever. I don't do much with him tbh but he certainly could if I was so inclined. He was low mileage though. I was incredibly lucky to get him for such a low price considering he's well-schooled (if a bit rusty as his previous owner only hacked) has a cracking jump, hacks alone and in company and is immaculate in traffic.

Old is the new young :)
 
I'm looking around at the moment for a teenager around 14-15 years for a relative. We ruled out 7/8 year olds etc immediately because relative is around 60 years of age. A teenager should be schooled pretty well, be able to do a bit of everything & be ready to be enjoyed. If she wants to compete at local shows then it should be fine & they will grow older together. If you buy a 7 year old at our age do you really want to be mucking out/turning out etc when you're in your 80's....... assuming we live that long?

In the right circumstances buying an older horse is the best thing to do. :)
 
My horse is the fittest, most active horse on the yard, and she is 22.

A friend of mine, who is a vet, has a pet theory that if a horse gets to its early teens or so without encountering major musculo-skeletal-tendon problems, then it has a good chance of having a working life well into its 20s (barring things like field injuries, of course). In other words, if it's sound at 14 and has been in full work at its chosen discipline since it was a youngster, it has a good chance of still being sound at 20.

My very anecdotal experience bears out my friend's theory.
 
I would usually have said said yes, go for it. However, I bought my pony mare at age 16, five years later, she is mostly retired due to arthritis.

If you want to jump, I wouldn't buy one over about 13. The other thing to consider is if the horse has a home for life or if you might need to pass it on due to being out grown either in height or ability - far harder to do with an oldie.
 
My jumping mare is turning 14 now and she is jumping the best she has in the yrs I've had her, shes kept and managed well and is fit as a fiddle. She competes 1.10-1.20s and hoping to move up this year. I think its not the age but how well managed they have been.
 
Tapir said:
If you want to jump, I wouldn't buy one over about 13.
Click to expand...

Crikey! Really? The pony is going to be for PC stuff, not heading for Rio.

My first pony when I was a child was sixteen. Had her for eight years and did everything you could imagine with her. Regularly jumped 3ft+, did comps, hacked out for hours etc. My second pony was twelve when we got her and I had her till she was sixteen and did all of the above with her as well. Neither had any soundness issues. Compare that to the six year old I had who went unexplainably lame after just sitting in the field and you realise that age really is just a number.
 
I bought an advanced event horse in march he's 14 , he romped through his five stage vetting the vet said she would have passed him without hesitation to go to do advanced work .
So for the price of a well put together young horse with a nice jump I got years of experiance and technique and a safe horse with whom I am having tremendous fun .
 
I have a completely unproven theory that if a horse has had an active life and proven sound for purpose well into its teens then it will probably continue to have a useful working life into its twenties, provided cared for appropriately.
You should factor in for a little extra tlc and vet support, but well worth it for an experienced child's horse.

8-12 seems to be the age that real problems show up. Again anecdotal!
 
Caol Ila said:
My horse is the fittest, most active horse on the yard, and she is 22.

A friend of mine, who is a vet, has a pet theory that if a horse gets to its early teens or so without encountering major musculo-skeletal-tendon problems, then it has a good chance of having a working life well into its 20s (barring things like field injuries, of course). In other words, if it's sound at 14 and has been in full work at its chosen discipline since it was a youngster, it has a good chance of still being sound at 20.

My very anecdotal experience bears out my friend's theory.
Click to expand...

Lol, hadn't read your post until after is written mine!!
 
I would buy and older pony/horse for a kid. As if horse is still sound then is likely to continue to. We're as I have had an 8 year old retired with spavin. I personally believe that 8 to 10 is we're a lot of problems show up for competitive horses in full work. would get horse fully vetted and want to see a copy of its medical history from vet. You also have to consider that you will likely have this horse for life so will probably end up as there retirement home. But again if a younger horse goes lame you still end up as retirement home!!
 
I think older horses are great. I got my 15.2 Dales x cob mare when she was 16 and she is 25 now and still going strong. She was happily jumping 2'9"/3'0" courses up until last year. This year she is still loving her jumping but she has obviously started to feel her age a little bit in that she doesn't have quite the scope and sometimes struggles at little bit with doubles/trebles set up for larger horses now. However, she happily jumped a 2'3"/2'6" course at a show yesterday. We still go out for long hacks (2/3 hours) sometimes and she still loves a good gallop when out with my daughter and her horse. Last year we did a fun ride and a treasure hunt and were out on the move for pretty much the whole of 6 hours both times. And this last year we have been having lessons to improve our flatwork so she has been learning shoulder in, quarters in and half pass.
 
As a teenager my 12 yr old TBx had to be semi-retired due to arthritis so I used to compete a 25yr old welsh D. He had been loaned to the RS as his owners couldn't cope with him! We did working hunter, XC all sorts. Couldn't take him hunting though as he got too strong and fizzy, so used to do that on a sensible 6 yr old! Also had a friend who was still team chasing her 24yr old.

I would have no problem with an older pony providing it was sound and had been well looked after, getting a younger one is no guarantee it would stay sound and it sounds like your paying a lot more for it.
 
I love my older horse, but I've had her since she was 9. I did all the show jumping stuff with her years ago. She can still gallop about with me all over the place and pop the odd log/small jump if she has to (she's 22) She is pretty much the same. But competing/shows is off the agenda. She has arthritus and has just had enough of showjumping now.
I think an older pony is fine for a kid doing some fun PC etc but for someone wanted to compete regularly, if it was me I wouldn't want a horse older than 9 if I'm really honest. I think most ponies/horses that worked hard in their life are happy to wind down a bit as they get older, jumping is a bit too demanding compared with hacking etc & they might have wear and tear going on by then as well.
 
My boy is still sound and happy at 24 bought him at 10 and was still jumping up to 3ft until a couple of years ago. He enjoys jumping and is fit still and schools lovely he just feels the competitions more the next day now.
 
Two of the best horses I have ever known were in a decent level of work up until the ages of 21 and 22 (one still is!). A decent, honest vet, and a careful eye are your best friend when viewing.
 
I mostly ride youngsters but the oldest I ride at the moment is 33! He's having to slow down a bit now due to arthritis and he's just less interested in running around when he's living out - but he's very fresh all winter, wants to go for good gallops (whether you agree or not) and uses anything as an excuse to jump. Still bucks and prances around...

So sure you can get a good long working life out of a horse. Saying that, it does depend on what your long term plans are. If this horse is going to serve out its purpose in 2 years, will you need to find it a new home or can you keep it for the rest of its life and give it a good life at that? You're going to have a much harder time finding a home for a 16 year-old than a 14 year-old... This would be my number one concern.

Also for those mentioning their pet theories haha, I think the case is that some horses are more prone to injury, lameness etc than others from the start. If a horse has been unsound in the past, it's therefore and indication that they will be again in the future... So a horse with no history of being unsound is one that will likely continue that way into the future. So it's not so much that a horse that survives to its teens without soundness issues stays sound but that a horse that has experienced no soundness issues in 10 years isn't prone to them and therefore won't have them in the future. Subtle difference but hopefully you see my point! Getting an older horse is advantageous because you know its medical history - whereas a 5 year-old has only had 5 years to demonstrate its propensities!
 
Wow - thanks everyone that was a really interesting discussion :) I think in principle we'll go for something a little younger but keep an open mind if something older-but-fabulous comes along!

D. xxx
 
Most talented horse I bought was 16. Sadly she was overcome by rapid PPID at 20 but my only regret is I didn't find her 10 years sooner, she was perfect. Meanwhile the 4 yo has just started treatment for hock DJD!
 
Gosh, by reading this thread it seems I'm doing too much with my loan mare :D

My mare is 11, however she has very little mileage and has been well taken care of, and acts like a 4 year old! Any form of jumping or galloping and she's in her element, she still gets excited when the travel boots go on and trots into the lorry when we're going places. Snorts and farts about for the first 10 minutes in warm up at a show, and no brakes XC!

I plan to event her this year, and would expect her to be able to do that for at least 4 more years before thinking about slowing down. However, my plan is to jump up to 1m and no more, so taking her age into account that suits her just fine - any more and I would be putting her under pressure.

Of course, I know her well enough that she will tell me when she wants to stop, and things change, but I certainly wouldn't be thinking that a horse over 10 or even into its mid-teens wouldn't be capable of great things. You just need to think about what you want to do with it.
 
My last TB was 18 when I took her on and had evented, competed at dressage to medium, been in hunt service and been a broodmare before I got her. I continued to compete her and had the most amazing 10 years, jumping, hunting and generally having a wonderful time. She even came back from tweaking a tendon in the field and continued competing. She did have a touch of arthritis, but we managed that with supplements and regular exercise. I would definitely have another oldie, best horse (and soundest!) I've ever had!
 
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