Horse potentially much older than what I thought I bought

I was so angry I was determined to cause her a bit of grief!

She was also a dealer Ireland side. She swore blind she was 6 and had known her since she was born, backed her herself etc.

Load of rubbish - I trust no one in the horse world now!
 
I was so angry I was determined to cause her a bit of grief!

She was also a dealer Ireland side. She swore blind she was 6 and had known her since she was born, backed her herself etc.

Load of rubbish - I trust no one in the horse world now!

Hmmm, could be: but teeth can be extremely unreliable you know - yes, even 10 years out - and vets are not particularly good at aging by dentition. A dentist is usually a better bet, and I agree that from your photo of her at the beginning she does look like she's older than 6. I wish you much luck with her anyway, it looks like she's landed on her hooves with you and is a grand type of mare to have fun with.
 
Yes I know they’re pretty unreliable. As part of all this I had several dentists and vets to check and write me letters of support so I could be as sure as I could be before I got angry at people!

Thank you, she’s starting to show her personality off a bit more now and she is very loving :)
 
I'm glad you have a lovely horse whatever her age but agree with those who have said she looks older in the picture you posted of her and definitely older looking at her teeth. I do wonder at the vet though - although he would have looked at her passport I would have expected him to check her mouth for abnormalities and realise straight away she was older than 6 even if he didn't give you a precise age.
 
Also interested like Cortez to know her actual age.

Well done 1nd1c03 and great you kept the mare, shes ended up in good hands. Its so sad how some crude people lie about horses ages and their backgrounds to get a extra few bob out of people. I remember years ago a friend bought her first novice pony as a rising 9 year old, nice little grey.. dentist visited and he was late 20's. She didn't go to court or claim any costs back, but that was some dodgy dealer in the South West.
 
It is awful how people just don’t care about the horse at all. That’s a huge discrepancy for your friends pony, you do wonder how they’ve ended up with someone who cares so little for them.

I couldn’t send her back, I’m too soft and I think the seller saw me coming!
 
I would get another different specialist equine vet to age your horse and write a report confirming this.
If the age is dramatically different to what was told to you when the horse was vetted then you may have a case against the original vet who will be insured and you will be able to make a claim against the vet.
If you are a BHS Gold member then you can get free legal advice.
 
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