Horses - what age would you go for?

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I would say 6-8 is definitely where the biggest money is. If I wanted a selling on project I would buy a 4 or 5 year old to sell by 7 or 8 to get the optimum amount of money.

Personally if I was buying I would be looking for anything between 6-12 - depending on what it had done. I'd want something that had done a bit, and was already fairly established, but still had plenty of years of competing ahead. I'd be happy to buy up to about a 12 year old if I wasn't planning on selling and it was perfect for what I wanted to do.

I do think everyone wants a young horse these days, as unless a horse is absolutely a top quality schoolmaster, prices really drop after age 10 and so anyone selling a horse on won't get much in the way of profit or return if they buy before 10 and sell after.
 
3-5, I'd want something that had done the very basics, but hadn't had time to get into the bad habits etc. I never thought I'd buy a youngster, and sometimes he drives me mad, but when you do well its such an amazing feeling to know it's all your hard work paying off, not somebody elses
 
I'd prefer to buy a youngster from a professional breaking/youngsters yard where I can see how they work all their horses and see if I like their method of bringing on. My worry with buying from a private seller is that they may have bought a baby, thinking that they could bring it on, but then found themselves in too deep and have actually done some damage at the very crucial early stages of its life.
 
It would depend what I was looking for. If I decided to take up jumping again I would need a proper schoolmaster, so I'd look for something between about 12 and 14 years old that would be able to look after me. I am much more established on the flat than over jumps as a rider, so when I start looking for a dressage horse later this year I will be looking for something no older than 10 (as I want a horse for life, not just a few years), ideally about seven, but no younger than five. I am not ready to start my own youngster yet so I think a five year old broken for at least a year would be the youngest I would go if it had a sensible head.
 
i chose 9-11 but i got tabs when she was 16 and wouldnt change her for the world although i do wish that i had got her when she was about 6 then she wouldnt rush at her jumps as all she has been taught its to jump as high and as fast as possible
i wouldnt want something really young as i dont think i have the experience and wouldnt want to ruin it
 
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