How old is too old to still be green?

[Spot_On]

I had a horse who I bought who was supposedly 7, turned out at the vetting he was more like 12. Could barely trot under saddle when he arrived. Didn't put me off, he learnt quickly and still achieved a lot within a short period of time.

 

[JulesRules]

I bought my girl as a green 7 year old. She had been bought as a just backed 5 year old by the previous owner to bring on, but she never got round to doing anything with her other than light hacking. I have taken things slowly with her as she had weight to lose and fitness to gain and I have limited time, but I dont plan to sell her so no problem.

 

[FfionWinnie]

So an older horse that is green from lack of work rather than lack of trying wouldn't put you off?

No it wouldn't. I had a mare who I never jumped and she went out on loan from 9-15 yrs to someone (who turned out to be horrible but that's beside the point!) who never jumped her either. She then went to someone else at 16 yrs and is in a year jumping 1m tracks and whizzing round substantial xc courses like she's done it all her life.

Why do you wonder?

 

[Alphamare]

Not all riders do all things with all horses so even a horse who is very experienced in one discipline will have no experience in another. Some highly schooled horses are never hacked for example. Some people never hunt. Some hackers don't school or don't jump. Their horses will be green in those areas. This would not put me off because I probably would set out to buy a happy hacker as a show jumper. Or a plough horse for dressage.

My own youngster is six and still green. He and I are having lessons, he can shoulder in and let yeild etc but not always consistently. He has gone back wards in his trot to canter transitions so this is going to be worked on. He hacks out in company and also solo. I consider him green in solo hacking as he is very babyish about it. He is my forever horse so I don't give a monkies about his age! He will gain experience in the things he needs to at a pace that suits us both. I throughly laid out the groundwork in backing him so the platform for training is pretty solid. He is a nervy character though so I take it slow with him.

 

[TarrSteps]

personally, for me, and for dressage, 6 (UNLESS its a mare thats only been a broody but then i would have serious reservations as to why she didnt do anything before being put in foal.....so another can of worms...).

i can forgive a 4 or 5yo for being wobbly and un-educated, especially if the jockey has been busy or is very nervy but by 6, if its still green as grass, theres normally a reason and that reason is normally that its sharp, silly, or quirky.

constantly amazed on here at the amount of people that think its normal that a 6/7/8yo cant yet canter in the school or do any lateral work, or work in an outline or even bend the right blinking way!!!!

To be fair, it's quite common for mares on the Continent to be put in foal at 3, partly for economic reasons but also to see if she will do the job and to hopefully produce a foal who will help with her approval. A client of mine recently bought a mare who has done this job for 3 years and so is now 7 and very green but a lovely horse and much more than she would have been able to buy for the same money a few years younger.

Otherwise, training is a function of time and effort, not age, so it completely depends on what the horse has done. I've backed horses as old as 10. Not ideal but doable. My reservation would be greater if the horse is intended for high level competition as I think it is possible to simply run out of time, but for most horses that's not a serious concern.

I do agree with the above to some extent though. If someone has been working on a horse for months or even years and the horse still seems to be at a very green stage, I'm going to start to wonder why . . .

 

[windand rain]

I dont normally back mine until they are at least 5 so all mine will be green at 6 and possibly 7 gives them time to mature and to grow up. I sometimes have a shortage of riders too so my horses and ponies are often lawn mowers for a long time so can be very green. Not every horse is given a conventional start in many cases due to many different circumstances.

 

[mainpower]

My 6yo rides like a green 4yo. He was massively croup high until a year ago, I had a lot of time off riding last year due to illness. We had just started to get it all together over last winter when he got a nasty foot abcess which meant he had two months off work, then I've been in and out of hospital since May. However I don't think I'd buy a green 6yo, unless I knew the horse/rider and the reason there was a delay in training.