How old was your horse when you bought it?

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OliveOyl

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Hi
How old was your horses when you bought it?
And what was the reason for sale from previous owners?

I shall likely be horse shopping again this year and am beginning to wonder if it's only the bad one's that get sold on unless you buy a real baby. . .!?
 
Wilby was 5 and was sold because he was a rubbish racehorse!
Bronson was 15 and we'd had him on loan for 8 months when the owner's daughter wanted to start having driving lessons, so they sold him :)
 
I'm sure that's not the case and there are genuine horses out there of all ages. When I've bought schoolmaster horses or ponies for my sons I've bought older ones, mostly around 15yo though that is just coincidence. Generally though we have horses 4-7yo as elder son enjoys producing them. We have a homebred rising 5yo 12.2hh waiting for younger son but time will tell how that works out..

Good luck finding a super horse.
 
I bought my mare when she was 5 from a local guy who imports, breaks in and sells on...I think he is genuine and she has turned out very well as far as I am concerned :)

I think as long as you are looking with your wits about you and with experience on your side, there are lots of genuine sales of all ages.

I miss the horse-shopping days, must convince OH I need a 3rd :)
 
Current one when she was 2, nearly three, as she was a rubbish racehorse.

Previous Henry, he was 7/8ish. Came through two dealers. Think previous owner was scared of him, as it looked like he had been out of work for a while!
 
My parents bought my gorgeous boy 17 years ago-he was 3 and i was 14, so we have grown up together. We didnt know what he would turn out like, but he has a kind eye and the biggest heart ever! Good luck x
 
My WB was 4 when I bought him from a SJ dealer, he had not been in the country long and I don't know anything about his past from much before I bought him. He is the first youngster that I have own and although he is a challenge I am loving every minute of it and he is definitely my horse of a lifetime. However, previously I have bought horses from the age of 6 who have been sold for varying reasons such as the owners ill health who have all turned out to be exactly what they were sold as. Not only that but around two years ago I sold my old show jumper to a girl that she had been on loan to for a year. She was 9 years of age by this point. Granted, she was only sold because she had been on loan for a while and I felt like I needed a new challenge but I wouldn't be put off by the sale of older horses, as long as the reasons are genuine. Just make sure you find out as much information as possible, try out the horse in all situations possible, have a vetting and make sure you are buying it for the right reasons. A friendly owner who is happy to stay in touch is also a big help if you ever require any advice. I try to go and watch my old horse compete as much as possible and if she ever needed to be sold I would be more than happy to spread the word.
 
Aidey was 4 years old when I bought her from a dealer.
Honey was 4/5 years old and again come from a dealer.
Abbie surprisingly popped out of Honey a few months later :D
Biscuit was 9 months old and bred to be sold.
 
Previous owner bought him as a failed racehorse as a 4yr old. I bought him because "she couldn't afford to keep him" as a 5yr old. I think she was a dealer, why else would you have 10+ horses and only one that wasn't for sale....
 
J was just 7, he was for sale as previous owner had lost interest and was planning a family. Roo was rising 3, owner had 3 youngster and had to sell 2 to repay a loan!
 
10 years old

Molly was for sale as her owner was pregnant and didn't have the time/or want to ride once she had her family. I'm still in regular touch with her old owner and was a very genuine reason for sale :)
 
5 (well rising 6 but he was foaled in december ) . Their aunt was moving to wales and couldnt take it with her and was leaving next week so needed quick sale. In other words (as we later found out) it just failed a vetting , we stuck it in the field for 6 months and it hasnt come right so therefore its half price. Moral of the story do not buy under pressure and always get a vetting even if it means losing the horse (she told us she had 2 other people coming to see it that day and one of which had tried to buy him just over the phone ) .

However, yes of course there are tons of genuine sales out there , with the country going down the toilet your bound to find people that genuinely just cant afford to keep their horses and need to sell. Also i would recommend buying from a dealer as even though ive had a bad experience you have so much more chance of getting your money back legally if things would go wrong. Also try and purchase horses with a credit card , i managed to get half my money back from previous sale as we payed half of it on credit card as we just said he was 'faulty goods' . Managed to get it all back without the hastle of going to court.
 
Frizbee was 12yrs - the old owners daughter had lost interest

Bambi was 4yrs & had been rescued by a friend who had no rider for her.

Magic was 9yrs & his rider had outgrown him.
 
Monty - 17. for sale as YO had a yard full, and we were looking for a schoolmaster to teach me showjumping/hunting, and wanted him and offered money :P haha - he is now 22 and still going hunting every week and hunter trial-ing with me in the summer!! :D he showjumped until 20, when i chose to stop with him

Bugsy - 11. for sale as owner had too many showjumpers and needed money (although found out afterwards its cause he doesnt actually like showjumping.....awkward considering we bought him for BSJA..)

Dani - 10. for sale as owner didn't have enough time for him, he was green and she didn't have time to do him justice.
 
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Rising 4.

She'd been imported unbroken by the people we bought her from. They backed her and started her but soon realised that they had got too many horses to do justice to. They had an oldie and a pony that had been outgrown and they bought two youngsters but found 4 was too much especially as the oldie wasn't slowing down as much as expected!

I certainly found that there weren't many horses over 5 and under 15 that were for sale for genuine reasons that didn't have issues, hence I ended up with a 4 year old!
 
Ginge was rising 6, and was sold as she had been frightening her 17 year old owner. 3 years later I still have her though she is currently on Loan to my friend as am pregnant. She has gone on to foxhunter Sj , event and has dressage points, I bought Finn in sept, sold him at the start of this month upon finding out I was pregnant , decided a rising 5 17hh horse not a good plan when pregnant
 
Little mare was 2 y/o, and newest one was 8 y/o. (Both tb's)

The mare switched off on the track, she sulked as soon as anything threatened to pass her then refused to play any more! Yet at home worked lovely, typical! The other is simply more of a hard ground horse so therefore isn't suited to chasing, but fine to fiddle round pointing/eventing for me :P
 
I bought both of mine in Ireland and brought them over. Irish Sport Horse as unbroken 3yr old and a TB directly from race trainer as 9yr old who had raced and point to point and didn't take at stud so was going for slaughter.
 
My girl was 7 and for sale because the owner had lost interest in horses, she's the best horse i've owned and she's now rising 20 and will stay with me to the end.
 
15 year old intermidiate eventing school master
he is 18 years old now and is one in a million... i am so glad I didnt listen to all the people that said "ohhh you dont want to buy an 15 year old" jealousy :D:D:D
 
1st one 4 years old and too small for husband to ride and owner could only keep one at the time so kept the bigger one.

2nd one foal and imported by owner to sell

3rd one yearling imported by same owner to sell
 
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