How old were your horses when you brought them...

merlin was 5 when I got him
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he was broken in late
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Blitz was 3 - he looked like a nerd trying hard to be a dude. He is now 7 and as an F line stallion is a very loveable twit with real ridability, despite his best efforts to become an equine kebab earlier this year he has qualified for the summer regionals at novice and elementary. He has started changes and we hope will go GP.

Diva was 5 - She is now 8 and up to this point has been quite stop start with amazing highs (national 6-y-o final, Petplan Prelim finals, summer regionals, first hack on our own) and awful lows (hormone issues which made her unrideable!) I have gone from unaffiliated W&T to BD elementary.

Finn was 12 - Now 13, bought as a nanny and escort and surpassed all expectations! Jumps, hacks and most recently dressage convert winning our first affiliated Prelim
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The nicest, kindest horse you will ever meet.

MoRon as a foal - Now 15 months. He has been beautiful, ugly, lanky and is currently handsome...

Muley weaned - Now 6. He was and still is a landmower
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Trooper was a failed police horse bought at 7 - he is now 24 and on loan as a hack. I was 16 and we went from local PC to open PC teams and affiliated BSJA, BE, BSPS and BD - he was a Super Trooper and the ultimate jack of all trades.

Maddie at weaning - now 8. Originally bought from Sue and John Rawding she competed as a 4-y-o in BYEH and was seriously smart with mega scores but then she broke
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She dislocated her pastern in a freak field accident and is now a mummy!
 
We bought mils as a 7 1/2 year old - she hadnt done much and looking back she was probs a bit much for a very small 14 year old who had only been off her 12.2 for a year!! But we have progressed and learnt so much together. Also although she is starting to have probs with artitus at least i have already had her quite a few years and we have had much fun together.

My pony we bought as a 3 almost 4 year old, she has a loose screw in her brains - but at least i know it is her and not that she has had a bad experience. Again was too much for me at 12, couldnt do anything till she was 5 and then quickly bought new horse.

If i bought a new horse again i would prob buy something young so i could afford one!!! and that i could train how i would like it to go
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Colin was just 6 - sent my oneday boss to find a horse for me not knowing what I wanted at 13 - ended up with him, who was more than I ever hoped him to be. Got me from being scaredof jumping to novice be.Kept him 8 yearsand is now on loan to a lovely person who enjoys unaffiliated dressage and showing with him - fulfilling her dreams as well as he fulfilled mine.
Minty was 4 - originally I looked at 5 year olds but most were so messed up already I dropped the age. He is just what I wanted - be several years moreto reach my goal of a 2* with him, but so far the nicest horse I've ever met!
 
Freddie has just turned four and I've had him three months. I wasn't looking for something this young as I didn't really want too much of a project, but he was so perfect in every other way and my criteria was pretty fussy in every other way (I wanted a traditional coloured gelding and had a limited budget) and he was owned by someone I knew, so I bit the bullet.

I'm so glad I did as I've always enjoyed having a blank canvas and hopefully he has an exciting future ahead of him.
 
Signature horse bought as a 4-yr-old, he is now 9.

Frodo was bought when he was 2 (now 4), and my yearling when he was 4 weeks old!

Basically because I couldn't have afforded none of these horses if any older
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Adrian was 4 & just backed. He is now 7. I wanted something unspoilt but haven't got the knowledge or the inclination to back something myself. He'd also got £40 BSJA, which was important - wouldn't want to buy something completely untested at affil level.

I know I moan about him being idle & tricky, but atm I wouldn't part with him for anything. (Can you tell he's been good lately??
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Bought a rising 5yo 14.1 (1st pony) very green, but a real gem. Would jump the moon and do a lovely test. Sadly lost her (foaling related illness) at age 14.

Loaned a riding 5yo 16.1, who'd been thoroughly trashed. Spent 18 months trying to sort him out, which half worked!

Then bought a 20month old who is now 3 and being backed. He's a lovely horse and I'm hoping we'll spend the next 20 years having fun! I must admit it would be nice to have a horse that I could go out and do things on, but I made my choice and so far I don't regret it.
 
Bodey Cob- 3.5 years old, unbacked and very nervous being handled, brought out of a field of Gypsy Cobs. Don’t ask me why, not completely sure myself why I went for something like him. But I knew I wanted a Gypsy Cob and we knew the dealer he came from (we had already had one cob from him). He is now 6 and turned out to be everything I wanted and more.

Badger the Fjord- 6 years old. No rime or reason, just my Mum sat on him and didn’t want to get off, so he came home. Came from the same dealer as Bodey. He is everything we hoped he would be, and perfect for my Mum to plod around on.
 
Rosie got BB when he was 3 and unbroken. She took him as far as she felt he could go (which included the Gatcombe Novice Champs and winning his section at the Pony Club eventing champs) and sold him when he was 8.
Then she got Bertie when he was 7 thinking she could improve on his fairly awful SJ record but happy that he was very able XC. The SJ is still rather problematic but last season she came 7th in the YR 2* at Weston clocking up 50+ points on him and taking him to advanced. I think they are very pleased he's still only 9 as this year he has had to be put on hold to some extent due to her accident.

I don't think she would consider anything older than 8 as she thrives on bringing them on - but just watch her prove me wrong - lol
 
Well I got toby when he was 13, in the middle of november. Initially he was my sisters but then I was given the ride as he is quite a handful. He is now 14, but thinks he is 4!

I don't have an issue with older horses, thats usually when they are at there prime, although toby has a while to go yet!

He is improving everyday and I am hoping to start some eventing next year when we trust each other completely!
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W was 4 rising 5 but was so green. I have always bought youngsters even with pony's. Its v rewarding seeing them develop
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i'll only do current horses or i will be here all day!

Pilfer- bought as a 9yro as a low level BE schoolmaster having won and placed at PN.
more than fulfilled his brief and gave me great experience over bigger tracks like Weston Park etc.

Millie- bought as a 2 week old foal with her mum. now 5yro and showing huge scope for eventing.
sadly we don't really click so she may be sold next spring after a few BE events.

Ellie- bought as a weanling, now 4yro. is an absolute darling and the loveliest horse to ride but too heavy and laid back to be the eventer i want so is sadly being sold.

Vinnie- bought as weanling and now 3yro. he oozes class and power but is already 17hh and i have doubts about him being a good amateur eventer's horse as he is far classier than i ever hoped.
i want to keep and event him myself as i don't think i will outgrow him ability wise but if not, he will be very saleable next year as has fantastic breeding and all the right attributes to be a fab horse.

i bought Pilfer as wanted experience with a competitive horse- he took me from falling off at my first event to winning PN 6 events later!
the rest were bought as youngsters as i simply cannot afford horses like that as 4-5yros and also as i love working with the youngsters and backing them etc.

the ones that haven't been perfect for me have been sold on and paid for replacements, the deposit on my house and a new car- again something you are unlikely to be able to do with a nice 4yro.
 
Monty was 18 - bought as a sj schoolmaster, he has jumped upto 1m25, hunted with South Notts and evented. he really knew his stuff and he was exactly what we bought him for
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he taught me everything!
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Bugsy was 10 - bought as a ''readymade'' showjumper for me to do bigger courses on. wanted one around 10 as i didn't think i was quite ready for a youngster to bring on, i just wanted something to have fun on.

Dani was 9 - bought as a green horse for a project. was an excellent project for me as he wasn't young etc so i was capable of working on him...but he needed a bit of work which really helped my riding/skills....plus it was fun
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until he ruptued his ligament
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xxx
 
Sophie and Flo were both 3yos (Sophie just backed, and Flo unbacked). Ben was 5 and just backed. M was a 12yo when OH got him (had raced 35 times, and evented up to nov with another member of his family - he got another 8 years of fun with him (evented to int), and never took an unsound step in his life).

I like 3yos as I can make my own mistakes with them rather than buying other peoples.

Fiona
 
My horse of a lifetime was 8. He spent years 4 to 6 being an unsuccessful dressage horse, year 7 in re-hab recovering from mental tortures of dressage and year 8 being hunted and having fun.

Then I had him and we had the best years of our life until he sadly died at 15. I bought him to get around a Br Novice course and ended up jumping Newcomers successfully and BE to Novice level (dressage always let us down though).

The good thing about that age is that I could crack on immediately.

Spent some time finding another like him and have not succeeded yet.
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Good luck in your new search
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Bruno was a just backed 4 year old as that was as far as the £££s stretched for a nice big young horse. He was never intended for me though & was meant to be professionally produced.

Echo was at the end of his 5 year old year. TBH we thought we were looking for something younger but that was really because we wanted a nice horse & thought we could only afford a 4 year old. He has turned out to be fab, he is now 7 & is doing his first Novice on Fri within a year of starting to event so I think we have had more fun with him (or rather been rewarded quicker) than if we had gone for a 4 year old.
 
The only horse I've ever actually bought, Thomas, was 5, had been to the track (I can't imagine deigned to actually run around it) and had done two or three events. He was for sale for almost a year (with people telling me I should go see him at regular intervals) with the price sinking gradually into my range. When it did we went to see him at an event and quite frankly the dressage and most of the show jumping was terrifying! But he trotted past us on the way to xc in a way he'd never showed in the ring and he looked fantastic xc without any help at all, which I thought would probably prepare him adequately for me.
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If anything he was even worse when we tried him at home. I found out afterwards he was a confirmed rearer, which we NEVER saw any sign of - ignorance is bliss - and an inveterate fence jumper which caused no end of problems over the years. He also had a pretty good bag of tricks and I found out years later people used to wait to see if he'd unship me in the warm up.
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I had great help with him and was too dumb to quit and he did all the really important bits very well so we all survived but the general consensus - oft said to my face - was he could have gone to the Olympics with someone halfway competent on his back. Probably but I suspect he's enjoyed his life, being worshipped by me and then a succession of leasers, just fine.
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Best. Horse. Ever.
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That said, would I do the same now . . . probably not. I had nothing but time when I had him and didn't know how much I didn't know.
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I don't so much agree that unstarted is best, as baby horses can have problems too and unless you're very experienced looking at them they're much harder to see than ones in older horses. My professional opinion for almost anyone now would be a broke, going horse showing an aptitude for the required job and doing enough to be tested a bit. If you're only going to have one horse and you have competitive goals I think it's better to narrow the odds of getting what you want. And it's quite possible to screw a horse up significantly in the first few months without even really knowing you're doing it so, again, for someone without a lot of experience and with clear goals, I'd still say get one with the best start possible.

For me . . . I'm never buying another one so no problem there.
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G was 3. He was advertised as a 5 year old, the vet who did the vetting somehow didn't spot his milk teeth (maybe because he was about 5ft tall and appeared to have a phobia of horses) and I didn't look in his mouth until about 3 weeks later. I went out to buy a 7+ year old...but you know how it goes.

I went out with not much cash for an allrounder to do unaffiliated with and whilst we don't compete much for various reasons, most recently (i.e. last spring) he was scoring late 60's at BD Novice. He's Zangershiede bred (Ramiro lines) and jumps like a stag and I expect he'd have been out of my price range as an 8 year old who'd actually done things.

He has been a very easy horse for 4 years and all his faults are my doing!
 
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Why did you choose that age? And have they turned out how you expected them to/wanted them to?
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Other than the 2 I have bred, my horses seem to have chosen me tbth.

Berry, well we never really knew how old he was, I'd hazard a guess that he was 4, maybe 5 when we bought him and I was 11. He was the best horse in the world ever, but I am not sure we bought him with anything other than fun in mind, so not sure if he turned out as we 'expected/wanted'.

Topper - I went to see him with my sister for a horse for her and I ended up being given him, he was 14. No not really, he was PTS a year later.

B - she was rising 8 and again, she kinda found me and it wouldn't have mattered what her age was (within reason) as she was my dream horse - still is, as I still dream of riding her and one day I will!!! Has she turned out as expected/wanted? Well she has certainly produced 2 foals that far exceeded my expectations when it comes to breeding!! I never thought I'd mastermind 2 such lovely animals as Hector and Matilda and I have B to thank for that!
 
I bought Jess as a 9 year old 10 years ago and she is the best purchase I've ever made
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I'm currently looking for another one and ideally I want a 5 year old that's done a bit but is still relatively unspoilt so I can bring it on how I want. Though after saying that I will probably end up with a middle aged allrounder!
 
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