how old?

I like to buy unbacked youngstock from their breeder/Stud.

The grey (see my siggy) is now four and she will hopefully be (not finished backing her yet) a happy hack and local shows fun horse. :)
 
I prefer straight from breeder/stud, 3/4 year olds. My rising 6 year old will be a happy hack (when I manage to stay on!), dressage and the odd show horse for me and when a friend wants to jump him then feel free. I want him to have the experience and he has the potential, I'm just a Nervous Nelly about it! I bought him straight from his breeder as a just broken 3 year old, left him until he was 4 apart from the odd hack and pootle round the school and started him again, he was much more grown up about life then :)
 
I have a 2yo Welsh cob that will just be doing in hand for now, an 11yo Arabian who competes in dressage, showjumping, some eventing/fun rides and a 6yo ex racer who is currently retraining, but hopefully will be doing a bit of everything.

I have no age limit, as it's often fun to take on something that can only be seen as a slight 'challenge' to say the least. With my Arabian mare in particular, nothing beats getting the good old 'then and now' pictures out for a laugh at how much she has changed from a stroppy, nappy little terror who used to refuse everything and enjoy making me cry as I couldn't control her, to now being the one horse I can't wait to ride and is a total schoolmistress at everything.

When looking, I always keep in mind a 4yo can potentially have a lot more wear and tear/mileage than an 18yo with regards to how they've been backed and undergone training, so what's the age matter if the horse is going to be out of use before they're 8.
 
It depends..for myself i look for anything from 4 to about 5, something i can work on. I do a bit of everything with my 5 y\o :)
 
I was looking for a hack, bit of dressage and have just bought a 10 year old. looked at horses between 7 and 15 though when buying. Im not experienced enough for youngsters.
 
I think mileage, conformation and how much genuine history is more telling than age. Also how young was the horse started, what was done and the ethos of the trainer.

If I was looking then I would probably be looking at 3/4/5yo with very little done to them - purely because of the bad experience of owning a 10yo who had not been started well, not kept fit and run into the ground before unsuspecting little me bought her!!

I would be less cautious if I had space for more horses! Mine are in livery so a herd of them is out of the question!!
 
I'd prefer 2-4 and unbacked as I'm now on our 3rd youngster and all 3 have been a good experience, despite wanting to shoot one of them many times!
Older horses pose too much of a risk to me, other peoples mistakes etc.
I think you really grow with a youngster also, and the bond can be come very strong :)
 
Wow, interesting how many people go for youngsters, I wasn't expecting that. I've heard so many bad stories about older horses (anything from backed to OAP) that I'm glad I have youngsters, although I'm not brave or brilliant at all.
 
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