Ok, Humour me..please....

[JM7]

as a few of you may know, i buy and sell a few ponies, just for a hobby......

so, my query is....

as the majority of folk are either advised to buy/or want horses/ponies between the ages of 8 and 12...... who buy's the youngsters to bring them on????
who buy's the oldies??
there must be some folk who aren't bothered by age???
is it such a big issue??

if i had a pound for every person who rings me up, having read my adverts,which always states their age, then says "oh i wish he/she was older".........
why ring in the first place?????

 

[burtie]

I wonder the same, although personally I'd not ever buy a horse older than 3 as I like to back and produce my own. My older mare who is now 12 but has had a relatively easy life, and is now in her prime, I've been told is all but worthtless!!

Luckily I'm loaning her not selling but it does seem ridiclulous!

 

[H's mum]

I wouldn't mind about age - it's ridiculous to narrow the search down so much as you can miss out on an ideal horse!
Kate x

 

[H's mum]

[ QUOTE ]
My older mare who is now 12 but has had a relatively easy life, and is now in her prime, I've been told is all but worthtless

[/ QUOTE ]
That's ridiculous - your mare is a cracking horse - someone will be really lucky to have her!
Kate x

 

[Kelly1982]

I prefer youngster myself so i can bring them on but i would of thought when it came to ponies, parents would prefer the older, been there done it type!!

 

[JM7]

thats my point...there are bound to be shortages of available animals if everyone is after the same thing....also fuelling the price hikes..

i've had countless folk not want to come and see ponies just because of the age "thing"???

sad really.....as i'm positive the pony was capable of the job being asked of them....

 

[Rambo]

I think you've answered your own question there JM7....people who are 'advised' to buy certain animals are generally people who are less knowledgeable and therefore require a 'schoolmaster type' of animal. Those in the know would likely go for a slightly younger animal with a view to having a longer partnership with it, or perhaps selling on for profit. Older horses are a market all of their own, and by simple rules of nature, there will be less of them to worry about homing anyway

 

[Sarah1]

I suppose in an ideal, textbook, world experienced horse people such as yourself would buy the youngsters to either keep and compete/enjoy or bring on properly and sell as sane allrounders/competition horses etc. The older horses would provide education and confidence for the novice/nervous rider.
Sadly, the reality is often that people with ideas far beyond their capabilities buy the youngsters and the poor animals end up being passed from pillar to post after being branded 'problem horses'. The older horses are considered 'past it' by many people and their fate is to spend the rest of their days stuck in a field or worse!
I have had an older horse and he was by no means 'past it', on the contrary he was still winning SJ classes into his 20's! I now have a horse the other end of the age scale - he's 5!
I realise that what I have stated above about the reality of youngsters/oldies is not always the case - there are some less experienced people who have younger horses and are doing a splendid job and by the same token there are some older horses doing their stuff and making a damn good job of it too!!!!!! Don't want to cause offence, just a generalisation really!!!!!!

 

[riotgirl]

Personally, it wouldn't bother me having an older horse. Mind you, I just tend to bumble about doing my own thing, so age isn't really an issue there! I have a youngster of my own (well, shes 9 but wasn't broken until I got her last year so I still class her as a baby!) so this isn't off putting either.
I think the problem is that people don't necessarily want to wait for results - they want to get on a horse and see it at the peak of its performance now!

 

[LEC]

I think there is a riding instructor conspiracy - encouraging people to buy things that will need lots of lessons!

I am surprised about this young thing as horses now are lasting longer than ever. Some racehorses are still going at 14 which used to be unheard of. But I am a big hypocrite as I buy young horses to bring on and sell and I would only buy anything over 8 if cheap and can be turned around quickly.
I think horse prices are ridiculous at the moment but honestly how many are selling? I know loads of people looking but being priced out and all they want is something to have fun on not going to go round Badminton.

 

[Snowberry]

tha majority of the ponies I have bought for the kids have been oldies!! I like them older and as long as they're up to the job then I dont care how old they are.
We used to have a loan pony for Hattie when she was 5 and the pony was into its 30's and still had loads to teach a little un!!
As the kids have got older I've let them have younger ponies to bring on but if/when my 2 little ones decide to ride then I'll be looking for an oldie to teach them the ropes!!

 

[spaniel]

It would help a lot if the insurance companies didnt automatically class anything over 15 as a veteran and practically uninsurable.

 

[sleepingdragon10]

The younger the better for me, although obviously if a riding pony is being sought then I'd want one that had atleast had the basics instilled.....

 

[vic07]

too true.

Unfortunately I have heard so many novice people who want a safe horse saying the horse cannot be over 10 as they might want to sell it on......! horses of this age are good and safe as someone has spent 5-10 years making the safe and good to gain experience on! Therefore they buy something young they cannot cope with and ends up being a problem horse.

 

[S_N]

[ QUOTE ]
It would help a lot if the insurance companies didnt automatically class anything over 15 as a veteran and practically uninsurable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again I concur

Although personally, the age of a horse doesn't bother me! Toppers was 14, as were both of my sister's horses at the time of purchase!

 

[matthew]

I would buy anything that suited- some 4 year olds are more mature than some 20 year old imo! lol! personally i wouldnt buy a real baby as i dont trust my experience to bring them on correctly!

 

[Laafet]

I seem to have the opposite problem or maybe not as the people that come to see my youngsters are usually novice people looking for cheap horses but they are never capable of actually bringing the horse on so i have to put them off - the last one i sold luckily to a teenager that had had a lot of loan ponies and wanted something broken and basically there but needed bringing on. However before she came had two people fall off the horse as incapable of riding an ex-racer. Seems people want something for nothing or are not prepared to make small sacrifices over age, type, price etc.

 

[burtie]

[ QUOTE ]
That's ridiculous - your mare is a cracking horse - someone will be really lucky to have her!

[/ QUOTE ]

Awww, thank you Kate

Of course to me she is priceless!!

 

[henryhorn]

I have to admit, not that many people want a youngster these days.
We have however sold three under the age of one, all went to expereinced horse owners two of whom have brought on babies in the past. the other one is getting us to keep it until four and paying for it to be broken here.
When I sold Hero lots of people rang up and I put some off myself when I sussed they were first timers, as despite him being impeccably behaved, with a beginner he may have learned bad habits.
We are now tending to sell ours at four or five with enough mileage that they are pretty well established in their manners, selling for instance a three year old is a waste of time as no-one is interested .

 

[Farrieress]

there is the old 15 mark. A horse that is coming up to 15 or over must be past it!!!!! and anything younger then 6 must be insaine!!!!!!! Unfortunatly most pony buyers do want the same thing a pony has been there and done it but is not too old!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They cant cope with a bit of personality and feistyness!!!!!!

This is stemming back to how kids are tought nowadays, due to continuous insurance claims over tho most pathetic incidints instructors are forced to take the safe option. When i was tought and im sure many of you are the same, you wouldnt think twice if asked to ride jumps etc with no stirrups no saddle!!!! No reins!!!!!! Kids then were tought to use their seat, kids now need ponies who are "school masters" to be able to "ride" as they cant sit anything else, and mommy is worried about precious falling off. There is no more "GET UP AND RIDE THAT BLOODY PONY PROPERLY". This is by no means a dig at instructors out there as they have their hands tied, this is bloody legislation killing our up comers and therefore ruining our sport!!!!!!!!!

 

[racingdemon]

those of us who are tight arses and won't pay over the odds LOL (no offence anyone) but a 14 yo could still have 10 years of decent work in him, yet will be considerably cheaper than a 12yo, likewise 7 is another good age to buy, too old to be considered a 'young horse with 4* potential' but too young to have got very far!!

personally as long as it does the job i couldn't give a fig, & along with colour, its not high up on the list of priorities, but then i'm tight!

 

[Farrieress]

too right, but people arn't prepared to put the work in, they want a ready made rosette machine, especially when your talking about ponies as its the kids who ride them mostly
x

 

[Munchie]

Personally I'd rather something no older than 5/6. I actually enjoy the groundwork etc with a younster just as much as I do the riding part so would be more than happy to take on something unbroken or very young. Its all good experience!

 

[MagicMelon]

Im like you, I like to buy the youngsters! I much prefer babies as I love bringing them on, its far better than buying something ready made (or ruined in some cases!). Oldest horse Ive ever bought was 7, youngest 3. Most have been 4 or 5.

Id buy all the oldies if I had masses of money and land! However I sadly dont.... But I do keep my old faithfuls like I still have my very first pony who is now 20.

A lot of people DO seem bothered about age. Its silly but true. They expect a 10 yr old to be really safe and sensible when I have seen far more sensible 5yr olds! The only reason I buy them young is to bring them on when their still "innocent" and because it then gives me lots of years with them.

You will get losers calling up about horses. There are many many timewasters.......

 

[teapot]

I think some RS buy younger horses and get their staff to bring them on.

Yard I used to work at - had some 4yr old horses/ponies in and were brought on by the staff, some are still there 4yrs later, others have been bought by clients and then moved on

 

[nelgonde]

Yeah! We've got a 5yo palamino, sent to our place to sell.

He's had 1 viewer in about 6 months! And guess what they said.... "we'd prefer something with a bit more experience".

When I was a young, there were certain (lucky) kids who were jockeys for well-known horse dealers. These kids basically started the ponies off and competed them. Once the ponies started winning they were sold. I dunno if that happens much nowadays?

Edited to add: perhaps you need to get yourself a jockey!

 

[Boodle]

*raises hand*

Youngies and oldies!

3yr old Rescue shettie.
My sister boguth a 4yr old untouched Tb gelding who is now on loan while she's in Oz.
We took a 36yr old on permanent loan (believing he was 20, but thats not the point - he competed and was ridden until a few weeks before he passed away).
18yr old 13.2hh as a jumpin Pony.
25yr old mare as a first pony - the best I could ask for.
17yr old 14.3hh gelding for my sister.... a true gent.
A 13yr old (not old) for myself after I outgrew first pony.

And we just keep them forever!

 

[dieseldog]

When ever I've bought a youngster, I've always sold it as it hasn't turned out what I wanted, either grew too big or it wasn't ever going to do what I wanted. So for me I prefer an older horse. However, I find when looking for an older horse there aren't that many genuine ones around, all the good horses no one wants to sell - unless you are really lucky and a lot of stuff in the 7-15 age group does have issues. Which is why they are being sold.

 

[Jo C]

I would only buy a 3 or 4 year old - anthing else I would consider (for me personally) too old. I like to get them before they start picking up bad habits under saddle.

 

[TGM]

[ QUOTE ]
too right, but people arn't prepared to put the work in, they want a ready made rosette machine, especially when your talking about ponies as its the kids who ride them mostly
x

[/ QUOTE ] You are SO right! I recently met a mum who buys her daughter another very expensive pony everytime she encounters a problem with the previous one, so the child has only learnt to sit and push buttons, rather than work through problems herself.