old horses advertised for just a few hundred pounds...

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dorito

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...do you inwardly groan (on behalf of the poor horse of course!) when you see an oldish horse advertised for sale, for just a few hundred pounds?

Especially when (a) the horse is very well bred and/or (b) not sound for riding and/or (c) the ad mentions seller would swap for another horse ?
 
Indeed! Replace 'horse' with 'dog' in such an advert and there'd be an outcry!

I've always kept my old faithfuls until their dying day but I appreciate that not everyone's in a position to do that.
 
Yes, it horrifies me. One thing is to sell on a 16yo as a schoolmaster to a good home, but how can anyone sell a 19/20 yo? My 22yo is going nowhere - he deserves a good life and I owe it to him.
 
I hate it. What are the chances of it having a fantastic future. Very low :-(((

Especially maddens me when they say 'Must be home for life'.

Why should they give a home for life, you blinkin didnt Ms Seller.

I dont think horses over about 16 should ever be sold, loaned if necessary eg as companion to someone you know and where you can make regular checks, but not sold.

People should take responsibility for their oldies. Look after them, or PTS, Dont pass them on. You wouldnt do it with your child or dog so dont do it with your horse.

Makes me mad. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 
Always upsets me. When I was looking for the swamp monster, I saw an ad for one of I think about 22 who OH had to forcibly stop me ringing about - if I remember right, they'd had years of service out of him and were now passing him on. Shocking.
 
It doesnt always work out badly selling the oldies though! When I was younger my mum bought me a 19yo ex bsja pony - she was sound, fit happy and did all the pc areas etc, went team chasing and provided me with such valuable experience and confidence. When I outgrew her we 'gifted' her to another young girl in the area on the condition tha they couldnt sell her and if they came into the postition where they no longer could keep her/wanted her then she would come back to us. The young girl had great fun hunting her two days a week and doing games well into stars mid twenties and she lived the rest of her days with them until she was 30 - does that make me terrible 'getting rid' of an old pony? I think for everyone involved that particular situation worked out best for everyone including star herself.

Likewise if I needed a companion horse I wouldnt hesistate to get an oldie who was retired but then I would only want to pay a few hundred pounds for it.

I dont think its wrong selling them as such but I think the sellers themselves need to be very aware of where they are going and find the best home possible for them rather than just take the money from the first person who comes along.

That said, George is 18 now (had him 14 years) and I wouldnt sell him to anyone ever. That said shoud the need arise (you dont know whats around the corner) I wouldnt discount loaning him to someone provided it was the right/person home.
 
but in this case the pony was still in the area, you could keep tabs on it and you had a right of buy back - so in some ways more like a loan, which is fine.

So I think it worked out great, and might be fine with an all round talented oldie who is still fit to work esp a pony good in all ways.

NB if they had decided to sell it on you wouldnt have been able to enforce the first refusal clause apparently. So you were lucky.

I think this is more about the less in demand types, the bigger horses, the ones with physical problems or behavioural quirks, and being advertised on the open market to strangers.
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
Especially maddens me when they say 'Must be home for life'.

Why should they give a home for life, you blinkin didnt Ms Seller.
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Exactly.

lachlanandmarcus said:
I think this is more about the less in demand types, the bigger horses, the ones with physical problems or behavioural quirks, and being advertised on the open market to strangers.
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Even more exactly.
 
I find it very sad when they are entered for sales, there was an old Welsh cob broodmare at the last sale i went to, very grey in her face, just described as aged in the catalogue, but she looked well into her 20's, she went to Turners, the owner couldnt give a monkeys, walking & smiling round the ring with the mare in tow, without a care in the world. She knew the mare went to Turners & didnt bat an eyelid, people like that make me want to punch them in the head. She had probably churned out foal after foal for this woman & that was the price she paid.
 
Oh we know full well that they *could* have sold her and I wouldnt have been able to do a thing about it but Im sure they knew that all hell would be let loose if they had tried!

Like I say, sometimes peoples circumstances change for whatever reason and they need to find a home for their horse and can no longer keep it. That said, that can happen with older or indeed younger horses and I believe its the sellers responsibility to the animal to make sure it ends up in a decent home. Obviously its not always foolproof but I do believe the vast majority of the time you can decide if someone is worthy of your horse or not!

We had someone come try a little tb I bought as a project two years ago....she was that bad I told her to get off and said that I would not be selling it to her - at the end of the day its my horse and my choice who can buy it!

What IS different is people dumping off older horses because they no longer have a use/need for them and they sell them to whoever comes along with the money first without a care in the world where its going to end up. Obviously I dont agree with that one bit but you cant tar all sellers with the same brush who are selling an oldie for a few hundred quid (after all this is all they are worth) - they may be very genuine sellers and very choosy about where it ends up - they are not all the same!
 
Very sad. The horse will end up most likley passed from pillar to post. You should do the right thing and if you no longer want it,do the decent thing and pts.
 
navaho said:
I find it very sad when they are entered for sales, there was an old Welsh cob broodmare at the last sale i went to, very grey in her face, just described as aged in the catalogue, but she looked well into her 20's, she went to Turners, the owner couldnt give a monkeys, walking & smiling round the ring with the mare in tow, without a care in the world. She knew the mare went to Turners & didnt bat an eyelid, people like that make me want to punch them in the head. She had probably churned out foal after foal for this woman & that was the price she paid.
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That is really really sad.
 
J bought my horse as an oldie, good reasons for sale given, horse, tack and rugs all for £750. sold to me as 17 yrs going on 18 yrs, my vet thinks she was at least 20 but will not argue with passport, so I have had her just over a year and she is a fantastic horse, i nearly lost her in Jan/ feb this year as her protine level went down to count 5.
She had built up a resistance to worms and had to be put on 110 steroids one week and 55 the next week, blood results show liver damage and she has cataracts ( not too bad yet) she fought like a little trooper and is feeling lots better, cost me £700 and she was worth it.
I bought an old horse and fell in love with her and I dont know how long her health will keep up but she is going nowhere. People sell horses of all ages for lots of reasons all you can do is hope they get a good home.
 
While it is sad that old horses get passed on to an uncertain future, they may be better off in a home that does want them compared to one that does not. Not every old horse passed on like this inevitably ends up in a bad home. When my oldie passes on I will want to give a home to another oldie as a companion. I would rather buy than loan but would not want to pay a lot for a companion. That said I have seen more old horses which are sold end up in a bad home than a good one. Mind you I have seen a lot of old horses kept by their long term owner and then neglected.
 
Totally agree to providing your oldie with a decent retirement. We bought our veteran at 15 and he's now 34.

On the other hand, I am one of those people who would BUY an old horse and give it a decent home and one for life. I bought a New Forest mare in May for £250. She was advertised as 24 and a light hack. Her owners did love her, but also wanted to buy a bigger horse. They were very careful about who they would sell to, and I will never forget the change in her face when I showed her photos of our old boy. She was so relieved! She sobbed when we picked the mare up and we are still in contact.


I love my little mare and there are some people out there who do know how much oldies can give, especially to young or nervous riders.
 
I've got 3 at 18/19 atm.

I would rather stick pins in my eyes than sell them.

Each has problems, Two I will not put through another winter (one arthritic, one international cribber with very little tooth left).

The remaining mare has bred me 2 foals and given me a couple of years admittedly very quirky service. Not sure if there's a market for cold-backed hot 19 year old ex SJ mares but I doubt it. I'm pretty sure that she'd go down the inevitable spiral or worse and worse owners. It isn't her time yet and she's far too good a doer to do nothing - and in the current market she just doesn't produce the quality of foal needed so I don't know what she'll do. Perhaps trekking, or endurance if you don't have to get off much LOL. Either way I'll be watching her and whomever is lucky (ahem) enough to loan her!

Makes my blood boil reading those adverts :mad::mad::mad:
 
navaho said:
I find it very sad when they are entered for sales, there was an old Welsh cob broodmare at the last sale i went to, very grey in her face, just described as aged in the catalogue, but she looked well into her 20's, she went to Turners, the owner couldnt give a monkeys, walking & smiling round the ring with the mare in tow, without a care in the world. She knew the mare went to Turners & didnt bat an eyelid, people like that make me want to punch them in the head. She had probably churned out foal after foal for this woman & that was the price she paid.
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I can see exactly where you are coming from but in reality, was it such an awful fate for the poor old horse? At least she had a quick end with people who handled her professionally, rather than some numpties who bought a cheap horse, hammered it about for a bit then dumped it in a field assuming nature would take its course? Anybody who sells at market knows full well that the local meat men will be there in force - the old horse could have been a papered 4 year old instead, or a childs pony, or an ex BSJA. It happens day in day out and thats a fact, if a sad one.
 
I have one off these, half blind with 2 old tendon injuries. Felt sorry for him and he now lives with me. Was in the paper free to a good home. He's 19 yrs and won't stay in a stable on his own as he jumps out. He's a old got but I love him.
 
There's one on a local horse community facebook post at the moment. He's a thoroughbred in his 20's who is being passed on as being able to jump ('but might shy at first')!!!! :mad:
 
I also bought an oldie, 23yrs, blind in one eye, bad tendons and broken knees. It was obvious she used to be a top class show pony from the way she rode and acted when in the ring at local shows. Bought for meat money. Lived the rest of her life with me and died aged 39 with her head in my lap and a mouthful of pear. Not every old horse sold on has a bad end.

Equally I would never sell mine, they are family like the dog and cat. But I wouldn't hesitate to take on another oldie.
 
I agree katPT no they don't all have a bad end and my old git won't go anywhere.
Iv sold horses to what I thought was a dam good home only to end in a bad way. So selling is no different.
Old or young, given away or sold, they can all end up the same way.
 
I'm gonna stick my neck out a little here. I totally agree with the sentiment of not selling on oldies that can no longer do the job. I certainly will NEVER part with Zoom as she is a member of the family. I also experienced this first hand as Monty was 28 when we got him and had 7 homes in 8 years :( :( :( The poor old buggar just got buted up and moved round being sold as a showjumper.

HOWEVER......I don't necessarily always put horses of 18,19,20 in that category or indeed ponies in their early 20s. These days veterans are healthier and fitter than ever (horse and hound wrote that article recently) and my 16 yo mare i do NOT think of as anywhere near a veteran.

I think selling on PC ponies etc in their 20s is sometimes the best thing for the pony as they often still have loads of mileage left and are happier teaching children the ropes than sitting in a field. I know that unless she goes hideously lame Zoomy will always want to work even if she makes it to 35, she's just that type of horse!

Anyway......just my thoughts........
 
i dont no how i feel about this as my mare has never had any health issues and is 16 and althought she isnt a novice ride unless with an assistant i would call her a school master as she could easily go onto 30 and teach someone to compete at low level and then happy hack out for years. im only 22 so my life could change in 5 years time and need to sell her

id rather not of course and loaning her may make more sence but there is never any garentee with horses
 
Even though it is sad selling any horse, sometimes keeping really isn't an option. About 3 years ago I finally parted with my first pony, a 22 year old 12.2 Welsh. At the time I had outgrown her by far, I was on a yard with limited turnout in terms of field size and it was wasn't a good quality of life for her IMO standing around doing nothing.

I put her on loan to a lady who had literally hundreds of acres, where she lived for 2 years, being hacked out by a girl of about 5. She came back to me after that time, I said my "final goodbye" to her, and off she went to (what I hope) is her new forever home - where she will live out her days. I decided it was in no way fair on her to bring her back at the grand old age of 26 with me and my current horse to England for the sake on my own happiness.

So yes, it is sad - but sometimes it is for the benefit of the horse.
 
FreddiesGal said:
Even though it is sad selling any horse, sometimes keeping really isn't an option. About 3 years ago I finally parted with my first pony, a 22 year old 12.2 Welsh. At the time I had outgrown her by far, I was on a yard with limited turnout in terms of field size and it was wasn't a good quality of life for her IMO standing around doing nothing.

I put her on loan to a lady who had literally hundreds of acres, where she lived for 2 years, being hacked out by a girl of about 5. She came back to me after that time, I said my "final goodbye" to her, and off she went to (what I hope) is her new forever home - where she will live out her days. I decided it was in no way fair on her to bring her back at the grand old age of 26 with me and my current horse to England for the sake on my own happiness.

So yes, it is sad - but sometimes it is for the benefit of the horse.
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Jaw drops - and sometimes it is for the benefit of the owner.
 
amazed at all those who think that at beyond 16 a horse shouldn't be sold. We have an outgrown fast - approaching 40 year old, who isn't retired. Tried retiring him, he hated it. He still takes tinies out for hacks and rules the herd, and still to sharp for anyone under the age of 18 to ride off lead rein :D I'm looking for something aged 20 plus (about 12hh) for a child to learn on, but can't find one for love nor money! Because everyone chucks them out to grass and retires them at 16! These oldies have so much to give!
 
georgiegirl said:
It doesnt always work out badly selling the oldies though! When I was younger my mum bought me a 19yo ex bsja pony - she was sound, fit happy and did all the pc areas etc, went team chasing and provided me with such valuable experience and confidence. When I outgrew her we 'gifted' her to another young girl in the area on the condition tha they couldnt sell her and if they came into the postition where they no longer could keep her/wanted her then she would come back to us. The young girl had great fun hunting her two days a week and doing games well into stars mid twenties and she lived the rest of her days with them until she was 30 - does that make me terrible 'getting rid' of an old pony? I think for everyone involved that particular situation worked out best for everyone including star herself.

.
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When I went to uni I sold my pony who was 17 with the same proviso. I had her back at 21 after a great 4 years going great guns with a young rider and teaching her lots. I kept her until she died at 29. She won the riding club cup for the horse with the most points when she was 23. My current mare is 21 and you wouldn't know it. There is no way I would sell her but I bet there are lots of people who would buy her.
 
scarymare said:
Jaw drops - and sometimes it is for the benefit of the owner.
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I fail to see how that was perceived as for my benefit. If it was for my benefit I would have sold her the minute I outgrew her and earned myself a couple of hundred pounds, like most people do, rather than keeping her for 3 years because I couldn't bare to part with her.
 
ponypilotmum said:
amazed at all those who think that at beyond 16 a horse shouldn't be sold. We have an outgrown fast - approaching 40 year old, who isn't retired. Tried retiring him, he hated it. He still takes tinies out for hacks and rules the herd, and still to sharp for anyone under the age of 18 to ride off lead rein :D I'm looking for something aged 20 plus (about 12hh) for a child to learn on, but can't find one for love nor money! Because everyone chucks them out to grass and retires them at 16! These oldies have so much to give!
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Ponies I think are less of an issue than horses (for a start their active working life can be double the average for a bigger horse, as you say they can just be getting started in their teens, and loaning ok too if you can monitor, the issue really is larger horses, often with issues, who are higher maintenance or crocked or quirky.

For me, those equines should not be sold on after 16 ish (ok it could be 18 or whatever, whatever age they are slowing up, issues becoming too much). Not because they WONT get a good home (as all the nice posters on here demonstrate, they are out there), but because the chances of them getting that nice home are just too low. It then becomes a gamble, and personally, I would not feel it right to gamble with the future welfare of an elderly horse.
 
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