Older horse who has never done anything.. ops please?

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We've got a new horse on the yard... A lady gave her to the hunt, and she's come to mums yard on livery to see if we can make anything of her, possibly to sell for hunt funds or to keep as an extra hunter.

Thing is she is 15 and hasn't really done anything at all in her little life! Don't think she had been in a waggon til mum went to pick her up!

She seems nice enough, I took her over a few little XC jumps today and she's got a decent pop in her but do you think at her age, it's fair to expect anything from her??
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I think it is totally down to the horse. I have 2 oldies (much older than this one), 1 loves to do anything and she enjoys going to new places. The other would be quite happy if he never left his field again for the rest of his life.

I think mares are far more accomodating at this age than geldings who tend to sit back and enjoy the quiet life. Give her a go, see what she makes of it all and if she doesn't like it then just sell her on as a happy hacker.
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Yea thats what we thought. She seemed to really enjoy herself today doing a bit of jumping. She jumps MASSIVE over everything!
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No not showing material, she's a nice sort but her front feet turn in quite bad (well, really bad actually).

I feel a bit sorry for her really, I'm not sure how fair it is to "give" a 15 yr old to the hunt (who to be fair go through more than their fair share of horses
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). I guess all we can do is our best for her...
 
If she loves her hunting I don't see why she shouldn't be kept going! There are two 18yo horses that hunt with us and they absolutely love it!
 
She hasn't really done any of that yet though! Thats the thing! She's basically been sat in a field with the occasional ride from this womans grandson.
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I agree she could have years left in her, especially due to her low mileage, I'm just not sure if we are wasting our time or not.
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Worth a go I guess.
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Go for it BB. If you can give her some quality of life and a few days hunting, where's the harm? Probably not worth much selling on, except as a hunter (presuming she likes hunting), but maybe fine to keep on as a spare?
 
I took on a 29 year old horse and once he had been slowly got fit would hack for miles and miles with me and go to the odd show even for some games classes!!! He was fit as a fiddle and loving doing things until he was 33! If they have a nice attitude and are brought back into work slowly I see no reason why they can't do things like any other horse.
 
Am sort of in a similar position to you. We have a 12 year old mare ( bought in April ) who has never done anything.
Had wondered if it was too late to teach her much. However she seems to enjoy schooling. As she was so unfit, have a regime of schooling one day, hacking two days, day off and schooling again.
It really depends on the horse of course. We are only aiming to have a family friend to be ridden daily by either myself or my daughters.
Would your horse be suitable as a family friend
 
my loan pony is 15 - i got her last year and like yours she had been stuck in a field and used as a broodmare - she is lovely i have done pleasure rides on her 16 miles in april and i am off to 1st in hand show today - she loves all the fuss and attention x
 
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