Sometimes 5 year olds are the way to go

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Jack110

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I was just thinking riding my boy this morning how lucky I am to have him and thought I would just reassure those horse hunting that sometime an unspoiled 5 year old is the way it go. I have ridden all
my life and am nearly 50 so when I was looking 18 months ago I know I needed not a blood horse but something with good paces and a jump. I bought a not quite 5 ISH more draught than anything from a dealer that understood what I wanted. As I always say it's not what they do it's how quick they do it. I had a very quiet confident rider take home for his first hack first shows and fist proper x country. Apart from the odd excited buck and not have much done with his feet (which they told me) he is perfect. Hacks, good in traffic and most important for me never gets excited at shows or x country. He has never been hunted which was something else I wanted. So please don't dismiss a young horse if their temperament is good they could be the one
 
I agree as long as the owner has experience to bring a baby on carefully. They are very quick to learn which means they learn bad ways as well as good. I have always had youndsters and still have.
 
lelly said:
I agree as long as the owner has experience to bring a baby on carefully. They are very quick to learn which means they learn bad ways as well as good. I have always had youndsters and still have.
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Yes I agree I have never had one so young but I have had lessons and asked advice ar every turn and after taking advice changed farrier to one who would attempt to shoe without sedation, now good as gold
 
Aye. Didn't want something quite that young, as he wasn't really 5 until June of that year. But very glad I went for it. It has taken time, training and experienced help but he has an amazing temperament and attitude. In 3 years he's gone from being a gangly unbalanced thing who couldn't turn right, to a lovely straightforward boy who has done stonkingly well at everything I've tried with him. Still has his moments, generally when he tries to eat me, or his reins, or fence posts, but am so pleased with how far we've come.
 
Totally agree - bought my first youngster 4 years ago, a just backed 5 yr old. I have moulded him into the exact horse I wanted and the bond we have is incredible.

Never had a youngster before and has been a great learning curve!
 
I did the same thing 4 years ago - bought an unspoiled just turned 5 year old (ISH). I had totally lost my confidence so wanted a small quiet reasonably mature been there done that type and not a youngster but he's been so good! He is 16.1hh and although not a superstar he is perfect for me. I remember he was originally advertised as a 'allrounder riding club gentleman' but when I saw his age I discounted him. However the dealer persuaded me to have a look because he sounded right for me. I'm glad she did!
 
Love young horses! Tbh the only schoolmaster I’ve had was my first pony :p

I love teaching young horses the ropes, it’s so rewarding! It’s so much fun & I don’t think I could cope with a schoolmaster everyday unless was a v advanced dressage horse so could learn the moves!
Though i think it’s normal here (NI) to have young horses and produce self, which is different to England. At pc champs i find it interesting as the majority of irish horses in the class are a lot younger (Billy was 7 at the pc open eventing champ and was one of the youngest in the class, the other horses in our team were under 10, team finished 3rd!!) and the others in the class tended to be on older horse!
 
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My first horse was five and a half a Appaloosa Hackney cross he was a little frantic in the school charging around head high and very spooky
had to be cold shod to start with and it was very challenging to pick his feet out, would give me the odd bite if he could and a couple of kicks. People even now remember him as the horse that bolted , he was just stuck in a fast canter not really the same thing.
Now seven years later he is light in the hand, hack out on his own down the road , can pick his hooves out while he eats and stands in a cloud of smoke while been shod. I can even half halt him out of a gallop with other horses ahead.

I could have just bought another horse already trained and a bit older but glad I did not
 
Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not, it depends on the experience of the owner, their willingness to seek advice before things go wrong and the temperament of the horse (which isn't always easy to assess when they are not doing much). We've bought on youngsters successfully but I had a lot of input from people who knew a lot more than I did but equally I've bought established horses and still needed a lot of help. What really saddens me is when I hear of novice riders buyers youngsters because they are cheaper and because they think they can "learn together" as a result perfectly decent horses get ruined.
 
Very true Oldie48, certainly not an easy or quick option. I had a good old think about whether I really could manage a younger horse. I know that his progress would have been quicker and more successful with a more experienced rider but we have both come along really well and he's the type of horse now that I would have wanted to buy then. Def worth it with the right rider, help and support!
 
agree with both the above posts Bernster & oldie48.

My 2 homebreds at 4 where easy peasy, at 5 & 6 Not so. However, we still went ahead and bought our daughter a 5 YO ID, at the time, the pro riding our homebreds said 'what the bloody hell are you dong buying Eleanor a 5 YO '. We couldn't find what we wanted 7+, but we knew we had very good support around, to be honest with him we haven't needed much at all, he is one in a million, and the bond they have is very special. On meeting Finn, the pro rider, laughed and understood why we got him and agreed that he was rocking horse poo. I don't doubt he would be further on his education in a professional environment, but its a marathon and not a sprint. Finn is happy to take it slowly, and we are now into our 3rd year of having in, and they have progressed to 80cm arena eventing.
I then had the unenviable job of finding a Finn for me, ended up with a 4 YO ID. Shes been just as good as Finn, I had more support when she arrived, purely because she was 2 weeks off the lunge, its been a fabulous journey, shes 6 this year, and is truly amazing.

It can work, but you have to have the right brain
 
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