They saw me coming (again)....Sorry bit of a moan :(

amymay said:
Beautiful, beautiful mare Red. And I don't believe for a minute she's mid 20's.

Going to be cheeky - sorry. But she's porky, and is exhibiting plenty of muscle.

No wonder you lover her. She's stunning.
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To be fair - porky was about right - too much of the good green stuff. She's been out 24/7 over the worst of the winter and dropped of a tad - she weighs in at 420 now (14'2).
 
amymay said:
I'd think about putting a horse of any age through a colic surgery (in fact I'm convinced I wouldn't)......
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Just to put the opposite side. My H of a L has had 2 colic surgeries, the first at 19 and the second at 25. Touch wood, he sailed through both, completely unphased and without losing any weight. IMO every case is different and cost as well as welfare is always going to be a factor. One of the vets at the hospital was telling us about the night they had a call to say a 40 year old pony was on it's way in for surgery. He said he went out to meet it, ready to give the owners a piece of his mind, only to be faced with what looked like a 12 year old pony. They operated and the pony is still going strong at 45.
 
Does not look like a mid twenties horse at all
Just get and enjoy your self , this person might just be trying to cause trouble .
 
amymay said:
But Passtheshampoo - had you looked at the passport prior to purchase, you would have known the age of the horse. So whilst the RS may have been a bit naughty - as a purchaser we have a responsibility to ourselves to ensure that we check all the paperwork prior to purchase (but like buying a car really).
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It wasn't available at the viewing. And yes what you say is correct we should all check paperwork before buying. Even when the PP is available docuents don't always tell the whole story as in OPs case. Buying horses is risky and I prefer to go with gut feeling. Thankfully in over 37yrs of horse owning I've only ever bought one wrong un!
 
I certainly wouldn't be persuing this. You have your horse insured as 15 yr old, if you change the passport to say 24 you will not get cover for anything but accident, leave well alone is my advice. Enjoy your horse - r&d horses make very good confidence givers/restorers ime.
 
I've nothing really to add regarding the age conundrum of your current mare, who is very cute whatever age she is!!

But has anyone else not been a little shocked that horse #2 who was considered a psycho, ended up a broodie?! :s
 
Mine will be 24 in spring. Even people knowledgeable about teeth age her younger. She's still fleabitten rather than greyed out, & even at local level shows she's been questioned by judges in veteran classes. I know she's old, but as long as she doesn't act or look it, she won't be treated as such. And I knew a pony whose teeth aged it as late 20's, despite the owner having bought it as a foal & knowing it was only mid teens.
 
Toast - #2 was an ex-racer who had a bad start and was not sympathetically retrained. Forgive me for being flippant when I called her a physcho
 
Posted before I could finish - #2 had behaviour issues that I quickly realised that I was not experienced enough to deal with so I sent her on sales/schooling livery where she did well. He new owners decided they did not want to rush her so started her as a broodmare
 
Toast - not really.
One of mine was gifted as unhandleable/dangerous. I wouldn't breed as SI. But she is a sane thing who generally doesn't put a foot out of line for me. Some horses are not handleable by current owners through inexperience or not handling correctly for that horse. I certainly have never had a moment of worry with mine and find the comments that came with her quite shocking as she is very hard to phase with very minor reactions.
 
Aging horses can become very difficult and inaccurate over about 10 years old. Some horses may appear to have the teeth of an older horse due to things like cribbing, grazing on sandy soils etc so I would not go completely by aging of teeth alone.

Your horse was passed fit for purpose, so there was probably no reason for the vet to query the age. In your photos I wouldn't say she looked over 20! We had a horse pass a 5 stage for the purpose of everyday riding, and competing (showjumping, hunter trials etc) The horse passed with flying colours and only afterward did it come to light that the horse was 25 years old.

With regards to surgery, I would probably not put any of my horses through extensive colic surgery no matter how young they are. Personal opinion.

Go and have some fun with her :)
 
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Umbongo said:
With regards to surgery, I would probably not put any of my horses through extensive colic surgery no matter how young they are. Personal opinion.
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I had exactly this conversation with the vet last week. She sid , 'Worst case scenario, we could send her to local equine specialist for surgery'. She must have read my face correctly because she then said. 'At her age and size, I wouldn't recommend that'
I would be more than reluctant to put any horse thorugh colic surgery and the resultant months of box-rest. And I'd far rather have them pts at home than have them die on the operating table, after a journey when they are ill.
 
She looks lovely and certainly doesn't look like she is in her 20's. Knobberpony is 22/23 [we think] and the only sign of her age is that she has gone white instead of grey and has those little hollows above her eyes.She rides like a 7 year old.I hope that you both have many more happy years together.
 
Thank you everyone. I stated the day feeling quite sad about it all and am now feeling happier about everything. Positive actually, as nothing has really changed :)
 
if you are happy with your horses then dont worry.
A horse or any age can get an illness that put it in to retirement, costs lots to treat or even the end.
Just treat her well and give her the best.
she will be great for you however long she is around.
 
Toast said:
I've nothing really to add regarding the age conundrum of your current mare, who is very cute whatever age she is!!

But has anyone else not been a little shocked that horse #2 who was considered a psycho, ended up a broodie?! :s
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Hahaha I so thought the same!!

OP, regarding your horse, just enjoy her :-) Age is just a number ;-) She looks lovely.
 
I wouldn't worry about age, my horse is 21 and absolutely looks like a 10 year old and behaves like a 5 year old! It's all a state of mind...
 
I agree with the others.... she looks stunning.
I got done in a similar way by an irish dealer four years ago. The horse was well over the age on the passport. He was a nightmare until he setlled and we got to know each other.
That said I had about 6 months lying on my back watching his arse dissappear and then 3 1/2 years of steady enjoyable hacking out of him so far. We ve had one vet call out for an abscess and thats it.
Im four years down the line from you..and i would pay the same money for the same horse knowing what i know now!
Enjoy your lovely horse.
 
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