What would be the oldest horse you'd consider buying?

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Annagain

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Window shopping again. The bay all-rounder on the side bar looks very nice. He's 15. A few years ago I wouldn't have considered buying a 15 year old but these days I think I would. There's a lot to be said for a been there got the t-shirt sort. I'm not sure I'd pay £3.5k for one but that's a different matter.

What would be the oldest horse you'd consider buying (not loaning)?
 
16/17... as long as it was sound and was absolutely everything I wanted. On paper I should have been looking for an older, been there and done it type last time I bought but Ive yet to find an older one that doesn’t have some long engrained ‘issues’ .
 
I think it depends on what I wanted.

If I wanted something to compete long term and go up the levels then I would be looking at a youngster, no older than 6.

If I wanted a happy hacker, quiet easy life, probably up to about 17/18.

If I wanted confidence and a fun all rounder, no serious competing but still capable of schooling, probably around 15.

As a companion, any age.
 
The oldest horse I've bought was 18, and I would consider older. In fact I'm considering trying to find another steady older horse as a light hack to give my young mare confidence.
 
It would depend on what I wanted to do and what my long term plans were, my first horse was 9 when I bought him, clean bill of health, very energetic and loved working type, he was my forever horse and I expected him to be going well into his late teens and hacking into his 20's, it wasn't to be however, he was diagnosed with severe ringbone at 16 and had to be retired from ridden work, I lost him to colic 4 weeks ago 10 months after retiring him...

my second horse who I bought just over a year ago was 8 rising 9, my plan is to compete her for a couple of years and see where I am after that, I'm 33, I don't know if I can realistically see myself still wanting to jump over a meter in 3/4 year time by which if I decide I want to I still can and if not she's not too old to consider selling on or keeping and going back down to lower levels with myself.

If I were looking for a horse for myself just now 15 would be too old for me but in a few years time if I were looking to not do as much competing it would certainly be a consideration, unless I was looking to give a horse a retirement home I wouldn't consider much older than 15/16yrs purely down to my own experience.
 
annagain said:
Window shopping again. The bay all-rounder on the side bar looks very nice. He's 15. A few years ago I wouldn't have considered buying a 15 year old but these days I think I would. There's a lot to be said for a been there got the t-shirt sort. I'm not sure I'd pay £3.5k for one but that's a different matter.

What would be the oldest horse you'd consider buying (not loaning)?
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Depends on the rider experience
what the rider is capable of
what they want to do

If companion then no age limit
If I want to do what I want to do as per now then 10- 12 oldest
 
My mare was a fit and active 16 when I bought her and at rising 22 she's faster and fitter than when I bought her. An older horse providing they have not been backed too young or over worked are a fantastic buy.
 
I got a 17 year old last year. Just for fun, trail riding, extreme mountain trail, cowboy racing, a few shows and demos etc, rocket fuelled and no sign of slowing down yet, I suspect she will die under me one day because she has no idea about taking it slowly.

The only cons to buying an older horse are the normal ones, possibly harder to keep condition on (mine is awful) more wear and tear due simply to miles on the clock, but the pros outweigh the cons, mine is not everyones cup of tea, and even though she 'looks' as if she is about to explode at any minute she is very sane, great on the road, been there, done that, got the shirt, the hat and the trophy etc, everything that I would want, I am having a blast with her and I get the impression that she rather enjoys the things we do to.

I think 16-17 would be about my top age limit though, for me to ride (and I don't do plodding about the lane) if I was buying a LR or FR pony for a child then a good oldie would be seriously considered.
 
Millie was 7 when I took her on. It's the one thing I wish I could have changed - I wish she had been younger :o she's 19 this year and it feels like time is running out (though she feels as good as ever :) )

Kira was 9 when I got her but I hadn't intended to keep her so didn't give it any thought. I wouldn't have chosen a horse older than 4 or 5 usually - if they are the sort that I get on with I would intend to keep them forever so the younger the better. Never works out like that though, when you just have to take what you can get rather than go out shopping ;)
 
pansymouse said:
My mare was a fit and active 16 when I bought her and at rising 22 she's faster and fitter than when I bought her. An older horse providing they have not been backed too young or over worked are a fantastic buy.
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I think it's seeing my boy (a few health issues but he's had them since he was 10) and my share horse doing so well at 20 that's made me think an older horse would be a good buy. You could realistically expect at least 7 good years from a 15 year-old these days. You should be able to just get on and go with a horse of that age and hopefully he should be trustworthy so you wouldn't waste any time bringing on a youngster and going through all the trials and tribulations you do with a younger horse. The price would have to be right though and the vetting would have to be clear for me, I think.
 
Around 15 would be my cut off. I bought a younger one (6) in the hope of many happy years and although I spotted a couple of around 19 advertised at the time, although they could have been ideal in many ways, they were a little too old for me to consider. This probably has something to do with losing my HOAL at 19, although my first pony as a child went on into his 30's! A lot of 15 year olds will still have a lot of life to live :).
 
The oldest I'd consider is 15: and SOUND. The youngest is 8, and not only SOUND, but also fairly advanced in the training. Rarer than you might think!
 
A few years ago I would have said that I wouldn't have bought anything older than 2 as I prefer to know and be in control of the horse's education.

Now as I am starting to get on a bit, I probably would buy an older been there done it happy hacker type but probably nothing older than 12/13 - I expect as I get older though that that will change.
 
I had a horse on loan a couple of years ago that I said I would have bought at at the age of 15/16 had I known him. And probably would have paid good money for him. He was an ex intermediate eventer and a total and utter legend!!!
 
Not so long ago I'd have been all for buying an older horse. However, my mare was 16 when I bought her and just five years later is totally retired with arthritis after having a couple of years of just light hacking. I'm now looking again and wouldn't buy older than 11/12 and even then it would have to be pretty much perfect.
 
With the exception of one who was approaching fourteen (I bought him as a companion for my other ned) I don't usually buy horses over the age of twelve.

When viewing potential horses, I tend to prefer them to be between seven and twelve, but as others have said, it all depends on what you're planning to do with them really.
 
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I wouldn't buy anything over about 12yrs, although this is academic as I have never deliberately viewed anything over 5yrs. Mainly because I keep my horses for life and I want that to be a long time.
 
I think I have a mental block on buying anything over 12 purely because I want as long as possible with them. To be fair an older more sensible neddy would be exactly what I needed but I just can't help thinking 'too old' when I see the adverts. I bought my current mare as a rising 9 year old and am looking forward to many many years of fun together before she reaches her dotage!
 
I bought my mare at nearly 17. She is a true all rounder and as she is my first horse I could hit the ground running after waiting so long to get my own horse (age 37!). She is 22 in May and still going strong. However I'm aware that 5 years have passed so quickly and another 5 will pass even faster if I am lucky enough to get another 5 years. I just feel like time is running out too fast! So whenever the time comes that I need to horse shop again I would look for a 9 or 10 year old to hopefully get longer together. But that is the only reason. Buying my mare at 17 was the best decision I ever made!
 
5 because I only buy unbroken & any later than 5 & I wouldn't be happy about it really

But if I was buying a schoolmaster I would buy anything that had the experience I wanted but was still sound fit & able at the level I wanted. It's not the age is the soundness & health
 
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