What would you expect from a 6 year old if buying?

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Something got me thinking about this and I was wondering what others would expect of a 6 year old horse if they were looking for a competition horse...

I'm interested in what you would look for in dressage horses, show jumpers and eventers...

Personally, when looking for a dressage horse at this age I would like it to have some competition record at Novice level or Elementary and would expect it to be starting to work at Elementary and Medium at home.

Rebecca x
 
hmm this is a tough one - when i had my 6yo for sale people were calling me and asking why he wasnt out competing medium and working advanced med at home !!!!!

I was like no he is out at novice and training elementary/medium at home !!

but the 2 riders who had ridden at GP level wernt bothered even if he had been out at novice level as long as he had clean legs, and a good attitude !! xx
 
I bought F in the April of the year he was 6. He'd been broken at 4 but not competed, at 5 jumped in 5yo classes (this was in France) and apparently got the the finals, was sold to Belgium that winter, jumped in some 110s and 115s indoors, then I bought him. If he'd stayed a show-jumper he would have been on track to carry on in 6 yo classes that year, but in all honesty I'm not sure he would have been competitive past 140 classes later on. As it was he first saw an xc fence when I tried him, and by the following Spring he came out at 2* level in Belgium.

Several of Andrew Nicholson's 6yo's were winning Intermediates this year and are advanced on points. That's scary! I think William is a more normal 6yo, he's finished the year with 11 points, and he's got a solid foundation now to be able to go Intermediate early next season.
 
I always worry about doing too much too soon...

Grace was backed at 4 because she was something like 16.1/16.2hh when she was 3 years of age, so was no where near mature enough. She was then given a full year off after being backed at 4 to continue maturing and I do not think she would have been capable of doing the work she is doing now this time last year had the circumstances been different.

With Troy, I think his build is very like Grace's and I am starting to think the way she was brought on will also suit him...
 
Well I bought a 6 year old in July this year, that has jumped for 6 rounds registered and had 23 show jumping points and clear every round at 110 and 120. He had done nothing else and I mean nothing not even ridden regularly but he has the sweetest nature a real good looker, a good breeding and lovely paces and in the 4 months we have had him we have improved him so much, but it was like having a 4 year old except he was better balanced and he didnt spook at the very stupid things - he still manages to spook at very unexpected things he hasnt met before. If he had been for dressage I would have said I would have liked him to have some results novice/elementary I am going to sell our 9 year old who has never done dressage until last Saturday and he went out to his 1st competition and won at Novice and when he comes out next month it will be at elementary or maybe medium as he looks good enough and then we hopefully will get a good buyer at a decent price.
 
I do dressage and tend to ride warmbloods about the 17 hand mark - which therefore take a lot longer to grow as they are so big. Personally I would prefer a horse that has been started correctly with nice movement and a trainable temperament and hasn't been over trained which puts too much stress on their joints at a young age. I would want it to be out getting decent percentages at Novice and working at elementary at home if it had a fairly decent price tag! If you are buying a 6 year old you don't expect it to be a ready made horse but one that has got a good foundation to continue it's training and therefore progress competitively.
 
If i was buying a 6 year old eventer now i would be wanting it to have a consistent record at intro and PN and touching on novice - but thats it because that is what i am ready for and i would want to bring on a 6 year old myself from then on. I know plenty of 6 year old eventers produced by professionals that would be going intermediate easily - it just depends
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Moon was broken last year at 5 and this year, as a 6 year old, she has done a season of Pn/novice so that should be easily achievable for most 6 year olds with an ounce of talent and correct training
 
I intend to keep Spider for a long time
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So, He is 16.3 going on 17hh & when I bought him August 2006 as a 4yo, he had been broken 5 weeks & had a huge amount of filling out to do.
He hacked out & went to the odd dressage & jumping show over last winter & the plan was to take him out unaffiliated eventing in the spring & do some intro's in the 2nd half of the season. i.e his 5yo year.
However as some of you may know from my posts he's had a very interupted season and has been off apart from 8 weeks in Aug/sep since April.
In hind sight & with his long term future in mind it has prob been the best thing (although I wouldn't have wished him being ill
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He will spend the winter doing some dressage, BSJA & hopefully come out at intro in the spring as a 6yo.
I sometimes think youngsters do too much to soon (especially if they are larger)
If I was buying a 6yo now I would want it to be working at Novice dressage, SJ BN/disc & have been round a few intro's as a 5yo & done intro & PN as a 6yo, but not have done too much.
 
Depends totally on what I'm lookin for, if I'm honest I would like a 6yr old with a reasonably clean slate, doing the basics, jumping up to 1m at home and maybe been out and done 80-90cm classes lightly, to me this gives you more liklihood of them lasting longer and 6 seems to be a good age for them to 'wise up' so to speak!
 
I wouldnt be too bothered if they hadnt done anything much at 6. All horses are different and some take time to mature. I would however expect the price to reflect what the horse had done, but it definatly wouldnt put me off if it hadnt done anything.

I started to ride Gin when she was 6 and had done nothing apart from chuck her owner off. I had to start again from scratch with her. I bought her when she was 7 and only done a few unaffiliated comps (with me) and she still has her moments now. For her age she 'should be' at GP. Ha, I wish
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I think theres too much emphasis on what a horse has done in its younger years, and a lot of people put too much strain on the horse to get it where it 'should' be. Horses just end up breaking down.
 
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I think theres too much emphasis on what a horse has done in its younger years, and a lot of people put too much strain on the horse to get it where it 'should' be. Horses just end up breaking down.

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that is so true !! x
 
My 6yo mare did 4 intro events this summer. I probably treat her as 5 though, because she had last summer off with a bruised foot. Our intro classes were split pretty evenly between amateurs like me either with 6/7yo's or with schoolmaster types, and professionals riding 4yo's. Personally I wouldn't have dreamed of doing this with any of the young horses we have had, they just weren't advanced enough either mentally or physically, but each to their own I suppose.

I suppose in an ideal world a 6yo eventer I would look at should have been competing fairly consistently at PN.

Fiona
 
This is a completely impossible question to answer unless you say "buying for x amount of pounds"

The price and experience will vary from private seller to professional producer. The 6yo I bought to event from a private seller would have been twice as much from a pro, having done exactly the same. Started eventing this year, 99% double clears at intro, a dc at her first PN, the odd 20 pens which were rider error not horse.

I think she's been started sympathetically as she was a private sale but would have been pushed much harder and done more if being sold by a pro. Would that have made her a better horse in the long run?
 
I was thinking more regardless of price...

What would you expect a six year old competition horse to be doing if you were starting to look for one to buy for your discipline. Obviously there are some that are ridiculous money that have been backed and brought on by professional 'big names' that are worth more than those that have been brought on my an amateur, but what I was trying to gauge is regardless who you were buying from, what you would look for.
 
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