When does a horses value decrease (age)

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MagicMelon

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Just wondering when a horses sale value beings to decrease age-wise? I personally think at around 10, because IMO thats usually their prime. Wondering when I should think about selling one of my horses
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Surely now with advances in vet care/medicine 10 is young? Just as people are living healty active lives longer horses are too.
 
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Also I would think a great deal depends on what they have done and what they are being sold for.

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Would agree with this completely - a top dressage horse, for example, would not start to decrease in value until it was pretty old, but an ex-racer could start to devalue as soon as it came off the track, unless it showed potential in other areas.
 
DEPENDS ON breeding and what it has done and what it is still capable of doing!!!
for a general all round horse i would say at 14 as your insurance is still not as comprehensive as a younger horses is(at 17 years plus)
for a dressage horse i would say it would be at the peak of its career at about 11-13.
 
Depends hugely. For a quiet pony that is an ideal first pony that is 100% bombproof and 100% safe then they often stay very valuable regardless of how old they get (within reason) wherase something like a point to pointer would lose value alot earlier. It depends how useful the horse can still be i guess.......but as a general rule id say around 12 they start losing value. Teens just seem to sound old........
 
Well, as you know I sold my wee grey last year and part of the decision to sell was due to his age. He was rising 11 and eventing at PN level, so not exactly useless and over the hill. But, I did sell him for a good price, which I don't believe I would have got had I waited til this year to sell him. Makes me sound a bit heartless!

I know 11's not old - amongst my brood I have a 28 year old mare and a 16 year old gelding (who's still eventing).
 
I agree about 10 for most horses, a bit older for dressage horses. I disagree with people who claim horses are staying useful longer - there's still very little that can be done to slow down/fix physical problems developing with age even though the diagnosing part has become much more advanced. Insurance companies are now only offering LOU in up to 12 year olds and I think this reflects just how many horses are ending their careers before sixteen. I know alot of people on this forum support the idea of buying horses in their teens but I wonder how many of them would actually do it. If I were you I'd sell before you're horse gets to twelve if you want a good price.
 
I think 12.
Many ponies are bought for 2 years approx. That means selling the pony on at 14, which is just doable, but not so at 16 when it's value will plummet.
After 12 the value decreases significantly, it can clearly be seen in for sale adverts.
I think this trend affects the whole market, ponies and horses. There are niches where people will buy older horses who can specialise - dressage for instance, but most people will look to pay considerably less after 14, and if it's an animal to be resold, then you wouldn't pay as much for an animal above 12.
 
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