Would you buy a 14 year old event horse?

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Sally-FF

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Hi

Would you buy a 14 year old event horse to do PN / N? He has done some eventing a few years ago up to PN level. Would the age put you off?

Thanks
 
Not everyone wants a youngster to ride, there are a lot more people who don't want to spend 2/3 years having to completely educate a horse and want to be able to get out and about straight away
 
I would and have done, age doesnt matter if the horse is fit and healthy and capable of doing the job wanted. Many older horses are worth their weight in gold, with years of experience behind them :)
 
I would and have - well, a 15yo Grade A schoolmaster - but I'd pay attention to how much he has done and how sound he is. A 14yo who has competed every season will have much more wear and tear than a 14yo who hasn't. A hard balance between that and competitive exp I realise.

The schoolmaster older horse we bought was the best thing we ever did, so good luck if you go for it.
 
He has only ever done intro and PN, he has done a couple a season (7 the most in one season) since he was 9 - he has won 4 and not had a dressage score over 34! Hasn't competed last year due to owner working away just hacked and dressaged by daughter.

He is perfect i think!
 
Sally-FF said:
He has only ever done intro and PN, he has done a couple a season (7 the most in one season) since he was 9 - he has won 4 and not had a dressage score over 34! Hasn't competed last year due to owner working away just hacked and dressaged by daughter.

He is perfect i think!
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He hasnt got an awful lot of mileage so I'd say he would be ideal for you. Hooray Henry was competing into his early 20's as was Over to You, the short format seems to have given a lot of horses a longer competitive career. You may be able to start off in BE90 to get your confidence. Good luck.
 
Bought a 13year old this year .He is super and teaching young rider the ropes re. eventing.He passed 5 stage vetting no prob. We are hoping he will go on for many years yet.
Also a friend sold a 15 yr old again 5 stage pass, he is hunting/eventing at 17 now.
I feel that if they have got into their teens fit and well ,with continued good management there is no reason they wont stay that way.
 
My friend has a 18 year old who he has evented since 2002, he did Burghley last year and Badminton in 09 (one of only 19 clear inside the time xc!!) and is now doing ON with a young rider and AI with his owner this season :) 14 is no age with todays feed and supplements, more and more horses are living and competing late into their teens and early 20's. Good Luck
 
Hopalong was 19 last year and did a season with 3 intros, 6 PN and then an intro RF. She then did summat stupid in the field and has been injured over the winter, but we were planning to be back out doing PN this season again until that happened. :)

She is pretty low mileage as just did little bits of unaff stuff on/off through her earlier years, enough to give her the "been there, done that" easy attitude towards stuff, but not too much that she was run into the ground. I was very lucky to come across her as she has taught me so much, she is worth twice her weight (and more!) in gold to me.
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Here's a gratuitous photo of her aged 19 (Sept 2010), everyone who finds out her age has never realised she's an "oldie" from looking at her!

Turnberry028.jpg
 
FigJam said:
Hopalong was 19 last year and did a season with 3 intros, 6 PN and then an intro RF. She then did summat stupid in the field and has been injured over the winter, but we were planning to be back out doing PN this season again until that happened. :)

She is pretty low mileage as just did little bits of unaff stuff on/off through her earlier years, enough to give her the "been there, done that" easy attitude towards stuff, but not too much that she was run into the ground. I was very lucky to come across her as she has taught me so much, she is worth twice her weight (and more!) in gold to me.
love.gif


Here's a gratuitous photo of her aged 19 (Sept 2010), everyone who finds out her age has never realised she's an "oldie" from looking at her!

Turnberry028.jpg
Click to expand...

Nothing really more to say, than just looking at these photos, one very very happy horse, one very very happy rider. The whole post made me smile, and also brought back memories of my beloved mouse, who was loaned to me at the age of 14, we hunted together until he was 26 and was finally sent to a "better place" when he was 32.

Just again thanks Hopalong for those photos.
 
FigJam said:
Hopalong was 19 last year and did a season with 3 intros, 6 PN and then an intro RF. She then did summat stupid in the field and has been injured over the winter, but we were planning to be back out doing PN this season again until that happened. :)

She is pretty low mileage as just did little bits of unaff stuff on/off through her earlier years, enough to give her the "been there, done that" easy attitude towards stuff, but not too much that she was run into the ground. I was very lucky to come across her as she has taught me so much, she is worth twice her weight (and more!) in gold to me.
love.gif


Here's a gratuitous photo of her aged 19 (Sept 2010), everyone who finds out her age has never realised she's an "oldie" from looking at her!

Turnberry028.jpg
Click to expand...

WOW she is 19!!! Do you have to do lots of fittening work to get her upto fitness or does she just not feel her age?!
 
Sally-FF said:
WOW she is 19!!! Do you have to do lots of fittening work to get her upto fitness or does she just not feel her age?!
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No one has told her that's she's that age...! ;) She is still plenty keen and forward going about life, so as long as she enjoys doing stuff, I hope to keep her going. Obviously this may involve slightly less, but she would have been plenty capable of doing BE Novice last year had the jockey been capable! ;) So a 14 year old should still give you quite a few good, fun seasons. :)

RE: fitness, she is a cob-X, so I always made sure to do plenty of hacking with canter work to keep her fit, as she needs more than a pure tb or similar would, I had hoped to keep her ticking over and not drop all her fitness over winter, but her enforced box/field rest has put paid to that! :rolleyes:

We are building up the fitness again now though, out doing hacking again and fingers crossed can build up to hooning around an intro or two next season...
 
This one is 14!
BillyBuckmoinster.jpg
*copyrighted to Tim Wilkinson*
Here he flying round Buckminster PN last weekend, entered for Carlton Novice next weekend! He has been eventing since he was 6 up to Novice and has also showjumped up to 1m 35, he's still going strong with no probs at all, although I'm very careful with his legs (don't trot on the road unless I have to etc) he's never had any tendon probs etc. He passed a 5 stage vetting in March 2010 with flying colours. I think if they have been looked after carefully and you continue to look after them carefully then you'll be absolutely fine
 
CaleruxShearer said:
This one is 14!
BillyBuckmoinster.jpg
*copyrighted to Tim Wilkinson*
Here he flying round Buckminster PN last weekend, entered for Carlton Novice next weekend! He has been eventing since he was 6 up to Novice and has also showjumped up to 1m 35, he's still going strong with no probs at all, although I'm very careful with his legs (don't trot on the road unless I have to etc) he's never had any tendon probs etc. He passed a 5 stage vetting in March 2010 with flying colours. I think if they have been looked after carefully and you continue to look after them carefully then you'll be absolutely fine
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He looks lovely! Is your aim to carry on eventing next year with him?
 
I'd love an older eventer, because generally at that age they've got a bit of experience under their belt and I'd be able to learn from them. For me, that'd be perfect.
 
Yep, in a couple of weeks I'm going to start my WP job at an event yard for my gap yea so he'll be coming with me and eventing pretty regularly, hopefully at Novice then aiming for a CCI*. As for the year after, we shall cross that bridge when we come to it :D
 
depends on what i wanted but yes, if i wanted something to show me the ropes. I bought a 16yr old as my first horse and it was the best thing i ever did. Then I bought a 5yr old and he broke as an 8yr old big time. So, I went out looking for an older horse who had showed he could stand up to some work and ended up buying an 11yr old who had evented quite hard as a youngster but then had a much easier time of it and he is an absolute gem. Quirky and sharp, but he knows his job inside out.
 
I have found that if a horse is still sound and happy by about 12 they tend to keep going and going unless they have an injury.

I'd say go for it if he's perfect. :)
 
This is mine - he is 15. Northallerton in May.

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Over the hill - I think not. This horse should have years left in him, and absolutely loves his work.
 
I brought a 15 year old Eventing School Master that had done intermidiate... I had never done BE before and we have had 2 fun seasons out at P/N and he is now 17... He is great, knows his job and we have a lot of fun!!
Defiantly recommend buying an older horse!! :)
 
I would, if the horse was the right price (I would expect the price to reflect it's age), it was sound and it suited my needs, absolutely.

One thing you must consider when buying an older horse is whether or not you can give that horse a home for life.
 
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