would you buy a 17 year old horse ?

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lhamm

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Im feeling very very sad today, i am thinking of selling my wonderful horse as i just dont have the time for him anymore, as i live and work in London. He is costing me an absolute fortune to keep on full livery and i can only get down to see him at the weekends. I am constantly worrying about him and feeling alful for not being able to make sure he is ok every day. Worrying if he is feeling neglected and bored without me there.

He is a lovely horse, absolutely beautiful, well schooled, brilliant jumper. Fantastic to hack out, excellent in traffic, totally safe, but not for a novice rider as he is a quality well bred horse, not an old plodder.

Would i be able to find him a good home at his age ? He will be 17 this year, but looks amazing, no lumps or bumps, he has been very well looked after all his life. He is fit and well, no vices or allergies, nothing wrong with him at all.

I just dont know what to do for the best
 
I would say you wouldn't have any problems at all, 17 isn't old at all these days for a horse who has been kept fit, in good health etc. An alternative would be to find a sharer or maybe loan him. Ideally to stay on your current yard or only to someone you know as you do hear lots of horror stories these days. Then you could still ride him sometimes and know his future is safeguarded if anything went wrong.
 
I agree - maybe a full loan would be appropriate then you know where he is, can check on him when you want and someone else can pay the bills! :)
 
I bought a 19 year old horse after having her on loan for 2 years. She wasn't a lwvtb, but her owner lost her job so I bought her to secure her future. Best thing I ever did, she was brilliant & had the patience to teach me so much. She was working up to 27 years young, then lightly hacked until she passed on aged 29.
 
There are a few horses at my yard who's owners work in London and only see them at weekends. The horses don't seem to mind, honestly :) Some have sharers who ride mid week and the owners of the others without sharers let people like me who already have their own horses, ride their horses during the week too if we happen to be there all day / want a steadier horse to keep one of the youngsters company etc.

If you decide selling is the best thing then I am sure you can find him a good home, but if you really want to keep him but just feel guilty about lack of time to spend with him then don't - after all, he's a horse not a child ;) as long as he has food, water, shelter, equine company and is checked twice a day he really won't mind.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
pip6 said:
I bought a 19 year old horse after having her on loan for 2 years. She wasn't a lwvtb, but her owner lost her job so I bought her to secure her future. Best thing I ever did, she was brilliant & had the patience to teach me so much. She was working up to 27 years young, then lightly hacked until she passed on aged 29.
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I too bought a 19 year old pony for my daughter. Didn't consider anything under the age of 15
 
Could you find a sharer or part loaner to do him during the week? Or alternatively why don't you fully loan him out instead of selling, then at least he's still yours. I think it depends on the horse, but age wouldn't put me off if it was a healthy, happy horse that still had a lot left in it, like your boy sounds to be :)
 
Could you put him on full loan? the big ginger fella in my sig came to me on loan as a 17yo he is now a 21yo field ornament (and loving it) & I hope his owner will allow him to stay with me till the day he pops his cloggs.

There are very good loan homes out there you just have to be careful
 
not at all he would find a new home quite quickly i'd imagine, I had a horse that was 17 on loan, my next door neighbour now has him and is considering buying him.

Perhaps put him on full loan with view to buy possibly?

You do hear horror stories but there are genuine honest people out there too that would give their right arm for an opportunity for this.
 
I must admit, putting him on loan is very scary, i think i would worry about him even more, ive heard of so many horror stories. He is such a beautiful horse and so genuine, its so hard for me to even think of loaning him out to a stranger.:mad:
 
i bought a 17 yo who was being sold as he was too hot for previous owner (and now at 18 he is still a maniac) however i rode him for about a month whilst he was on sales livery with us and only after this was i convinced i liked him, first time i sat on sully i hated him... it wont be easy and i doubt you can get a huge amount but yes you can definitely sell him eventually.
 
There are a number of us out there that want a well established horse and yours sounds ideal. Once you sell a horse you loose control of it and of course the new owners circumstances can always change so if you want to keep in touch with your horse then have him freezemarked so that he can always be easily identified in the future if you ever wish to track him down. Also make sure that he is recorded on the www.nedonline.co.uk web site.
 
lhamm said:
I must admit, putting him on loan is very scary, i think i would worry about him even more, ive heard of so many horror stories. He is such a beautiful horse and so genuine, its so hard for me to even think of loaning him out to a stranger.:mad:
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If you take advice from missing horses on loan, BHS & vet the loaner plus visit un announced before loan and during then you are much more in control of his future than if you were to sell to a stranger. Obviously the decision is yours and at 17 he is not washed up by any means.

Good luck whatever you decide :)
 
I'm in the process of selling my 17 year old, but I've been very lucky and am selling him back to his old owner.

You wouldn't however believe that he was 17, he acts like a four year old half the time!!

I've been very realistic in terms of price etc, but am over the moon with where he's going, and he'll stay there now for the rest of his life and I can go and visit whenever I want :)
 
my old arab i got on loan when she was 16 then we wanted to buy her at 18 and found the owners had litterally disappeared off the face of the earth!!! so we happily kept her till she passed at 31!

ide say your horse sounds experienced not old and this appeals to more people than a green youngster would!! :D
 
I did! The bay with a small star in my sig. I had him on loan for a couple of years and the owner recently asked if I wanted to buy him. I did only pay £500 though... He is fit, sound and healthy and does most stuff pretty well.
 
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