[rottenweiler]

Ok so I've been looking to get a horse of my own again. The horse that I used to own, I bought as an unexperienced buyer that just wanted a horse. I was told she was 7 years old and when I finally had a vet look at her to do her coggins, he said she was more like 11. So, I'm in the market for a horse for myself and I've been looking at horses about 8 years old or so...but I want an 'easy' horse...one that's well trained, 'bombproof' so that I can go riding by myself and be safe. I'm starting to think I'm looking at the wrong age range and I need to be looking at older. I had someone email me that has a 15 year old quarter horse mare and also I could probably get this TB gelding for free because he's very underweight and his owner can't afford to keep up his food bill. He is 18. So I'm just wondering what is really considered an OLD horse, and how much riding years could I expect to get out of an 18 year old horse?

 

[ridergirl23]

Well, this depends on a lot. I know two 19 year old dressage hoeses still going strong, and they are as sound as a five year old. But dressage helps a horse and all that stuff that i dont feel like explaining right now
some horses live til they are 35 some live til they are 25. it mainly depends on the individual horse, if i were you i would go and meet the hrose and see how 'old' he looks and acts. the two 19 year old horses i know act like very well behaved 6 year olds. it mainly depends on the horse

 

[AQHA13]

It really depends upon their past life. If he was well taken care of maybe another 10 years. Although he is getting up there and if he hasn't had much exercise/ riding previously he may not be in the best shape. You may have to keep the riding light and do lots of stretching with him. I would have the vet look him over and check for arthritis or other issues that would hinder his soundness. We just retired our 30 year old mare this year, she is still 100% sound but just deserves a rest.

 

[rottenweiler]

Well, the TB was an x-race horse turned hunter/jumper. I've seen him ridden, about 8 months ago maybe when this woman first got him and he was in excellent shape. She has used him for jumping and lessons (small cross-rails) and he does well. Even though he is very underweight, she says he has 'plenty of pep'. I just don't know that it's worth it to me to take on this horse. He has been neglected within the last 8 months or so, not getting the right hay and all so like I said, he's underweight. I don't have my own property so I would have to pay board and I was just wondering if it would be 'worth it' to get him if I could get him for free. I haven't ridden him myself, but as I said, my friend rode him on a trail ride and he did great...very calm except he gets antsy around vehicles. A woman tried to drive around him rather closely and he backed up and kicked in the womans passenger side door.

 

[maura]

If the horse is a hard keeper now, at 18, I think that's a red flag.

I think that's a horse that will have long term maintenence challenges, and may rapidly become more expensive that a horse you have to give a little bit of money for.

 

[rottenweiler]

thanks for the advice. I just asked her how much she wanted for him and she said $1000. I can't believe she is CHARGING for him, he just needs a good home

 

[Equus_girl]

Wow! $1000 for an 18 year old underweight horse is crazy! I am being given an 18 year old mare in the spring but for one she is free, second she is in excellent shape (if anything she's too fat!! haha!) and she is an excellent keeper. She's been ridden lots and very well taken care of. I've gone to see her and ride her and absolutely love her. I wouldn't pay $1000 though for that horse you are talking about. You can get (at least around my area) young, well broke horses for $1000.

 

[Erin_And_Jasper]

i say go for it. delilahs 20 so i say keep him healthy and take good care of him. sh should last for a while

 

[rottenweiler]

what do you think of this horse? They are willing to trailer her to a nearby barn so I can 'test drive' her for a week. I thought about asking to 'test ride' her for a month, pay them what I would pay for leasing a horse for a month?
Bonita's Pretty Girl - Chestnut Quarter Horse for Sale in Lake Placid, Florida FL - FREE Ads

 

[kevinshorses]

what do you think of this horse? They are willing to trailer her to a nearby barn so I can 'test drive' her for a week. I thought about asking to 'test ride' her for a month, pay them what I would pay for leasing a horse for a month?
Bonita's Pretty Girl - Chestnut Quarter Horse for Sale in Lake Placid, Florida FL - FREE Ads

She looks good to me but you should be able to decide in a week if you want her. I don't let peopl;e take my horses when I'm selling them because while they have them nobody else can look at the horse.

 

[maura]

They are willing to trailer her to a nearby barn so I can 'test drive' her for a week.

I think that's a very nice offer and a good faith gesture. I wouldn't ask for more, but I would clear my schedule that week so I could do something with her every day and arrange a variety of experiences.

I like her, and I like the owner's description.

 

[rottenweiler]

Hmm...unfortunately I own my own business and it's the busy season for me right now so I couldn't do that. I have two days off a week that I could ride, right now it gets dark early so I don't even have time to ride after work. Just keeping my options open at this point. It's a two hour drive between us so in a way I think that's awefully nice for them to let me 'borrow' their horse for a week AND drive it 2 hours away...but there's a little voice in my head saying 'why are they doing that? are they that desperate to sell her?'

 

[wyominggrandma]

If a horse has been well taken care of and is healthy, then age is not a huge factor. We have two older horses, 22 and 20 and both of them can go all day in the steep mountains in Wyoming without a problem. My daughter and granddaughter both ride older horses in barrels, 22 and 23 and you would think both of these two mares ar 5 or 6 yrs old.
I like older horses, they have more experience and are usually more settled than youngsters.

 

[maura]

'why are they doing that? are they that desperate to sell her?'

I think it's a nice compromise. They probably know the BO or someone that works there, and are confident of the care, and are more comfortable doing that than having her tried at a completely strange and unsupervised location.
It's allowing the trial in a controlled environment.

Why are the doing it? Maybe they're decent horse people who want to make sure it's a good fit for their nice horse before committing. Maybe they realize her best market is as a first horse/novice horse and that first time buyers need a trial. Or maybe, like me, since they prefer to negotiate trials on horses they buy, they feel it's only fair to offer them on horses they sell.

The final reason might be that the market is very soft right now, and she's an older horse.

I think you can make yourself crazy overthinking this.

Don't take a horse on trial unless you can make good use of the trial time.

 

[AlmostThere]

The chestnut looks sweet. Did they say why they are selling her?

I'd be suspicious of the lady with the 18 year old TB. Even if she was giving him away for free, the expensive part of a horse is the care, and an older underweight horse might have some vet issues that could really add up to a lot of money. Plus, she sounds crazy wanting 1000 for him - I'd expect there may be lots of issues she wouldn't bother to tell you about, or out and out lie about.

Otherwise, depending on the horse, an 18 year old might be good.

Good luck.