A horses age ..

WeeBarraxO

WeeBarraxO

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2008
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as you know we are looking to buy a horse ... I am trying to explain to OH that we can buy something that bit older, he refuses to even look at anything older than 8 years old :(,


but I have finally convinced him to look at a little connemara X I have found who is 12 :D,





can you please give me some help to convince him we don't need to buy a baby hoss,
 
I bought joy as a 6 year old. She was a complete tit!

In her 8th year she finally matured mentally. I knew what I'd got with her and the 'Kevin' years, those teenage human equivalent years, were over.

If I were buying a first horse or choosing one on paper I'd go for 8 years old plus. Yes, there are many of us who have wonderful younger horses but, as with humans, the younger years are the years they develop mentally and the odds are you won't get a mentally mature horse even if it does have a nice personality.
 
When I was looking to buy, I wanted 8-12 years old. Caymen was 7. To be honest, on the whole he has been ok but when it has been bad...it has been very bad!
He is 8 now but he still likes to keep me on my toes! I would be looking in the same age range if I were to do it again (no thanks. I have my horse of a lifetime).

I most definately wanted to miss the "Kevins"!!!
 
I was the other extreme and was really looking for something late teens. I wanted something that had seen it all - a been there, done it type. I just didn't want to be the person who taught it that x, y and z were nothing to be scared of. Thankfully someone else had already done that for me!
 
When I was looking for a share I tried to think of the human equivalent age of the horse in question. I used horse years x 3

So I was really looking for something around the 14 year old mark, it would put the horse around my own age. My idea being that if we are of a similar age we might have a similar point of view??
 
Who has more experience you or him?
Seen a couple I know do this and her OH (no horse experience) and she has only ridden at RS and he stipulated horse must be under 8 so they get lots of years together. They now have one horse they cant ride.
Glad my OH doesnt try and tell me which horse to go for. He does take the P out of my steadily plodding boy but at least I can ride him and have no issues with him.
 
theres pro's and con's for older and younger i find. But i wouldn't be swayed with what your OH wants if you are going to be the main keeper and have had more exposure around horses.

Older or Younger horses could have been there and done it but could also have learnt traits that aren't favourable to yourself – you have to find what suits you and what you know fit in within you own capabilities.

My first purchase was chinook at 12 years old - but i had loaned him since he was 8/9. I had the pleasure of him until he was 16. He was a perfect age for my first purchase and I had already started building a relationship with him so was able to go out and have fun but and there’s always a but with horses we did come with several issues that we needed to work on and combat together. Sadly not always plain sailing with horses.

My next purchase was vol who had just turned 5yrs old -he was a lot more of a blank canvas due to his age but still had a education started through his backing. Not the best backing I would personally say and i did feel like i literally went through a process of re backing when he arrived. Have had several years of Kevin episodes but i also had some episodes with other previous horses so don't feel this is just a youngster trait.

I would say be wise to want you want and be cautious when looking would be my main advice.
 
My first horse had just turned 13, and well and truly had her head screwed on, perfect manners, and brilliant on the roads, she taught me everything.. My second was a 17 month Cob x, and he's still with me 8 years later, a very similar experience, as he's never been naughty, and his Kevin years were more him switching off when out hacking than anything else, he never bucked, reared or kicked out, and after 8, he suddenly stopped switching off and started listening..
I'd say a 12 year old is a good age for a first horse :smile:
 
clashnoir said:
Who has more experience you or him?
Seen a couple I know do this and her OH (no horse experience) and she has only ridden at RS and he stipulated horse must be under 8 so they get lots of years together. They now have one horse they cant ride.
Glad my OH doesnt try and tell me which horse to go for. He does take the P out of my steadily plodding boy but at least I can ride him and have no issues with him.
Click to expand...



OH has no horse experience at all, before he met me I don't think he had even seen a horse in the flesh ..


I don't know if its because since meeting me he has only seen young horses as I have only helped out with younger horses/ponies since meeting him,
 
I agree with others 12ish is a good age for first horse I got my Snoopy aged 7 and as he is a cob thought (as many do) that he would be a plod what a mistake he was bold and naughty and very strong he hadnt had much experience other than the yard where he had been since 6 months and was afraid and spooky of anything different. DS didnt know your horse had been with you from a foal may be calling on you for advice when my youngster arrives next week ha ha !!
 
Obviously horses of certain ages do tend to have certain characteristics, but it does depend a great deal on the individual horse - their personality, their background, what they have done and so on. I have known highly sensible 4-year-olds, and teenage nutcases... 6-year-olds who have been there done that, 14-year-olds who have done nothing... youngsters that have had more schooling in 2 years of ridden life than a 20-something has had in its lifetime. I have recently been bringing on a newly-broken 3-year-old who is already better behaved out hacking than the adult competition horses!
 
Having bought a lovely five year old who turned into a devil of a six year old (but thankfully a nice 7 year old), I really wouldn’t want another youngster. Everything about them changes, mentally and physically and you have to be so so careful with everything you do. It’s like having a child, if you accidentally swear in front of them they spend the next week telling their great-grandmother to ‘eff off’!

It’s not an easy option, I spent nearly two years thinking my horse was lazy, when in actual fact he had no idea what legs meant. It seems so obvious now looking back and I’m sure that anyone that rode him 2 years ago just wouldn’t recognise him now!

BUT it is very rewarding! Even the little things, like when he first had his front shoes back on I popped into his field to put brushing boots on him, he stood there loose whilst I did it. When I first had him it was a two person (with horse tied up)job to get boots on him!
 
It depends on how confident a rider you are and what experience you have. If you are confident and experienced a young horse will be fine. It also depends on what you intend doing with the beastie. Friend of mine just bought a 17yo old for a few hundred quid for hacking and it is a super horse.
 
To be honest I think you have to judge each horse on a case by case basis, each will have their flaws but it just depends on how that sits with you. Also if your OH hasn't had much, if any experience with horses then you may just need to explain how horses go through the same phases as human children. I always joke with my OH that now I've had equine babies....bring on human ones, nothing scares me anymore! :giggle:

I bought Puz as a 9yr old, tried her out and even managed to have her on a month's trial. She was definitely shut off, but generally reliable and a nice girl......two years later and we had finally got over the discussions of:
"Puz, shall we do this, it's a nice idea!"
"NO"
"But..."
"NOOO and if you ask again I'll do a somersault....or bite your leg"

She was just working out how much I meant what I was asking and how much she could trust me, but crikey it was blood, sweat and tears to get her to do anything back then! 10yrs on and she has been and will always be my pony of a lifetime, but nothing is ever easy and they will all test you to your limit!
 
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