how old is too old to sell

davidfearnley

davidfearnley

New Member
Jan 18, 2007
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Lancashire
I always feel sorry for ponies that are for sale and are well into there 20's - a RS near me used to sell their old ponies off at 23/24.

I know that a old pony who knows its job is worth its weight in gold but when do people say ok you've done a lovely job now have a happy retirement?

A girl who I knew from being 11 sold her old pony 27 years old after 10 years of busting his little bottom for her - she sold him to a dealer who didnt have a good reputaion and what for ? a new sabre bridle for her new pony. £70

:confused:
 
I also feel awful when I see old ponies for sale:(

My 2 retired girls are 16 and 18, ive only had my 18 year old for 3 years but she gave me good service in that time and I feel its my duty to look after her.
Shes done nothing wrong and she is still sound and ridable, but she told me she didn't want to do as much work anymore, and she really gets excited when we do go out for a ride.
 
sadly a lot of horse owners are only interested in a horse for as long as it does a job and once it cannot do that, it is gone.

i have a mare here retired in 1997 as a 9 year old, still with me. I guess I could have got my money back if I'd lied about her problems and she would have been passed on and on, but I couldn't do it to her.

I used to do annual checks on a pony out on loan for a charity, he was a super dooper pc pony, but every 18 months changed rider till when he was 21 he got returned as unwanted - had just finished summer pc camp but they didn't fancy keeping her for the winter. He won rosettes, cups galore but none of the families over the years who had their fun on them - all sitting in their extremely posh and expensive houses! - felt any responsibility to his future. I wrote a poem about him:-

Advice to a Foal


Now that I am old, and stiff and grey
And you so young
So many days to play
I once was young like you
My words, you’ll learn, are true


Remember to
Grow more than 13’2
Then children will ride you
But older people too
Or life will treat you as me
Do not a schoolmaster be


I carried them with care
I carried them with pride
I taught them everything
I was their everything
But only for a while


They loved me, so they said
Their friend for life, they said
I was their pride and joy
I was their golden boy


And in the galaxy
My name of course you know
I sparkled like the sun
The golden trophies won
Rosettes, silver like the moon
All ended, far too soon


The games I played for you
The egg and spoon and sack
Were races run for you
You hugged me then and cried
But then, of me, you tired


Your secrets told to me
I never did reveal
When people were unkind
And did not understand
You cried into my mane
I understood your pain


But every year the same
Another calls my name
I am outgrown again
I have another friend
But never till the end


And do you think of me?
The one that you once loved?
I can remember you, your smell, your voice
The names they are so many
Of all the ones I taught
The girls, the little boys
All grown, too big for me
Do you remember me?


You promised me you’d stay
A friend of mine, for life
But always came the day
A younger pony came, the one who ran so fast
Our friendship did not last


And what would it have taken
That promise made, to keep
A holiday not taken
A Happy Meal forsaken
Would have bought my hay
Was that too much to pay?


And on my final day
With only strangers there
I looked for you, you know
I called out in my fear
But no, you were not there
Because you did not care
 
Its so annoying my friend got her section D when I got bob so we'd had them 11 years when she decieded to sell hers - the reason he's 18 now and I wont get as much money for him he's just loosing value!

She had enough money to pay to keep him, she only worked part time as mummy and daddy gave her an allowance.

I just dont understand - I'll have bob forever I know that, I'm getting life insurance so that if anything does happen to me my OH will get a payout and can keep him :)
 
Oh it breaks my heart to see that, My boy Cheyenne was still competing at 18 and I would never have sold him ever.

Ace is 16 so technically 'old' but acts and looks like a 6 year old lol. I used to look work at a horse rescue centre where there was the most beautiful brown TB gelding called Hector, he was almost 30 and very frail but such a happy loving horse who was always pleased to see people. He retired at 7 so spent a good 20 years in retirement and it suited him down to the ground.

My brother used to have a 25 year old NF X on loan who was cheeky as hell and Iain loved him to bits..

Gotta say I'd never get rid of mine when they're old and frail, I love them too much!
 
Sob.....
I agree, I find it dreadful that these old ponies are sold. Mine are friends for life, which means until they die of old age if possible. (oldest 33 yr, now gone, still 28 yr old daughter in the field, and her 20 yr old daughter.)
 
it isnt always that clear cut though. We have had a little section A for about 8yrs, she is now 19 and my last child is really too big. I would happily keep her for life BUT she is laminitic and keeps much happier and sounder in regular work, she loves being fussed and going to shows and is fit as a fiddle having been on the pony club gymkhana team this season.
So do I keep her and just leave her as a companion or find a new home where she can do all the things she loves and give some other children pleasure?
Tricky-see!
(obv dont agree with selling to a dealer for £70!)
 
I would def put her on loan if possible, it's too much of a risk that she may get passed from pillar to post at her age! Poor lovey!!
 
A horse is for life not just for Christmas...

As a business, yes the riding school is doing what they need to do, on a personal note, NEVER, when I come to get my own horse in the next few years I shall have no problems with buying an oldie, yes I may not get 10 years of riding out of him, but I'll still have a horse to look after and that's what matter's to me.

If Sam came up for sale I'd have no problems buying him, even though he's 20 now, even if I only had a year of riding him, he's so wonderful I'd be happy to feed him carrots for the rest of his years, he deserves it.
 
Big Ears, that's a lovely poem,brought a tear to my eye. My old horse I bought when he was 16, we had ten years together before he was PTS and buried at home. When I heard he was for sale I phoned my brother who has a farm to ask if anything happened to me, or if I could no longer afford livery etc, would he have him at his farm for the rest of his life. He said yes and so I bought him knowing I could guarantee (as far as you ever can) he would have a home for life. As it happened I moved back to the farm too about 4 years before he died. I now have another and the same applies to him, I have a very good friend who has promised to do the right thing for my boy if anything happens to me,otherwise he will live his life at the farm. I am very lucky though, I appreciate not everyone has the opportunity to do this, but there are other options like the veteran horse society and retirement liveries etc. I does sadden me to see elderly horse sold on, especially through markets but I guess we don't always know the real circumstances.
 
Big Ears said:
Advice to a Foal
.........
......And on my final day
With only strangers there
I looked for you, you know
I called out in my fear
But no, you were not there
Because you did not care
Click to expand...

Awww this poem really made me teary - Good work Big Ears!

I was feeling rather pompous as I bought Tilly in February from a riding school. She is 21 and produced a foal last spring. I want her to live with me now forever. We are bonding fast now and she deserves to retire and be made a fuss of. We go on occasional hacks in our surrounding idylic deer park which she loves but on the other hand does not seem one bit unhappy following me around doing my jobs etc. She quite often pops into the garden to help 'mow the lawn' whilst I'm weeding. The only thing missing for her is an equine buddy, which we are desperately trying to find.

For me the taking 'care' of a horse is my hobby/life now not the riding (that is a bonus) which my mother in law cannot get her head around. She constantly naggs saying that Tills is an expensive field orniment GRRrrr this really grates on me and if I had the money (lottery win please) I would open a retirement home for all the ponies in that poem.

Now you all think I am a righteous sod, I feel bad coz we have had a few little ponies that have been sold on as kids outgrown. There is only one that we haven't kept in touch with, sadly. He should be about 14 now (palomino welsh section A, Bobby) he was so much fun but very possesive with other horses. One was pts a couple of months ago, another is in the same village as I work in and see her most days.

Sorry for going on - this is my way of saying I loved the poem Gasbag by name - Gasbag by nature :eek:
 
This subject is very close to my heart. My pony is 21 now and no use to anyone except for me to love and adore her for putting up with me. I don't know how anyone could sell an old horse if they know that it will end up as dog food, as Skye would if I sold.

My new darling snuggles (still working on the name :eek:) is around 30 years old and if I didn't take him he would have been off to the knackery like every other 'used up' pony and horse.

They will both spend the rest of their days in my care. I can imagine what my pony/horse collection is going to be like when I'm older :rolleyes: I don't take selling horses lightly.

Didn't mean to ramble, but this subject makes me very angry :mad:
 
people's circumstances change, jobs get lost, divorce, things you can't help which makes it impossible to keep a horse.

i am not stupid about it, what really really annoyed me about Galaxy was that the people concerned were affluent, they could have kept him where he was, found another rider, but taken responsibility for doing this and for him as one day (he is now 22-23) he will have to take things much slower. But every year it was another loan agreement with a new family and then the next one and the next one - but no one wanted to be personally responsible for his long term future and as he got older, we got more concerned so eventually we just took him away from the place he had lived all his life (cruel I know) and rehomed him closer to the charity, and with people who had their own farm and where he has a better chance of a forever home. He is still in work, happy, but now he is in at night in the winter, rugged, being cared for - they always claimed he liked to live out and didn't want to come in but what they really meant was they didn't fancy paying more for a stable for him. He is now in a home where they care for him more appropriately for his age, I just hope it is his forever home. I have always said if he comes back again, to send him to me as ending his days at the charity would not suit a pony who has been on one to one management all his life.

I had to part with my racehorse when we had money troubles, so I know these things happen, but it is the getting rid of older horses, sending them to a sale (!) where anything can happen to them is what I find hard to take.
 
Echo miggy. Small ponies, in particular, are naturally going to be passed on as riders outgrow them, which does make it less likely that they will be in a "home for life" than a bigger horse that can do a job for one person for longer. If your child outgrows your 11.2hh, noone will bat an eyelid if you sell it at age 10 after two years with it. Interesting that the moral load is far greater if you're selling the same pony, in the same circumstances, aged 20.

I'd suggest that selling a horse in its 20s isn't necessarily a bad thing - a lot of these ponies can still be doing a very useful job, and it would be just as sad to see them chucked in a field for the next ten years, deprived of the love/attention/work they enjoy, when selling on to someone else might allow them to continue doing - and enjoying - a job.

If a horse reaches the end of its working life with you, it's your responsibility as owner to find a solution appropriate to that horse. But I don't think age alone is a defining factor - particularly for small, hardy kids ponies that can easily thrive on some level of work into their 30s.
 
I have ALWAYS maintained that any horse or pony i buy - unless it is truly impossible in which case i would loan - will have a home with me until their last second on this planet. It just isn't an option for me to sell on a retired horse. My RS has a 27yo gelding - if they offered him to me i would buy him in a shot; even if he only had one year of life left in him - even if i could never ride him. Horses give people so much; what gives people the right to pass on horses because they're outgrown or can't be ridden anymore? Horses are so much more than riding; it's sad to se people's old faithful friends up for sale because they aren't useful anymore :(.
 
ah that poem is lovely but did make me cry!

one of my poines i have now we used to own when i was 5 for about 4 years but he was sold to a riding school, i went there i few years ago for some lessons and he was still there, but just being retired. they knew i had owned him before so when they were changing managers asked if i wanted him. he is 23 years old now has been a little star all his life. he still gets ridden occasionally but is so happy now. and i will keep him for the rest of his life. with all the children he taught to ride he deserve a life more then just being left in the field and forgotten. he is now a pampered pony along with my 13.2 14year old who i have had for about 6 years im 20 now but will never sell her. :)
 
My YO always says she would rather send an old horse to heaven after having a happy life rather than sell on to go knows where.
as my mare gets older people often ask me why I dont 'move on' or 'get a beter one that can jump higher'. what they dont understand is that a few years ago my horse got very sick and I promised to mind her forever if she just hung on. and I intend to keep that promise. I got 5 years of trophies, rostettes and enjoyment out of her and now its up to me to give her something back. she is still happy and hyper but I do notice little things, the signs of getting that bit older and its so sad I hate to think theres a day someday in the future that she wont be with me.
 
selling an older horse is always more of a risk as while you may be prepared to pay for its retirement if you have had it a long time and feel you owe it a debt of gratitude for all the pleasure it has given you, someone who has had it 18 months may not feel similarly.

I am not saying that you shouldn't sell an older horse or pony but if you can't find a job for it to do, or it is incapable of work, why do you think someone else will when it has a £300-£500 meat value?
 
late teens start to worry me in terms of selling on te open market - often ponies are sold to long-term loaners etc which i think is a different matter. one of our horses was on loan to a lady for about 10 years before she bought her in her 20s.

we are a riding school and would never sell our oldies at retirement. they live in luxury and are retired as babysitters (we're a stud as well0 until they are no longer happy and need to go on their final journey.

i've got no issue at all with selling a young, sound and useful horse. if nobody sold horses none of us would be able to have them. i've got no issue with buying specifically to sell on, keeping until your ambitions outgrow their abilities -that is fine by me. it's not like having a dog or a cat, where any one will provide fun and ocmpanionship - need one who is going to do and enjoy what you want to.

what i do have a very large problem with is selling them when they are lame or old and need to slow down and retire. i firmly believe that whoever has a horse at the endof its working life should step up and give it either a decent retirement or a humane end to life before it starts suffering. after all, if you don't care enough to give the horse that has served you well a decent end to its life, why would the person you sell it to?
 
i did advertise Lacey for sale when she was 19 and i had no problem with selling her at that age (although i never did actually sell her due to thinking she was going to a home where she's be loved to find out it was a home she'd be run into the ground at, so i cancelled the sale:eek:) however now she is 20 and has had laminitis she will not be for sale. If i cannot keep her i would have her put down as she is the sort of pony who would get passed around, especially as she is small at 13hh. she is a schoolmistress of sorts and has been on loan int he past and i would agree with the poem that in the past when she's been outgrown she has been uncared for before being handed back. her most recent loan was a disaster so she would not be loaned outside my own yard again.

i think if fit and healthy (ie in full work) i would sell a pony/horse up to the age of 20. However i probably wouldn't buy a horse over the age of 18 again.

they are worth so little at that age compared to what they have to give, it makes economic sense to keep them and enjoy them anyway.
 
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