AGE

How does a person find a grade horse with a lot of training, and no bad habits? One answer is to buy something, ''aged". Many horsemen feel that a mount is old at nine years (perhaps this is on account of the fact that it is hard to tell the age of a horse after he passes " smooth mouthed," and consequently while youth is considered worth a premium price, an animal old enough to turn out to pasture, added expense.

Where this thinking falls down is that many top rodeo horses are twice nine years-old. My own personal experience includes fond memories of a ragged, curly haired, 20 years young jughead that I paid $95 too much for ( the asking price was $100 ), just because I felt sorry for the animal. He turned out to be one of the best pack horses that ever lived. And with a bouncy step he lead a string all the way from Mexico to Canada. (see Search For A Shadow Of The Past.Com) He enjoyed every moment of his importance, and as a reward, I promised him green pastures for the rest of his life. That was a mistake. Three months after retirement, feeling very sorry for himself because he wasn't important anymore, the Colonel ( as we called him ), like the old soldier he was, just lay down and faded away.

Funny, but after all these years, I still experience an empty feeling inside whenever I pass by his grave. But, sentimentality alone has no dollar value. Looking at the price paid for this animal — even though it was more than the current marlet value — did I loose money on the deal? No, I used the Colonel for almost three years. Breaking down the purchase price to a per month basis, it works out to what a stable might charge for just one hour's rental, $3.00.

Another example. Recently I was asked to give an evaluation on a prospective purchase ( I charge $20 for this ) of a horse advertised as nine years old, that had a price tag of $150 . As it often happens, the animal was about 18 years-old. He also had a problem hoof. The seller was firm, but because of these two findings, I was able to knock the asking price down to $122.50 (thus saving the buyer, less my fee, $7.50). And, I recommended that my client close the deal as fast as she could write out a check. Why ? Because the horse was exactly right for her daughter. Something to ride. Something she could put her youngest son up on, turn him loose for the day to go play Indians, knowing that Old Chief would have him back at the tepee for dinnertime.

In fact this old gentleman was so good I expected him to train his novice riders better than they could have learned from lessons, or a book. The only chance my buyer was taking was a few extra horseshoeing and vet bills. Even so, worked out over a period of say, five years — possibly more, her investment still would be something less than $5.00 a month.

Now I have to back up a few years and say something about the folly of raising a foal. From conception to completion, it is expensive. To do it right — with a stud fee, good pasture and hay, extra grain, mineral, and vitamin supplements, hoof and health care — can run the total on-the-hoof price up over a thousand dollars. This, before training begins for a two year-old, and even that is a bit young. The realistic cost of a range raised runt still is higher than the average price of a ready to ride horse as advertised in the classified section of your local newspaper.

Why then would anybody be dumb enough to raise a colt/filly ( male/female, under four years of age ) ? Half the time, the reason is for the experience. The other half, well, let's call it a natural mistake. I've raised a few babies myself, and though it is one way to come up with a horse that completely trusts his owner, I didn't plan it that way. Once I bought a fat mare that dropped a bundle on our doorstep, unannounced We named him " Sir Prize . "

However it happens, this is the reason — with the horse population of the U.S. now topping 10 million — that horseflesh is a buyer's market. The unemotional hard truth is that no horse today, when you subtract values as training, registration, sentimentality, is worth any more than what the dog food canners will pay per pound.

It's cruel of me to say that, but honest. When I was shoeing I couldn't always be as direct. In fact, it was necessary to find at least one point I could praise. With some horses all I could come up with was, "seems to have a healthy appetite" The question I had the most trouble with was, "How old do you think he is?" I experimented with several answers, from pretending I didn't know how to read a mouth, to asking a new owner what he thought (was told), and then agreeing. Telling the truth just made people mad.

Fortunately, often because an owner does care about a pet, en order horse will be sold for less than what his flesh would bring at the canners. If he passes the SOUNDNESS and TRAINING examination, this could be a great buy.

That is a big IF. Remember that you cannot teach an old dog, or horse, new tricks. And, what you are buying is only "x" number months of use.

On the other hand, if you are paying for youth, make the determination (last entry in the evaluation) yourself, rather than accepting the sellers estimination as the truth. It's not that difficult to do, and for some reason, the advertised age of a horse is rarely correct.