This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is sometimes the case - but if you get even the basis visual vet inspection (here that's $30 trip fee plus $80 for the vet) you can get a vet estimate of the actual age, vet's visual inspection at the walk / trot / gallop for basic check on arthristis, the navicular tool tested on the hoof, etc. For the xrays also - well, that's usually a couple of hundred more, *BUT* unless the vet saw something suppicious in the visual exam, not necessary (in my opinion, when looking for a trail & companion horse).
"...a first time horse buyer...was looking for that...bomb-proof, reliable...horse...found him in Max, a 17 year old...would give his heart to you..." Your Max sounds like my Salazar - my first time horse for a spankin' beginner adult ridder. "...After I got him home, the bills...started racking up...seller's lies! He was...in his mid-twenties...needed...teeth floated twice a year...one hoof that had foundered...egg bar shoes...older horse diet..." My Salazar turned out to be in his 30's not around 15 as the seller represented him. Back then, I did not understand the value of paying for the simple $110 vet check before putting a dime down on a horse. The old man also had chronic arthritis and had to be have butte pain killers to be ridden (in the second year I had him, we learned that, after $2,000 in vet bills and xrays to find the cause.) Old Salazar is another example of a old timer who had big heart, was very gentle. For my first horse, and my serious lack of riding skills (back then) dispite his old timers' extra costs, that first year of no broken bones (or hospital trips!) was still worth it. But, if I had understood the value of a vet check pre purchase, then I could just as easily have bought a horse that REALLY was 15 yrs old, who did not have any health problems. Bad feet, arthritis, all these are signs that a vet can pick up. It's not normal for a 15 or 20 year old horse to be in that kind of bad shape! If that horse was well taken care of it's whole life, it will NOT be in that kinds of bad shape. I now have a 22 yr old Standardbred mare - who doesn't look her age at all - and who plays in the medieval games (sword & target work on the mount) with no problems, who's feet are in perfect shape, who's weight is good. In pasture, with no one holding her head, my hyper son can literally climb up her neck and sit on her back (she's 15.2 hands) and she just ignores him. She's been with my family for 6 years now. And has quite a few years left in her. All this at 22 yrs old! The point I'm trying to show is --- new buyers (I was once there!) will really benefit from getting a vet check, even the simple $100 type, before putting any money down on a horse. Not all breeders are dishonest in representing their horses for sell - but on the same hand - there are far too many out there that the new buyer must really beware! Some sellers also just don't know the history of their animal all that thoroughly, for whatever reason - so again, the buyer benefits from a basic vet check. I feel that goes for a $800 grade gelding mutt-butt all the way up to an $8,000 gorgeous wonder fjord ----- after all, we have one body and one life, it's worth it to get a good match of horse to person. Nothing is worth this human getting "busted up" over it. Now, the folks who know how to break / gentle a horse to perfection - that's great - they can get a young green horse and not get hurt. But I'm talking more about us folks who are still learning and just do not want to go through that. Sher
