Are you tied to a specific breed? There are quite a few Morgans in your area, they offer the bonus of being versatile and long lived. Morgans are known for being small but many breeders are producing larger horses now (much to the chagrin of many purists). If you outgrow a Morgan there’s a good chance they can become your children’s horse too. Check out morganshowcase.com
Just to add to the thoughts of buying a Canadian horse…we cannot show with near the med’s that seem to be routine down in the US. No flames please…I have read the list of what is routinely permitted at the US shows. Under our Equine Canada medication list there is very little allowed to be given our show horses. And the stewards are darn good at checking too…which is great!
More then once I have heard a US pro tell prospective clients to check out the horses here in Canada specifically for this reason. I am not saying there are not cheats everywhere of course but I was quite surprised to find out what IS permitted in the US vs Canada. Just another thought to consider. Plus the great US/Can exchange rate available. Come north my friends 
The snow is almost gone!
I also agree with ‘off’ breeds. You can get some excellent TBs because they have a lower resale value. I had a student recently get a 10 year old TB with lead changes, beautiful gaits, jumping 3 feet courses. She paid 5 grand.
Another amazing horse i have trained was a western pleasure horse. It was trained to do the nicest walk/trot/canter on a loose rein. It made jump training so easy because the horse never rushed the jumps. He won quite a few classes this year at WEF. No one has ever commented on the fact that he is a quarter horse
If you have your heart set on a WB, try the west coast, especially oregon/washington/idaho/montana. The cost of shipping+horse cost is less than buying one on the east coast!
Biggest piece of advice I can give you is going outside your area. I grew up in zone 2 and everything is more expensive. You don’t even have to leave the state - I went from Westchester County to upstate/western NY and was surprised by how much the prices drop.
I have seen tons of thoroughbreds with miles in the 2’6’’ and even some 3ft within your budget.
I vote lease something that you can enjoy right now and walk away from when other life commitments take precedence. If you are mounted on something more experienced and you can be comfortable and effective, you could probably be showing at 3’ in less than 4 years.
Lots of good advice here, but like a few others I am surprised at what is considered “old.” I think you should easily be able to find a well-trained and experienced TB or Appendix who can do exactly what you want for 4-5 years in your budget. I think with a good vetting, I would not hesitate to buy a 15/16-year-old horse like this. Of course, there is no guarantee, and any horse is one pasture accident away from retirement, but I think the chances are good that you can get 4-5 good years of what you are looking for.
Good luck, OP.
I think one of the worries is that she wants so many years of heavy jumping out of it. I don’t know any 19 year olds who show heavily and stay sound. All the ones who make it work are managed well/not over jumped. If this is a move up horse she wants to show a lot to go out with a bang on before she settles down with kids, she isn’t going to want to carefully choose only six shows, not jump much in between and only do two or three warmup fences and walk in the ring… Those visions aren’t meshing with the picture of the busy fun show years before kids. Or wouldn’t for me, I have kids now and advise her to get something she can show as much as she wants while she still can!!! But a 12 year old, that would easily work if the horse stays sound, many horses can stay on the go at 16 with a good fitness regimen. Lots of long walks and trots at home and plenty of rides during the week to keep the base level of fitness up, not too much jumping. She could show that theoretical horse pretty much like it was 12 if she got really lucky.
fordtracktor said what I sas trying to say better then I did… and I think we have both managed and shown more then one mid teen+ horse.
Dead on with the six carefully selected shows, shorter, infrequent lessons and 2 warm up fences with the 19 year old too. Not a situation for a rider wanting to learn and practice new things to go horse show 10-12 times a year. Local or rated makes no difference wear and tear wise although footing is generally better for a senior at the rated levels.
I would not look over 12 if she wants 3 or 4 busy show and lesson filled years aiming for 3’. If she wanrs to stay 2’ with some 2’6", trim the show and lesson schedule by not pushing the 3’ move upand just mostly trail ride, she could look older.
Thank you everyone for the advice and opinions - lots of good stuff here for me (and anyone else thinking about an older horse) to consider. I’ve been looking at some “been there, done that” TBs in my price range but are in their mid teens so I was wondering what everyone thought of purchasing an older schoolmaster if they were in my situation. Much appreciated!
I bought a 17 year old horse with no jumping experience, he showed 3’ and 3’ 6" into his mid-twenties and was still doing 2’ 6" right up to when he died a few weeks shy of 29 years. I have a 23 year old that was showing three foot at 18 and still does 2’ 6" and 3’ in lessons. I have an 18 year old that thinks she is half that age, and has no trouble with whatever fence heights. None of the above horses ever needed any maintenance. I have a 16 year old that is doing three foot, but unlike the above ones, he does have hock arthritis managed with injections. These horses not only show those heights, but also work in our school program. I have found that the older horses, if kept in work, typically keep going fairly well. I have only had problems if they have been horses that have sat around. That said, I would thoroughly vet an older horse. But I have bought several older horses for showing at the level you are looking at, and have had no problems with them.
I have found in my experience that age really doesn’t limit depending on what your goals are. I have a TB, who is currently 28 and fully retired, but he was showing up to 2’3-2’6 until he was 25. He didn’t need injections, he just got MSM in his feed daily and he was good to go. I showed him up to 3’ until he was 22. He came from a not so good place prior to me purchasing him at age 13. (Lets just say this guy bucked and tried everything in his heart to get me off, but I found the challenge interesting and the connection was there so I took the gamble)
My current guy, and OTTB, I got when he was 10, he will be 16 this year and we compete in the Jumper ring and show 3’3 to 3’6. We school twice a week over fences and at least one of those schoolings is at his show height and sometimes higher. He gets a joint supplement from Smartpak and a month injection of Map 5 (cheaper alternative to Legends that works great) and I have no problem with him and he is eager and happy to do his job. He’s actually jumping better this year than in years past. He does get the occasional chrio/accupunture work but Id probably say once or twice a year as needed.
So its completely up to the horse you get and goals you set. I wouldn’t let age deter me unless I had a specific long term goal.
All my qh’s have been competitive at the larger heights (3’6") and have stayed sound into their 20s.
I would give priority to the younger horses (14 and under or thereabouts) but wouldn’t necessarily cross the older ones off the list. I’ve known horses who needed serious maintenance to do 3’ at 12 and also horses who were still doing Mini Prixs at 22.
I think I would be wary of getting one who’s always had to reach for that 3’ height vs. a more athletic older horse who’s stepping down and isn’t going to be working that hard for it - you run the risk that they have an old injury, but hopefully the vet check would find it and you’d get the benefit of having a horse who’s already in good shape and isn’t putting a ton of strain on their muscles.
It might help to have a mental picture of what you want to do between shows before you go to look. Have some ideas for cross-training you can do so they’re not using the same muscles day after day, and maybe an “ideal” plan for what you would want to do with an older horse each week to keep them in shape. Personally I would be looking for one that can hack out alone so they can get lower-impact fitness days.
Other questions would be whether they’re mentally capable of showing without a whole lot of prep - can you go to a show with just one lesson the week before? Do they go in the ring and jump around cheerfully the first time, or are you going to need two or three days and a few classes each day before they settle in? A quirky horse might end up working twice as hard as an easy going packer type.
