A how much? Not an advert..

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Seahorse

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my horse has been on loan for a year and now they want to buy him, have no idea how much to sell him for to them.
He is 16.3 grey gelding, 9 yrs old, arab x warmblood. Was working at elementary level last year and has 4 BD points.

Was thinking of asking about £6500 - £7000 for him is that reasonable? Bearing in mind they love him and really want to buy him ;)
 
I'd think that was a bit too much considering from the info provided he got to his current standard with them. They may really want him but u also have added security of knowing where's he's going and how he'll be kept which cancels out any advantage there.
 
It depends who has put the work into him, if you produced him then yes you could ask for that. However if the loan person has done a lot of work to get him to where he's at, then if I were her I'd feel very offended and quite frankly taken advantage of if you asked that much.
 
If she has put alot of the work in then I would offer him to her at a lower price then his market value.
Seems only fair since she has added that value to your horse.
 
Depends partly on how much they've brought him on or how established he was before they got him.

No expert on dressage horse prices, but 7k seems quite pricey unless he is competing and getting good scores at that level, and has potential to go on at home.

My guess would be more like 5-6k if he is generally a nice all round person with no real quirks.

But I could be wrong!
 
I think around 5k? 4 BD points is nothing really and he is 9 now, also it obviously depends on how much work you put in and how much is the loaners work as they should pay for what you did but not what they have achieved whilst they have had him :).
I very much doubt you would get 7k for a 9yr old dessage horse that only has 4 points on the open market and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ;).
Saying that if he is a nice well bred horse that's safe and obviously has a bit of potential still he's worth something but I really think that's more towards the 5k mark :).
 
In the current market it is near impossible to get such high prices unless the horse is exceptional. I personally think you need to almost half your asking price for it to be fair in the current climate.
 
Agree with T-B to a point. Yes, I know they have kept it already for a year at their pleasure so have had a full year trial so to speak but if they handed him back you'd have a much improved horse because of the work they have put in and it won't have cost you anything. If I was them, I'd be more than miffed if you wanted more than £4000 especially in this climate.

ETA this is why if anything of mine goes out on loan it is written into the contract that the price will be ??? if they decide to buy so everyone knows where they stand.
 
sorry, I put the work in to get him to that level and competed him etc, they only hack and potter about in the school.
Their last horse cost them £5000 and he was a bugger who used to bronc her off all the time, so bearing that in mind for my horse I would expect them to pay more than that.
 
i would also say £5k to the loaners. If your horse is as good as you say it is, if they turn it down, you can have the horse back, give it some more experiance, THEN ask £7k for it and sell it to a stranger.
 
They obviously love the horse, but if they "only hack and plod about in the school" as you say, they could get something much cheaper, so I think if you are happy for them to buy the horse because they love him/care for him well/and he has a secure future with them, I think you should deduct that "worth" of your initial asking price, after all, peace of mind is priceless, and 7K for ( what would be) a hacker is just silly.
 
The trouble is:

1. Horse prices have dropped quite a lot recently, so what they paid for their previous horse is irrelevant in today's market.

2. If they have only been pottering about on him in the last year, and he hasn't competed recently, then that will reduce his value if you were to sell him on the open market.

so I agree with the others that his market value is less than what you are thinking of asking. However, it is possible that the loaners may be prepared to pay significantly over the market value for a horse they love and trust - on the other hand they might start looking around at other horses for sale and realise they could get horses to do a similar job for a lot less.
 
Seahorse said:
I'm not being greedy I just thought that is what he is worth. I looked on horsemart the other day and a similar horse was £6500. This is why I came on here looking for advice, not to be insulted.
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I dont feel anyone had the intention of insulting you. You asked a question and everyone gave honest answers. We can only go on the infomation you have given us and in the current market, from what you've said, 7k is over priced.
 
A horse is only worth what someone wants to pay for it!
The horse market is definately depressed at the moment with the economic climate and also hay prices going into winter. The prices of horses on the websites will no doubt be negotiated on and those that are not will not sell. You need to check how long those adverts have been up for, if they have had any interest etc.
To me, home is more important than price.
 
Seahorse said:
I'm not being greedy I just thought that is what he is worth. I looked on horsemart the other day and a similar horse was £6500. This is why I came on here looking for advice, not to be insulted.
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I'm sorry if I insulted you? Certainly didn't mean to. But I certainly wouldn't even think of paying that much money for a horse that would only be used for hacking, however good he may be at other stuff. If the loaners have some idea about the current market prices they might think you are taking the p*** asking £6500 and pull out all together, leaving you without a buyer, and possibly they'd pull out of the loan agreement as well.
Surely a middle ground is in there somewhere?
 
Seahorse said:
I'm not being greedy I just thought that is what he is worth. I looked on horsemart the other day and a similar horse was £6500. This is why I came on here looking for advice, not to be insulted.
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Seahorse,

This is not meant to insult you but I feel sure that if you posted a thread entitled 'find me a horse similar to this that costs less than 6500 or even 5000, you would come up with many that are currently being advertised.

Sure, you put the work in, but currently and to your own admission the horse is doing nothing more than gentle hacking, so it would need a bit of a 'refresher' to be able to do what you used to do on it.

Ask yourself when this 'loan family' paid 5k for their previous horse, I would assume that that was prior to this financial quagmire that the country is in and as such was at a time when horses commanded a higher sale value than they currently do.

I suppose it all boils down to the question of whether you want to risk them telling you that in this current climate they are not prepared to pay that much for your horse, would you then be able to take him back? Factor in how much you are currently saving by not having to pay for livery etc. I think that perhaps you are being a bit ambitious all things considered, the market is flooded - even with quality horses, their market value is down, your horse has a history but is currently and has been for a while: a happy hacker, I would lower your expectations a bit
 
This is probably going to sound like an insulting post too, sorry. AT the end of the day, its only our opinions - you can ask what you want for him..

What level is his dressage? Is he working at higher levels at home? Is he really well bred? Does he have a "wow" factor? I don't do dressage really, other than BE, but thought that you could get points at lower levels of BD for prelim, which is early stages of training really, so wouldn't expect to pay so much.

My friend paid £7k for a 7yr old ex-professional eventer's horse that had BE points and a lot of BD points. That was last year, at the start of summer, in a better market...

I know of several horses locally that are advertised at £7k but are worth more like £4k. You could put £12k on your advert if you wanted. Doesn't mean its going to sell.

I would tell you where to go if I was your loaner. Then find you several adverts on horsemart of horses that were cheaper! It sounds as though you just want to make money out of them because they got ripped off in the past. Do you not think that they possibly regret paying £5k for a horse that bronced?
 
i think that telling them to make an offer is a good idea - saves offending them and potentially losing the loaner. However I personally feel that £6300 would be a fair price (inc full wardrobe)
 
I have just bought a horse for £4k, he is 8 yrs old, 16.3hh and pink papered. He hasn't got any points but is schooling and ready to go out at medium. He also jumps.
 
Dancing Queen said:
i think that telling them to make an offer is a good idea - saves offending them and potentially losing the loaner. However I personally feel that £6300 would be a fair price (inc full wardrobe)
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:o

There are so many horses who are ready to go and either winning things or have serious potential for £2000 less!! The horse in question has only been hacking for the past year, hes 9 years old with little competition record. I would be looking in the region of £3000 for the horse to actually Sell TBH. If i had £6300, i would be after alot more for my money.
 
BSJAlove said:
:o

There are so many horses who are ready to go and either winning things or have serious potential for £2000 less!! The horse in question has only been hacking for the past year, hes 9 years old with little competition record. I would be looking in the region of £3000 for the horse to actually Sell TBH. If i had £6300, i would be after alot more for my money.
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So? An object is only worth what someone is prepared to pay - because i would pay that much doesnt make my opinion any less valid. Yes the market is weak at the moment, buts its always been weak going into winter so that arguement doesnt hold too much water with me at the moment.

Lets see what offer the loaners come back with....
 
I think your idea of asking them to make an offer is probably the safest! I am in the minority as I DON'T think you were taking the proverbial. It does work both ways, they may only want to hack and potter about but the horse can do more - should its value be reduced because they don't want to use it to its true potential? Also, they know this horse is safe and get on with it which is a massive tick in the market nowadays. I would have personally looked around the £6K mark for a well mannered horse, presume he is a bit of a looker being gray and part arab, and well schooled ready to go out. Agree 4BD points isn't much but tbf I have seen a lot of expensive dressage horses being sold on the "working at" not "has x points". There are people who really prefer the horse to not have many points but be ready to go.
 
I think it also depends what part of the country you are in. We are in Devon and prices still seem to be fairly high. I was looking last year for a horse for
5k that was a good safe allrounder (think you pay alot more for something thats very safe)that could do some lower level BE/BSJA. I couldnt find anything and ended up paying £6300 for my current horse. 16.2hh TBx gelding 7 years that had been placed 3rd at area eventing and 2.9ft unaffiliated. Yet he had oodles of potential which i could see straight away. I paid more basically more because he was so sane but had a great jump. Does your horse jump?does it have a good sane temperament?If it does it probably is worth around the 6k mark.Good luck with it all x
 
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