A how much query.

[HayleyUK]

Friend is looking for a horse, has found one advertised and thinks it might be 'the one' - the seller seems straightforward enough, and has indicated they'd be open to an offer on the horse. Friend is keen to make an offer, has a ball park but as this would be her first event type she's bought and the first horse she's bought in a long time I wanted to canvass opinion on her behalf as to what the horse is worth.

Horse is late teens. Was brought over from Europe as a youngster unbroken and has been with current owner since 5YO.
Current owner has had fair amount of success at PC level - has been placed at PC and RC championships.

Horse has been BE for 5 consecutive seasons with same rider - qualified for badminton grassroots twice. Has has a handful of novice runs with varying success (elimination at one event) Dressage scores vary from mid 20s to mid 30s - few SJ faults on its record, but to balance that there are a few DCs.
Comes top 10 at BE100 fairly frequently.

No one else has ridden it except current owner so not sure how it is with a strange rider - but I'm guessing its a solid BE100 schoolmaster type? Unlikely to go N successfully but does a nice test at BD Nov with scope to go Ele.

What would you be looking to offer?

 

[LEC]

Friend just sold one like this in teens for over £7k. Absolute winning machine but not the scope to go Novice.

 

[ihatework]

Tricky! Late teens (so guessing 17-19 yo).
Essentially you are paying for experience and (hopefully) safety - some parents value that quite highly and these types can exchange hands for a reasonable sum given the age.
You also have to take into account any veterinary history / will they pass a vetting. They may not, but if you have 5 seasons then hopefully fit for purpose.

I think you would be looking in the region of 3-6K depending on the various factors.

 

[PorkChop]

Can't help with price, but he sounds like a fantastic schoolmaster

 

[HayleyUK]

Horse is for an adult so whilst safety is important - I'm not sure it'll command the mega money parents would shell out for a child/teen.

I wouldn't call it a winning machine - its well placed at times, but isn't the most careful SJ on the planet. Its an experienced BE100 horse - I'm wary of calling it a schoolmaster because its only ever evented with the rider its come up through PC with.

I'd hope it'd pass a vet, she won't buy if not - but it has had a few 'niggles' (cosmetic ones) in its history according to owner. It has a stable vice also.

Based on the two responses, its overpriced - by quite a lot, but I'm not sure the owner thinks this

 

[HayleyUK]

On paper, I'd be inclined to agree about it being a schoolmaster but its only ever been ridden by its current owner so I'm not sure if it'd get someone out of trouble if you know what I mean?

It seems a lovely horse - just feel the owner is pricing it based on sentiment a little bit.

 

[ihatework]

Why can it not be ridden by / sold to a teen?

 

[HayleyUK]

Sorry- I don't think i was very clear. I'm sure it could be ridden by a teen - its current owner rode it as a teen. My friend who is looking to buy the horse isn't a teen therefore probably wouldn't pay the premium for it that a parent looking for a safe horse for a teen would pay.

 

[ihatework]

Sorry- I don't think i was very clear. I'm sure it could be ridden by a teen - its current owner rode it as a teen. My friend who is looking to buy the horse isn't a teen therefore probably wouldn't pay the premium for it that a parent looking for a safe horse for a teen would pay.

Got you.
Ultimately the vendor can ask what they like and your friend can choose whether they wish to pay it or not.
At the end of the day it is supply and demand I suppose.
Best your friend can do is decide what the horse is worth to them, advise the vendor of what they are willing to pay and it's then up to the vendor to say yes/no.

What is the horse up for?

 

[HotToTrot]

I think there are two main negatives to consider in terms of valuing it... 1. She's unlikely to be able to sell on, so needs to be prepared to "lose" the money she would spend buying him. 2. He may only have a couple of seasons left eventing. Of course, any horse can break at any time, but there has to be an increased risk that an old horse will want to stop competing sooner than a younger one! So then you say "what am I prepared to spend on a horse for a season's eventing?" If she'd happily wave goodbye to 3K per year, and pays 6K, then she has two years with him and considers herself happy!

 

[kc100]

As you say the horse is late teens it is very much based on whether you friend is prepared to pay for a horse with limited years left in him. yes any horse can break at any age, but common sense dictates the older the horse is the fewer seasons eventing he has left before he might have to retire for a gentler life, maybe doing a bit of dressage and hacking. She will obviously have a budget, and if this horse is breaking the budget and is in his late teens then probably not worth spending the money on.

An experienced eventer can command a fair amount of money, and perhaps the current owner has been looking around other horses for sale seeing how much a decent BE100 horse can go for - BUT his age does work against him and perhaps she is not taking it into account.

Out of interest, why is he up for sale? Sounds to me like he's reached his limit in terms of ability and the owner has realised this, realised he's not got many seasons eventing left in him and wants to make some money on him before he does break.

Personally if this is your friend's first horse in a while then it doesnt sound ideal - yes a schoolmaster type is brilliant and sounds like the sort of thing your friend needs, but equally she wants to event and will probably want a good few years at it with her new horse. A horse aged between 10 and 15 would be a much better prospect than a late-teens horse, a 14 or 15 year old would still be very experienced and a safe ride, yet will also offer the possibility of maybe up to 5 seasons eventing or even more. But a 17-19 year old only offers 1-3 seasons unless she's lucky, is that what she really wants?

Short term he might be great, but long term I think he's not quite right and if it were me, he'd only be worth £5k max due to his age. But as I said on someone else's post today, a horse is only worth what you are willing to pay for it - your friend might be willing to pay £5k but someone else could be willing to pay £10k. Your friend simply needs to decide if he is value for money in HER eyes, and if he's not then look for something else a bit younger.

Or would current owner consider loaning him to your friend? A loan for 1-2 years might work out nicely, and if he's still going strong in 2 years time perhaps your friend could offer to buy. But I think that will be unlikely, I think owner has realised she has to sell now before he breaks and wont want him back in 2 years time when he's not got any value left in him anymore.

 

[HayleyUK]

Thanks for all the replies.

Friend has recently sold a younger horse - who wasn't going to event and has a youngster in the field so has lots of experience just hasn't bought anything broken/with experience in quite a few years.

She's looking for something to do some lower level BE on - and I totally agree that this horse may be the one to do that whilst she's waiting for her young horse to be ready but realistically, hes probably not got many seasons left in him. He's not been run hard, or too often IMO from his record and I think she's willing to take the hit on him.

Her budget is reasonable - so she could easily buy something younger with more miles left in the tank. She's seen this one of a bit of a whim and unexpectedly really liked him.

He's on for over 6k - which for me, is too expensive, I'd be wanting to pay maybe 4-5k maximum for him and give him a home for retirement rather than look to pass him on again.

Owner has bought a youngster and is on livery so 'can't afford' two and wants to focus on her new one apparently.

 

[tiggs]

Has it got any points at novice as that will limit what your friend can do with him at the lower levels?