amateur riders and expensive horses

diggerbez

diggerbez

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inspired by the BE eventing classifieds post- are expensive horses worth their price tags? i realise that this is quite open ended but would be interested to hear your experiences of horses that have cost, say, over 10 grand... have they turned out to be worth their price or a big waste of money? :)
 
Interesting question!
I have never been in a position to buy one in that price bracket (or even half it!) but I am not sure if I could I would. I would be very worried about something going wrong with something that cost that kind of money - paranoid even :rolleyes:
I have always said I would never buy a horse that had been ridden by a professional or very good rider as I always think I would be a poor substitute!! Personally I prefer to get something that is a bit of a blank canvas and while I would pay decent money for a decent youngster could find plenty well below that price bracket.
 
DarkHorseB said:
Interesting question!
I have never been in a position to buy one in that price bracket (or even half it!) but I am not sure if I could I would. I would be very worried about something going wrong with something that cost that kind of money - paranoid even :rolleyes:
I have always said I would never buy a horse that had been ridden by a professional or very good rider as I always think I would be a poor substitute!! Personally I prefer to get something that is a bit of a blank canvas and while I would pay decent money for a decent youngster could find plenty well below that price bracket.
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yes i agree with you DHB hence why i asked the question because i doubt i will ever be able to afford a horse at anywhere near this price ;) i have sold a horse for this much though and i know what my opinion of him was :p
 
A very interesting question.

I bought my 9 year old mare as a green 5 year old in that price bracket. Previously i had never had a horse that was worth anywhere near that money, but neither had i had anything that moved so well or had so much scope. Has she been worth it? On balance most definitely yes.

However i have had many ups and downs. In the first few years I worried endlessly that she was going to hurt herself in the field and that i wasn't a good enough rider for her. I beat myself up all the time if things didn't go well because "it must be my fault as my horse is amazing and cost so much (to be honest it was probably true)!"

I am sure that 1) i am not doing as well with her as a professional would 2) I have not taken her up the grades as quickly as a professional 3) i have probably lost a lot of money on her. However in the last year or so I have decided not to care because 1) i have not done her any harm (she still has good paces, a nice pop and a soft mouth) 2) she has a lovely life and is very well cared for and 3) if i get my act together on the riding front we could be pretty damn competitive! She is a talented horse.

Would i buy another one for that price? Not sure to be honest. I recently brough another one to run along side my mare and she was much less money as I decided that i didn't need two horses that cost that much!! So perhaps that answers the question.
 
I think it depends what you're looking for - if you're talking about spending big money on a young untried horse I couldn't justify the expense. However, a few years ago I did spend decent money on a horse that was tried and tested eventing at 1* and has loads of potential and I have to say for what I wanted he was worth every penny. I still can't make him do decent dressage but he is just the most honest and scopy horse and just gave me so much confidence in the show-jumping and xc. I'm selling him in the near future unfortunately as I won't have time to do much with him in the next couple of years - and realistically he's capable of going much further than I ever will. He's now re-training as a show-jumper and will be doing his first grand prix in a few weeks, so all going well I'm hoping to be lucky and sell him for more than what I paid for him. Don't think I'll ever be in a position to buy a horse like that again, but really glad I did! :)
 
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Can't say I know personally as never had the funds to buy one in that bracket! I do know people who have though, and although usually the horses perhaps haven't brought them the competitive glory that they initially hoped for (or that achieved by previous riders), they have usually proved to relatively safe conveyances and given the riders positive experiences. (These are mainly the been there, seen it, done it types).
 
i know someone who has spent a lot of money on several horses and none of them have worked out well for this person.
i would never spend that much money on a horse hahaha.
 
It's an interesting question... I could NEVER afford a horse of that price but I am lucky enough to have one on permanent loan. He was bought for 15k as a six year old when he had been doing medium(ish) dressage and 1.35 SJ in Holland. He was then basically left to fester until I became his sharer when he was 11yo and he appeared to be a complete nutter. His owner then decided to sell, but couldn't get any interest at 5k, so I offered to take him on permanent loan (as I couldn't even afford the 5k!!!).

So I managed to straighten him out and teach him XC and we started off with BE intro and 1 season later we are about to start novice with a very solid PN season under our belts.

He is out of concorde who is an olympic medalist SJer and this coupled with his early training his jumping is pretty good. He can do his own maths with seeing a stride etc (at the level we've done so far) and has learned about XC very very quickly. My trainer thinks his dressage is fab and he has the scope for advanced stuff and whe we're training horse sometimes throws in odd things that he says would get a good mark in a dressage test at that level. However, I'm not that good at dressage so we do well but not amazingly. He also has a wonderful temperament and a "can do" attitude. If I could afford another like him I'd get one but younger tomorrow!!! :D

As for me, I have good "gung ho" pony club/hunting background and a lot of patience to my name, but no massive equestrian credentials and I am going further with this horse atm than I ever have before (however, my 3k inc tack "first horse" when I was a 13yo was arguably a better all-rounder so I guess the jury is still out!!). So we are probably near enough your text book case as to what your post is about and I would say that probably the money makes a big difference when it comes to being more sure you have a good horse, but it doesn't necessarily mean you can't get just as good for not a lot if you know what you're looking for and/or get lucky.

Similarly I know a keen young eventer near me who didn't have much luck with first horse so bought a proven 1* horse that had more 1st rosettes at N and I than I've ever seen... so far they are yet to be placed. So I think it literally is about a combination of factors, luck, money, attitude of horse and rider, teamwork of horse and rider, scope of horse and rider etc etc.
 
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I haven't had the money to but if I did then probably for something established in its training yes. Seeing my green horse progress is great but sometimes it would be lovely to have a sit on something more experienced.

A friend paid around £15000 for a 10yr old showjumper who had been with professional riders up until then. The horse was a fab all-rounder, not exactly push button but certainly not too complicated.
 
If you have the money going spare, why not?

Personally I've never had the money, nor would I save up for that purpose. I spend my time looking and buy cheap- keep your ears open and generally something with quality comes up cheap for whatever reason.
 
Rocky was just under this price bracket (otherwise, the most we've ever spent on a horse is £2250, so was a bit scary!) [step dad got some inheritance money!] as a just backed 4yr old. Walk, trot, canter and canter over a X pole was his limit at the point of sale. imo, TOTALLY worth every penny. Yes, what he knew was very limited, but everything was done correctly, he had no bad habbits - baisically a blank canvas that knew the baisics. He also had absoloutly no vices (and im suprised how rare this actually is! Even if its something small like being prone to mud fever, has to think about walking into the box, wont be left on its own, fidgets for the farrier etc.. most horses have SOMETHING) so i think this made him even more worth it.

In a way, he has been the perfect schoolmaster to me (i know it sounds silly him being a 4yo!) because he makes it so clear when you are doing something wrong! I fell off him SO many times when i first brought him - seat not secure enough, leg coming too far back when asking for canter.. etc etc (and he could buck for england!, yet he was still so generous at the same time - he would go off ANY stride, always help me out, never stop (he is now becoming much more on the ball as i get it right alot more often now, so when its wrong, he tells me!) but he has just been absoloutly perfect for me.

He was exactly as described from the seller, and i would definatley buy off them again as i know they only chose quality horses (having worked for them for a few months at weekends), and although expensive, thier horses are always worth every penny.

:) defiantley not a decision i regret!
 
We've never had the money to buy nice horses, but because we always loan we've had some nice ponies.

My sister's last pony was a good example of this- she'd gone to PC Champs for Open dressage and SJ, and placed and had a good BS record. She'd been doing 1.15m classes with her old owners, and a bit of PC eventing (but not much). She was sold for quite a decent price for the time as she wasn't as good as the pony the youngest member of the family had, so there was no point in them keeping her. She then had 2 homes in quick succession as she was a bit of a mare who was very picky and opinionated (and if she didn't like the way you presented her at a fence she had a vile stop!). We got her on loan, and she was a superstar. She knew it all, and gave my sister invaluable experience (especially SJ) over 1.10m/ 1.15m tracks and on riding horses, as although she was only 14.2hh she rode like a horse. We could never have afforded her, but the experience she gave A was very worthwhile.
 
Rosie had one bought for her that was more than £10k and he was well worth it (looked at quite a few overpriced duds before they found him though). Came from a pro and she has done pretty well with him. There's no way they could have afforded him but for the other person's generosity though so thank you to him.
I doubt they would spend anything like £10k on a horse even if they could but if I won the lottery, I probably would - who knows .......
 
It rather depends on your definition of expensive. One persons £1000 is another persons £10000 and anothers £50000. The other thing to bear in mind too is that many amateurs who pay a lot for their horses are actually paying a lot for the privilege of someone else sorting through the unsuitable horses to find ones that do fit the bill. Time is money and a lot of people have neither the time or inclination to take risks with untried animals when they can pay a bit more and hopefully be at the races much earlier.

Personally the most i paid for a horse was £7.5k. He gave me a lot of pleasure and some good memories...he also frustrated me as i always thought i should be doing better with him. Generally the horses that have given me the most pleasure though are the ones that i've expected least from and who have me little or nothing :)
 
Better question is how many people ride expensive horses? Not how many bought one. Going off all the 'How Muchs' on here there are very few cheap horses on this forum!!!
 
FRESHMAN said:
Hey SuperHorse you must have been doing something very right if your horse is going to do a Grand Prix in a few weeks. Courses like that are very difficult, personally never seen a horse for sale that is capable of G.P's for that sort of money!
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Well, first off I haven't specified how much I paid for him to begin with - and secondly, I'd be looking quite a lot more for him now! :D
To be fair I think I just got lucky, he's with a pro SJ'er, prior to that he'd only ever evented so never been tried at any great level SJ :)
 
I look at the horses that come out of Tim Warrens and Vere Phillips yards and think how much I want one of their horses. If I had the cash to blow on something that could drop dead tomorrow I would do it with no hesitations. I think if you have a good eye for a horse and know your riding capabilities then you can be well matched. I get fed up riding rejects and dream of uncomplicated histories but sadly my brain is writing cheques my bank balance will not cash!
 
*sigh* wish i had money....
Afraid I am into getting horse given to me, for nothing!

My pointer did cost someone around 40,000 euros a couple of years ago. He then did a leg, which is a risk if you spend a huge amount on a horse. You don't know what could happen, and could be well worth it and a complete waste, who knows.
Saying that, having worked with pointers for the last 5 years or so, I have sat on some real rubbish horses and good ones. I think my horse has a fantastic engine, and I jumped for the first time the other day and he is fantastic.
So I am in two minds, you have to spend money to get true quailty, but its a huge risk and you could just be throwing your money down the drain.
 
I couldnt ever afford a horse in that price tag but when I was much younger I had a former international level jumping pony on loan, she was in her late 20s at that point so not worth much i suppose. But, she had changed hands for considerable more than £10k in her youth and took all of her riders onto england teams in her prime. So, in that case im sure those people thought she was worth that money without a doubt. She was a push button ride, you just had to point her at the jumps.

But, I bought my 14.2 pony for £1800 and he took me onto junior eventing teams as well, but it took several years working with him to get to that level, with the other pony people were pretty much guaranteed to be able to get on her and win right away.

I suppose it depends what you want, i'd rather pay less and work with the horse to get to the level I want, but if you're in it for results only there are horses out there that can give you that - for the right price. These days £10k is cheap for a competition horse.
 
I think it very much depends on how you look at it. Horses dont have ambitions as such so even if you think the horse could have achieved more with a professional that doesnt mean the horse cares or feels wasted assuming its well cared for and ridden. If you can afford it and its what you want then who is someone else to say that is wrong as long as you can cope with the horse?

There is a big difference in spending substantial sums on 4/5 year olds and on older horses with a track record. With 4/5 year olds there is a lot more speculation about trainability and long term soundness as it can have the most fabulous paces but no brain for the job. With an older horse a number of these queries have been eliminated plus it will have a track record and have developed so will of course cost more.

The other issue is not getting something so good you cant cope with it. One thing is bigboyrocky's horse scenario where you fall off a lot, learn, and ultimately do well (which is a good scenario!) but the other is getting something that you never get to grips with. When I bought my current horse I was told to buy something that had 3 straight, true , correct paces and decent ability to extend but not to get a really big moving horse - it was my first competitive dressage horse and I wanted to get up through the levels. This was very good advice - there are a lot of people who find the big moving horses hard to collect and I would honestly have found something like that a bit too much I think. As it was I fell off a lot too because he can be rather naughty but I have learned a lot more bringing him up through the levels than I would have getting an established horse, and he has got to PSG so I have no complaints about spending the 3/4 of the price bracket above. Worth every penny. I would now dearly like a second horse who can go beyond this level so I guess I am about to find out if I am going to waste my money or not ;)
 
I've never bought a horse for that kind of money [3.5k was my most ever!] and I don't think I ever would.

To be honest, I don't think there is any particular need for the average amateur competition rider to have a horse that costs more than 10k. If you want to compete up to Fox/BE Novice, then you can get a nice horse that will do that for under that amount.

Obviously seriously nice schoolmasters will cost a lot more than that amount, which is fair enough if that's the type of horse you're after - but I know that for me it would be a waste to spend that amount on a horse when I could get one that would do everything I want and more for less than that.
 
I have spent that sort of money on jumping ponies and, as a "normal" family it was a real struggle. However, in junior BS it is very difficult to give your child the experience they need to bring on a younger pony without them getting the experience first.

Following on from that the same can be said for schoolmasters. I firmly believe that a straight, sound, genuine horse or pony is worth their weight in gold and the experience and stress-free fun they can give is difficult to put a price on. I also don't have a problem with a super-trainable, talented youngster being what most of us would call expensive as some horses stand out from a young age.

My rule of thumb is not to spend anything I couldn't either afford to lose or afford to insure for LOU.
 
Define expensive ....

Surely one man's expensive is another mans cheap? It all depends on how much disposable cash someone has.

People are welcome to spend whatever they like on a horse in my eyes. Spending more money doesn't always mean it's a better horse though, and there are a lot of cheap superstars out there if lady luck is on your side.

I do find it amusing people saying 'oh I'd never spend 10K on a horse'. I agree you might not spend 10K on a horse in your current situation. But if you won the lottery tomorrow you might find that changes your mind ......

I've always been someone who has funded my own horses entirely. As a result I have had the cheap or free/unbroken/lame ones as it has been all I could afford.

I've plugged away at work, got a good career going and over the last couple of years have had my eye on spending a bit more money on a horse. I recently went out with 10K in my pocket, as it was I fell in love with a 5yo (done not a lot!) so came home with a bit of change in my pocket. If I put a 'how much' post on here I reckon half the member would die of shock of how much I paid for a 15.2hh unregistered 5yo with no competition record.

But what matters to me is I had the money, I was willing to write the money off, I loved the horse and when I come home from work my main priority is I have a horse that is fun and straightforward that I want to be riding.
 
yes i agree with you DHB hence why i asked the question because i doubt i will ever be able to afford a horse at anywhere near this price i have sold a horse for this much though and i know what my opinion of him was.

Me too I sold a fab horse for a lot of money and he was worth every penny.
 
Will possibly never have that sort of money to spend on a horse, and to be honest I dont think I could justify spending that much on one! Most expensive horse Iv ever bought was £1100 for a rising 4yo! Yes he was hard work, unhandled, aggressive and generally not a nice person to be around but he's now the biggest sap you would ever meet (he just needed someone to stand up to him and gain his respect) had wins at BD and placings BE PN and will be moving up to N this season. Scope to burn and a very workable attitude if a little hot at times. I love bringing on the 'diamond in the rough' youngster that no-one would look at and get more enjoyment out of him performing well than placings.

If by some miracle I won the lottery/came into money etc the only reason I think I would spend over 10k on a horse would be for a schoolmaster to give me experience over bigger tracks. Would have to be one that got there with an average amateur though, couldnt follow a pro!
 
My employer in Canada used to pay in the region of 100,000 - 200,000USD for his horses (all warmbloods shipped over from Europe (kinda scary when I think I was looking after 10 of them, so over a million dollars worth of investment for him). I have to say, they were all stunningly gorgeous, beautifully schooled or started and an absolute pleasure to be around. I can't imagine myself ever being inclined to spend that much on a horse, even if I had it, but the horses were amazing, so to him they were more than worth it...and sold on for a profit to amateur owners!
 
This is me!!
I had a small inheritance when I turned 21 and bought myself and advanced event schoolmaster to give my eventing a shot and have something experienced to go advanced on. (I got my old boy to 2* but he was a hunter trying his best rather than an eventer!)
the horse was really smart as you would expect but he has been ridden by professionals all of his life and if i didnt get him quite right to a fence he would stick two fingers up, he was a tricky personality and to make things worse everybody knew about him and i felt so much pressure to get results, i was convinced at events that other riders recognised the horse and were watching!! . we didnt click at ALL! in the mean time i bought failed racehorse for £750 to re-school and sell. 6 weeks later he did his first event and I decided to sell the schoolmaster instead! he went to a young rider who is doing brilliantly and my cheap racehorse is aiming for intermediate in his second season.
wel and truly a lesson learnt!!
 
I bought a very expensive horse and regretted it. When you have had them from youngsters you 'hope' that they do well at comps. When you have paid a shed load of cash for an experienced horse you 'expect' it to do well. So when she did well I was relieved and when she was a cow I was mad and so frustrated. I ended up selling her for a fraction of what I paid.

Lesson learnt!
 
Interesting thread. I personally can't imagine ever having the money to spend 5 figures on a horse, however as IHW says if I won the lottery I might well be tempted!
I think there are soooo many variables in this. I know someone who has now twice bought serious competition horses, actually 3 times, and is yet to have one last more than a year without soundness issues and in fact web when they are sound in reality she probably isn't quite the standard of rider the horse needs to perform, and IMHO that's the flip side of what BBR said above about learning from mistakes - in that particular case it is an accident waiting to happen as these are big strong warmbloods and 17hh is a long way to fall.
However I am now through luck in the position that the horse I have (and he cost considerably less than a third of the 10k mentionned above) could one day easily be a 10k horse, and would probably have been a 5k+ four year old if he been for sale in the right yard with the right breeding info etc. I must admit I do sometimes think he might be too good for me (a competant RC amateur having competed low level affiliated in all three disciplines but only on my one competitive horse - a 14.2 Arab!)
However as someone else points out above he doesn't know how good he is! And he won't care if my absolute dream and goal would be to get him to 1* when he could do more with a pro. So we will carry on regardless, e has come at the right time as I'm now rather closer to 30 than 20 and in theory am financially stable enough to get decent training etc, and with a huge slice of luck we could still be competing in 15-20 years time. I must admit I have now invested in more fluorescant/flashing items than a Christmas tree and knee boots for hacking and religiously check legs for heat or anything am and pm! The potential loss of money if he breaks does feel a bit scary but at least it's potential
money rather than actual
money we spent!
 
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