are horses just not selling?!

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Stroppy Mare

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are horses just not selling at the moment or is it just my bad luck? i have a lovely ID gelding who im trying to sell on to a better suited home, hes reasonably priced (or so i think anyway!) yet weve had hardly any response from his ads!
 
Don't think so. I've seen numerous posts saying this! I put my fantastic horse (in my siggy) on Horse Quest a week ago and had not even one call! Am pretty horrified as this is the type of horse in the past I could have sold a million times over... Not sure why people aren't looking? Perhaps because they have things to sell?! (Much like property at the moment!)
 
Agree - before I found my mare her loan home I had her advertised for a month on Horsehunter, horsemart, and various others.......NOT ONE PHONE CALL!!

She was cheap too - I couldn't understand it.
 
Dont know, but the only one I was interested in and really really wanted to go and see was sold within 4 hours, so I guess some are selling.
 
For the right price, advertised in the right area, and the right sort of horse - yes, they are selling.

I decided that due to work committments I needed to scale back - I had three youngsters to sell, and believed it would take me months to do so. I advertised all three on Horsequest, with 'premier' adverts (as they were youngsters this came to £40/advert). All three were sold within the space of a week - I had lots of phonecalls, emails and enquiries. I sold them for less than they were worth, but more than current market value (taking into account the lack of spending). They were quite pricey for what they were.

Having the right adverts and right pictures goes a long way. A lot of people are currently over valuing their horses - I have seen mediocre "safe" horses advertised for £4.5k upwards, whereas the average happy hacker is looking to spend around the 2.5k mark or less.

Some people need to be more realistic about the prices they are asking, and be prepared to accept offers - just work out how much money your horse costs per week (shoes, vaccinations, worming, livery, time) and then add up all the weeks you spend holding out for your desired price - sometimes you might get the price after waiting a few months, but financially you would have been better off to take a lower offer immediately.
 
My friends pony club gelding who is the type of pony every mother wants for their child has taken well over six weeks to sell. She's ended up selling him at a steal of a price - £800! When he is actually worth a lot more than that, having done BSJA & everything. It's tough financial times.
 
I rang up about a horse today - the lady has had to halve its price as she has had no interest and has to sell it asap. It's a buyers market at the moment and not a great time to be selling.
 
The horse ive advertised would make a good allrounder, but hes 17.2hh and part of me wanders if thats putting people off. Hes a lovely lad (old fashioned hunter type) with such a fab jump, ive inc jump pics on ads, and as many varied ones as poss but ... :/ nothing serious. Weve currently got him advertised at £3650 but recently considered dropping it. Im just currently at a loss. Hes not getting the most out of us (i prefer small whizzy ponies and dont have the energy to ride 1 a day most of the time let alone 2). :(
 
I would love to buy another horse as mine has acquired too many health problems to be able to Endurance but I work freelance and whilst I get well paid when I work I dare not risk another big financial commitment. The job market is dire at the moment and until my income becomes a bit more regular I cannot aford to move forward. it is not the purchase price but the long term keeping that is the risk!!

I think we have yet to see the effects of the cuts the government is making and many people are being very cautious, not sure whether they will have a job or not to pay for anything.

Must be a nightmare for those who really need to sell for exactly those same reasons!!!
 
I think people are getting too greedy. I have a look every week but theres no way i'd part with 5k plus for a fairly average horse.

I think i am representative of a big market who just want a safe horse with a bit of potential for some local level showing / low level dressage . I'd spend 2 - 3k max but there is nothing in this price range !

People are trying to make a fast buck and unfortunately i think that most of them are ending up disappointed.
 
I cant seem to sell my 2 year olds- I only want to sell one- so first one to sell goes- but after 6 weeks and only 2 enquiries nothing- Im concidering dropping to £350- just to cover the vaccinations and wormer costs from the last 2 years ... :(
 
I have just sold mine (subject to vet).
He is a 5 year old safe as houses 13.2 coloured leg in each corner type, but he can also turn his hoof to anything and has a fab pop on him. Took me 6 weeks to sell him and 4 viewings. I didnt have to drop his price on advert but took an offer £300 below asking price which I was willing to accept upon advertising him.
i think i have done well to sell him judging by others on here however good genuine horses always sell and thats what he is.
 
I have been looking for months and can't find anything suitable. All I want is a nice average type horse, pref not a TB as I want something with more bone, so probs TB crosses, ID, welsh that sort of thing. One that I can do all rounder things with, maybe has a few quirks as I am not looking for a perfect well behaved horse.

All I can find are 2/3 year olds, expensive competition horses, or over priced average horses in my area. I have started to look outside my area however travel costs will reduce my horse budget! Some people do over price their horses but will not even negotiate on price to a good home, even though I can provide excellent references from very pleased loan horse owners and yard employers, and would love to keep in contact to let old owners know how horse is getting on, and so long as horse is right for me it will have a home for life!

I did see a nice chunky TB gelding, ex racer but been to a few shows. Owner wanted £4000 and no offers so I passed! I also know someone with a 9 year old gelding...not done much except hacking and popping the odd jump in the school....for £5500!!!

All of you with decent horses and price tags that aren't selling...where the hell are you! :(
 
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Summer Sun said:
I think people are getting too greedy. I have a look every week but theres no way i'd part with 5k plus for a fairly average horse.

People are trying to make a fast buck and unfortunately i think that most of them are ending up disappointed.
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Agreed!
 
alpha1 said:
Agreed!
Click to expand...

I dissagree- I have a 13.3hh 2 year old- who will make 14hh + He is super quiet and very nicely put together. I cannot fault his manners and attitude. I am asking £550 for him- I dont think that is being greedy- but because I HAVE to sell him I will probably end up selling him for £350- just enough to cover vaccinations and wormer from the last 2 years.

Its not a time to be greedy- no one has the extra cash for horses these days- every single livery yard I have rung up has had vacancies! unheard of before!
 
If they are priced correctly they will sell.

Trying to sell an average allrounder for £4K or close to it is not going to happen.

There are loads of people looking to buy an average, honest horse for £2 - £3K at the moment but they won't bother looking at ads over the £3K mark.

If he's done loads, is totally bombproof and generally the perfect horse then yes, he's worth the money. If however he is just a nice, average Joe who'll have a go a most things but doesn't excel at anything then maybe look at pricing him around the £3K mark and see what interest you get then.
 
It seems that way. I had about 30 calls in a few days on my horse, who we took a deposit on within 48hrs which seems to have been a fluke in this climate! I have heard lots of people saying how poor it is out there so I suppose I was lucky. He's a lovely horse by the way!
 
I know someone trying to sell a 14.2 all rounder for around £2900, not had a single call yet. I personally think the horse is over-priced for a variety of reasons that I can't get into on a message board. Not dangerous, but certainly over-priced.
 
I had my mare advertised at £2500, which I later dropped to £1500 ono.

She's 16.2hh, IDxTB, 13yrs. Been everywhere, done everything, bombproof schoolmistress but not a novice ride as sharp and forward going. 100% to handle, good doer with no vices.

After more than a month I gave up trying and put her out on loan instead. It seems to me looking at ads there are loads of cheap horses about - OK some people are still being ridiculous trying to sell their RC horse for £5k but on the whole prices have gone down IMO.
 
There is a woman who bought a VERY green 5 year old Conamara on my yard 2 months ago, she is barely a novice rider and totally over horsed herself. Now she's trying to sell her for £1300 more than she paid. If anything the mare is worse now than when she arrived, she's pushy and takes the p*** because she's been able to get away with it for so long. I wouldn't even pay £1500 for her at the moment.
 
I am looking for an ID or IDx or something of a similar stamp, between 16 and 17 hh ish. Between 6 and 12 years old. I have been surprised at some of the prices asked for on some of the ads. I just want a general all rounder to do a bit of jumping and a lot of schooling and loads of hacking alone and in company. I have no aspirations to compete.

Most of the horses I have looked at (the ads) have done nothing and got no winnings etc and are over 5k.

My budget is 4k and to be honest I thought I would find what I wanted for that.

It is hard to know what to do. Do you ring up about the 5k horses and ask them if they would take an offer even before you go? or do you wait until you get there and then be cheeky?
 
A couple of my friends have got their horses for sale, but they are having hardly any interest whatsoever.
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One of them is selling an eventer for only £4,500 and she has had one phone call and a scam email in a month - that is all. xx
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I finally bought a horse last week, having been looking for a couple of months. I spent ages trawling through adverts - prices seem to vary wildly, with some people being in la la land, and some so cheap that you wonder what's wrong with them.

I did go to look at a a few from adverts. One had shocking conformation, which you couldn't see in the photos and the lady told me on the phone his conformation was good. Another had absolutley no trial facilities at all - the horse was barely broken and the field was on a slope with other horses in - he couldn't even be trotted up properly. It was frustrating and I felt like I was wasting my time.

So I would suggest a couple of decent photos on the ad, firstly showing conformation, and secondly showing what the horse can do, preferably with a video. Plus if you do get people coming to look, make sure there is somewhere for them to actually try the horse to the best of its ability.

In the end I gave up on adverts and found my horse through word of mouth.
 
Look at the news from Ireland - horses are being abandoned to starve and colts are not being gelded.

They are talking of a mass cull.
 
I agree a lot of people are over ambitious with their pricing but to buy a decent honest allrounder for £2000.00 is unsustainable to the horse industry. I have 2 3 year olds that i bought as weanlings, purebred Id's, I estimate that it has cost me £1800.00 each to get them to 3 years old and backed and hacked. I have done this as cheaply as possible, they live out all year and have only had hay and a few nuts over the worst of the winters. By the time you have wormed, trimmed feet, vaccinated, gelded,bought a couple of cheap rugs etc the costs mount up. If I keep them until say they are 5/6 and have taken them around SJ, hunting etc my costs are going to be up to the £3500/ 4000 mark and thats if they stay injury/illness free. These are actuall costs to me I havent included the time i spend doing the work, so to produce a good allrounder actually costs the producer a fair bit of money.
 
Perhaps I could help one of you trying to sell? I am looking for a 15.2-16h 6-10 year old for a 13 year old coming off ponies. Genuine, safe alrounder. She would like to do PC teams and start looking at BE80 next year with the potential to get to BE 100 together in time. Decent flatwork a must as she likes dressage, but nothing too startling, just ability to do a 60+ prelim and potential to novice.

We have been looking for a while and have seen several way over-priced horses including one priced at £8k who, among other things, needed to go back to trot to change legs showjumping over two jumps at 2ft. :-0 with the explanation that he isn't great cantering round corners and anyway hasn't learnt counter canter!

I do have a decent budget as I appreciate safe, fairly talented all rounders are worth decent money and we are in the South East. I don't really want to travel too far as I have been disappointed on arrival quite a few times already and if you've driven an hour that's one thing, but if you've driven miles that's quite another!
 
MGG, my friends eventer would have been ideal, just the ticket for what you want. He is such a lovely kind natured chap, not silly in any way whatsoever, and very willing. Unfortunately, we are at the other end of the country to you, in North Lincolnshire! If you find any other horses advertised this way on, and plan to come up, this is the horse I was referring to... xx

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketplace/classified/4-details-horses-for-sale_240484.htm
 
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I recently bought a 4 year old. She was reasonably expensive considering how little she had done but I paid for her temperament. I am on my own most of the time and it is essential that any horse I have is going to be easy to do. She is a real star, so well behaved for a baby, in fact I have to remind myself sometimes when she shies at something and I want to get cross that she has probably never seen it before! She hacks up a main road on her own, jumps water trays and all other spooks, hacks alone and in company, loads, good to catch, easy in her box etc. I don't begrudge a penny I paid for her because life with her is fun. Having said all that I bought her from a dealer who had already sold me a very good horse previously and I also know him well so when he promised she had a good temperament I was confident that she would and was therefore happy to pay the money for her. I think when you go to see a horse and you know nothing about the seller you have no idea when they say it has a good temperament if it does or not. I know that trials are difficult but I think that offering that would encourage alot of people who have been bitten by problems once the horse is home.
 
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