Are horses selling?

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starryeyes

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Ok...We have a 15.3 Tb gelding that once upon a time was a racehorse (and very good). He has been out winning dressage & being placed eventing and has been advertised for sale for about 6months now & no-one seems interested.

He is advertised for £5000, but i'm expecting less. Is this too much for the current climate? We dont want to send him to a dealer as he is providing a job hunting, but with another 3 foals on the way next year he really could do with going. At first I thought it was just horses not selling up north but I think it could be everywhere. He's been on all the usual websites/mags.

My other thoughts were whether people have gone off TB's? Was really wondering how everyone else is finding the market & whether to ignore the selling bit till next year.
 
What level is he eventing - does he have potential to go on? And how old is he?
 
What age is he? was it affiliated shows or local ones?

Imo... he sounds expensive, if you will take less maybe drop the price for more interest.

There is loads for sale like him for dramatically less money. Just a quick search and ive found pages and pages of them with a similar description from £600-£3000 ( un-affilaited dressage/eventing/showjumping and a few with hunting records too)
 
He is 9 year old now & most people who i've spoken too seem to think this is far too old for a horse??!! So far he has done 4 BE90's & gone clear xc everytime. He isn't a top horse, but will go around BE100's till he's blue in the face. I'm not sure if he would ever be a novice horse but you never know!

He's just a very genuine chap & it seems a shame no-one up north is even remotely interested in anything.
 
starryeyes said:
He's just a very genuine chap & it seems a shame no-one up north is even remotely interested in anything.
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Depends on how north your talking :p I bought one last week and im relatively more north than the peoples from englandshire ;)

Had also looked at a few from inverness and beyond!
 
Ours are selling fine, he sounds like a nice sort and £5000 doesn't seem a bad price, have you put ono on the advert?

Tbh I'm not so sure TBs are off putting now, they seem to be coming into fashion now there are all these R2R shows. :)
 
Lol still in Englandshire!!

Perhaps will give it one last shot at an advert this year and if not will wait till next year. Think the bill payer may have a fit if he stays too much longer mind!!!
 
As a buyer I see it from the other side and there seems to be very little out there when you really start looking, and prices seem to be as high as ever! I'm still looking for this so called buyers market. However would probably expect more for £5k and if you're prepared to take less then put "ono" or "open to offers" in your ad.
 
Everyone that I talk too appears to be having a fad on young horses and won't touch anything over 5 year old?!

I get the feeling that there are so many TB's around now that they're next to nothing to buy or find one. We used to always have a project ex-racehorse around but I think because everyone discovered you could buy them cheap, they're all over now (though not always well produced).
 
Have you made a big thing of him being RoR eligible? Has he done any of those classes/ showing? Would he be good at the RoR challenge (essentially working hunter for race horses)?

These are things which apparently really boost a horse's value of it's an ex-racer... He sounds a little too high- if he was £4500 even it might seem to tip the balance into something more sellable? He sounds like an utter gem though, love a good TB :D
 
I think I have liked your ad if you have have one on facebook, if not very similar. I'll not be far from you and I think this can be a bit of an odd area for selling. The market seems pretty dead atm and people want a good horse for pocket money. I don't think tb's sell well either here, there's no ROR etc and people expect them for next to nothing. He's lovely though, good luck.
 
I think, as Lolo suggested, dropping to £4500 would be a good move - if you are open to offers at 5k then dropping down makes it sound a whole lot cheaper even though its 'only' £500.

What about PC website?

I think horses are selling but it is taking a little longer. A friend of mine is selling a lot of youngsters, but has a real lovely 5yo winning dressage, double clears brit nov, bold xc and can't shift him! They had a gem of a 4yo that would make a perfect first youngster that just wouldnt shift either. But the 2 and 3 year olds have been snapped up.
 
georgie256 said:
I have a 4 year old TB, who is stunning (if you like TB's) and I can't shift him. So much potential
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Same here - got a 4 year old TB filly - very well bred and fantastic conformation and action. Sure to be a winner in the show ring or dressage - ready to take on new challenge and we're asking a pittance for her, but the only enquiries we're getting are from riding schools and such like, but being inundated with offers to take her on loan - which I really don't want to have to do. We will just wait until we find the right home for her but she is being totally wasted as no rider here.
 
The thing is, I'm looking to buy at the moment, and though I have that to spend, I can pick up a TB for a fraction of that money, put in the work myself over the winter and have the same horse by mid way through next season.....add in the fact that he raced and was good and I'd be thinking that he's 9, has decent wear and tear on him (as opposed to something which trained/raced once or twice), and he doesn't sound talented enough to do ROR classes such as they have at Barbury, and suddenly to me he sounds expensive....sorry :(
 
MegaBeast said:
As a buyer I see it from the other side and there seems to be very little out there when you really start looking, and prices seem to be as high as ever! I'm still looking for this so called buyers market. However would probably expect more for £5k and if you're prepared to take less then put "ono" or "open to offers" in your ad.
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echo this
my own personal view is that 'I' wouldn't pay more than half that for what you have described. Please no one slate me, I am not saying that is all he is worth, just MY OWN VIEW
 
I'm a buyer and I be honest if you want me to:D

For me £5000 is far too much, especially at 9yrs old - and lets be honest here - he is a 10 yrs old from a buyers point of view.

As a previous posters have said, you can pick up TB's quite cheap these days - his value comes with the safety factor and being a nice all rounder - The all rounders are the ones where people buying are not going to be looking at hefty price tags. I think a price of £3750 ono would get attention and expect offers of £3000-3500.

I am looking for a HOYS quality show hunter and I know that horses of a similar age with the ticket sold before HOYS for £6k

So from a buyer point of view - I'm quite happy to pay a reasonable price for a decent horse that is as described, but I'm not going to get ripped off - the days of big prices are over.

What I would mention is that it is important to return any phone messages, emails.

Provide photos or videos that you have said you will, without any delay. I would be prepared and do these now. for example if someone is travelling distance they might want close up photos of limbs. Why don't you get him really spruced up and take every photo you might want if you were buying him? You don't have to have them all on the ad, just so long as they are available for when they are requested.

And be honest with your description

I'm getting mightly fecked off that I have to leave three messages and on the fourth call I'm told - yes we got your message but been busy.

Yeh and I'm too busy to bother my arse with you any further

I'm also fed up of being told things are blemish free then when I get the photos of limbs there are splints as big as footballs or capped hocks you could use as a pillow - I am not blind I will spot them if I view the horse and just because I have travelled to see it will not make me buy it - lying will just make me grumpy not part with my money

Finally, I would put landline and mobile numbers on the ad not just a mobile.


Good luck with the sale
 
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To me he sounds expensive. Prob because he is a TB and the truth is someone can buy one from the sales as a 3 year old which has done little or no racing for a fraction of that. I have a TB myself and paid less than half of what your asking and he has gone eventing to intermediate since I have owned him. If I was paying 5k for another one I'd prob be expecting great things from it- a touch unrealistic perhaps but for a TB I would think 5k is a lot. A friend just gave away a 5 yo TB for free- he wasn't going to cut it as a point to pointer but as he was kept at home he has also hunted, hunter trialled and hacked around so isnt in need of total reschooling and will be fairly useful doing something else. She didn't want to pay to feed him all winter so offered him for free to a new home. Because of situations like that I know as a buyer I wouldn't pay 5k for a TB unless I thought he was going to be something special.

Perversely I have been horse hunting and would think nothing of paying 5k for a nice ISH or WB so sadly it is just a case of being snobby over the breed- and I know a lot of people who would think the same. It's the mind set of buying a TB as a cheap project that prob sticks in a lot of buyers minds.
 
Thanks for all your replies, its good to get a general feedback of what other people are experiencing.

I think everyone's opinions are pretty much similar to what I'm thinking, which is that unfortunately the TB market is completely swamped by cheap ex-racehorses. It doesn't seem to matter anymore how correctly trained they are after they have finished racing but that they are viewed by many people as just a cheap option that they can re-train themselves. In fairness I can't judge people for it as my 2 are just that, cheap ponies that I've re'trained myself!

He has been advertised for £4500 before aswell & always has ono on the ad.

He'd probably do quite well at ROR classes but doesn't have the classy, floaty trot many are looking for, he is just very correct in his way of going.

I think its a case of reduce the price & see what happens!

Any more suggestions are always welcome!!!!
 
My comment re Barbury was because they run an intermediate-novice class, with decent prize money, rather than because you've made him sound like he wouldn't do any ROR ;)
 
I am having similar problems - I have a wonderful KWPN who is a fab dressage horse (as well as being a great hunter and having affiliated BE/BSJA a few times) but he is 13 (which i think now people think that means over the hill) and of course has his quirks. I've not even had a sniff on interest so if anyone is willing to read my advert and give me some honest feedback that would be very much appreciated.
 
SpottedCat said:
My comment re Barbury was because they run an intermediate-novice class, with decent prize money, rather than because you've made him sound like he wouldn't do any ROR ;)
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Don't worry, I was thinking more along the lines of the showing ROR classes! Got another one that would like to go to Barbury but unfortunately not eligible for ROR as raced in Southern Ireland...oh and the minor detail that its never done a novice yet!!! ;)
 
SpottedCat said:
The thing is, I'm looking to buy at the moment, and though I have that to spend, I can pick up a TB for a fraction of that money, put in the work myself over the winter and have the same horse by mid way through next season.....add in the fact that he raced and was good and I'd be thinking that he's 9, has decent wear and tear on him (as opposed to something which trained/raced once or twice), and he doesn't sound talented enough to do ROR classes such as they have at Barbury, and suddenly to me he sounds expensive....sorry :(
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This. I love TBs, but added to the comments above I fear a lot people assume they will be a handful to ride, which will put off more novicey/inexperienced people and the more experienced rider will be more inclined to get one out of training and put the work in themselves.
That's what I would do.
 
I don't think the problem is horses not selling,the problem is people want the best,safe allrounder,preferably good looking and be able to intermediate BE and have a nice big SJ jump to do new/fox,with no quirks and no bad habits for 2500,it depends how much you want a sale for how much your willing to drop your price.
 
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