Dressage horse prices...? 100,000+ for a 6 year old?!?

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dressagediva01

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I always like to keep an eye out on dressage horses for sale and a lovely 6 year old caught my eye. However they are selling it for 100,000+ and I was very shocked

It's got good bloodlines, is a gelding and working at adv/med but already doing 1x changed and half steps so very established. However competition record isn't showing its competed at anything higher than novice even tho owners claim it's competed at medium? It has done all the young horse stuff though and even qualified for hartpury last weekend i think. Supposed to have a super temperament but of course you never honestly know.

I wanted to know how much would you pay for this horse?

I would have thought in this economy between 50,000-100,000 not over? But am I being silly?
 
No, you're not being silly but whoever pays that much will be! Dressage is a rich person's pursuit (sorry, I will amend that to a rich OWNER'S pursuit), so I presume that whoever can afford to spend 100K on a six year old for potential is prepared to take all the risks associated with it. In the days (long ago) when I used to compete it was one of my greatest pleasures to beat the big expensive horses with my cheapo rejects.
 
Oh, and just to add that not all horses with enormous asking prices sell for anything near. Or sometimes at all.........just look at Valegro (and the other horse, whatshisname).
 
I work for a dressage breeder/producer. And people do buy, quite regularly, at that price. The vet checks take three days minimum (scans, x-rays, scopes)...and the insurance is really quite :eek:. But, if you have money, you have money.

A horse is worth whatever you are prepared to pay for it.
 
If the horse is talented and what the purchaser is looking for they will pay that and more. you need to see it from the point of view of someone who has a lot more than that of money sitting in the bank and available for a horse rather than the more normal person who is having to play hunt in the piggy bank for enough to make up 2 or 3 thousand :D
 
I am stabled at a dressage yard and one of the liveries paid this for a nice dressage horse, its had nothing but problems though.
That sort of money isnt ridiculous where we are although waaaaay beyond what i could ever afford!
If you are extremely rich like some of the liveries where I am they want to learn the moves and compete high up its easier to buy your way in.
 
Cortez said:
Dressage is a rich person's pursuit (sorry, I will amend that to a rich OWNER'S pursuit), so I presume that whoever can afford to spend 100K on a six year old for potential is prepared to take all the risks associated with it. In the days (long ago) when I used to compete it was one of my greatest pleasures to beat the big expensive horses with my cheapo rejects.
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Sorry but that's just not true, there's a huge number of amateur riders on fairly ordinary horses out there competing and enjoying their sport. At the top level of all horse sports there's really expensive horses, look at SJ, racing etc. Of course we can't all buy a Utopia or Valegro (pretty sure most of us couldn't ride them either) but it doesn't stop us taking part even if we are not rich.
 
I don't beat the expensive horses with my cheapy ex racer quite yet... :o One day we will!

Plus it is so much more satisfying doing it on a cheap horse you schooled yourself, I can't help but feel that if someone bought me a ready made pricey mount, some of the fun would go out of it. (though if anyone's offering I wouldn't say no ;) ) Dressage is all about the learning!
 
thanks guys, i may be being stupid but i still dont completely understand if you all think for that horse that money is ridiculous. say you had that money and you could do whatever you wanted with it, would you buy the horse or would you think that its not worth it?

its such a shame horses like this are so expensive as for someone starting dressage i would have thought such a horse would be perfect but as many of you have mentioned - its much too expensive for the majority of people out there!
 
Cortez said:
Oh, and just to add that not all horses with enormous asking prices sell for anything near. Or sometimes at all.........just look at Valegro (and the other horse, whatshisname).
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very true... although i think part of the problem with valegro and uti is that after having that much success the new riders have extreme amounts of pressure and huge expectations to look up to... just look at totillas and rath!
 
A friend paid 400k for a very well bred horse that won a very big young horse class a few years back. Unfortunately said horse has had problems after problems and will not be able to compete at the level it was purchased for.

Personally I don't think I could ever spend more than 2k on a horse, however I suppose if you have lots of money 100k/200k or even 1 mil may not be that much to you, all relative I guess.

I also know of another horse for sale that I used to ride, bought for 12k, had a years work over on the continent and is now up for 80k having only done one comp at med. Is working at PSG though. Dressage really is a rich mans game...
 
dressagediva01 said:
very true... although i think part of the problem with valegro and uti is that after having that much success the new riders have extreme amounts of pressure and huge expectations to look up to... just look at totillas and rath!
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You can buy the horse but you can't buy the partnership, you have to work on that for yourself!
 
TBH I would worry about paying that much for a 6 YO who has done that much at a high level... pretty sure I have heard Carl Hester say no horse should do a canter pirouette before it is 11 YO and I would worry about whether the horse would break down. I have also heard that the percentage of horses that break down during dressage training is higher than that in racing. I have no personal knowledge of either industry but it didnt seem an outrageous claim.

So no, I would not pay #100k for such a horse. Even if I had it!
 
Even if I was a gazillionaire I would never pay more than 5K for a horse (and have had some wonderful horses for a tenth of that). Half the fun is turning an unwanted, un-regarded rough diamond into a star; I love doing that. And I've ridden some seriously expensive horses for people in my time, money does NOT buy success, and a 100K horse is as likely to go wrong as a cheaper version.
 
Its all relative though isn't it. To the person who can manage £500 for a horse someone with a budget of £3K looks rich. To someone with a £7K budget a £15K looks out of reach.

If money was no object and I was really serious then hell yes, I would. Of course there are no guarantees with whatever you buy but you obviously have less risk with a horse that has already demonstrated it can work at x level. I just look at it as you have your budget, you have your options. Mine just tends to be considerably smaller than the one quoted!
 
Irrespective of how rich or poor you are are, you should only spend on a horse the amount you could afford to flush down the toilet!!!
 
Those who want to compete at the highest levels know they have to pay the money. I will never understand people who say they are looking for their next GP horse, but only want to spend 2500 for a very well bred horse who has been raised and started well.
 
When I a looking for a horse my Oh always says don't spend more than 30 k without telling me first.
It's a joke between us because I usually end up with a project horse who needs a home.
But if you have the money and can afford to lose it why not buy a 100k horse if you love and desire it ?
But never spend more on a horse than you are prepared to lose.
 
personally i think that is crazy, i have atop limit on my budget of £1200, my first cost me £300 when i was 15yr and he was amazing had to sell him due to family break up 9 months later sold him for £950 and that was in 1988. current one paid £700 for as a 2yr old.
if i had the money i would rather spend less on horses that have the potential to be great for me and then if needed spend the money on lessons to help us achieve our goals.
but each to their own i like to form a bond and produce something my way for me-i don't like other peoples finished products i like my own
 
ihatework said:
Irrespective of how rich or poor you are are, you should only spend on a horse the amount you could afford to flush down the toilet!!!
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This is why HHO needs a like button! *likes ihateworks quote*

I suppose any horse is worth what you are willing to pay for it, doesn't mean the seller will sell to you for that though. I've seen folk buy for double what I'd have been willing to pay for a horse, but for them it was worth it and they were comfortable with paying that.

£100 or £100k all relative to your pennies in the bank I suppose, though I'm not sure I could ever pay more for a horse than I spent on my first flat!
 
There are people who would not notice much difference to their bank balance if they spent £100k or even £200k. Hence look at those who have been diddled out of £thousands by their "trusted" advisors but hadn't realised because it doesn't really matter whether the balance in their account is £1m or £2m.

These people can pay lots for their horses and in some ways they will want to pay a huge amount so they will be safe in knowing that they are still in the exclusive club where mere mortals cannot buy the same things as them. It sort of doesn't even come into the equation about whether the horse/house/car is value for money.

If you are selling into that market they will not buy a horse priced at £50k but up the same horse to £150k and they will snap it up.
 
+1 to Fourlegsgood

To be honest, you might find that a 6yr old with potential being sold for that kind of money might not be available for a more novice competitor. I don't mean novice rider, but someone who can ride but doesn't already have their own good record. Many of these young horses with potential are only made available to a certain level of rider or a rider who is maybe not at that level but has a certain coach or liveries at a certain yard. It is because producers need to ensure that their record is upheld...they won't be known for producing such a wonderful horse if it is never seem on the circuit or seen doing just ok. They want to know very often that the home is a successful one too.

The more expensive a horse gets, the more this is apparent, with the sellers doing more in terms of checking results and references than the buyer.

I actually think that if you cannot already ride all the movements or at least most of them very well and as a rider, not a passenger, that a young horse, still learning is not for you. For a rider that is learning, I would take that £100k and buy an older PSG or even GP horse that is going to be able to teach you how to do it all without the baby blow outs.

We have to learn it all ourselves before we can expect to be able to teach a horse without messing it up.

Hope that makes sense.

Me personally, I would never say never, but don't think I will ever spend that much on a horse. If I wanted to compete again, I'd rather start my own from scratch.
 
I would never pay that amount of money for a horse!! ...Tops I'd pay would be £6000, but then that reflects many things, firstly £100K is an amount of money I can only dream of ever having "spare" (even £100 spare is a rare for me ;)), secondly there would be no reason for me to have a horse like that (I don't compete at high levels), and to be honest.... I could not ride a horse like that and it would be wasted.

But... it really does depend on the person! If you have the money, you want to compete at a high level... then really there would be no question on the amount of money you spend, and for many in the game, £100K to spend on a good horse is nothing.
 
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