Ex-racehorses increasing in value?

Such an interesting thread. Last year we bought a small ex hurdler who had been out of training and been reschooled, he had started his BE career proving to be easy and bold. He has been a great little horse and we think very highly of him. He is well bred but not overly attractive. I paid a lot less for him than would have done or something else with the same eventing record purely because he's an ex- racer. He's 9.

Jusat recently we decided to buy another but this time one who hasn't been reschooled we wanted to do that ourselves, and no we haven't taken it lightly. During our search we have seen a few ex-racers who were bought cheap and our now looking for their 2nd/3rd homes since January, heartbreaking, one owner had had the horse 2 weeks and was up for sale.

We have found and bought a lovely 6 yr old who is a fantastic stamp of a horse, doesn't know how to trot or canter and has only been in 1 sandschool, mine but he has a great temp. He's not sure about hacking alone, that will come but in company is lovely hack, safe in traffic.

We have a variety of horses here, all event, some are quirky, some that have had soundness issues but we have got them sound again. All are nice guys Its all a lottery when you buy a horse but after the few poor tb's looking for another home people really should have their eyes open and not just look at cheap price tag
 
This is an interesting topic and as a fan of ex racehorses it makes me wonder whats going on in England.
I know a beautifal 7 year old gelding ex racehorse, only raced twice, perfect in traffic, placed in every hunter trial hes done, has hunted, does a beautiful dressage test, was placed at his first ODE and they are asking 2500 euro for him and cant get rid of him.
 
The advert prices may be going up, but that doesn't mean they are selling! I can't seem to get any interest in mine for love nor money, despite him being a nicely produced true allrounder. Asking £2.7k and not getting the slightest bit of interest - this is a horse that has been out competing albeit unaffiliated and is ready to go and do more - I have done all the darn hard work yet still no-one interested. They are more than happy to go and spend £4k plus on some hairy coloured uneducated cob though!
 
Another who finds this thread interesting.. I have quite a few friends in the racing world and yes you can get ex racers free or for very little money but normally there is a reason unless you are very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. To get something of 'quality' or something particularly special in my experience you normally have to pay more than people think.

I paid £1000 for mine a few years ago, I was offered others for less or free but they had a niggle or some kind of issue. My boy was a relatively young jumper with good NH breeding, well put together, sensible and a genuinely nice horse. Interestingly I was also offered double this for him after only a couple of months to go to a Working Pupil to event.
 
Interestingly enough when my mum bought her boy from a racehorse rehoming center there was one for sale there, not reschooled where the owner wanted 7k!! They wanted 3.5k for my mums but luckily the centre got them to accept something far far more sensible.
The 7k one was nice, and I have no doubt must have shown something special to warrent that price but far far too much IMO considering the work needed to retrain. It goes to show though that the owners and trainers do know what they are selling sometimes and not all exracers are cheap.
I've seen some lovely ones for £500 and some real broken, nutty shockers.
 
when is an EX-RACER no longer and EX-RACER then?...

If their past imapacts on their price tag so much, then when is it reasonable to consider them no longer and ex-racer?... or does that never happen once raced ALWAYS an ex-racer.

For example Dustry raced from 1-3, I've had him since 3-7 so he's spent more time now out of racing than in.....is he still an exracer? do they ever loose that label?...

I hope to go on an event him, and after a few years if that under our belts I think he would then qualify to be called an eventer/competition horse....
 
I think its also to do with breeding.

The economy crashed in 2009. Until this point a lot of TB's were being bred, and then in 2009 onwards you literally couldn't give them away as supply outstripped demand 10 fold.
Most sensible breeders therefore cut back on their breeding operations. I believe in Britain and Ireland the amount of thoroughbreds born was reduced by nearly 50%, continuing to drop in 2011, etc etc.
Now demand and supply is starting to even out, mainly with younger horses, i.e up to 3 years old. There is still an excess of older horses, but again many of these have found homes or been PTS etc etc.
It is good for the markets, and ultimately the horse's welfare but I believe in 5 years the days of cheap thoroughbreds will become a rarity.
 
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