Horse Buying Fashion Trends?

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Parkranger

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I was talking to someone today about the way that the horse buying world changes.

Obviously it's all about warmbloods now and as a result there are alot of badly bred, bloody ugly warmbloods out there. Don't get me wrong there are also stunning ones to be found, but reading the cob posts on here also made me think how years ago, it was all about buying hunters (ie CB, Irish etc) and there were very few continental warmbloods. It also seems that if someone buys a warmblood, it's automatically thought of as 'well bred'. In fact my mum had a Hannovarian and some people hadn't heard of the breed
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this was nearly 20 years ago though.

I also remember the time when TB's were competing at badminton more than any other breed and this 'trend' seems to have now diminished aswell (although didn't a TB win the dressage at badders?
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So, what's the next trend going to be? My moneys on hunters again in the next couple of years!
 
Friesians and anything coloured. Anything with a gimic and no record that probs shouldn't have been bred in the first place. I hate breeding for colour. (I know there are good examples of everything but alot of what you see... well...)
 
I think if people want athletic horses they will look for the breeds with a naturally athletic build such as the WB. I can't see the trend for them diminishing in the near future.

I also think there is also a huge market for cobs amongst the non-competitive sector of the riding world and I can't see this changing either. Unless maybe native pure breds get even more popular?
 
Based on economic predictions I think that the next thing is going to be cheap keepers. Horses that can live out, don't need oodles of hard feed, rugs etc. Ones that stay sound... hardy types... with good feet that hold a shoe, or can go barefoot.

People will only keep a TB or a WB because they need it to compete. For most peoples needs a native horse or pony will do the job and cost much less.

We are already seeing a massive interest in Dales Ponies, Highlands etc who are outstanding allrounders and cheap to keep.
 
I remember when anything coloured was seen as a"gypsy's pony" but now they are all the rage. It is interesting to see how the trends change...
 
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I remember when anything coloured was seen as a"gypsy's pony" but now they are all the rage. It is interesting to see how the trends change...

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Nope, sorry, still see them as Gipsy Cobs!
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Haflingers seem to be very popular at the moment. I know quite a few people with them, where had never really seen one before until a few years ago.
 
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Based on economic predictions I think that the next thing is going to be cheap keepers. Horses that can live out, don't need oodles of hard feed, rugs etc. Ones that stay sound... hardy types... with good feet that hold a shoe, or can go barefoot.

People will only keep a TB or a WB because they need it to compete. For most peoples needs a native horse or pony will do the job and cost much less.

We are already seeing a massive interest in Dales Ponies, Highlands etc who are outstanding allrounders and cheap to keep.

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the market for good quality natives has shot up. You only have to compare the M&M show ring now to five years ago to see that what is coming out is of an excellent quality. You can pay almost as much for a well bred native as a well bred warmblood. New forest ponies are also increasing in popularity, and you only have to visit the NF sales to see the huge rise in prices in the last few years.
Alongside this though comes the rubbish that is being bred. Unregistered natives and coloured cobs which have awful conformations and no traceable bloodlines. They're cheap for a reason.
 
I recon the next big thing for the non competitive market will be the Norwegian Fjords, less bargee and strong then the Haffys but still a weight carrying pony.

Warmbloods are always going to be in because they look posh and that’s what people want!

Also think the cobs are going to stay popular as they are the jack of all trades.
 
i love TBs... they're just so different from any other breed to ride, they have fab personalities! we have a highland pony too, before he retired we used to all ride him, and he was great, but quite strong with the younger kids.
 
I agree about TB's - someone on the cob post put that cobs have the best personalities.....I think that's short sighted - every breed has it's horses with no charisma - much like humans
 
Oh dear, yes. Wasn't there a fad a while ago for having the most toweringly massively tall horses in dressage? Like 17.2hh+? Or did I dream that? I think it'll turn full circle, as people get bored with WBs they'll move on or 'rediscover' an older type. I'm delighted though that our lovely native breeds are coming on now, and aren't as undervalued as they once were. I remember that awful story about them selling ponies off the moors, two for £1 (though I never did get to the bottom of whether that was true) but at the Yorkshire Show a couple of weeks ago I was hugely impressed with the M&M classes.
 
This is not going to be popular, but dare I mention Cleveland Bays, who fulfil all the requirements of cheap to keep, need very little if anything by way of hard feed if you've got decent hay and grass, can and do go barefoot , can live out all year round (though we have got a good field shelter and they come in when in foal in the hard weather) and are pretty tough all round, ailing very little. They will do a bit of everything and scrub up nicely when required.

Where is SSM when I need her for support!
 
Well i have a conn x tb who i've had 13years and he's great! He is also dun/buckskin - I think duns should be the next 'trend'. When I was 12 I got a 14.2hh chestnut and white gelding - he was fantastic, very sporty looking not heavy but coloureds were just not 'in' then. Still, he used to beat most of the others SJ and XC. Funny though cos now there are tonnes of coloureds about but when I had him I stood out and yes, some looked down their noses but I wouldn't have changed him for the world. Sadly his life was cut short when he broke down team chasing. Think he just went into shock and mentally just shut down and gave up and there was nothing we could do.
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If I could have a horse version of him I would (although in this market for coloureds I'd never be able to afford it!)
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The cost of feed would certainly be something I would take into account if I were buying at the moment. I'd be looking for a good doer which can live out, and if it could go barefoot comfortably so much the better. We've got the living out good door bit, and one is only shod in front! Am hoping the youngster will go barefoot all her life.

I own a feed merchants, and the prices are going up weekly from the wholesalers, sometimes by as much as £1 a bag. There is no way I could afford to feed hard feed at the recommended rate! Apart from our youngster, our other two wouldn't have anything except Hifi Lite (as it is, they get all sorts of stuff, whatever is out of date or a broken bag!), and I can make a bag of Hifi Lite last three months for two horses, it's just used to add supplements to.
 
I think large pony types are becoming popular with happy hacking ladies- fjords, dales, iceys....and are therefore fetching excellent prices. I do bemoan the fact that people will pay anything for a coloured.
To my mind the biggest bargains are arabs! Years ago they used to be a prestige horse, but now they fetch much less than cobs. My boy was under 2000 straight out of racing, is beautifully bred and is so chilled out that he is virtually a cob in an arab body! I would have paid at least double for him if he had been a coloured cob.
 
I think you might have something there on Arabs; appear to be deeply unfashionable at the moment unless you do endurance, but doesn't that in itself say that they can't be that useless? We had a pony on loan many years ago when my daughter was young and they had Arabs, including a stallion who was probably 16hh with a lot of bone and as tough as they come, lovely temperament. I think it's a bit like CB's; they get a bad press. All we get is "Cleveland Bay? Oh, aren't they a rare breed, I suppose all you can do is breed them, then". Well, no. I have said before on this forum that the University's stallion hacks out, covers mares, does dressage (is just about to affiliate), shows in hand and under saddle, hunts, jumps and is used by the university in student lessons and believe you me, with health and safety as it is, he couldn't do that if they didn't absolutely trust him. Same with Arabs these days, I think. There is a perception that you can only show them in a poncey way in hand, or do endurance. When I actually went to Egypt, ok, not all of them were kept as we would like, but they were ridden, driven, raced, jumped and even used as plough horses. It's what they have, so they just get on with it.
 
Arabs have always been rather unfashionable, so they've been extremely good value for money, over the years my family have pony-clubbed, sucessfully done gymkhanas, hunted, cross-countried and enduranced ours. They go on for years, have extremely tough legs and feet and are great fun. Tend to be good doers as well, so cheap to run. Probably best if they remain unfashionable as far as I am concerned
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. Can't understand why coloured gypsy cobs go for so much money, fair enough, have one if you want one, but so many of them are really quite unattractive, so why pay mega-money?
 
To those with some/any Arab experience, what sort of height of Arab could a 5' 7", shade under 10st me get away with? This is only prospective research as no buying will be happening for two years yet
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but I suppose it can't hurt to ask now.
 
You dont need to think big when looking at arabs - they are designed to be compact and carry weight, so you could prob look at anything from 14.2 onwards - they absorb height amazingly well and never seem to look undersized with a tall rider on board - fantastic horses and very versatile!
 
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Oh dear, yes. Wasn't there a fad a while ago for having the most toweringly massively tall horses in dressage? Like 17.2hh+? Or did I dream that?

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I don't think you dreamt it, my friend has just got a job with a VERY well-known dressage rider and apparently 99% of her horses are around the 18hh mark
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The last big dressage warmblood I rode absolutely killed my legs to keep him together, and I was only doing 40mins walk work for his injury rehab!!
I think to a certain extent the Iberian breeds are currently in fashion, alhtough not in such a big way as the warmbloods were (still are). I have jumped on the Iberian bandwagon though so I'm not going to make any more comment about that!
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