Horse price greed

Do you prefer cadburys or Galaxy chocolate

  • Total voters
    0
S

saltires

Member
Joined
6 January 2009
Messages
18
Visit site
I was just curious to find out what the general opinion on horse prices is currently.
It has been driving me wild as I've been looking for a native type cob - nothing fancy just a good, honest, solid family friend to drive us round the countryside as a greener car alternative and become a well loved member of the family. Age/looks/pedigree are completely unimportant - as is breeding but a good calm solid nature is paramount....
But the prices!!! I remember when cobs could be picked up for very little money but what on earth has happened?! Every single one is heralded as being the next best thing, practically guaranteed to win HOYS, and totally and utterly overpriced.

What does everyone else think of prices? reasonable? Are they coming down any with the current climate? And if people are having to sell out of necessity - are people really prepared to pay these extravagant prices?!
 
I've just sold a lovely mare, exactly what you are looking for. Got my asking price (under £3K) and could have sold her 20 times over.
She wasn't advertised as going to win anything but I was honest and she is safe and steady.
How much are you looking to spend ie what do you think is too much?
 
I do think some horses are over priced, but not all. If I found my dream horse and money was no object then I would pay any amount, but alas, I am a pauper and have to grab the bargains! I do think that prices are coming down a bit ATM.
At the end of the day, a horse is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
 
I stand by my old saying a horse is worth what someone is willing to pay. You can ask a high price but doesn't mean you'll get it and if you do well done. I am looking for a horse to ease the work load of my 13.2hh 19 year old. I am expereanced but don't have much to spend as i am a groom. I have been looking for a youngster to bring on or a problem horse but have been shocked by the asking price of some of the horses. one ad i saw on a website said the horse bucked, reared and napped they where asking £2000 for it! i think they slipped on the 0 key a few times!
 
seconding the come to ireland part you can pick up that sort of horse for a pittance over here compared to england.. if your prepared to look ...
hell if you visit some of the western marts you'll see lovely horses selling for a couuple of hundred euro..dont believe me?look at my other posts on the new ponys my uncle bought they cost around 150 euro each..they are both young and unbroken but even the older broken horses arent making what they used to over here
 
I would say you're looking for what every other person wanting a safehorse is, and safe horses these days are like gold dust!
 
A great many cobs are grossly overpriced nowadays and many TB s are cheaper than chips. In my youth back in the 70 s it was the other way round a good Anglo/Arab say, for jumping and showing was definitely out of my parents price range so I had a hairy cob. If a cob is coloured it goes instantly up to nearly £5,000 and if its a coloured maxi cob even more. My coloured maxi cob (16.hh skewbald with not much feather) cost £1500 and I sold him a year later for £1850 back in 1972. He would fetch £5500 today as he was bombproof and willing.

I think the present prices reflect the increase in riding as a sport that has a more general appeal, where riders are not perhaps as good as they were years ago when a cob was for a novice or old person and one was expected to move up to a faster, sporter model as you progressed through the levels. People hacked out more, no one did Dressage, we galloped and jumped and had terrible falls that as teenagers, if you didn't become a better rider, fear eventually got the better of you and you gave up.
Schooling just didn't really happen in those days it was all about showjumping or hunting. A cob was considered a bit of a soft option. Needless to say I was not then a very good rider, and everyone knew it 'cos I had a safe cob and never moved up to the sporty model, but I blamed parental poverty!

Nowadays many riders are incapable of hacking their own horse out, and it being a pleasurable experience. I think this reflects the decline in riding ability and illustrates the increased value of safe cobs.
 
if they are too expensive they don't sell- its supply and demand.

they may be too expensive for your budget but if someone is willing to pay the price then tough luck.

if you look around the less popular sites you may find something cheaper- there is no point looking in H&H or on Horsequest if you are looking at the lower end of the price bracket as everything on their is going to the 2012 Olympics arrarently!
 
Prices have really fallen over here in Spain -Anyone looking for an Andalucian can pick up a bargain at the momment .
 
It is very short notice but their is a sale of riding and trekking ponies on at leominster on Sat. I went to the farm to try some and would think some of them are exactly what you are looking for.
 
I think they're definitely out there if you're prepared to look and also if you have the experience and can bring on one from scratch. I would also say don't narrow your requirements too much. You say you want a nice cob type but is this a coloured or just anything?

Coloureds (nowadays) tend to have higher price tags (god back in the day I had one they weren't popular at all an were just seen as 'common').

I often look on the under £1000 section of the likes of Horsemart and sometimes they're are some bargains to be had. Also, as others say, a horse is only worth what someone's going to pay for it so, keep an eye on adverts say just above your price range as well. If the horse is unsold at the asking price after a while then no harm going to see it and putting an offer in.
 
Does it have to be a cob?? If you have the experience (and transport) it may well be woth going to the new forest sales. You can pick up broken ponies there, along with the usual unbroken wild ones.

also, try www.stabletalk.co.uk which is cheaper than horsemart etc.

when I was looking for something sane and sensible for my daughter I scoured ads and couldnt find anything within my price range. I put the word out to farrier, friends, riding schools, everywhere I could think. Two days later i was told of a pony which was 'possibly' for sale, the owner was emigrating and just wanted a good home for him. because I'd gone to her word of mouth via the farrier (and she was happy he'd have a good lifelong home) I got him for a very cheap price, with his manners and placid nature i know full well he was worth 4 times what I paid.

it's worth putting the word about to anyone horsey you know, even the vet. it's suprising what comes up.


horses advertised tend to be over priced, imo, for the current market.
 
I have noticed that even the TB's off the track are no longer cheap as chips, a lot of training yards that are not in rush to sell are selling them private rather than taking them to the sales, last year at the blood stock sales, they were not even fetching the minimum bid, they couldn't give them away.
Yet there are some fresh of the track and done little schooling advertised at around 2k!

Coloured coblets (yearlings) were 10 a penny years ago, I know some that exchange hands for 10k now, stupid money.
 
Thank you to everyone who has replied here and for taking the time to do the poll too - interesting that the general concensus is that they are (on the whole) overpriced.

I completely agree with Katenjack - that's how it was for me growing up too! I have 30 years experience with horses and have worked with everything from creme de la creme racehorses to chunky shetlands - due to disablement though I've had miniature horses for several years and so have been somewhat 'out of touch' with the prices of larger horses.

Having said that, I sold a welsh a mare I'd brought on over several years for £600 several months ago which I thought was a fair price for a well bred but completely inexperienced 4 year old mare.

I remember when horses' value went up when the horse had actually DONE something - £2000 for a yearling which has done absolutely nothing is utterly ridiculous; not for a cob which has never nor will ever set foot in a show ring or be bred from!

You know the type I'm looking for: half chewed tail, bent ear, answers to 'lucky' - a total dope on a rope (in an utterly loveable way!) I don't care if its ugly, so long as it is fit and healthy enough to do the job cheerfully. I had <somewhat naively obviously> thought that £1500 would be plenty for such an animal, what with the current climate and all. I was prepared to stretch to £2000 for an experienced, older horse. I'm obviously way out of touch. When I think of what else I could spend that amount of money on, I shudder. Surely shelling out £4000 in this current climate can bring no return? It is going to take years to recover from this down turn and its going to go on for a while yet.

Things are somewhat compounded by being in Scotland - the only cobs which seem to be for sale up here are all gorgeous show stoppers, way out of my league. Perhaps I'll have to wait and brave appleby next year!

Thanks again for taking the time to give your opinions - it is always fascinating to see if 'its just me'! With more and more horses being loaded onto sites with 'credit crunch' written in their tagline, perhaps the prices will start to come down to where us mere mortals can reach them again. And I for one will be voting with my wallet by not paying extortionate asking prices for animals you'll never get that return on; hopefully people will be more realistic too on what the horse they are selling can actually achieve in life and price accordingly.

Selling a horse for large money does not guarantee that horse will be taken care of - it just means the purchaser has money. I for one would rather sell my animals to somewhere I know they will be loved and cherished for life - something far more important to me than cold hard cash.
 
QR
I don't think it's greed, I think it's a simple supply and demand issue.
Also, I think horses SHOULD be expensive, so not every Tom, Dick and Harry can get one to keep in their back garden.

It cost about £500 to cover a mare with an average stallion, about £1000 to keep her through gestation, then another 6 months of double feed, vaccs, wormers etc. At weaning time the foal should be fetching £2K to make it a viable business
crazy.gif
 
Saltires - if you put exactly what you are looking for I will have a root around for you (am bored!) need heights, ages, max price, where in the country you are prepared to look, what you are looking to do with the horse, what your experience level is and any other specific requirements
Have you tried wanted adverts? I got my boy 1 month ago for £1500 - and there is no doubt in my mind that he is worth 3 times that price. The owner just wanted him to go to a really good home, so looked through wanted adverts and replied to homes she thought were suitable. Might be worth a try!
 
martlin - I have to stop you there. I fully understand what you're saying (I myself breed horses! just miniature ones) and I'm very aware of what it costs to breed a horse at a well run stud or in a knowledgeable home.
The type of horse I'm looking for however, have been bred at a roadside for hundreds of years. People for some reason, seem reluctant to geld colts anymore and so they are being bred like rabbits and there is no way that the majority of hobby breeders shell out anywhere near that amount on a pregnant mare. I've run across a few in my time.
In many cases, the cost of a covering (to any bog standard stallion) is a couple hundred pounds and nothing more, perhaps a standard vac, is given to the mare until the foal is on the ground. Unfortunatly, these people are out there and breeding like this.
This is probably (and realistically with my budget) the sort of animal I am after purchasing.

Tasteofchaos: I'm looking for that sort of cob that wants nothing else other than to exist in a happy way. I don't have much experience in driving so I would be looking for one that has at least seen a cart of some description and hasn't inverted at it. Needless to say, it must be calm on the road. My husband would also like to be able to go out for little hacks (he isn't experienced) and obviously it would have to be placid enough in nature to not take exception to my miniatures!

Age/sex/colour/breeding are immaterial - a horse at the younger end of the scale (under 15) would be preferable as it will be out either under saddle or driving daily and I wouldn't want to put strain on an unsuitable animal - but of course there are plenty of older fitter wiser horses too! Age then would really be offset by the horses' nature.

I have put the word out as suggested earlier to all I know in the local area - strangely horses are more expensive on the whole up here. At least, that is what I have found, with far fewer horses even advertised north of the border than in england.

And wanted ads - good idea! No, I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to do that now, thank you.
 
It is supply and demand - more people want safe middle aged cobs with a nice temperment than there are cobs that fulfil the criteria.

It takes a while for those who breed and produce these sorts of horses to catch up - for a long time the sort that you were looking for were not popular and very cheap so there was little incentive to breed them. This has meant the supply of them is low compared to the current demand for them. In time I imagine the suppy will catch up with demand and prices will fall to a more sensible price.

Additionally those that tend to buy the safe as houses confidence building cobs tend to be the sort of people who keep their horses forever so they don't change hands that often either.
 
I really do think that some of the cobs I saw going to this sale are what you are after, if you go to www.noltonstables.com they have pictures of most of them. I appreciate you are a long way away but they were such nice people I am sure they would have other horses for sale that are not going to the reduction sale and some of them are also broken to harness.
smile.gif
 
You didn't say how big, so have gone 15hh upwards given that your husband wants to ride sometimes.
I found these...
http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/10_yrs_15_0_hh_coloured_yorkshire/34212
http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/8_yrs_7_mths_15_2_hh_blue_roan_somerset/31773
BUT depending on how tall/big your husband is, they may not be big enough. Unfortunately they aren't cobs however. So...
http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/7_yrs_16_1_hh_black_friesian_kent/34314 (overpriced me thinks)
And my favourite (think he is beautiful!)
http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/12_yrs_16_1_hh_chestnut_lincolnshire/37957
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top