Horse prices (again)

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Willow1306

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Just a query on what people expect to pay for a young event horse and how much weight the BE record has on the price.

I have recently started looking and have been trying to gauge prices. Whilst I understand a nice event horse to enjoy at grassroots level demands a fair price, i'm often finding that fairly ordinary horses with mixed or poor form at BE90/100 level are still being advertised around the 10k mark. These are horses with inconsistent dressage scores, lots of poles SJ and often a few 20s XC.

I'd be interested to hear others' opinions on whether this is what the going rate is for an amateur friendly event horse or if these horses are unlikely to sell at that price point. I know that I can't personally justify that much money for such a horse, so given the choice of an established horse with a patchy record or taking a gamble on a youngster and producing it myself, i'd go for the youngster. Am I totally deluded?
 
This is a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question. With the help of family and businesses I have spent high 5 figures on a young 8 years event horse. The last young event horse I bought in the Spring to bring on was £5.5k and only had an unaffiliated 100 record at 6 years old. We finished a novice this season with a double clear - he will probably be sold soon. I'd sooner buy an unbroken horse to bring on myself than anything with a competition history but I don't have the time anymore with 6 horses now plus the 20 odd at home. If I liked the horse and it was close enough I would visit and try it in spite of a poor record because you don't know how much the rider/trainer contributed to that.
 
I think there are a lot of deluded people out there who think their horse has a great record when in reality it has barely got into the mid range finish at any event, often not above the lower 1/3rd which to my mind does not make it an 'event horse' with the price tag they are asking, my criteria is top 1/3 finish in most events, ideally top 10 at several, before they can justify a price at anything other than decent allrounder value although a good PC/RC horse can get a high price.
You really do need to look at the whole horse, the record, including the riders record as that can be fairly enlightening as to whether the horse is being limited in some way and that you may be able to get more out of it, as for value it really is a tricky one to judge until you view.
 
I know of a horse bought for over 10k who’d done be100 but nothing outstanding, some inconsistencies in one of the phases and no wins. However - he is steady, confident and fit, and is not put off by a rider who is just starting to compete. I would say he was worth it for his owner, they are doing very well together. He would not however have been worth it for me, and I wouldn’t have been willing to pay over 5k. Obviously I would not get him for that kind of money because he is worth a lot more to others.
So... those 10k horses might be worth that much to someone who wants something push-button, who has been ridden by amateurs and has looked after them. Though that is very different to advertising a horse scraping round be100 with an experienced rider who is having to work very hard, and still getting penalties, for 10k.
Personally I would always go for something less experienced, provided it had a nice trainable personality, and work with it. It depends on if the year or so of training you’ll have to put in to get a younger horse out competing is something you’d enjoy doing.
 
As long as it is sane and sound, I am quite happy to pay 10K for one that goes 90/100, as long as the record is not disastrous (as in multiple eliminations, cricket scores, dressage that makes me think they stand up on their hind legs and wave at the judge).

Sane and sound horses with some form are worth starting at 9/10K. Ones with nice paces and talent over a fence would be a lot more.
 
Pricing of event horses in this bracket is really tricky and very variable.

Records often sell the horse but records can be very deceptive.

A well ridden and produced horse can have a glittering BE100 record and sell for 20-25k as a grassroots horse (this is what they routinely achieve). The problem is, once they are in a genuinely grassroots home, that form doesn’t always get maintained.

On the other hand, a horse that is consistently getting around a BE100, often with faults, but being ridden by a below par amateur (of which there are many) looks bad on paper, but is likely to be a better bet for a competent grassroots.

10k doesn’t always get you much with a proven BE record these days. You are often better spending that money on a nicely started young horse with an easy temp
 
Thanks, that's a good range of insights to consider.

I know that I won't go to view these particular horses as they are over my budget, which only has flexibility for something which is absolutely outstanding and meets all of my criteria and more. As much as i'd love to have a bigger budget, I have to be realistic on what I can stretch for and the impact that it will have on the rest of my finances and my ability to actually do anything with said horse... I'm more than happy to bring on a youngster (it's what i've always done), but i'm not ruling out more established horses, just in case something does crop up.
 
I bought a youngster who had a good attitude. He had no record but was bold and confident. He has been brilliant. Our first outing BE we were eliminated (at the last fence) with accumulated refusals - this from a horse who had never refused any XC jump before. Looks pretty poor on record.

However 2 days after the event I was in hospital with sepsis as a result of pneumonia ... I had been feeling slightly 'under par' on the day... on reflection I was definitely not firing on all cylinders .. the record is entirely due to me so sometimes the record doesn't tell the whole story...
 
Most grass roots riders are looking for something else as well as a record and that is a safe and sane horse that you can do easily, take out to lessons and enjoy. To my mind that commands a premium. We bought our daughter one like this, He was pretty pricey as a five year old, she didn't do fantastically well because tbh she found the transition from ponies to horses quite tricky, but I never thought she was going to die and most importantly, neither did she. They did a few novices before she went to uni and we sold him at a slight loss but she'd had a lot of fun for four years and he's gone to a new home for life. what price do you put on a sane sensble horse?
 
From window shopping recently, I’d say 10k gets you a lower level grassroots event horse, or towards the top end of a RC all rounder. I suspect both types are actually fairly similar just that the eventer may have some BE record albeit patchy.

What you’ve described sounds pretty much like what the market price is at the moment. The more capable grassroots eventers seem to be advertised for 12-20k.
 
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