Horse Prices- is it who you know???

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matthew

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Was having a chat with my next door neigborough. She was saying her daughters friend seemed to think that you cannot buy a horse for under £3,000 now- is this true!
That is my budget -there seems to be quite a lot advertised for just under this amount- but maybe they are a load of pants!
I have never actually owned a horse before but had lots on loan so its all quite new to me!
Another thing- for a allrounder - would i have pay for a full 5 stage vetting? or do you think the smaller vetting would be enough?
 
If it's your first horse and you have a low budget (same as me there) then yes you really should have a 5 stage vet.

Just think what would you do if you ended up with a horse that was OK but unable to be ridden? Could you afford to keep it as a pet and get one to ride? Or would you be able to put it to sleep?

Good luck on the horse hunting.
 
depends what height, age, breed, sometimes sex and potential of the horse - i got a 4yo bay mare 15.3hh last year for £4000, by grannex, and a 4 yo black/brown mare, 16.1hh this year by Catherston Gold Storm for £2,600. all depends what you are looking for! but i agree, it is very hard to find "cheaper" horses now. its all based on potential, or records so even young horses are hard to buy cheap!
 
There are bargains to be had but true bargains are few andfar between, if you are wanting an allrounder, ie ridingclub level then I think you can get something nice for 3k.
Yes I would 5 stage if spending that much.
 
Of course you can buy a decent horse for £3000 & under, it's a case of deciding what you want. If you want to hack about & have a good time over a few little jumps at local shows then yes you'll get one.

If however you want a horse that willjump big tracks or maybe do dressage to a relatively high level then possiobly not. However you may be able to get one that will do this for you but may be a litle older.

For some reason people band about £4000 - £5000 as a minimum price which isn't necessarily right.
 
Hate to say it but if a horse is under 3k then I start to wonder whats wrong with it. You need to worry more because if it was a great horse they would be asking more for it.
 
Well when i say allrounder.......i would like somthing to s/j- not talking foxhunter or any thing but some thing with a bit of scope!
Dressage isnt my thing luckily as that seems to be what costs the money!
How much should i budget for for a 5 stage vetting?
 
Well i think they are out there but certainly not in horse and hound- the prices in there are crazy!
Stick the word 'potential' in front and it seems you can get away with adding a few more ££££££!
I have been shown a belgium w/b 6 years old imported in 2004- really beautiful for £3,000 purely because he hasnt done a lot and is too good for the riding school he is in at the moment! but he seems to be the other end of the scale- leaving me thinking maybe he is too good for me!!
 
you can get a bargin you just have to look around

i was very lucky with my horse. she was only £2400 but is a fab at sj and xc and has real potential for dressage. she has also got my confidence back jumping. i used to wet my pants just thinking about jumping a 2ft3 fence and now i`m happily jumping 2ft9 spreads and want to go bigger (eventually
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however she is 13 so this may have been why she was cheaper and they wanted a quick sale

they are out there but are few and far between

good luck i`m sure you will find something soon
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I think horse prices in the private sector are a bit crazy to be honest, but a good dealer will not be charging over the top. Yes, of course you can get a decent horse for 3k or less...buut you'll have to be prepared to sieve through a lot of overpriced rubbish to get it.

I think websites and forums such as this have played a big part in driving prices up actually. You get a broad spectrum of people on here talking about potential and what their novice horses are doing and what they might be worth, but what people forget is that one persons novice is another persons horse of a lifetime. You have people on here competing at the top international levels in all discipline down to the happy hacker, and plenty more filling the gaps in between. A statement above proves this difference well. 'I don't want anything that will jump Foxhunter'. Well, most pro's would rate a horse that has a limit of Foxhunter at not much more than 3.5k to 4k...unless it could excel in another discipline. It's really rather crazy tbh...
 
Really! well maybe i will be ok then!
I am not a pro- i dont take competing to seriously! but i just want something to have fun on thats not on its last legs lol! and older horse wouldnt really bother me- as long as i could get it insured!
 
Actually age is a good point - you could get a nice experienced horse for less than 3k if you are prepared to go for an older horse.
 
No- not yet!
I need a few months to save a bit- especially as its looking like i may have to extend my budget! lol!
The 15.2 advert that looked a bit dodgy they have decided to keep him-gutted!
So i am still looking!
 
Another option you could consider for a new horse is performance screening, where they analyse soundness - costs from £150-£250. Would def. recommend the 5 stage vetting too, you hear so many stories about purchases going wrong.
K
 
You can get something for £3k..it might not be very sane or safe, or might have been diagnosed with early problems, or suitable for only light work, or not ridable at all......orrrrrrrr you might just find the odd bargin which needs a little work done.

I would always 5 stage to be on the safe side
 
[ QUOTE ]
Was having a chat with my next door neigborough. She was saying her daughters friend seemed to think that you cannot buy a horse for under £3,000 now- is this true!
That is my budget -there seems to be quite a lot advertised for just under this amount- but maybe they are a load of pants!
I have never actually owned a horse before but had lots on loan so its all quite new to me!
Another thing- for a allrounder - would i have pay for a full 5 stage vetting? or do you think the smaller vetting would be enough?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd personally never have a 5 stage vetting again - 3 yes, 5 no.

I know other people that have had similar incidents but I now have a horse who is blind in one eye due to a bad vetting.

That said, if I was spending over £5k I think I'd go for the 5 stage.
 
What's a 3 stage vetting when it's at home, and how can you blame a vetting for your horse going blind in one eye
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Our vet is very pragmatic abouting vettings. Our boy actually failed his. After sobbing my heart out and a long chat with the vet we decided to buy him anyway. [ducks waiting to be told how silly that was]
The vets view was if we wanted him for competing he was a no-no. For what we wanted him for he was fine (and touching everything he has been).
Our vet also told us about a £20K horse he'd seen that had flew through a 5 stage vetting and had turned up lame three weeks later. He advised if spending over £5k then its worth it or if you want a horse to compete with. Happy hacker / RC types not really worth it other than for your peace of mind.

NB -only to say this is only my very humble opinion so everyone has to do what is right for them.
 
You can get horses for under £3k. Well, lets just say that I have owned about 12 horses to date and only ever once spent over £3k on one. But then I have always had babies / green ones...... which is what you'll probably get for under this amount. Saying that, there is the odd safe low-level allrounder around for £2500 Ive seen.

It really depends what you want to do. If its just little local shows you want to do then you don't need any superstar so you should be able to find something quite cheapish.

I think you should get a 5 stage vetting since this will be your first horse. I dont usually get 5 stage ones done (since one of my own horses failed his when my own vet passed him with flying colours the very next day!). But if it were a first horse then I would, unless you are buying the horse locally and know of it well through a friend who can vouch that it has always been sound etc.
 
i paid £1000 for mine he was a 3 yr old. we broke him in a month. i couldnt wish for a better horse. ive been told id get about £2500 (not that he's going anywhere!!) and he hasnt done anything yet except for hacking and a bit of schooling and a bit of jumping. i want to do xc and hunting on him as he's cob x i dont think he's elegant enough for sj!
 
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