Horse prices - what would you spend?

How much did your horse cost?


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Cop-Pop

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What would you spend on a horse? I don't mean if you won the lottery or anything, just an average amount if you were looking for one. I can't ever imagine spending 10k on a horse - at the end of the day they are flesh and blood and can go wrong just as easily as a cheaper one!!
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I personally would spend anything from 1k to 3k, (if I sold Bear I could spend that much)!
But for the amount I do I wouldn't spend anymore than that.
I bought Bear 2 years ago for £1200 and I have been offered 3k for him!
He's not going anywhere as he's everything I need in a horse, and I would always be comparing another horse to him!
If I had money I would buy a Freisian stallion! But thats a dream lol!
 
Paid £4,500 for my cob 'thing' I own......still wonder why,have been offered £6,000 think they must have been blind!
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When I lost my mare.....did say I was prepared to go to £5,000 to get what I wanted,which was a cob gelding....I had set out 12 years prior to get that,but came home with a dark bay TB mare and paid £2,500!
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Up to 2.5K but then I would be looking for an unbroken youngter or a project horse.

The last one we bought cost 60 quid as a foal so Im not used to spending mega bucks
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Well I am currently looking for under 2K, for the simple reason I only want a hack, with possibly RC stuff and a bit of distance riding, and I don't see any need to pay more than that. Prices seem a lot more reasonable atm, it's definitely a buyer's market and I'm perfectly happy to buy another tb.

However I'm another Friesian fan - maybe one day!
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I would pay about £10,000 - £15,000 for the right horse. If I get a good job (fingers crossed for interview on Tuesday!) then I would happily pay more. Sadly the type of horses I like tend to be expensive. There are bargains out there and the mare I share with a friend is outstanding and was cheep for what she is. I am a dotting, proud mother though!
 
I am obviously a cheap skate. In a similar vein to Sophie I bought George 6 years ago for 1500. He was for sale for 1650. The circumstances were that his owner had put him out on loan as she had an injury and the loaner didn't pay his livery at his new yard. She was never seen again so the YO who was a mean old witch who treated him really badly, sold him on to recoup her losses. He passed his vetting with the comments being that he needed schooling as lacked supplness and had mild foot imbalance. On loading the lorry he carted off with my husband and ran off into the road. We stuck with him and perservered and he quickly became less nappy (now hardly ever does it), an easy loader, kind and loving, easy to bond with. He became easier to work with on the ground.

He was 9+ when we bought him and he is now about 15. He had been used for showjumping by his previous owner, but those days I feel are gone now. I spent so long teaching him to be great to handle. He was always 150% safe in traffic which was great, and means that I've been able to have SO much fun on him in the years I have had him, going on holidays, fun and endurance rides and just general hacking. He's a good show horse and has matured beyond recognition. He just isn't the same horse. What's more, we take him hunting on Bodmin and have been told by one of the hunt that he's worth about 3.5k as he is a good hunter, not phased and takes it all in his stride. I feel totally safe on him and know that he'll tackle everything with the strength of character he always shows
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Similarly, the mare we just lost - Sparkle - was bought 11+ years ago as a rising 4 year old. She'd been handled well on the ground, been sat on and had a little bit of light hacking off road, but that was it. She was only 1500 because when she was a yearling she was stabbed and due to the way the old owner's vet dealt with it, she developed a sarcoid. Didn't look great on a palomino! Only really noticeable in Summer, but meant her excellent breeding was wasted as judges in the show ring always commented on it. Again, over the years we'd been offered more for her, but then we had done lots of work with her - hacking in heavy traffic, quiet hacking, jumping, XC, riding club, showing, dressage. Fantastic horse!

I wouldn't spent 10k plus unless I was a REALLY seriously competitive rider.
 
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I won't pay more than 1k
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In fact, i've never spent more than £500...

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Ditto
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My TBx cost £450 as a 2 year old and the pony cost £50
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I'm clearly the last of the big spenders
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I won't pay more than 1k
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In fact, i've never spent more than £500...

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you and me both, charlie!!!
 
the most i've spent is £850, she was acomplete horror though!

i would go up to 1500- 2000 for the right horse atm, im not looking for anything amazing, just something to have fun on!

i would never spend 10k on a horse. ever.

well... maybe a friesian....
 
Really I would pay up to 4k all I want is a happy hacker to a little bit of dressage maybe and that's about it.

If it could jump a 2ft course of showjumps great if not no biggy
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I've just paid £2k for one of this years foals
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, I spent £2.5k on a 5 yr old a couple of years ago and £1200 for the 5 yr olds 1/2 sister as a foal the year previous.

I get kind of hacked off when I see ads for horses at stupid prices when they've done next to nothing. I'm also sick of the saying 'the breeding justifies it' particularly when it's a gelding......
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the most ive spent is 1900 on a friesian mare in foal know i have a beautiful colt out of it too
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I hate you!
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Do you want to give him to me
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If not I'll live in hope for a rich long lost relative kicking the bucket!
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Well as of this moment in time, if I was looking for a horse it would be probably between 3-5k. However by the time I do come to buy a horse in a few years, I'd be hopefully looking in the 5-8k range, to give me a better chance to get what I want.

For that though I would want a quality allrounder - decently well schooled, nice natured and capable of jumping courses of 1.10/15m comfortably.
 
All the horses I have bought in the past have been under 3K and I have scrimped and saved to get that together. I was always gobsmacked that people would pay many thousands for a horse but as I've got older I can see why they do.
I have a very clear idea of what I want in my next 'keeper' horse I buy and I anticipate spending in the 7.5-10K bracket
 
Most expensive one - £1,500 twelve years ago.

The rest - £200 as foal (plus dam came FOC too) and £550 as a yearling. However, they're both Arabs and if you don't go for bloodlines of the current fashion then they can be bought quite cheaply if you know where to look. The last one is a TB x question mark (suspected but not proven to be Andalusian) - £300 because of the question mark over breeding and was a surprise foal for the seller - again being in the right place at the right time - bought as a yearling.

I have been lucky in that I rented some land where the horses were all able to be run on fairly cheaply as youngsters. Moved away from there when it was time to bring them into work, but I now have some decent horses which I couldn't afford otherwise and was recently offered £6K for the TBX (now a green 6yo but definitely not for sale!).

Personally, I would do the same again if I were looking for another one - i.e. buy a weanling or yearling and run it on, although I realise that not everybody's personal circumstances allow them to do that.
 
Well i spent £2500 on one (was duped by a dealer) got a full insurance payout so offically she was free.. she then popped out a foal (suprise- who was free but is only going to hit 13hh)

I then refused to pay anymore than £1k for my next one and found a lovely Sec D for £800 who then popped aout another unexpected COLOURED foal who is estimated to hit 15.2hh.

Oooo, i love my bargains!!!
 
The most i've ever spent on a horse was £7.5k...and I would spend that again because the type of horses I want with the ability to do what I want tend to cost at least that...if not a lot more.

I have also NEVER lost money on a horse
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the most ive spent is 1900 on a friesian mare in foal know i have a beautiful colt out of it too
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I hate you!
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Do you want to give him to me
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If not I'll live in hope for a rich long lost relative kicking the bucket!
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i wouldnt give him up for the world specialy when he gives you a cheeky grin like this how could i
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The most I've paid is £3500 for a 3 y.o. ID/TB about eleven years ago.
Joe was £2000, ID/TB by Knockboy Hero as a two year old of the field,
Spike was £900 as a six month colt.
Ollie was £2500 ( and a nightmare - worse mistake ever!!)
Bella was £1600,
Khrizzy £1400 - best ever pony even though he failed the vetting
And Jack was ...... a very sensible price!!

I would never pay more than £2000 for a horse now, even if I had it.
Its a lot of money for flesh and blood that can break down the next day and who can afford loss of use insurance! only the seriously rich, I think.
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So who is paying the £10K - £30K for all these horses advertised at these prices? People wouldn't waste their money placing an advert at a particular price if some people weren't going around spending that much. My budget for the horse I'm after at the minute is £6K and I've seen a lot of rubbish priced around that mark, but I'd rather keep looking than spend more money, because spending more doesn't guarantee a sounder horse, its still a gamble. So own up, who has paid over £10K for a horse and was it worth it?
 
Well it depends what you want the horse for. I am happy to spend 10k + on the right horse for the job. I have also had some nice bargains - but there is always a catch. My current horse is worth his weight in gold. If you posted this in comp riders - it would be interesting to see how different the responses would be.
 
KVS - i'll own up. Yes he absolutely has been - given me the confidence back to compete, and is a bl00dy scopey and talented, if a bit tricky, horse. He's done wonders for my riding - which is why I say he's worth his weight in gold. But I didn't spend the top end of that bracket by any stretch of the imagination!
 
Despite what people say about finding bargains, I think you have to be VERY lucky to find a decent dressage horse (unless very young and unbroken) for under 10k. I would expect to pay a fair bit for a horse that had paces worth an 8 or 9, good temperament and had been correctly started by a knowledgable rider (and if its got good breeding you can expect a price increase too). And as for a more experienced horse with a good competition record, don't even go there!

I believe if you find the right horse, its worth coughing up a bit more than planned as the opportunity might not arise again.
 
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