How are people affording to buy horses at present?

Mum gave me some money after the disappointment with Lari and the rest I have saved blo*dy hard for and gone without a lot of things, I've always been very good at saving money though, very thrifty and careful.

I really don't want to spend any more than 13k on another horse so I will have £4k or 5k put aside for contingency, insurance, vetting Inc possible xrays, shavings, a new MIPS hat which is essential, plus lessons which are also essential for my confidence building.

I still have Lari's new saddle that I paid £800 for plus two others that were Baileys so hoping I won't have to buy tack on top and as I'm buying a 16.2hh - 17hh horse I will be able to reuse Baileys rugs and boots.

The prices on horses are coming down now and this can only be a good thing.

Anything of the type I'm looking for that is under 10k unless fairly old, is either lame/cold backed/has stringhalt/can occasionally buck/has one eye or three legs/needs a confident rider/has been for sale for months, etc, etc. A lot of it is reading between the lines. A lot I discount if they are a five yr old 17hh ISH for example, as it will grow too big. Or a 17hh ID will be too heavy for the trailer/car combo.

I wouldn't look at a ROR because I'm not the build to ride one but would look at a Tb/WB like a shot if I was a size 10.
 
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This subject comes up from time to time and it likely will continue to do so because to be blunt there aren’t as many horses being bred as there were, it simply isn’t worth the stress. If you’re lucky you might find a ROR which someone hopefully will have put some time and effort = money into, but sadly it hasn’t made the grade and economics mean it’s written off and passed on for a different life. Breeding and training / schooling etc takes time and wages have to be paid as well as feed, vets, farriers etc. it’s not a right to own a horse. There are some fantastic opportunities available for people who live in the right place and maybe are offered a share or free riding in exchange for some help. If you’re lucky you may get entries fees and transport thrown in but sadly things are changing and instead of people being pleased to be offered free riding they now expect to be paid despite having little experience. Alternatively you just have to roll up your sleeves, work hard and save up. In some respects horses can be like cars, you can have a basic model at say 5k - 10k which will do a job or you can continue to save and get a better model. If you’re keen and talented you can start with a four year old, bring it on and decide whether to keep or sell and gradually move up the ladder. Many human ‘oldies’ around today love to tell stories of their escapades with horses when they were young.
 
I've got an RoR that moves well for dressage, they do exist. He's got more elevated paces than some warmbloods I've ridden. He retired from Pipes yard which is down in the south west. It might be worth contacting them as the lady I bought him off who rehomes exracers takes a lot from that yard. I've seen lots of very nice looking and useful horses come from there.
 
I would only be able to afford a unbroken 2-3yo in the current market.
Id be looking for a 16.2ish all rounder. Maybe one day!
 
Some if my friends go on 5k holidays twice a year, some buy new cars every 3 years, I have horses.

My yard is on the low income end but mainly happy hackers. Most successful are the people who buy young ones from the gypsies or older ones with an understanding of their limitations and needs. Most other people have ended up with something which has intermittent lameness or rears occasionally 😬
 
I bought mine in Denmark, far cheaper than buying in the UK - but then I only wanted an Icelandic. They're still quite rare here, but possibly the most common breed in Denmark. Of course the transport and import costs add a bit, but still less expensive than buying here.

Quite a few people buy Icelandics unseen, I have been tempted to hop across to meet her before she arrives, but I've paid for her already so might as well just wait patiently for her to arrive.

I agree that UK horse prices seem steep at the moment.
 
I'm amazed at how much fairly ordinary horses are being advertised for. Actually, how much fairly crap horses are being advertised for. Who is paying those prices?

I paid £500 for my Connie x pony as a 2 year old, now eight and super fun. New nutter this year was £1k plus £175 taxi fare to get her here from the racing yard I bought her out of. She's five and so chilled, I have to keep reminding myself of that fact on the rare occasions she reacts to something. She is the easiest hack of our three and that includes the ancient hairy cob! Ok, she's going to need some re-education and probably some physical issues sorting out (feet were terrible, but improving immensely) but that goes for a lot of horses, and I don't have to correct any idiot's mistakes, as she's been handled properly from the get-go. I'm her second owner, so she hasn't been passed around a lot either. I just wish she wasn't so bloody bouncy! 🤣 Pony makes up for it - she's super comfy! The old cob was definitely not cheap (old, extortionate purchase price for what she is and high running costs), but she was a grief purchase and has been worth every penny, just for the smile she puts on my face every day.

I guess you need to decide what you need, what you want and what would be nice to have and go from there. You've either got to have a suitably sized budget, or compromise. But a lot of sellers out there currently, do seem to be either delusional, or dishonest.
 
Buy young and do it yourself, or buy what other people don’t want and make it into what you do want.

My main riding horse is a trotter ex driving horse that on paper, most people wouldn’t have given. But he’s amazing. I got him as a 4 year old - he’s now 8 and I’ve been offered serious money for him, but I’d never sell him. He’s got the best brain ever, the heart of a lion, and just the best attitude. He does a lovely dressage test, will jump anything, go anywhere. He’s just ace.

If you get a youngster or no-hoper, there’s no pressure. If you do well, great. If you only ever hack and pat it, great. If it all goes tits up…well, that’s life.
But buy a £££££££ superstar and if you do well, no credit, ‘so you bloody should do well,’ and if you do badly, you’re shit 🤣 literally can’t win. And any horse that’s had enough of a life to be a schoolmaster will come with baggage.

I’d rather buy cheap and make my own problems, than spend megabucks buying someone else’s!
 
I don’t know how I will. My boy is 25 and Ive already decided I won’t be getting another whilst I still have him so I can afford to pay for everything he needs as he gets older. But I do have a look occasionally just out of interest and anything that it isn’t a thoroughbred is easily 10K+! Nothing wrong with a thoroughbred but I prefer something with a bit of irish breeding to ideally. Even the prices in Ireland have gone up. I may end up having to import something very young and wait. I’ve seen a couple of horses with Cruising Lines currently for sale for 5k in Ireland but they are six months old. Would be worth the wait to have the type of horse I wanted, might be the only option I have!
 
I would only be looking for a 14.2 native mare, joined a native pony sale site today and it’s nice to bad tbh.

My concern is anything advertised as a happy hack or mother’s hack is likely to be too broken to do anything else!
 
yearling sales is as good as it gets for me these days ... It's the first time I have ever wished my best horses were mares as I think I would now be tempted to breed my own. My only mare, however, is not worth the risk due to conformational, neurological, and just just general life "challenges". She is beautiful though. If I were a lesser a person I would sell her for £8 k lol She is rideable!
 
It's all well and good thinking about ex racers or youngsters, but not everyone has the experience to bring them on.

I've been riding for 20 odd years. I have broken in one youngster BUT I had had him since he was weaned and he was so over handled and quiet that I literally just walked him out round the lanes for a few days and then just got on him and hacked home. The next day I just rode him straight out round a short loop. Even had a short canter on the green.

The chances of coming across another youngster that ridiculously laid back and easy are surely stacked against me. I got lucky. I could have got hospitalised trying the same thing with something else.

Luckily I dont want a horse at present. If I did I would go for a smaller pony not suited to a child. I weigh little enough that I can get away with it.
 
I have always either bought youngsters or ex racers and enjoy all of the bringing on myself. So I am not looking at school masters, happy with a youngster but when they are 10 k plus after just being sat on and after bad luck on my last few horses , I am not really sure which avenue to pursue anymore. With costs of keeping being so high and competing being so expensive, it's a tricky call to make.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
I don’t know how I will. My boy is 25 and Ive already decided I won’t be getting another whilst I still have him so I can afford to pay for everything he needs as he gets older. But I do have a look occasionally just out of interest and anything that it isn’t a thoroughbred is easily 10K+! Nothing wrong with a thoroughbred but I prefer something with a bit of irish breeding to ideally. Even the prices in Ireland have gone up. I may end up having to import something very young and wait. I’ve seen a couple of horses with Cruising Lines currently for sale for 5k in Ireland but they are six months old. Would be worth the wait to have the type of horse I wanted, might be the only option I have!
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Have you had Cruising horses before? All the ones I’ve known, bar none, have been absolute twits, but with an a not an i 🤣
 
rara007 said:
Im Always amazed there’s so many nice cars on the roads. Where does this money come from?
I guess they generally have less horses than me…!
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They are ex rep cars, very high mileage and on lease! They are not bought outright, believe you me.
Or they are part exchanged used cars that have been exchanged for new cars by the owner.
Unfortunately the car I'm looking for Insignia sri NAV have high mileage second hand because they are often used by police as unmarked police cars and also reps again.
 
Being good friends with a dealer that sells many a year - lots of people take out loans, remortgage etc. Someone commented about cars above, I suppose people are so used to “loaning” the money for these and paying off monthly, they do the same.

Prices are coming down but there will also always be the very wealthy, who have the money and horses fit well into their lifestyle.

I completely agree that well bred horses with a good confirmation and a good start in life should be worth a lot. However this attitude that as someone’s spent X amount on a stud fee/foaling/livery/training/their time every youngster should be 20k+ is ridiculous.

If you’ve chosen to put your broken mare to a BOGOFF stallion and it produces a horse that looks akin to one a child would draw or if you do an awful job of handling the foal and it turns into a bolshy thing that doesn’t understand pressure, you don’t then automatically get X price because it’s survived to a certain age. Equally your nicely bred horses that won’t stand up to their purpose bred job or isn’t talented enough and is essentially a cast off that is too sharp for most of the market but not good enough for a professional, should be priced accordingly.

In no other aspect of life do we take a big gamble on something and then expect someone to pay for every minute we have spent working on it. Racing very much understands this (although their cast off number is unacceptably high) so why don’t other equine sports?
 
I haven’t unsubscribed from various horse selling sites after our search last year…and of course I glance at the first few pages. I am seeing price drops but anything coming from dealers yards/sales livery starts at 10k whereas the private sellers are wide ranging but under 10 and there have been some which I would have looked at had we still been searching. The sites cover north, north east and north west England and up to borders.
 
Birker2020 said:
They are ex rep cars, very high mileage and on lease! They are not bought outright, believe you me.
Or they are part exchanged used cars that have been exchanged for new cars by the owner.
Unfortunately the car I'm looking for Insignia sri NAV have high mileage second hand because they are often used by police as unmarked police cars and also reps again.
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I always buy outright ex pcp cars low mileage as they are restricted. Last one was 2 and a half years old under 16k on it. People give them up as they are expensive to pay the monthly amount. Think they can manage the payments then realise they have restricted mileage on them. This is the 4th ex pcp car we have had.

Also the price of horses we were selling irish draughts for £7k 30 years ago and had a waiting list. So inreflection horse prices are still low.
 
Patterdale said:
Have you had Cruising horses before? All the ones I’ve known, bar none, have been absolute twits, but with an a not an i 🤣
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I’ve hunted one across high Leicestershire country and loved him. He was by Royale Cruise so had Cavalier lines too. Best horse I’ve ever hunted.
 

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