How do you decide on a value for a horse?? HELP!!!!

Leo Walker

Leo Walker

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I've spent 3 hours trawling ads and if anything its made it worse!

I own a 4yr old cob gelding, really smart quality cob, county standard traditional, barely backed but bombproof. I cant find anything similar to use as a guide! I can find endless young colts and utold amount of mainly white, put together by a committee cobs, but nothing like Frankie!

I'm absolutely breaking my heart over selling him and if it was up to me I would give him away to someone really lovely! But thats not feasible and I do want another,so my OH has insisted he is sold for at least some money so I have something to go towards another. He also cost me more than £400 to transport from the NE to MK when I moved here in Ocotber last year, which my OH paid for so I suppose I need at least that back

For the record this is not an ad! I have people fighting over him! But if I did advertise him it would be on H&H :)
 
If you really have people wanting him ask one or two people that know him what they think he is worth, you do not have to accept their valuation but it gives a starting point.
If he is easy, good looking, quiet, not bombproof as he is only 4 and cannot yet have experienced enough to be considered truly bombproof in my view, backed and ready to bring on he should have a basic value of around £1k with some leeway either way depending on how much you need to sell, who is offering to buy, if you can get him going a little more he may make more money but if someone you know will give him a really good home you could let him go for a little less.
If you advertise do not under value him as it suggests there may be something wrong, put a fair price with ono to good home so you can consider where he goes as part of the equation, make sure you get really good photos and describe him accurately to avoid wasted calls.
 
ask on fb groups - they are very opinionated :D

i asked about my mare and a few said 1500quid more than i had in my head... try there and then take the amount you think?

depends what people will pay though - there is a lot of horses on the market but myself am struggling to see quality in any of them....
 
louincrew if you hover over my name you get the option to PM. I've been crying hysterically for the last hour, which is helpful, NOT. The problem I have is he is quality, but wont be desirable until hes a few years older. Bombproof quailty cobs arent common! But right now hes not that! Realistically hes worth buttons! its how many buttons I am concerned with :D i dont want to sell him at all, but I need to! and people are literally handbags at dawn over him which makes me think I'vve priced him to low at £500 or £700 inc all tack and rugs

i just want an easy sale to the right person! Hes not advertised anywhere and a casual comment on Facebook has people fighting over him, so I think I have got it wrong! But its hard to tell as horses are so cheap now, esp young cobs!
 
Id ask the potential new owners what price they are willing to pay for him, don't necessarily go for the highest bidder, but to see what they think he is worth against what you think he will sell for, you must have a figure in your head, FB groups are good too, Do you have a photo of the little chap.
 
When you say barely backed do you mean just sat on and led about or does he walk trot canter and hack out in traffic in a reasonable albeit green manner?

For the first I would say £1250 Inc all tack and rugs (if county standard cob )
For the latter I would say £1,750 - £2,000 Inc all tack and rugs

£400 - £700 is far too low especially as you are including all his gear.

I'm sorry you have to sell him.
 
The first. He's been hacked out a couple of times in walk and that's about it. He's done nothing since the end of last year. I could drag him in and stick tack on and get on him now no problems, but he needs riding away
 
He's 14.2hh give or take. I've not had a tape on him for 6 months. There's photos of him on another thread I posted but I'm on my phone and can't find it
 
FrankieCob,

Is there any chance you can loan him out this summer - someone could have great fun going out and about while finishing his education - and you could even offer them half the increase in value if he's sold at the end of the loan. You can use the savings on livery to pay back the £400 to your OH in the meantime.

As for price now, if he is county show quality I'd say £1500+ WITHOUT tack and rugs. They would be by separate negotiation mainly because I personally wouldn't pay a lot extra for stuff that a youngster that is likely to outgrow them within the year!
 
well I've just paid £1400 for one that was completly unhandled! though it was on the understanding that the old owner would give him basic handling before thetransporter picked him up so by the time he got to me he lead in walk!
County standard and very sweet but not even had a head collar on him (though he did come with a head collar!)

£700 with tack is far far too cheap and if i saw an ad for him that cheap i'd pass him over as i'd think there must be something wrong with him to be that cheap.

Personaly i'd advertise him at £2500 and not take a penny less than £2000 with tack or £1800 without!
 


Casper was rising 5, hacking out beautifully, broken to drive. Almost bombprrof but with a slight dislike of large vehicles, mainly as he hadn't seen many! He's filled out much more now of course! I paid £1250 for him. Hope that helps!
 
I'm wary of loaning him as he's soo young. However that way I could make sure he had a good home. I'm going to have to have a serious think today. I'm pretty sure I've found a perfect horse for loan. Been to see him thinks morning so fingers crossed that works out.

My OH doesn't want the £400 back :D but he would murder me if I sold him for less than the transport cost :D
 
I have looked at the photos, he is potentially a smart little cob, I would not really describe him as a heavyweight or really a traditional he is more sporty looking than that in the photos, much more of a useful allrounder that could do any job, he would look smart trimmed up and you really would be selling him short for under £1k at £500 he is a bargain to the right person who can bring him on, in a couple of years with miles on the clock he will be worth plenty more, if you were nearer I would snap him up as a super little project for the next year or so.
 
You can always reduce a price or let an ideal purchaser negotiate a lower price. I have had a lot of purchasers (admittedly of gundogs!) come back and say I was far too cheap. But I have never ever had any purchaser come back after the sale and offer me more money! So better to price too high than too low. I have also priced a dog too low and put off potential purchasers who have told me "there must be something wrong with him at that price!" I've promptly doubled the price and got a quick sale!

I think you should advertise as widely as possible stating a highish price but also "negotiable to the right home". Then you can afford to be picky. Get someone to take some good photographs and a video of him moving in all paces. These days communications are so easy, it is silly not to make the best use of them.

There will be the perfect owner and home out there for your horse but unless they know about what you have, they can't buy. Selling a favourite animal is never easy but it sounds like a choice you have to make, so bite the bullet and make the best job of it that you can.
 
be positive said:
I have looked at the photos, he is potentially a smart little cob, I would not really describe him as a heavyweight or really a traditional he is more sporty looking than that in the photos, much more of a useful allrounder that could do any job
Click to expand...

I think the photos are a bit misleading, hes def HW, and hes still got some filling out to do. His feathers got bog burnt but they are back now and hes growing an immense double mane. Hes wider than he is tall :D
 
Just to update this, fingers crossed, touch wood all that nonsense!

I've found an older, bigger but not too big horse who is looking for a hacking home with the odd bit of schooling etc, but coming to me specifically as his current owner doesnt want him hammered or pushed out his comfort zone. Hes on loan with a view to buying after a coule of months once we are all happy. He should be a perfect match for me :) Even better he already has a sharer who rides him twice a week and would like to continue, and that suits me just fine :)

Frankie is going on loan. I'm going to pay for a couple of weeks of pro schooling at his current yard and his new loaner will get involved with that as shes a uni student who works on the yard in the holidays. She was happy to take him without the schooling, but Im hoping a little bit of help in the beginning will get them off to a flying start. I'll probably pay for lessons for them both to keep them on track, not that I anticipate any problems, but I'd rather fork out a few quid and know they are having them.

I dont know whether she will eventually buy him, long term loan him or what yet, but I'm more than happy for him to have a summer learning about life with a nice loaner and then we can take it from there. It takes any issues of money and selling out of the equation, and I'm hoping it works out brilliantly for everyone :)
 
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