How do you value a competition horse?

LEC

LEC

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So how do you value a competition horse? What makes you come up with a price?
Does it depend on circumstances? Do you just compare what else is online/in a magazine? Do you make an assumption based on what you need to buy next? Is potential really worth anything?

I am very interested in this whole concept of value and where it comes from. If I was to sell my horse tomorrow and I had to sell I think I would price him at £8500. Why? Well he has ability to go further but at the moment is at novice and not a great record doing that even though clear xc. He has been placed at PN but has a inconsistant record SJ as I am crap at it. He also has some blemishes on his record of 20s last year before he grew up and I have also been TE three times which was my fault but not quite so easy to explain!

Anyway bit of a long musing but its something I would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this.
 
Think of a number and add several zeros......
Thats what most people seem to do anyway!!

I think Rodney is worth more than 8.5k, given he hunts, BSJAs, is smart on the flat etc etc. I think you'd be talking 10k.

God knows what Moon's worth. Nothing to most people I suspect!!
 
I look at what else is for sale, start at that price and when it doesn't sell drop the price. I also think about how much I would pay for the horse - which isn't necessarily the same as what you would hope to sell it at.
 
Yes but Odin who has a far better record than Rodney has not sold at £10k. So Rodney would not be suitable for JRN which of course adds value and is where a lot of the money is. I know of one horse that has a good record at intermediate but always been ridden by a pro is £50k!! Now where do you get that price from? Surely the pro would have taken it to the top of its ability and its not going to go much further.
 
well, depends were you are selling!

in northern ireland there is a horse for sale that has a inconsistent xc record at novice, but is flashly and pretty (has won workers and dressage) and is roughly around 12, and they are asking 50k
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i think that your horse is worth around 10k to 15k
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See this is similar to how I value but I wonder if the person asking £12k for their intro horse is because actually it might never go further and they want to upgrade and they are around £15k and this is how prices escalate.
 
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Yes but Odin who has a far better record than Rodney has not sold at £10k. So Rodney would not be suitable for JRN which of course adds value and is where a lot of the money is. I know of one horse that has a good record at intermediate but always been ridden by a pro is £50k!! Now where do you get that price from? Surely the pro would have taken it to the top of its ability and its not going to go much further.

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I dont really get valueing comp horses either. Tbh it's impossible to find a horse like Odin for 10k. I told Tam to stick him in at 14k but she thought I was crazy.
A friend of mine has a perfect JRN horse, he has won JRNs and is good in all 3 phases and they have tried 3 times to sell him at 14k, 2k and 10k. They still have him!
 
Surely a horse is worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it. I am looking for another safe allrounder to do some PC stuff on. Now that sort of horse wouldn't be worth anything to somebody who wanted a horse to do a BE Novice or say a Foxhunter BSJA class as it probably wouldn't have the scope.
The one I have already I paid only £3500 for but I would pay double for her knowing how safe she is and how much fun I have with her. Now the problem is finding another.
I have found that people all value their horse so differently and most the time I wonder why they are selling them if they are so wonderful?
It surely depends on what job you want a horse to do
 
I only know what my boss would sell her's for, if she sold any, she bases it on breeding first, then comp record, protential and then generally manners, training etc.
For example- 4yr old, 15hh. Good breeding, top 3 in her first 3 dressage comps, 2nd in her first SH class, done sj comps, double clears, xc schooled, jumps anything, lots of scope, huge potential as a YR eventer. Very easy to do etc etc. She is worth about £8k but will obviously go up the more she does.
 
and the crazy bit is when that horse that we both know went for £16k to a very well known dealer!! Especially as he offered for it and that horse had a very poor record at intro. There is no sense in it and I am wondering why not!!

Selling anything like a house which can also have potential you use evidence, market conditions and number of potential buyers plus a little hope factor!!
 
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and the crazy bit is when that horse that we both know went for £16k to a very well known dealer!! Especially as he offered for it and that horse had a very poor record at intro. There is no sense in it and I am wondering why not!!

Selling anything like a house which can also have potential you use evidence, market conditions and number of potential buyers plus a little hope factor!!

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It seems the best way to sell is not to advertise- just ride on luck!!
 
It's a wierd one - B has a v similar record to Rodney, is a machine XC and would take anyone over anything provided they could point and kick in the right places, and although he has the scope to go further, his Novice record is a bit shoddy so I'd have him at about the same value as R. Then I see a 4YO that's done sweet FA priced at that amount and think by rights he should be worth 15k - but who would pay that?!
 
You see that horse would always have limited value in my books because of its height. Recently I asked a few people on here if they thought I'd been made a reasonable possible offer on L, and opinions varied wildly! I would love H&H to do a comprehensive survey (which won't happen as the info would not be verifiable) and over say a fortnight find out how many of the horses advertised in one particular week had sold and for what compared to the asking price.

From my point of view I decide whether a horse is worth what's being asked by what I think it can do in the future - circumstances may mean that a 7yo hasn't done much, but if someone had had the time to take it out it might have done well. I'm not really that bothered as long as the basics are in place.
 
For me if I'm selling I have an idea of how much the horse is worth to me and how much I will need to replace it. If I can't sell it for that price then I keep it, I do try and be realistic though.

If I'm buyingb I have a budget and then look at what would suit me and if it doesn't work out what I can improve and sell for a profit. I personally would struggle to justify paying above 10k for any horse although I may wish to sell above this price!
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i no i dont see the where value coms from either!

we paid £4500 for song as a done nothing just broken 5yo - why? because he was so chilled for his age and had great ability and breeding (gradsire Mill Reef) so could be a good P2Per as well but now i have no idea how much he would be worth he has 6 points BE done 2 international and clear round ints but then again his SJ record is very inconsistant, not really over run placed at everything i have tried WH, dressage won Newcombers so i would say about £12K?? but then again i would never sell him for anything less than £20K but that e not ever wanting to sell him and i no noone whould pay that for him!!

And gogs well ex racer goes nicely on the flat trys his heart out SJ but not the easiest of rides XC! i got given him for free but hes won £94K+ in racing and won and raced in some good races - welsh national to name one and so what would if i were to sell him for?? and eventer a P2Per?? as his jumping racing was fab and never fallen but then again he retired cos we went sour? so about £4000 as a prospect in eventing even if he is 12 or about well i havnt got a clue as a P2Per as he would be a school master but i bet he could win a few as he was a 3mile chaser!!
 
I thought that, this is the little horse that didn't grow, she should of been about 16.2hh. But then my boss is about 5'8 and she doesn't look big on her at all.
 
I would also love H&H to do a survey on this would be very interesting. Anyway its commercially better for H&H if people do chronically over value as they need more adverts!
We always say with houses that if you have no interest within 2 weeks they are over valued.
 
well lec i think ur horse sounds lovely and i think would be worth more than 8500
i value my horses by what the prices are elsewhere but a bit lower as i always prefer a very quick sale. I also value them by what i would be happy to pay for them.
 
I value a horse depending on lots of factors most importantly its all round ability,attitude and how far I think that it will go. The record is not the be all and end all, so many horse's competiton records do not show a true picture of their real ability. There are so many factors to get right to have a horse successfully performing and that requires an absolute wealth of knowledge and ability from the rider/owner, which many of us do not have. Look at Headley Britannia's record before she went to Lucinda.
 
I am with you on the confusion of how people come up with prices. I was looking on one of the websites the other day and say a potential Dressage horse up for £10,000 but makes a noise when ridden
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I do not know much about this, but would it affect its results in BD or not?

I am completely at a loss as to what horse costs come from... I look on the websites at horses I would 'replace' Grace with that have her ability, her potential and good breeding but am just astonished at some of the prices.

If I was to sell Grace (which I would never dream of at this moment in time) I would put her up for somewhere around £7,950 as she is 6, been backed a year and now has 24 BD points, placed everytime out Novice, and qualified Petplan Finals Prelim and Novice (can people take the ride or is it that particular combination only???).

However, I look at similar horses on the websites and they are priced anywhere between £9,000 and £15,000
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But the real truth comes when you discover whether these people actually selling these horses for the prices stated!
 
I think it would be great fun doing trial ads and seeing how much interest you get for same horse at different prices.
May try it with Moon one day!!
 
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I think it would be great fun doing trial ads and seeing how much interest you get for same horse at different prices.
May try it with Moon one day!!

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LOL LEC and I drafted an ad for B one day, along with a montage of pics I had - it was a moment of boredom but she dared me to put him on Horsemart for £15K for 24hrs and see what happened. I was too chicken!
 
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I think it would be great fun doing trial ads and seeing how much interest you get for same horse at different prices.
May try it with Moon one day!!

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LOL LEC and I drafted an ad for B one day, along with a montage of pics I had - it was a moment of boredom but she dared me to put him on Horsemart for £15K for 24hrs and see what happened. I was too chicken!

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I'd prob be too chicken because if someone offered me that sort of money for her I'd have to take it!!
Will get drunk and do it one day
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I think it would be great fun doing trial ads and seeing how much interest you get for same horse at different prices.
May try it with Moon one day!!

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LOL LEC and I drafted an ad for B one day, along with a montage of pics I had - it was a moment of boredom but she dared me to put him on Horsemart for £15K for 24hrs and see what happened. I was too chicken!

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I'd prob be too chicken because if someone offered me that sort of money for her I'd have to take it!!
Will get drunk and do it one day
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That was exactly my reasoning for not doing it!!
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i paid 7k for my horse whos 6... he spent all previous year in field, but has great breeding and is incredibly well put together. also his brother is a olympic sjer (recently sold for 180k
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and has a half brother who is an advanced eventer...
but he is slow to mature and is learning. the late sherelle duke was going to buy him, an eventer here was going to buy him but we were there first, also very good dealer was paying full asking price ( 8.5K) for him but the deal fell through!
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but i had sold my pony for 8.5k so horse was in price range...
 
Not sure, I think I'd be disappointed with what I'd get for my horse if I had to sell him TBH.
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I think, for me, it's come down to how good I think they are.

My last horse was competing quite consistently at PN, Disco, I advertised him at £5,500 in H&H and he sold to the first person to call in a week! This was before the horse price boom, but still must have been a fair price, although I never really thought he was that great and felt he was at his limit - so possibly why the reasonable price.

Badger on the other hand is uglier and more difficult - but I just think he's fab so I'd want more money!
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All a bit crazy i guess!
 
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