How much did you pay for your horse?

[Blizzard]

Horse prices these days seem to be getting a bit silly, so being nosey really, how much did you pay for your current horse(s) , and what are they/what do you do with them?

Ive put it in a poll incase people dont want to divulge publicly!

 

[Gorgeous George]

I think I could have haggled and got George for a little less, but he was what I wanted and in my budget so I really didn't see the point. Before I got him home I thought that with his rudimentary schooling he was a little overpriced, but now I've found out what a star he is I would have paid more!!

 

[ecrozier]

I paid £2000 for my arab when he was 7. We do unaffiliated SJ/Dress/XC/ODE, and some affiliated SJ. I think I got an absolute bargain!! Was at a show last year jumping (on a ticket ) BN and Disc with my OH who although has a horse and rides, hadn't been to many shows. He said 'everyone elses horses are much bigger than yours aren't they?' my instructor who was with us then pointed out that most of them probably cost double what he did as well

 

[Tufty]

I think prices have gone down a bit recently its all about supply and demand at the time you are looking. When I bought my horse I had searched for months and could not find anything decent so I paid top wack for mine. When I have a look now (and dont want to buy) there seems to be alot of good quality nice horses for reasonable prices compared to when I was looking. In saying that I am only reading adverts and not going to actually see the horses. What they say in the advert and the reality can be very different !

 

[josephinebutter2]

£3,500 4yrs just backed ID/TB. This was 3 yrs ago. Wanted something cheap and green but safe to bring on and have fun on and get my confidence up again after a 2yr break from riding.

We did local level D/SJ/XC/ODE and tried hunting. We would have gone on to do some affiliated D and low level BE if he had not gone lame!

Am looking again now, but for something to concentrate on Dressage and will pay up to £8k - but can't even find anything decent for that money! Agree - prices have gone mad at the mo!

 

[josephinebutter2]

£3,500 4yrs just backed ID/TB. This was 3 yrs ago. Wanted something cheap and green but safe to bring on and have fun on and get my confidence up again after a 2yr break from riding.

We did local level D/SJ/XC/ODE and tried hunting. We would have gone on to do some affiliated D and low level BE if he had not gone lame!

He was worth every penny in my opinion and did exacly what I brought him for.

Am looking again now, but for something to concentrate on Dressage and will pay up to £8k - but can't even find anything decent for that money! Agree - prices have gone mad at the mo!

 

[Tempi]

I paid £2,500 for Blossy (norman cob x tb) as a 9yo 5 years ago - she was a riding school horse. Shes been a total star and is worth her weight in gold a thousand times over. Shes got over 140 BD points in just 2yrs. Shes now in foal to Johnson (Jazz x Flemmingh) and is enjoying a chilled out life retired from competing. I didnt really buy her to do anything with as such, just hacking and riding club stuff then i got hooked on BD

I paid 10k for Archie (KWPN by Odermus R out of Ilona) - he was a 5yo then. Ive had him 9months now (so hes 6) and brought him to go as far as possible in dressage. Altho hes a difficult ride and has taken a lot of hard work and patience im hoping we're finally getting somewhere now. Ive been offered 30k for him already by a wel known trainer, but id never sell him. Ive also been told he will go to the top internationally. So im mega excited about his future - hes DEFINATELY worth me being broke

 

[Tia]

You forgot me when you wrote this poll

. That's okay though I'll forgive you

.

Each horse I have was a different price however the average price of all of my horses is around 3,000.....and they were more than reasonable, quite cheap actually.

They are QH's, Paints and Appaloosas.

They are all working horses; either trail, cattle or low-level competition horses.

 

[lexiedhb]

I paid £1500 for a 9 year old 16HH ex racer TB. but that was 16 odd years ago.

 

[foxviewstud]

i paid £1000 for a 3yr pbarab stallion unproven at that point, but im glad i did as he as produced every time some lovely stock and has a supurb temp.

 

[Bex7]

I paid £2200 for Bert 2 years ago, he is a happy hacker.

I paid a fair price for the description, not for the COPD affected, traffic shy stubbon cob lad that I got!

However he is worth every penny to me as I love him to bits although I doubt i would get more than 1k for him if he was ever sold.

 

[*hic*]

My ponies cost £250, £300 and £350, each with tack, all have done exactly what was required of them and the only one I sold made me a big profit.
My horses: AA mare, 3yo and pretty much unhandled was under a grand and came with nothing, now backed and being brought on she's a star.
My big Welshy who is supersafe but will XC 3' and SJ 3'6 was just under two and a half grand with tack, rugs, boots, feed bins - you name, it came with him. I bought him four years ago and thought he was pricey for a rather unusually built horse - until I found out what he is expected to be worth today.

I'm looking again now and will be in the market for an older 15.3/16.1hh horse that loves to jump - doesn't have to have competed - and also a youngster (2 or 3yo) that has the potential to event. I don't know what prices will be like for these yet - I'm still eyeing up the market!

 

[WelshRareBit]

Murph cost me $1500 pounds not dollars as laptop doesnt have pound sign.
We do local shows. I think I paid a fair price!

 

[Blizzard]

[ QUOTE ]
You forgot me when you wrote this poll

. That's okay though I'll forgive you

.



[/ QUOTE ]

oops sorry Tia!

 

[dianchi]

I paid a wopping £1750 for my mare at 6. Failed the vet, passed 6 weeks later, small scrtch on her eye.
Went Grade B now working towards elem dressage!
Worth every penny!
Gotta look in the rough diamonds!

 

[fine_and_dandy]

£600 for 8 year old welsh pony who was extremely green. I think I got a bargain, especially now that we are riding consistently - he is an absolute stunner! Going along the happy hacker route atm, but will be introducing him to other activities as the winter progresses and early spring and then looking to sell him around next april - bought him as a project pony

 

[Lill]

Blue was bought 4 years ago for £900 as a 'lightly backed' 3yo. 4 years down the line he is competing affiliated showjumping and we're finally getting somewhere with the dressage side and someone offered £10k for him a few months back

 

[hannah87]

£2000 for a 5 year old 14;2 mare, competeing bsja at that time
£1900 for a 10 year old ID/TB 16;3 gelding, done team chasing and hacked
both brill , done everything theyv been asked and more,still have them and home for life

 

[bhpride]

£1500 including rugs and tack for 10yo unused at the time, unschooled TB x Cob mare -an absolute bargain! Loves jumping and can jump up to 3'6, good conformation and a temperament to die for - 100% bombproof, forward going but safe alone and in company. I was bringing her on for sale but realised she had a lot of unrealised potential (inexperienced owners) I'd say she's worth £2500 at the moment but she'll be with me for life now.

Now schooling her up over winter ready for showjumping, can't wait!

 

[Michelle73]

Mine is free so far!!!! I look after him for his owners who have promised not to sell him whilst I'm looking after him. But he is not on loan to me and I only see the owners when I need something or bump into them when out hacking. Best of both worlds I'd say

 

[Blizzard]

I think I got a fantastic bargain!

Beau's prev owner bought him for £9500 from Goresbridge sales, luckily her prioirty was a good home over price!

 

[KatB]

£3001-£4000 Bracket for a 3yo rising 4 yo ISH gelding in Ireland! Unknown breeding, but fell in love on site (

) Have done well in unaff ODE's so far, is bombproof hack has done well in showing and is going to be quite good BE (I hope!) so I think I got a good deal!!

 

[Starbucks]

I paid £2800 for Badger 2 years ago... He was 6... I think he was quite cheap because he does have good breeding and is a nice horse. He was in quite poor condition though and the only thing he knew how to do was crib.

I would hope I'd get a lot more for him that that if I sold him now!

 

[TheresaW]

Paid £500 for the coloured in my sig when she was about 10, 4 years ago. She jumps, does a bit of dressage and we have done quite a few sponsored rides.

Paid £750 for the chestnut when he was 9, 2 years ago. Have since found out he has arthritis in 3 of his legs (he passed a vetting), but he is still a very happy hacker.

 

[Tierra]

I've voted in the poll but not publically sticking a price on Jack. Hes danish warmblood x connemara out of a quite well known dressage sire (although far from impecable breeding).

He was bought to school me rather than the other way around and to do some higher level affiliated dressage. He's had numerous wins at advanced level and is schooling at PSG, got £800 ish BSJA winnings (absolutly no clue what class that puts him in ) and had a couple of wins at novice level BE.

To me he's been 100% worth it although he was more than we wanted to spend at the time.

All this being said, I also think he was quite reasonably priced given what hes done... at least i always think that when i see some relatively novice horses going at not much less than he was.

I think some people over estimate their horses potential (its always that word isnt it). Mine was sold as a school master who has reached his potential. He knows all the moves for GP but he quite simply doesn't have the paces to compete at that level. He was also 12 when we bought him which is getting to the age where people start to rule them out (although imo, thats crazy!)

Just as i left the UK.. someone on the yard had just bought their daughter a £65,000 lump of potential. Nice enough looking horse, impecable breeding, nice (but not amazing imo) mover that was schooling at novice. Never stepped foot in a ring in Holland (but of course been slapped with points upon entering the UK anyway). "Potential potential"

Theres also a 20 year old GP horse (well, he competed a couple of times at GP but doesnt have the precision to be there) currently out on loan to one of the UK YRs at the price of £25,000 per year and shes set to have him for another 3 years (already had him one). The horse isnt aging well... he's stiff and he just looks tired, but by the time they actually do let him retire, he'll have earned them £100,000 in loan payments alone.

 

[vickers22]

Im amazed zak was so cheap-ok he was 12 but he is fab!!He does 1.20 courses-never refuses xc and although he can be hyper and be strong he has no vices and is like a lamb on stable manners

He hunts, hacks, competes(the old owner said he had been around badminton!!)plays polo, swims......flys..over jumps lol. When i sell him he will be up for about 4500 or so ive been told by everyone!

 

[ecrozier]

Oh so true, someone I know vaguely spent a LOT of moneyrecently on a potential SJer, has had it about 3 months, has now been told it has not just not improved, if anything gone backwards with her riding it, and is worth less than ha;f what she paid for it

 

[harrihjc]

Paid £300 for my pony because I felt sorry for the bald bag of bones with the attitude problem that at 12 years old hadn't been broken. She went on to be a fantastic little jumping pony and served me and my sister well over the 8yrs we've had her. Last year she was still clearing 3'3" courses, but is now retired. Think I got a bargain!

Paid £6k for Flash as a 4yr old, but he's worth his weight in gold. He was quite green but had jumped BSJA juniors (but outgrew it lol!) and his peronality completely won me over! He's given me my confidence back plus more! He's schooling nicely now, has won showing, been placed every time out jumping, flew everything first try XC and is clearing 4ft at home, so hoping to BSJA next year. He's got quite a fan club locally and I couldn't have found a more perfect horse for me. Several people have asked to buy him and told me to name a price, but I would never ever sell my fat boy

 

[Blizzard]

Wow Tierra! That is some earnings for that horse's owners!

Prices particularly for dressage horses are ridiculous I think.

Beau's previous owner paid £9500 for him as a 4yr old from Goresbridge, as a young dressage 'prospect', there is that word again!

Yes he had been schooled and has lovely elevated paces, BUT he hadnt actually done anything, and TBH his breeding is more geared at jumping not dressage!

Lance on the other hand cost a third of what Beau did, yes it was 12yrs ago but he was competing Elementary... although in fairness his owner did want rid as she thought he was dangerous and was scared of him!

 

[Tierra]

Yea

That particularly boy is on loan from one of the UKs very well known GP riders and he so obviously is ready for a break. It saddens me no end that hes worked so hard and apparently doesnt even deserve his retirement. Im all in favour of ex GP horses helping more novice riders to learn the ropes IF they still enjoy work.

I think you're right, i think dressage horses pass hands for insance money but i think there are two sides to this. Firstly, I think there are a LOT of wealthy middle aged ladies into dressage (i know its very stereotypical, but in my experience, its also very true). They get tied into expensive trainers who paint dreams of riding in top hat and tails if they go abroad and seek one of these wonderful (and hideously expensive) warmbloods.

Secondly, in regards to BYRDS - the horse you're on is very important

If your watch the BYRDS scene carefully, the same ponies / horses crop up year after year in the teams.. of course they've changed hands but its like the horses carry more weight than their riders (dependable i guess?).

But yes, horses are sold a lot on potential and their breeding plays a massive part in that.

Being based where i was in the UK was a huge eye opener for me. Ive seen crazy crazy amounts of money change hands for horses. Some arguably worth it (Manitu springs to mind when he was first on the yard). Some not so..(youngsters who have clearly been rushed, sold based on potential and just break down quite young).

It feels like theres more money than sense in dressage... and more sense than money in showjumping. (Although tbh.. ive not watched the SJing prices so much recently!)