How much to pay for a decent eventer?

[Cedars]

Hi all.

Having a bad weekend with our eventing dreams!

Just wondering what you think is a reasonable price for a decent eventer?

Want it to do: BE80/BE90/BE100 with the potential to do a bit more (thinking Novice/Inter maybe...).

Want it to be: Between 6 and 8 but would genuinely consider a bit younger/older. It also needs to be not a pyscho in its box/to be handled.

What would you suggest would be an average price for this? We've been amazed by some of the suggestions of prices and are seeing our dreams fly out the window a bit!!

On a different note, how on earth do you insure horses that are worth as much as some of these eventers? Or do you just not insure?

xx

 

[LEC]

Depends on you as a rider - how experienced do you want the horse or do you want to get onto something with some experience.
If you are willing to put some work in then about £4k if you want to get on something with a bit more experience at those levels - £6k.

 

[Ranyhyn]

My horse was insured for £5k, with vets bills included for £40 p/m roughly.

As for the price range, I have no idea sorry.

 

[doratheexplorer]

I think it depends hugely on if you want the horse to be competetive in any of the levels and how straight forward it is to ride.

You could be looking at anything from £6,000 which may go novice but is unlikely to be competetive at BE90/100, to £25,000 for a seriously push button ride who you could win on your first BE outing, and will sail up the ranks effortlessly!! Ready made horses are tricky, because their owners *think* they know its potential and will charge accordingly!!

 

[rossiroo]

I would think that the price would variey a great deal between a horse that does BE80 an one that does intermediate, most half decent horses can cope with BE 80-90 but to comfortably do an intermediate course I think that the horse would need to be of a different standerd.I would guess £2500- £5000 for the lesser horse and maybe £10000 for an intermediate one. Breeding comes into ii too.

 

[Mimi2610]

I paid 18k for a 12 yr old mare with 30BE pts and very good record. That was a year and a half ago. I started insuring her for £5k vets fees and for what I paid for her but it was costing £120 per month so I have decided not to bother. My friend just sold a 9yr similar to above for £28k and they didn't insure her either as it just becomes to expensive. Add loss of use on top of these prices and the insurance companies slap it on.

I also paid £6k for a promising young eventer who was competiting at PN with good record and that was 6 yrs ago. Not insured. I think I was done on this purchase!

I'm sure you could pick up a nice allrounder type horse that will go to PN for a couple grand but you will have to pay a bit more for something that has done/is going Novice and above.

 

[Honey08]

Agree with everyone above. Just look at adverts to get a rough idea...

I never insure my horses for what they are probably worth - it ups everything. I insure them for 4-5K, which is what I would pay for a nice youngster if I had to start again.

 

[OneInAMillion]

Well I have seen a horse competing at Novice for "just" £50,000


ETA Novice BE

 

[SusieT]

To go intermediate, to be seen with that potential at 6-8yes i.e the point that everyone wants them- I think you could be looking at 25K. An older campaigner 10-12 -15K who might have done a 1* but maybe not competitive with the dressage.

 

[SusieT]

I would love to know where these horses that are reasonably sane, (acceptingt hey are competition horses), showing potential to go intermediate and aged 6-8yrs are (sound I assume is an essential!) that are available for 6K??
Even a pre-novice horse that is able to be competitive, I think you'd be pushing to get one of those for 6K at 6yrs, maybe at the top end of your price range.
Anything showing potential=price goes up.
But I would love to be mistaken, would certinly make life cheaper!

 

[VGM]

i paid £5000 for a 5yo that had done a bit of this and that and done okay at intro. i think i paid over the odds for her but shes looking at doing her first intermediate at the end of this year and i know i couldnt go out and buy her now. i dont insure for loss of use as prices are extortionate, and they want a five stage vetting with xrays. anything that shows up on the xrays is then excluded and if you get an older experienced horse you end up with its forelock and tail insured, presuming theres no history of sweetitch! i think for a decent 5yo to go above pre novice you are really looking at a minimum of £5000. some are less but there are usually reasons - height is usually one. if you dont mind riding a 15 hander at intermediate fences then you can pick up a bargain!

 

[Firewell]

I nearly brought a 12yr old ISH that had 1BE point at Novice. Had jumped double clear nearly every time out BE100 and N but dressage was shocking (50's!) It was sound and safe in every way but I couldn't ride one side of it on the flat, not if I wanted an outline anyway! It was 5k. Sometimes I wish I had brought it as although with that flatwork we would never have been placed it would have been so much fun! Oh it also had BS winnings .
I don't actually think BE100 is well within most horses limits after all it's only 1m. It's just if it's proven I guess and how much the results are down to the rider?!

 

[Firewell]

I mean within most horses limits!

 

[Cyclops]

I bought my eventer as a 4 year old two years ago for £5k which seemed a lot at the time but she was well balanced and seemed to have the right attitude. She evented BE90 as a 4 YO and BE100 as a 5YO and has just done her first Novice. I was offered and turned down £20,000 for her last year and don't regret it at all - she is my horse of a lifetime - However I have recently bought a very green 6 year old who will be doing BE90 this year and seems to have the potential to go further (at least BE100) - I paid £2,000. She is still very much "work in progress" but if you are willing to put in the work then the horses are around. It just takes a bit of leg work and word of mouth always helps. It's amazing how many people know of something if you just happen to mention you are looking - ok some may be rubbish but you never know!!!

 

[Starbucks]

Don't think you you can really put BE80 and intermediate in the same sentence!

I'd be realistic and think "am I ever actually going to do Nov/Int?" because you could get something much cheaper for 80/90/100.

 

[SusieT]

Or buy an 8yr old pre-novice horse for say 5-6K now, if your only starting at BE80 it will take you at least a year(if not two) unless you are very good to be capable to step up beyond novice. Next year buy a scopey 7yr old that hasn't quite reached it's potential yet and move it up to intermediate-voila!
(or buy two 4yr olds with potential now, say 5-7K each and see how far you can take them)
Hard to say if any of these are suitable without knowing more about your situation though.

 

[racingdemon]

I also think it depends on how long you want to spend looking, if you have plenty of time to look at lots of 5/6yo horses, and aren't in a rush, you'll find things other people may miss, if you are in a rush & want to go & win at novice next weekend, you'll need to pay more,

 

[Fairy Dust]

If you are 'serious' about something with the potential to go nov/int at that age then I think you're easily looking at 10/15k upwards.

I have just bought a BE Novice horse with a very good record for around that figue and I was very very lucky as he is a superstar.

However, if you want something that can do 90/100 then yeah 4-5k is probably realistic. It all depends whether you want something with BE results or not- and at the end of the day that's fair as owners that have affiliated and put in all the training etc have probably made more of an investment.

I would focus on the be90/100 and the horse will hopefully have the potential to move up. If not and you get to that level (it's a big jump!) then sell the horse and get one with the scope to do so, which I'm sure a lot of riders have to do and have done...........

Good luck!

 

[Cedars]

Thank you everyone. I think BE100 as a max is reasonable.

I'm comforted to hear that many of you have had horses for about £6000. As that's about our budget I suppose, more if it came with a wardrobe.

We have time enough. Any suggestions appreciated. And keep your tales coming!! Xx

 

[Mabel98]

Having been looking for an established and safe BE100 horse recently, I can definitely say that you need to pay at least 10k for anything with a decent BE record. I have seen 12 year olds with dreadful records advertised for 12-15k!

 

[SusieT]

6K should get you a decent pre-novice horse that might need its dressage worked on a bit, sounds v. sensible.

 

[Topaz Tiger]

Am very interested to read this thread as just started looking, as don't think my mare is going to tough enough to cope with eventing....
I am looking for an established, competitive, Novice mare with scope do go intermediate, ISH or sane full thoroughbred, no warmbloods, 7-10 years, 16-16'2, just in the brief time I've looked prices seem to vary hugely, with very limited choice, been told 15k should do it, if I'm prepared to put some leg work in......

 

[Flashpaddler]

We've just spent 4 months looking for the right horse. We wanted something around 16 hands, with a record to prove he could get round (but wasn't after a consistently placed chap - just something that justifies the entry fee). Crucially, we wanted something that we could hopefully sell in 3 years time (when rider goes to Uni) without taking on a big financial loss - this ruled out most school masters. We finally bought a beautiful TB that was just coming up to his 5th birthday. He's done 2 BE100 runs gaining 8 FPs. All the core skills are there and he also has a brilliant nature being friendly and relaxed. We plan to start very gently at BE90 as just stepping up from a pony. We paid a little under 7K, but don't see many at this price - I've seen similar horses advertised at £12-15K which would in my opinion be a big (financial) risk. I think we got lucky but we did move quickly to secure him.

 

[JackJill]

What an interesting thread! No wonder all the horses I have for sale generally go word of mouth and quickly - they are all too cheap!!!

 

[charlie76]

I am in the process of selling a 7 yr old that is ready to BE90 with tonnes of potential to go up the levels for £4k so they are out there at less money.

 

[Flashpaddler]

We called for several horses with "potential"and visited a couple. Unfortunately, this is a very widely used (abused!) term and after weeks of looking at some very poor offers (no dressage skills, never jumped a spread, never seen a cross country course etc) we gave up following that by-line. Therefore, if you genuinely have a horse with potential, I'd recommend proving it by competing him and getting him a record - his value will increase and potential purchasers will see him as "de-risked" to a degree. In my experience, you generally get what you pay for! For those looking to buy, I'd recommend replacing the word "potential" with "unproven".

 

[NicoleS_007]

I was in your position recently. But we didnt have the money to spent on anything proven so we had to go for the just broken, nicely breed youngster option. Shes out of a 3* eventer and his off spring which are out competeing atm are doing well eg Only_Me's Billy boy. We got her for 3500 at the beginning of Jan and shes coming along very nicely and shows alot of scope over fences. Also just seen a novice 7yr eventer for 5000 (was 7500) so i think if you look hard you can get a bargain RE - the potential thing, I think at 4-5 you can still say potential. Would you really expect a 4yr to have proven itself comp wise?!! Personally i think not!! But thats just my opinion.

 

[charlie76]

I agree re the potential statement, no young horse is going to have a proven record and if it has it wil be wrecked by 7! My horse hasn't got any comp form at the mo as he was in training up until November.

 

[Luci07]

I agree re the potential statement, no young horse is going to have a proven record and if it has it wil be wrecked by 7! My horse hasn't got any comp form at the mo as he was in training up until November.

Can't really agree with that statement. If you look at the BYEH classes, a lot of the top placed horses do actually go a long way eventing.

When I was looking for a 16 - 16.3 gelding, no older than 10 (I already have 1 retired horse) with a couple of events under its belt, I found that, realistically, I needed to be looking up to the 8K mark and that is not a horse that was supposed to have the potential to go intermediate. ( I don't think you can really be sure a horse can make the jump from Novice to Intermediate in most cases till you have tried!). Should also add I was looking for something straightforward or at least something that a reasonably competant amateur could manage. This is exactly the kind of horse that is highly in demand hence these prices are at a premium. When the yard sold a 6 yr old gelding last year with good form intro and PN, he went for £10,500 and was snapped up.

In my case I ended up spending my money on a green but very nicely put together ISH. Wasn't specifically looking when I went to the dealers yard but went to look at 1 horse as a project for her and came back with 3!