How much would you expect to pay for a green horse?

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Kelly2016

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I'm looking to buy my first horse in the near future and looking for some advice. Although this will be the first horse I have owned, I have 20 years riding and care experience and have worked with green/young horses since I was 14/15.

I would be looking for something 16hh+, 4-5 years old. Happy with something recently broken with basics in place that needs bringing on. My aim would be to bring on myself to do some eventing. Not bothered about breeding, however would like something of a Sport Horse Type, but would also consider a TB/retrained racehorse.

Realistically, what sort of budget would I be looking at from your experience?

I was thinking up to £2,000 max for the horse, maybe up to £2,500 if some tack/rugs were included.

Is this realistic? Or am I way off?

Thanks :)
 
Normally I would say that sort of price you would be buying at a big gamble and with a lot of hard work ahead of you (and that still applies). But post COVID I think there will be a few reasonable young sports horses to be picked up at that price.

Whether or not a green youngster is right for you is another matter. The cost of producing them makes the purchase price pale into insignificance. I’d honestly not recommend it if you have never owned a horse before
 
As ihw says - in a "normal" world £2K would not really be enough for something decent. For a youngster well strated and with potential you would be looking at double that, sometimes more. But in a post CV world - who knows. It may well be that there will be a lot of horses looking for new homes as owners need to cope with the changed economy.
 
I've bought two youngsters in the last four years for under 2k. One was 1.5k and had never been touched until 2 days before I got her. The other had been ridden but turned away and brought into work 4 weeks before viewing- he was 1.8k.

Both are absolutely wonderful and the only long term problem I've had is that one is very into rug ripping. I even managed to get the sellers to deliver them for me!

If you are looking for a green youngster at 2k then shop around. Both sellers were super honest and answered all questions before I asked them.

I agree with the above that after COVID19 there will be some lovelies for sale at a nice price.
 
Oh dear!> cheap horses again!! I agree there will probably sadly be people with no option but to sell in the current climate but you tend to get what you pay for and far too many people think that they can buy and bring on a horse with little money. Don’t forget it costs as much to keep a cheap one as a more expensive one, also it costs at least 2k to get a horse on the ground and that’s a cheap deal, it’s then at least a 1k for every year until ready to back. You May well be lucky but make sure you have the facilities and funds to keep going. Tack/rugs are an additional expense l would expect to pay at least £500 for a secondhand saddle.
 
gallopingby said:
Oh dear!> cheap horses again!! I agree there will probably sadly be people with no option but to sell in the current climate but you tend to get what you pay for and far too many people think that they can buy and bring on a horse with little money. Don’t forget it costs as much to keep a cheap one as a more expensive one, also it costs at least 2k to get a horse on the ground and that’s a cheap deal, it’s then at least a 1k for every year until ready to back. You May well be lucky but make sure you have the facilities and funds to keep going. Tack/rugs are an additional expense l would expect to pay at least £500 for a secondhand saddle.
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Thanks to everyone for your replies.

I have a feeling that some of you may have misinterpreted my query. My query was simply in relation to buying the horse.

I am under no illusion that horses have a high monthly cost, which I have researched thoroughly and have prepared for, as well as additional unexpected costs.

As I say, although this would be my first owned horse, and my first experience of buying one, I have been around horses for 20 years, bringing on young and green horses within that time. I have no doubt in my ability to bring on a youngster as I have done so before and would have a support team of great instructors around me.

I am not a complete novice and I am aware that tack, rugs etc would need bought, and that I have budgeted for separately.

I do not wish to just find a “cheap horse”. As the buying of one is the only part I have no experience in, I was querying the price of a project horse in today’s market, basing my budget on what I have known friends have managed to find in the past.

If I have to change my budget, I will do so. That is the reason for my query.
 
Kelly2016 said:
Thanks to everyone for your replies.

I have a feeling that some of you may have misinterpreted my query. My query was simply in relation to buying the horse.

I am under no illusion that horses have a high monthly cost, which I have researched thoroughly and have prepared for, as well as additional unexpected costs.

As I say, although this would be my first owned horse, and my first experience of buying one, I have been around horses for 20 years, bringing on young and green horses within that time. I have no doubt in my ability to bring on a youngster as I have done so before and would have a support team of great instructors around me.

I am not a complete novice and I am aware that tack, rugs etc would need bought, and that I have budgeted for separately.

I do not wish to just find a “cheap horse”. As the buying of one is the only part I have no experience in, I was querying the price of a project horse in today’s market, basing my budget on what I have known friends have managed to find in the past.

If I have to change my budget, I will do so. That is the reason for my query.
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Owning a horse is very different to being around them. Set yourself up to succeed and buy something suitable as a first horse.
 
gallopingby said:
Oh dear!> cheap horses again!! I agree there will probably sadly be people with no option but to sell in the current climate but you tend to get what you pay for and far too many people think that they can buy and bring on a horse with little money. Don’t forget it costs as much to keep a cheap one as a more expensive one, also it costs at least 2k to get a horse on the ground and that’s a cheap deal, it’s then at least a 1k for every year until ready to back. You May well be lucky but make sure you have the facilities and funds to keep going. Tack/rugs are an additional expense l would expect to pay at least £500 for a secondhand saddle.
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You really don't get what you pay for though. If you have a good eye and some sense, and like a bit of a gamble there's bargains about under 1k. I suspect there will be bargains about for nothing very shortly.
 
It's a bit of a difficult question to answer at the moment, because who knows what the market will be like as we head into winter this year.
Prior to this epidemic £2k would have about you a blank canvas type tb, but not much else with eventing ability at age 4-5yrs. Thoroughbreds are incredibly variable in terms of jumping ability and inclination though. Some are remarkable jumpers and some couldn't jump a stick without clattering it. So they are not a particularly safe bet unless they are already up and going, and then they are (or were) more expensive.

I'd say it's worth sitting and watching the market for the next few months to see what prices are doing.
 
Leo Walker said:
Its even worse for me. I've agreed a top whack price for my lovely highland youngster and am due to pay for him in 3 months when no doubt prices will have dropped dramatically. Its the story of my life!
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I'm pretty sure the dealer saw me coming, but you know what, I don't mind... he is a sweetie
 
DabDab said:
It's a bit of a difficult question to answer at the moment, because who knows what the market will be like as we head into winter this year.
Prior to this epidemic £2k would have about you a blank canvas type tb, but not much else with eventing ability at age 4-5yrs. Thoroughbreds are incredibly variable in terms of jumping ability and inclination though. Some are remarkable jumpers and some couldn't jump a stick without clattering it. So they are not a particularly safe bet unless they are already up and going, and then they are (or were) more expensive.

I'd say it's worth sitting and watching the market for the next few months to see what prices are doing.
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Agree with DabDab on all of this. You might get something nice post CV for 2k but previously you would have only had tb's in that price bracket. Pre - CV I think you would have been looking at more like 5k+ for a green horse with some potential.

I love thoroughbreds so for your price bracket I would consider them and I imagine there could be quite a few looking for homes at the moment.
 
I hope we are not going to see the sort of things we saw in the 2008 financial crash - meat man buying dozens of lovely, well-bred three year olds at the sales here in Ireland.
 
Dyllymoo said:
I'm pretty sure the dealer saw me coming, but you know what, I don't mind... he is a sweetie
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See in that case I would say you probably didn't overpay. Could you have got him cheaper? Maybe. Is he worth his purchase price to you? The answer is clearly yes! As someone who currently has a completely unsuitable horse it is really nice to see posts like yours from people who are so happy with theirs :-) It reminds me that they are out there!
 
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