How much would you pay for a sick & skinny mare with a foal at foot?!

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mollymurphy

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As the title really.

Following on from this post: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/sh...rue#Post2141036

I went to see the mare & foal again today and the mare has deteriorated - she's amazingly skinny. Her skin is looking better since the St. Johns Wort poisoning, but it's still manky. The foal is about 3 months old now. A little piebald filly. The mare is also piebald. Both are owned by gypsies. The mare is only about 3 years old. The owner was made up when she had a filly, because he can put her in foal as soon as she's a yearling!!!
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There are many other gypsy horses on the yard, all are a bit scruffy and lean-looking, but nowhere near as bad as this mare. The owner has apparently just put the mare back in foal (well, he put a stallion to her last week). He uses his mares as breeding machines. They've got one in-foal filly who is only 14 months old!
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Oh, and the mare and foal have NO turnout! At all!
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So anyway, after all that blabbing, i want to buy the mare and foal. Please dont anyone say dont do it, because even if there mare IS so skinny because of the poisoning, at least she'll be away from that horrible place and i can do what's right by her.

What i want to know is, what would you pay for a skinny / possibly still ill mare who may also be in-foal again, and with a nice little filly foal at foot? The mare is about 14 hands. The stallion was 13.2 / 14hh, so the foal will end up somewhere between the two. I havent really paid much attention to the conformation of either of them, but nothing bad stands out.
The mare is really lovely and quiet and apparently broken to drive (well, race around in traps with the rest of the gypsies horses!) The foal is unhandled.

Anyone have any idea of a rough price range?

Thanks very much.

Lou. x
 
Yeah, thank you, that's what i've been thinking. I've read a lot on the St Johns Wort poisoning and it sounds as if it's liver damage, so that's quite crappy really. But if she can be helped a little bit, i'd like to do that. Plus get the baby away from her breeding machine future.
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I really admire your thoughts Mollym....if I had more space and money I would want to do the same thing...we rescued both my ponies too and my quarter horse even came to me in a bit of a state...
I would not really offer more then 600 really..go as low as you can and then gradually build on the price if you have to..
The mare and foals will be in good hands with you..
 
Awww, thank you. I hope so. Dolly (the ginge in my sig who has gone to Anakins to be a foster mare) came to us pyschologically damaged and absolutely terrified, but physically, she was fine so this would be a first.
I've actually been offered help to STEAL them and hide them in a far-away field, but think i'll go down the offering-some-money road first!!!
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I recommend you go to one of the lower end horse markets in your area and see what the gypsies are paying for coloureds. I know they pay quite a bit at melton sales, no matter what condition they're in.
Problem is, if you offer 600 he's going to say it's worth more. To him, it's two breeding machines. Gypsies WILL try and rip you off, so you need a heart of steel and be prepared to walk away.

Have a bit of a banter with him, and then offer him 500 for the pair. I would imagine he'd be looking at closer to 800, so be prepared to pay 700. But try and get him to meet you at 700.

Good luck xxx
 
good luck and let us know how you get on!! ps- i would pay max 900 as you have potentially 2 good future coloureds atleast, even the mare might come though and she is still young enough to work and break in, in the future!
 
Sorry to say I dont think you will get either the mare & foal cheap - be prepared to pay in excess of 800 for the mare alone. If you've ever been to the sales you'll see that coloured cobs, gypsy ones, ride&drive fetch surprisingly high prices. I do, however, wish you luck in rescuing this particular mare & foal.
Please may I add that there are gypsies out there that are good horsemen who look after their horses. See new post.
 
I definitely wouldn't pay much as this horse could end up costing you a small fortune in vet bills. I wouldn't consider buying it, but then it's not me, so I would do exactly as Katy says and start at £500 and be prepared to go up to £700; although I would guess that he will be looking for a couple of grand to be quite honest. Try not to go into the bidding too eagerly otherwise he will suss you out and put a large price tag on immediately.
 
I agree strongly with katy!!! No longer is the money paid for quality hunters and horses at sales but the high prices go to gypsy cobs I'm afraid!!! I go to Melton sales regularly and if a piebald gypsy mare with a piebald filly foal at foot went into the ring you would be looking at quite a bit, no matter what state the mare is in unfortunately, it would be a bonus to the dealers that the mare is already in foal and the filly would be banged in foal, no doubt. I would say he would get around £1200 to £1500 for an in-foal piebald gypsy mare and piebald filly foal, possibly even more!!! They are very popular within this community and if the owner is a dealer/gypsy he will know how much the horse is worth to the penny and will probably be not too keen to get rid without a price he wants. I don't know what the dealer is like and I don't know if the same applies in your area with these gypsy horses but I really hope you manage to get her and her little foal out of this circle!!!
 
do you want a hand with the haggling i'm a dab hand at it
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seriously though what your doing is amazin and i hope that you do get them i noticed on your sig your in cheshire what part are you? if you need a hand with them i can help you i'm in hoylake but as my mare is at stud at a loose end at the mo!
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PM me if you think i can help you
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They pay massive amounts for these colourds, i no a traveller who buys and sells these sort, and he would be looking at £2,500 + especially if foal is a filly, i wish you luck in this instance though.
 
I remember you posting about this before, I admire your decision in rescuing this mare and foal. Unfortunately these gypsy type people do pay/want ALOT of money for there cobs.. But you may get lucky!
I really hope you succeed in bringing them home with you! let us know how u get on.. Best of luck xx
 
Have you thought about reporting them? this way the owner isn't making money of them to go buy and abuse more, this gyu is going to take you for a hell of a ride with the price!!!! chances are he knows his horse is thin and that you really want to rescue it, he'll charge you through the roof. I'd be calling the ILPH, if they can do something about it they may be able to stop him from owning horses or similar.
 
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