How much would you spend on a horse?

it's quite a tricky question, the how much?

Personally, I dont have more than 1k to throw at anything these days, daughters fab little jumping mare (but can be tricky to hack) was £600 from charity, and now has forever home with us. Taught my daughter everything she needs to know about low level jumping (unaffiliated), she loves her, angel on the ground too, aged but happy and healthy and still winning classes.

My current chap was £500 because owner had found another and could not afford two on livery and had problems selling because 1) tb and quite tricky sometimes and 2) extremely nappy.

However, for my purposes, I wanted a horse I could dressage on which he certainly is, sponsored rides and hacking in Company (which couldnt do on the last), showjumps happily, xc we are working on getting past nappy bits.

Hacking alone is only real tricky part which again we are working on as he doesnt like to leave yard on his own..however, being the polar opposite to my last one, he is soft in the mouth, comfty as hell and it means I can do "group activities" which I couldnt before! Hence if he stays as he is for £500 I could not ask for more.

I suppose it depends who you know, what you know and how much you are prepared/able to pay. I have seen horses far more expensive than him which I wouldnt have had as much fun with....

I do have to laugh when people spend crazy amounts of money (fair play if you have it to spend) and end up with duff horses....

Cheapskate me!!
 
Ali27 said:
The whole point of this thread is that you don't need to spend a lot of money to get a good pony! I have no problem with people spending whatever they want on a pony but it makes me feel sad when people think that they can't get something decent for 2k or under!
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This is spot on!

I am looking and I cannot fathom why the vast differences in prices, probably one I have seen that was worth the money compared to most of the others at the same price(who were no where near as good and the thing that is grating me is they say the do xyz and in particular are 100% traffic and I get there and they live in the middle of nowhere with no road in sight! I then get told well we dont go on the road.This has happened more than once. I have one more to see but havent got back yet to organise a visit as I am really so fed up with looking!

Was thinking of increasing the budget and saving a bit more but reading this I wont now. You are so right! I should know a perfect horse just doesnt exist.
 
blueneonrainbow said:
It seems to me there is quite a lot of inverted snobbery going on in this thread. So what if someone wants to buy their child, or themselves a pony that's all ready to get on and ride? Unschooled and inexperienced horses are not everyones cup of tea and not every child is confident to bring on a pony... Especially if it's their first or second. So well done to all of you who have bought cheap ponies and had a fantastic time with them ... Just because a pony might have cost four times that, it doesn't make a persons achievements with that pony any less remarkable to them because they bought one that they felt comfortable with and not a cheap one.
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Well said.
 
blueneonrainbow said:
It seems to me there is quite a lot of inverted snobbery going on in this thread. So what if someone wants to buy their child, or themselves a pony that's all ready to get on and ride? Unschooled and inexperienced horses are not everyones cup of tea and not every child is confident to bring on a pony... Especially if it's their first or second. So well done to all of you who have bought cheap ponies and had a fantastic time with them ... Just because a pony might have cost four times that, it doesn't make a persons achievements with that pony any less remarkable to them because they bought one that they felt comfortable with and not a cheap one.
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Well said from me too. So what if people have the money to and want to spend a bit more on a horse? Nothing wrong with that, just as there is nothing wrong with spending less.

Who cares! The most important thing is that horse and owner are happy and achieving what they want to achieve.
 
Not sure who it is but a user on here spent £1 on a pony who I believe is working at Medium level dressage! He looks amazing from all the pictures and videos.

If I had the money I would go and spend it on a horse, I think in the past I have tended to overpay for horses but I don't mind as it's what I wanted. Although I have picked up a few bargains.
 
I would pay around £800 for a horse/pony, preferably not done anything, maybe backed as i like to bring them on myself. I guess its just personal preference and of course the budget plays a big part in it.
 
I paid nearly 7K for a wbxtb as a 5 year old who had all the potential in the world. I was TOTALLY overhorsed and 9 months later he was diagnosed with kissing spine and navicular :(. I ended up 'giving' him away to a very good home for £200!

However, I paid £2800 for a 14.2hh scutty little pony, 4 year old, and she is now 6 and I have had the time of my life with her :). She does dressage, xc and jumps and shows.

My instructor loves her, and is always telling me that she could sell her a PC for double what I paid for her in a blink of an eye.

But believe me, she is NOT going anywhere lol :)
 
My first pony, who I still have, was bought for £1500 as a very green 7yo. It's the best feeling in the world when he beats jumping ponies that were bought for £6k. I remember winning at a sj comp and the girl who had paid £6k for her pony (pony was fantastic but not the rider!) and the girl was demanding another pony because her pony was so rubbish. He is such an honest boy, totally genuine and jumps like a stag- after we'd won the chase me charlie at 5ft 2" I was offered a considerable amount of money for him but he's never going anywhere :) My next riding horse I'll be looking for a wpb weanling and I know the breeder so won't be spending more than £800.
 
I brought my horse for 7K and he is worth every penny. I paid it because I wanted him!! I think they are worth the money if they are the right horse for you.
 
Please note that I am not an inverted snob! It is completely up to the individual how much they spend on a horse!
However good horses can still be bought on limited budgets is the point that I'm making!
 
hmmm interesting

Why is it if someone asks on here how much will I have to pay for a safe horse for my daughter to do PC they are told £3k min get a school master so daughter learns to ride correctly


But this thread makes a mockery of that and gives the impression if you spend that much you are a snob and that daughter won't learn to ride because to learn to ride you need to ride quirky horses/ponies

So which is it? buy a quirky or safe well schooled school master??

Well I know a girl who yeah was bought up on quirky horse and she can stay on anything BUT ride no! she hasn't a clue about outside aids, she hauls horse round with the inside rein. could never ride a shoulder in Why cos she was too busy learning just to stay on and in some sort of control. never learned to refine aids
 
soulfull said:
hmmm interesting

Why is it if someone asks on here how much will I have to pay for a safe horse for my daughter to do PC they are told £3k min get a school master so daughter learns to ride correctly


But this thread makes a mockery of that and gives the impression if you spend that much you are a snob and that daughter won't learn to ride because to learn to ride you need to ride quirky horses/ponies

So which is it? buy a quirky or safe well schooled school master??

Well I know a girl who yeah was bought up on quirky horse and she can stay on anything BUT ride no! she hasn't a clue about outside aids, she hauls horse round with the inside rein. could never ride a shoulder in Why cos she was too busy learning just to stay on and in some sort of control. never learned to refine aids
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Well said!
I have a 'friend' who thinks she is gods gift because she can ride quirky animals. Of course when she failed her B test it was her horses fault not hers because she's the best rider in the world.

I can't stand it when people blame the horse for their mistakes.

Sorry for going slightly OT! :p
 
I don't know where people get their prices from! I thought we were in a recession and that horse prices were rock bottom. We've just sold a nice, safe, 13hh, 14 year old pony who goes in a nice outline and can jump for a £1000. He was worth more a few years ago but that's what people are paying at the moment around here.

Maybe people will have to come up North to find a reasonably priced pony. I'm sure there are plenty around.
 
I spend what I have. I have very clear objectives on what I want to do (event again), and a clear idea of what I wanted and wouild need to spend. Yes you can get bargains, but for most of us, you do get what you pay for. People on here are often complaining they can't buy a safe all rounder to say, do BE upto PN, hack alone etc etc - when horses that can do that job are selling for over the £7K + easily now.

I am over 40, I have done my time with quirky horses and don't bounce so well any more. I did end up buying a youngste this time (5) who is green but to date, has just seemed to be such a nice person and works for me. He wasn't cheap but I bought him for his lovely attitude, very good confirmation and paces. A good friend has just spent a lot of money on a proven showjumper who she really clicked with. She is in a place where she can afford to do this and has been going out and having a complete whale of a time with her new boy.
 
I bought an 11 year old, ex-hunt/racehorse last year for £1650. His biggest selling point was his temperament. He's got fantastic manners, good in traffic and is an all round confidence giving horse. He's got a great jump and after many lessons is coming on really well with his flatwork. I could event him at the lower levels but will just be keeping to local stuff. I'm 48 and have had my fair share of quirky horses so I had to make sure that this one was a good one. He's certainly been that.

I wouldn't be a horse owner if I had to pay over 5k for a sensible horse!
 
I read this thread with great interest, because a year ago I was looking for a horse around 15.3-16.1,good on the roads, with a bit of experience wh,sj,xc and good flatwork. I wanted something that was around 7-12, that I could go out and jump round a working hunter and place decently. Budget was 3kish, although would have spent up to 4k if the horse was amazing, and as near perfect as you can get with horses!

I searched for 6months, didn't find a horse that fitted my requirements. Not a single one, not for any price.

By this stage I was getting desparate, so started looking outside the box a bit. Looked at a few 6yos, a few 4yos, a few older horses, a few more expensive horses etc.

Eventually I came across a lovely 5yo grey mare, had done very litle sj and had no other experience, but she had been professionally schooled and therefore she flatwork was very good. This mare was scared of tractors, and living in the countryside this was a major problem, but I still bought the horse anyway. I paid 3k for her.

Went out to my first working hunter on her, won a big class. Got 15 poinys higher than the person in 2nd place. I have been winning/placing top 3 in every working hunter, dressage and showjumping I have done since.

The mare also has a lot of eventing potential, so I'm hoping to take her up to novice level.

I was talking to my dad the other day, he said he wouldn't sell her unless he got close to 20k now.

^^ Just shows you that if you look hard enough and look outside the box a bit, you can find something. (: Tell that mum not to give up. :)
 
I have spent different amounts for different reasons -

A few years ago I spent 'what I have (or had then)' - £700 for a fantastic hack when I was at Uni and didn't have much cash;
'what I thought the horse was worth' more recently i.e £1700 for a SAFE with my son lead rein/first ridden;
what I next spend will be a what I 'need' to spend (given current market values etc)' for the type I want to compete on i.e £3k for a yearling.

So... um... I guess it depends what I'm buying. I could've spent a lot more on a kids pony tbh or indeed a lot less but I wanted a certain age, type and temperament and that's what I think it was worth. re competition horse I am buying breeding and potential as well as confirmation, looks and provenance and so that's my budget. If I spent the same on a produced horse I'd get a very different horse most likely.
 
I always try to get the best horse within my budget, although that is easier said than done. :p When I was looking for a smart, sound, traffic proof hack, I had £4000 to spend inc tack. I ended up buying my mare for £1500 (so well under my budget) because I liked her and she was better than anything else that I saw.
 
I think the genuine pony club horses will always hold a good price as they tend to be well known amongst the pony clubbers ie they will get sold passed on as they move onto bigger horses etc and most buyers will know their background. I was told often they dont even reach advert stage sold via word of mouth?

I dont blame anyone for paying a premium for knowing the warts and all of a pony or horse.

However we were offered a first pony club beginner/ first pony to find out in time that it did have a history of bucking! But it had taught lots of very good riders in their younger days! I knew the owner and she was still prepared to sell this to me without my knowledge!!

I am now going down the dealer route as I am fed up driving miles£££ and being told some right porkers. My interrogations do not work and quite frankley I do not get any of the prices at all. I realise I was so lucky on my previous purchase years ago. Its just finding the real ones. They are out there somewhere. Slack market as yet I cant see it?
 
How long is a piece of string? My first pony was £300, green broke and dumped me a million times. My current horse was 3k (paid just before the market crashed :rolleyes:) and that was only because he was green as leeks and has a vice. The horses in between have ranged from scruffy mountain foals to ex-racers, from 50 guineas to £1500. With the market as it is now, you can get a good horse for less cash, but I think it is ridiculous for people to want a complete machine for pennies.

I would love to be rich enough to spend loads of cash on a horse, and if I had £££ would deffo spend it buying a SJ schoolmaster to build my confidence in the bigger classes, but I will have to make do with what I have. Naturally I can continue to be quietly jealous of those people on megabucks jumping machines!
 
soulfull said:
Well I know a girl who yeah was bought up on quirky horse and she can stay on anything BUT ride no! she hasn't a clue about outside aids, she hauls horse round with the inside rein. could never ride a shoulder in Why cos she was too busy learning just to stay on and in some sort of control. never learned to refine aids
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Haha, Soulfull it would not surprise me one bit if you were talking about me here :p
I grew up with a horse I was desperately attached to, despite YO etc. telling me horse would be better PTS due to its tantrums and unpredictability. I wouldn't sell him on but always believed he'd come right. Unfortunately I wasn't experienced enough to do that until way too late - having owned him since he was 3, said horse is almost 20 now and only became my ideal horse around 14-15 - but even now he still tests me with the odd bolt etc. (luckily the broncing fits stopped a few years ago!).

We paid £1800 for him many many years ago - WAY too much - but he has been worth it to me as I've gained a best friend. With hindsight I'd have much preferred something 'push button' so that I could have affiliated earlier etc., but competitions have been there for the last few years on other horses and I wouldn't swap my first lad for the world. (Most days ;)).

Currently looking for a BSJA horse - won't pay more than 5k. I can't take anything unbacked, but am happy to bring on a horse who just knows the basics if their personality is right. Must admit I love hearing rags-to-riches stories of ponies who were bought for peanuts/rescued and then turned out to be worth their weight in gold.
 
polo pony- thats such a nice story!

Personally, my mum and dad always brought me cheap ponies and would not buy me another until it had reached full potential/ One of my ponies we brought for 1k and ended up competing in the freestyle national championships.
However now, i have to spend lots on a horse because i need the horses with the good blood-lines if i want them to do the high level job i want! However i prefer to buy them as youngsters (its a bit cheaper) and then bring them on myself.
 
Ali27 said:
Wow £1 is a bargain!
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Indeed it is! Best £1 I ever spent! :) Especially as he was never going to be for sale.

However, if I was made of more money, wasn't self employed and earned a bit more etc. I would very likely spend much more - but as it was in this particular case I had the horse on loan. I still owned another horse when I took him on. He and I clicked so well and the owner asked me if I'd like to buy him. So I sold horse number one to her loan home for a similar deal and everyone is happy.
 
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I buy and sell for a living and it's so true you get what you pay for! I've just bought myself a new horse for quite a lot of money, never normally buy anything over 5 but I've splurged out on a 8 yr old who's been jumping fox with scope to go on, he's all qaulified up and ready to go. I must admit after years bringing on my own it's a nice break to get on something that knows it's job and just gets on with it. After ten years doing what I do my own horses now are purchased for proper money and personally I think if you can spend it you should as a performance horse or pony should be priced fairly highly. Our proven pc all rounders go for about 4k, sj horses start at about 5k. Safe happy hackers who are sound and will do local rc should be around the 3-4k mark.
 
I think what used to get me at pony club were those mums who spent ££££'s on horses for their children and looked down on me and my scruffy loan ponies.
They were so competitive! 'x has done this and x has done that ect'. Of course I made lots of friends in PC and there were mums my mum really got on with but there was such a divide of 'them and us' awfully it was a divide between the competitive pony club mums who spent every penny on expensive ponies and the poorer mums who couldn't afford. That's life thought isn't it.
I won the area novice eventing championships and came 2nd at hickstead plus many more successes and I had great fun on the teams on my cost nothing horses. I had no problem beating the posh ponies, but still we would be snubbed turning up in our ancient old lorry with my mum feeding us squashed marmite sandwiches out of her bag. The posh mums would get hampers and champagne out of the back of their range rover lol.
I don't think you need lots of money to buy good ponies.
My horse now wasn't terribly expensive but for a 4yr old TB I suppose 2.5k wasn't cheap. He's worth a lot more now but so he should be, he's gorgeous and I've put a lot of effort in. We went looking for a 10k horse for my friend to do dressage on and we found a stunning animal but a lot of what we looked at was over-priced rubbish! I couldn't believe the price tag some people put on very ordinary horses! Made my TB look a million dollars worth.
Just because a horse is expensive doesn't mean it's worth it. On the other hand if you want to buy a horse that someone else has put a lot of time into then it will be a high price, depends if you want to do it yourself or not I guess!
Also depends on what you want to achieve. My OH said he would buy me a 40k horse if I would go round Badminton lol, I had to let him down gently and say my TB is plenty nice enough for me thank you, and I'd rather NOT have the pressure of going round badminton ;).
Tbh I don't really mind how much someone pays for their horse, if it makes them happy then fair play. It's just when they brag about how much it was, ewwww shut up! :D
 
It's definitely true about people thinking they have to pay a lot to have a nice horse. I was selling one a few years ago, advertised her for 2500 had no interest what so ever. Pu the price up to 4750 and she sold for 4500 within a week!!!

;)
 
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