OMG, horse prices in the USA!

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showpony

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So was speaking to an old friend this evening in the States who is an avid horse rider - & we got talking about horse prices etc - hadn't spoken to her since I got my mare, horses literally going for 4 times their price than they are in the UK & Ireland - it seems to be a " Sport for the elite" over there hense why prices so much higher... She also told me that a friend of hers imported a horse from Ireland to the USA , horse cost 2,000 & she went & sold it for 12,000 dollars 2 mths later!
 
It depends very much on the type of horse, there are many, many good horses going for absolutly nothing over there at the moment as well. A lot of QH types or tbs, especially at auction, you can pick up a decent horse, well broke horse for $1-200
 
i know that the price of what we would consider common heavy gypsy cobs over here are sky high over in the USA as they are 'something special'
 
Have a look on www.dreamhorse.com or other US sites, it's certainly eye opening :eek: There are still plenty of cheapies, but anything decent (and I don't mean top level decent, I mean RC level decent) is astonishing! Ponies too; they don't have the same history with native ponies as we do so they tend to go for a bomb! Gypsy cobs as well, and I thought they were stupidly overpriced here :D
 
Crikey, someone spent what it costs to import a horse when it was only worth two grand???? I can understand if it was sentimental value but ... Wowzer!
 
All depends on what is "in" and fashionable at the moment (usually imported). "Grade" horses, i.e. anything ordinary without a pedigree, are always dirt cheap (can be less than £100), which is a problem as too many people have "backyard" horses picked up for nothing, no knowledge, then can't afford to feed them.
 
Not the one I was lookin' at! It was a KWPN 6 year old for $18,000...........I think the ads change each time you look at them.
 
WB breeders here think that they are being shafted if they don't get at least 10k USD or more for a weanling. That's what they say it costs to put a foal on the ground. (cough, cough) Then they add all the costs to bring it to riding age and get it backed when selling young horses. Importing is going to add about 8k USD, but the horse is usually well started and ready to go. I'd guess that 25k is about average for a 4 year old WB whether it's a homebred or an import. But that's only in dressage and SJ. We still have very few purpose bred event horses, and they don't have the market which allows for price inflation.

So eventers use either OTTBs, appendix QHs, both which are cheaper; or they import well started horses from Europe, because they ARE well started and often purpose bred.
 
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Its the training of the horses as well.
Yes off the track TB's and semi wild QH are worth nothing but it is more of a sport for wealthier people. They arent like us and would eat a can of beans every night of the week just to feed a horse ;).
Any horse thats safe to hack, tranied to jump a 3ft course and that can do a Novice dressage test would easily be $20,000.
You can buy an 8yr old ID that had done NOTHING other then the most basic schooling (ie not even on the bit) and that has maybe seen one local show if that and it will get over $10,000.
Gypsy cobs dont even need to have done anything.
Its just so different. They have super flash barns, make our yards look like a junk yard and yet we would beat them hands down in a local dressage comp. Madness.
They are very cross over in the US that they didn't win medals in the equestrian teams this olympics and its because the whole of the US are sport crazy (much more supportive then we are) but equestrianism still isn't seen by the majority as a sport. They are a good 20 years behind us I would say in eventing. The thing is only a very small portion of their country is dedicated to english riding (no excuse really as we are very small) but that does have impliactions on the funding they get.
 
I used to frequent a forum that had mostly USA hunter people on it. Posted about a pony Al had, smart 14.2hh mare, looked like a horse until you stood next to her and realised she was diddy. Very smart, went in a nice outline, and jumped from a lovely rhythm and did it all herself if she liked you. She was 14. Here, she'd have been worth about £5k at a push (her age and history counted against her, but she was jumping 1.15m courses easily with minimal jockey input). I was messaged by someone on there asking if we'd accept $25k for her... Insanity!
 
Folks, I spent 12 years running a warmblood stud and dressage competition yard in the US, and yes, the best horses would make $20,000+, but it is a cutthroat market over there and by no means all horses are going to make that kind of money - just like here.
 
I had an American housemate at uni. She was planning to buy a youngster in Ireland on her way home after graduating - even with the costs of transport she reckoned it would be a bargain
 
Agree but there are no offence intended " Bog Standard" Gypsy type cobs going for HUGE money in the US & in the UK & IRL you couldnt give them away!



Cortez said:
Folks, I spent 12 years running a warmblood stud and dressage competition yard in the US, and yes, the best horses would make $20,000+, but it is a cutthroat market over there and by no means all horses are going to make that kind of money - just like here.
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Yeah... it depends. Pleasure horses can be dead cheap over there, i.e. REALLY cheap.

However, when I went there earlier this year, I sat next to a very horsey lady at a convention (her full-time job was working with horses). And when I told her I had a horse, too, she asked me what kind of horse it was. I answered, and she went like... :eek:

Apparently, German Warmbloods are pretty just like German cars over there.
 
My boss must have been in another league again to what you guys are talking about. He thought nothing of spending $50,000 - $200,000 on a horse and we had 10 of them. All show hunters which essentially means they have to lib round a course of 3ft to 4ft fences on the buckle with perfect rhythm and meet every fence bang on, no matter how useless the rider! All lovely horses and all an absolute pleasure to ride, but the amount of money he spent (all geldings bar one mare) was phenomenal!
 
I own a horse that had been sold to the USA in 2004 but never actually travelled. He was a showjumper with show horse looks and quality, 17.2h, aged 10 at the point of his sale to the USA.

He sold, via a top end dealer in the South, for £150,000. A deposit was paid and in the period of time it took to arrange shipping the horse put a front leg through a fence and grazed the front of his cannon bone. Shipping was put on hold whilst the wound healed and then fell through because the wound healed over with white hairs, resulting in the horse being "marked" and therefore no longer perfect for what the Americans call "Show Hunter Jumper " classes.

I bought him for £8,500 and he went on to be a champion middleweight, taking us to be placed at HOYS twice and won many County Championships. He also reached Medium BD. As for the white marks - I can only assume the Americans have never heard of water proof mascara or marker pens !!

Eight years on and rising 19 he is sadly injured and we are trying our best to enable him to have a happy retirement.

I often wonder what life he would have had if he had made it to the States, his new owner would have been disappointed with him, he hates jumping and has not been jumped for years.
 
This post does make me wonder how it would be like to move to the USA. But I would have to import my mare (because she would cost me too much to buy over there), and I guess Virgin Atlantic won't be happy knowing she's the carry-on luggage.
 
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