Pointless, nostalgic post about horse prices back in the day….

exracehorse said:
My second pony was in 1976. He was a mixed bag of breeds. A 12.2h. He was 500 pounds. I know folk are saying how cheap ponies were back in the day but , my mum had to take out a loan to buy him as that was a lot of money at the time. For example, in that year my parents bought a run down house with three acres in East Anglia for £9,000. If he was for sale in 2025, he’d probably be worth about £25,000 as he was a jumping machine. Competing at 1m.
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£500 in 1976 was a lot!

In 1996 I was borrowed as a small jockey by my instructor to ride a couple of ponies the local dealer wanted to shift. One was a very sharp black Welsh mare - about 13h - & he haggled that down to £500. He picked up a smart dun cob at the same time for about £1k.

I remember it well because the next day back at his indoor I promptly came off both as they spooked at the scary corner!

I'm not sure horse prices have gone up as much as other costs tbh. Livery is not much more than the late 90s either.
 
I've always had cheapies so mine probably aren't that indicative, but of the current lot plus Dabs:

Dabs - big PRExWB 3yo gelding, who was pretty and moved well. I paid £1200 for him in 2012, and the same today would probably be about £5k at a guess.

Arty - knab x tb, ultimate riding club horse and the horsey love of my life, but when I bought her in 2016 she was the fugliest of weedy 2yos with an unaddressed umbilical hernia. I paid £800 in 2016, and the same thing today would probably be £1500.

Pebbles - Connemara who's papers had gone walkabout. Bought at auction as a 2yo in 2017 for just under £300 incl fees. The same 2yo today would probably be £3-4k even with the lost papers.

Hetty - Saint on hooves of a cob bought in 2023 for £2.7k as a 3yo straight out the field from a somewhat dodgy dealer. Worth her weight in gold, genuinely irreplaceable, no idea on her 3yo value now. The sort that is hard to value when untouched and untried, and even harder to find.
 
1966..Arab x Welsh pony colt foal... 50 guineas. Ridden by me and both children, PTS in 1992
1984..Welsh cob x TB 5yr mare.. £800...my best horse..gave me 2 foals and the best riding of my life..PTS 2008
Quite a few in between
latest
2020.. Connemara 16yrs... supposedly my last... £3200

No idea what they would be worth now. Out of the blue I was offered £3000 for the WC x TB when she was about 8. My reply was Where will I find one to replace her?
 
My first pony, an exmoor cost £30 in 1961. In 1969 I paid £5 for a saddle and had to take the pony too. He was a welsh boy. I purchased my first proper horse in 1973, a newly backed Irish 4 yr old, from a dealer. She had been advertised at £300 but it was the week VAT came in, which should have added another £30 to the price. As the dealer had forgotten to put the VAT in the add we only paid an extra £20.
 
Mine was £350 including tack! I got him cheap as I’d loaned him for a few years and in all honesty he could be really hard work! Hard to catch and when caught could be impossible some days to lead to the yard, he’d just turn and gallop back to the field ( I was a teenager, first horse all very new to me, had NO idea how to fix it) he also didn’t load.
The good thing was he was a forward but safe hack alone/company behind or in front, I mean think amazing hacking horse. Went anywhere jumped absolutely anything he was pointed at, rarely spooked, flat out gallop or long rein main road. Never sick or sorry. So he’d be worth a lot I’d say now. His issues were fixable. I’d literally give my soul to have him back.
I’d guess surely £10,000 now. Probably more as loading issues fixed as above he jumped like a stag so would have been amazing competing.
 
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