Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
if it’s the right type and a nice person if it moves well and has been done right It’s started someone’s done all boring slog why should it not be worth 18.5k
See I thought horse buying was supposed to be fun
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if it’s the right type and a nice person if it moves well and has been done right It’s started someone’s done all boring slog why should it not be worth 18.5k
windand rain
Well-Known Member
Horses have been far too cheap for far too long I personally think they are just about finding their correct level. There are a few that are chancing it with lame horses or those that have quirks but a healthy reasonably talented all rounder should command at least 8,000 and upwards of that for a horse with a proven record. ponies upwards of 4,000 again a lot more if absolutely great for children
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Birker2020
Well-Known Member
I have bought and owned six. Only one was unsuitable and dangerous and was sold as a brood mare as she had excellent confirmation and bloodlines and one i wanted to sell but he ended up breaking his leg. The other four were lively and all six passed their vettings. None were over £4800. In those days life was so simple.
milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
but the prices of everything have gone up over the years, more or less (perhaps not DIY livery 
)
)
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
What's wrong with that?
A 5yo out BE at 80 and 90 and doing well, not scraping round on a wing and a prayer, would be worth that.
Why the ? about a 5yo that's out and about having potential?
Wishfilly
Well-Known Member
I'm not convinced prices are going to come down, they've been this way for over a year, now.
Part of the issue is definitely lack of supply from EU countries, plus increased demand. For a lot of people, home working or flexi working is here to stay, so lots of time for a horse. Plus it's also things like not travelling giving people extra money to spend, and maybe being more willing to commit to a horse.
People have been predicting a market collapse since last September, and it just hasn't happened.
I hope the market stabilises in the sense people get more time to view, because I do think that is really tricky, but I don't think prices will fall to pre-covid levels any time soon.
I'm also another not surprised at a 5yo doing BE90 being worth £18.5k (assuming double clears, maybe some placings). There are plenty with "BE potential" in the 10-15k bracket.
Part of the issue is definitely lack of supply from EU countries, plus increased demand. For a lot of people, home working or flexi working is here to stay, so lots of time for a horse. Plus it's also things like not travelling giving people extra money to spend, and maybe being more willing to commit to a horse.
People have been predicting a market collapse since last September, and it just hasn't happened.
I hope the market stabilises in the sense people get more time to view, because I do think that is really tricky, but I don't think prices will fall to pre-covid levels any time soon.
I'm also another not surprised at a 5yo doing BE90 being worth £18.5k (assuming double clears, maybe some placings). There are plenty with "BE potential" in the 10-15k bracket.
Polos Mum
Well-Known Member
If you think about the cash cost of a basic 5 y/o
Covering - £400 (x 3 or 4 if AI / complex)
Looking after mare for 9 months - £600 - assuming no livery
Vets fees - £400 (could be 10 x that if things go wrong)
5 years of vacs, teeth, farrier, wormer and basic hay, bedding in winter only and a bit of time for looking after - £1000 per year - again assuming no livery
Breaking - £1500 (even if someone has done it themselves then their time has to be considered)
You are easily at £8k for the cash cost of a basic 5 y/o before lessons, schooling trips out, event fees
If they own their own land and have no mortgage to pay.
AND then the person who's done all the hours and hours and hours of hard work has to make a living.
A nice well mannered properly started 5 y/o allrounder should be £15k all day long.
Covering - £400 (x 3 or 4 if AI / complex)
Looking after mare for 9 months - £600 - assuming no livery
Vets fees - £400 (could be 10 x that if things go wrong)
5 years of vacs, teeth, farrier, wormer and basic hay, bedding in winter only and a bit of time for looking after - £1000 per year - again assuming no livery
Breaking - £1500 (even if someone has done it themselves then their time has to be considered)
You are easily at £8k for the cash cost of a basic 5 y/o before lessons, schooling trips out, event fees
If they own their own land and have no mortgage to pay.
AND then the person who's done all the hours and hours and hours of hard work has to make a living.
A nice well mannered properly started 5 y/o allrounder should be £15k all day long.
poiuytrewq
Well-Known Member
I absolutely dread the day I ever actually have to buy a horse.
I have bought two in the past one a complete disaster, the other the exact opposite and I not only got a fab little horse but long term friends out of his old owners.
I have bought two in the past one a complete disaster, the other the exact opposite and I not only got a fab little horse but long term friends out of his old owners.
spacefaer
Well-Known Member
We've bought three in the last year. Our only requirements were that they had to be the right height, pass a basic vetting and be generally nice people. Oh, and be RIDs. Everything else was flexible.
All three of them are fab, luckily.
We tried one, one was word of mouth, the other was unbacked so less of a gamble ?
We weren't looking for any more horses at any point but hey, life's too short not to buy the horse ??
All three of them are fab, luckily.
We tried one, one was word of mouth, the other was unbacked so less of a gamble ?
We weren't looking for any more horses at any point but hey, life's too short not to buy the horse ??
oldie48
Well-Known Member
We paid £12K for a very nicely bred 5 year old nearly 16 years ago and he was worth every penny. He was safe to ride, excellent to handle but with enough talent for most amateurs, he'd been started well, moved nicely and had a jump. Goodness knows what we'd need to pay for a sort like him now. Honestly, I'm surprised anyone breeds and starts horses!
Kaylum
Well-Known Member
We were selling them for 8k 30 years ago as 3 year olds. They were pure bred IDs and had just been backed and riding out.
Quigleyandme
Well-Known Member
When Ireland’s economy crashed, top quality, fully warranted, young Irish horses sold at Gorsebridge, Mullingar and Cavan performance sales were bought for meat money by the truckload and driven straight to the abattoir. I’m delighted prices are so buoyant amidst solid demand. I don’t know why more people don’t consider the sales over here if looking for an Irish horse. They are all 5* vetted, can be independently vetted on site if that is what you want, any vices are declared, you can see the horse ridden throughout the day, try it yourself at the vendor’s discretion and transport is easily provisionally arranged prior to the sale if you have decided to bid. The vendors’ contact details are in the catalogue so you can have a discussion, watch videos, even have a private viewing/trial prior to the sale. Some super four and five year old horses sold at Gorsebridge Performance Sale the other day in the €8,000 to €11,000 range.
spotty_pony
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I must say I am not desperate to horse shop yet. It's inevitable I will need snother one in the next fee years with the spotty one being 22 but I need to save first, and also I want the horse itself has very big expectations to look up to if it's half the horse Puggy is!
SO1
Well-Known Member
People selling horses for a living need to make a living, if you look at the rise in the cost of living over the last 14 years, cost of housing and land then horse prices have to rise in order for people to make enough money to support themselves if they are a professional.
I expect what happened was a lot of people who were commercially breeding, producing or dealing went out of business as they could not earn enough to make a living leading to a shortage of mid level leisure horses. Top end very expensive sports horses were still worth breeding and the cheap coloured cobs bred indiscriminately were still being cheaply bred, but the riding club all rounders and more competitive amateur horses are now in short supply. Dressage and eventing has become more popular with BD and BE introducing lower level affiliated classes more people aspire to this and are looking for someone that will be competitive at this levels but they are a shortage of these sort of horses being bred and produced pushing the prices up.
The market is changing now, what people are wanting is different to perhaps 14 years ago when I bought my 5 year NF for £3,250. Most people want horses that are competitive or completely saintly happy hackers that would pass a 5 stage vetting and no older than 10.
Amateurs I think have greater aspirations around being competitive in affiliated classes rather being happy with the riding club or local shows now than perhaps 14 years ago, when the affiliated classes were more aimed at professional riders and started at higher levels. Veterinary medicine has also changed with more people doing vetting's and horses have to be a lot tougher to be able to withstand the more intensive training that people seem to do now, more lessons and competing, less hacking.
I think people are also struggling to find grass livery or places suitable for youngstock so cost of producing a youngster to sell on has gone up and people are expecting more from younger horses than they were before. So people who might have for fun bought a couple of youngster and then had some fun bringing them and then selling have less opportunity to do so, and time is another pressure, people working longer hours so less time to do these sort of things as a hobby.
When people say they want a riding club all rounder I think what they are looking for is quite different from the sort of riding club all rounder than people were describing in the past, they are wanting a more classier sort of horse with the ability to be competitive, with no quirks has to be good to catch, box, shoe, clip, pass a vetting, hack out alone and in company. I think people struggle to cope with imperfections. Supply and demand is the problem and I think it will continue due to so many people wanting the same sort of horse or pony and not having the skills or patience to buy young and produce themselves. I also think the number of older horses on the market is going down so as more people keep their old friends and don't sell on and buy a more competitive younger horse, perhaps we all getting more attached to our horses so there are not so many older schoolmaster types at a lower price for people to buy either or horses are not staying sound enough to be sold on at 15.
I expect what happened was a lot of people who were commercially breeding, producing or dealing went out of business as they could not earn enough to make a living leading to a shortage of mid level leisure horses. Top end very expensive sports horses were still worth breeding and the cheap coloured cobs bred indiscriminately were still being cheaply bred, but the riding club all rounders and more competitive amateur horses are now in short supply. Dressage and eventing has become more popular with BD and BE introducing lower level affiliated classes more people aspire to this and are looking for someone that will be competitive at this levels but they are a shortage of these sort of horses being bred and produced pushing the prices up.
The market is changing now, what people are wanting is different to perhaps 14 years ago when I bought my 5 year NF for £3,250. Most people want horses that are competitive or completely saintly happy hackers that would pass a 5 stage vetting and no older than 10.
Amateurs I think have greater aspirations around being competitive in affiliated classes rather being happy with the riding club or local shows now than perhaps 14 years ago, when the affiliated classes were more aimed at professional riders and started at higher levels. Veterinary medicine has also changed with more people doing vetting's and horses have to be a lot tougher to be able to withstand the more intensive training that people seem to do now, more lessons and competing, less hacking.
I think people are also struggling to find grass livery or places suitable for youngstock so cost of producing a youngster to sell on has gone up and people are expecting more from younger horses than they were before. So people who might have for fun bought a couple of youngster and then had some fun bringing them and then selling have less opportunity to do so, and time is another pressure, people working longer hours so less time to do these sort of things as a hobby.
When people say they want a riding club all rounder I think what they are looking for is quite different from the sort of riding club all rounder than people were describing in the past, they are wanting a more classier sort of horse with the ability to be competitive, with no quirks has to be good to catch, box, shoe, clip, pass a vetting, hack out alone and in company. I think people struggle to cope with imperfections. Supply and demand is the problem and I think it will continue due to so many people wanting the same sort of horse or pony and not having the skills or patience to buy young and produce themselves. I also think the number of older horses on the market is going down so as more people keep their old friends and don't sell on and buy a more competitive younger horse, perhaps we all getting more attached to our horses so there are not so many older schoolmaster types at a lower price for people to buy either or horses are not staying sound enough to be sold on at 15.
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FlyingCircus
Well-Known Member
This is why you do what I always do - accidentally buy them.
I window shop...then I fall in love and MUST have the horse ASAP.
It still ends up with some I have tried and not liked, but it gives me the kick up the bum to drop everything and go see the horse.
Saw my Connie on a weds/Thurs and I had a local friend there by Saturday who said he was a gem and I paid a deposit then.
Saw my welsh x nf on Friday, picked him up the same day.
Saw my welsh on Thursday, picked her up on Friday.
All of them I moved fast on, only the connie was vetted as the other two were cheap as chips.
I window shop...then I fall in love and MUST have the horse ASAP.
It still ends up with some I have tried and not liked, but it gives me the kick up the bum to drop everything and go see the horse.
Saw my Connie on a weds/Thurs and I had a local friend there by Saturday who said he was a gem and I paid a deposit then.
Saw my welsh x nf on Friday, picked him up the same day.
Saw my welsh on Thursday, picked her up on Friday.
All of them I moved fast on, only the connie was vetted as the other two were cheap as chips.
ImmyS
Well-Known Member
The more I see threads like this I feel very lucky I managed to find my boy. A well started, RID 3 year old from Ireland for 4K in March this year and he is completely as described and better! They are still out there, but I also completely understand the price of horses generally rising.
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Some are just taking the P though. I enquired about an ex racer 3 weeks off the track. 10k cos he was "showing potential"!!
Wishfilly
Well-Known Member
I might be wrong but hasn't it got more expensive to bring horses from RoI to the UK post brexit? That, plus increased paperwork may be putting buyers off?
It's been discussed previously on threads like this, one of the reasons for prices in the UK increasing is that it's now harder/more expensive to import horses from mainland Europe, but I'm not sure if this applies to Ireland too?
I feel like a lot of people used to go over to Ireland to buy, but Brexit plus Covid makes this a more difficult option.
I agree prices being high is much better than the situation in 2008! I'm sure in the UK lots went for meat too, and lots were dumped on any available patch of land as well.
Wheresthehoofpick
Well-Known Member
I feel your pain. I am trying to bring myself to sell - it's just as bad. I don't want to price him to be passed around. I want to find him the right home. Have put the word out unsuccessfully - am now feeling sick at the thought of an ad and dealing with the mostly unsuitable people that will respond!!!
spacefaer
Well-Known Member
@Wishfilly you're right. A lot more paperwork for both vets and transporters, 20% import tax, and a lot more hassle.
Last time we saw a horse we liked in Ireland, I drove over with the trailer, tried him and brought him home. I've done that several times but can't do it now with all the extra Brexit regs. If we were going to buy in Ireland now, we'd have to use a vat reg. transporter so that we could reclaim the tax.
Last time we saw a horse we liked in Ireland, I drove over with the trailer, tried him and brought him home. I've done that several times but can't do it now with all the extra Brexit regs. If we were going to buy in Ireland now, we'd have to use a vat reg. transporter so that we could reclaim the tax.