Tell me about horse selling in Ireland at the mo

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angel7

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I keep seeing really nice average type young horses on Done deal for very little money, compared to the UK.
I cant see too much wrong with most of them although no videos are a pest.
Are there simply too many horses being bred? Not enough of the right kind? Or are most of them hiding a problem?
Are they cheap for a reason? I'm talking 1-3K for 16h registered IDs, coloured X's, dun and palominos, cob x's etc between 1-3 years old.
Is the process of importing them now an expensive nightmare or are folks finding cheap ways to do it?
Would really love to go and visit in the flesh but I simply cant get a horse. I never see any that I like in the uk. I literally could buy 6 or 7 daily on done deal that I like the look of initially anyway.
 
No Angel.You can get some lovely horses on Done Deal and like anywhere some awful ones. I have a fabulous horse for 14 years that I bought on DD and know plenty others that have bought genuine horses from it. Many private owners don't have contacts to sell any other way.
 
I have had a nice pony from Done Deal. I think it’s like Preloved - you get a bit of everything and if you’re experienced, you will hopefully spot the dodgy ones anyway. Like any horse buying really.

There are a lot of proper horsemen and women in Ireland and therefore a lot of nice horses bred. And yes if they know it’s coming over here the price will rise, but why shouldn’t it, business is business.
 
My friend has a yard in Ireland and does a lot of buying and selling and says the mid range market has completely fallen off a cliff. Auction prices are way down recently. Connies/cobs and top end sport horses are still holding their value, but she said there were nicely bred IDs going for 3k (which is obviously a huge loss for the breeders). So I can see that people are selling horses off cheaply if nobody is buying at the sales..
 
There still are many old style folk who have always just had a broodmare or two on the farm for generations that they breed and sell the youngsters purely cause it’s what always was. There is no real glamour put in, no Lemieux in sight, but they could tell you it’s family tree back a hundred years. They are bred and field kept and have a carrot now and then so you get a totally blank canvas. You can get some really decent unspoilt horses if you know what you are looking at. Irish prices are typically lower than the mainland anyway but yes they can also see an English person (especially a woman) coming a mile off and the price will reflect that 😂 (I’ve heard this from the horses mouth so to speak when one told me he almost exclusively sold to middle age English ladies and the odd American and that I was never going to get what I wanted from him for the actual price it’s worth)
 
Well all I can say is what you got on DD a few years back before decent Irish breeders and dealers found many more profitable places to sell their horses, will not be anything like the mostly low end you will get on there these days.

Plus good horses never get ' cheap' no matter what the market is doing, they will still sell from reputable sellers at good prices to the established buyer market looking for quality horses.

But work away, it seems many on here think DD offerings are top notch so I wish you luck you may just get lucky with a bargain basement buy.
 
@angel7 if you DM me if you would like more information. I can give you a couple of links to reputable dealers and breeders that would be offering the type of horses you are looking for and they can be trusted not to rip you off. But they will not be bargain basement, as I said a good horse never is. At least it will give a good guide to average prices that you might expect to pay for a decent sort.
 
It is possible to get a decent youngster on Donedeal especially at this time of year - but the half decent ones at 3yo will still be maybe £5k+. You won't get one that would have been good enough for Monart / GFG sales- or if they look good enough, they prob didn't pass the Xrays.
There is no harm in looking, but the days of farmers not knowing what they have and just breeding a few from a well bred mare have mostly gone, even if thats still happening the producers have a hot line to these guys now.
I definitely wouldn't recommend buying unseen (they way you could from a producer or breeder with a really good rep at 3x the price) and you might have to splash on the vetting to get an impartial vet to go out of their area to vet it.
 
fredflop said:
Irish vettings also do not appear to be quite the same as what you’d expect in Britain
Click to expand...
If you use one of the very many excellent Irish equine vets to do the PPI they will be among the best in the world. If you use the dealer's mate to do it you can probably guarantee they'll spend more time at the kitchen table than in the vicinity of the horse.

Pretty much the same then as Britain.
 
Every horse I've bought through DoneDeal has worked out. Bought with eyes wide open and an open mind and a plan if they don't suit us. All the vettings (bar one) have been just as good as a UK one (and in fact better than seen of the English vets I've come across)
However .... we have hundreds of decades of experience, a healthy dose of cynicism and some very decent Irish contacts.
We are very clear what we want and have never bought something that didn't tick our non negotiables.
And. I don't buy youngsters.
 
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