The market has crashed!

I paid £700 for a very well bred almost 2yr old in Feb and have seen that the breeders are selling their others some half bro's and sis's for a hell of a lot less now!! people cant afford to keep them so are having to get rid of them!

a friend of mine sold an ex race horse for £100 because she couldn't afford all 3 horses and their horse is now eventing a very high level just 6 months on! my friends gutted coz she could afford to keep her now :( sad times
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
A well behaved vice free 15 hander all round family pony (not heavy cob but good doer with good feet and low maintenance) has always been the most in demand and shortest in supply.

So it is still the case that the thing that most people want is still not usually the thing people are selling.
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I have one of those I'm trying to sell, only problem is that she's 3 and still 'cooking' as it were!!! Shame as she is going to be a cracker but her age puts people off as they want one that's 'ready made'.
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
There is an oversupply of tall horses and small ponies, especially the latter.

A well behaved vice free 15 hander all round family pony (not heavy cob but good doer with good feet and low maintenance) has always been the most in demand and shortest in supply.

So it is still the case that the thing that most people want is still not usually the thing people are selling.
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The oversupply of tall horses is why my daughter went from a barely 15 hander to a 16.3. For two thirds the price of what we sold the 15 hander for (15yo, mother's dream, safe, sane and sensible in all conditions and surroundings, perfect to handle, capable of a decent BE90) we bought a well bred middleweight 16.3, 10yo, been to RC champs in Horse Trials, done Novice BE but no points so eligible for RC Novice, just as safe, sane and sensible, in all conditions and surroundings and far better at dressage - oh and could jump a 1.40m SJ round if required! Not the obvious choice - 8 inches taller and a whole foot longer but she is an ideal first horse as she is SO sensible

So when I happened to have a spare TB broody with reasonable bloodlines I've bred myself a nice coloured middleweight to go 15 - 15.2 by an Elite graded cob who has a nifty line in dressage and is still strong and sound at 30. Both of them have superb temperaments and the foal looks to be going the same way. I hope, in five years' time to have the ultimate market pleaser:D Assuming of course that I don't decide to keep him, he was actually bred for me!
 
Nudibranch said:
I've been keeping an eye out for a well behaved 16hh plus steady type, something my novice OH could ride, and I could lead the baby out on. Doesn't need to be anything flash, just sound and no vices but I have yet to see anything I would even enquire about. There's a gelding advertised in the local farm store who might fit the bill but 4 grand for a hack is a bit ott! They'll never find a buyer.
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I have turned down £5,000 for our horse who ticks this box, he is also 16 years old. His reputation as a solid and dependable horse precedes him, if I was looking again, I'd pay £5,000 of a horse of his stamp and temperment again.
 
I've sold a 20 year old pony and a 4 year old hunter type this year for no bother, however I have a 4 year old Cob x that hasn't sold yet and would have bet money that she would have been the first to go.

Top end quality will always sell :)
 
miss_c said:
I have one of those I'm trying to sell, only problem is that she's 3 and still 'cooking' as it were!!! Shame as she is going to be a cracker but her age puts people off as they want one that's 'ready made'.
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i have one of those as well. 15.2 3 year old well bred, and just the easiest to deal with, never spooky and so kind. thats why shes not for sale.

I have sold 2 this year, without any problems. Could have sold the pony many times over.

Good horses sell for good money, regardless of recession.
 
I've had my 13.2hh sj pony advertised for what seems forever now. I've hardly had any phonecalls despite reducing her price considerably to silly money. She's such a doll and would have been my dream pony if I was 12 again: Point, shoot, win ;)

I sold a very simular, though less talented pony two years ago for almost twice of what i'm asking for this one and he went withing a week of advertising.

This recession is getting somewhat boring now...looks like i'll be out hunting on my 13.2hh megastar at this rate. Bring on the hedges!
 
Nudibranch said:
I've been keeping an eye out for a well behaved 16hh plus steady type, something my novice OH could ride, and I could lead the baby out on. Doesn't need to be anything flash, just sound and no vices but I have yet to see anything I would even enquire about. There's a gelding advertised in the local farm store who might fit the bill but 4 grand for a hack is a bit ott! They'll never find a buyer.
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I have just bought exactly what you are after, only 6 yr old but as wise as they come. 3/4 ID x clyde. Safe as houses, walked past the combine this morning. Kind, easy and comfy to ride but rather unbalanced and in need of schooling. Biggest expense will be the clipper blades. 3 1/2k, she is good enough to show as a maxi and if I can get her ticket for HOY's she will easily be worth double what I gave for her.

Correct safe horses will always fetch good money and so they should in my view. How do you value safety ?
 
miss_c said:
I have one of those I'm trying to sell, only problem is that she's 3 and still 'cooking' as it were!!! Shame as she is going to be a cracker but her age puts people off as they want one that's 'ready made'.
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theyre mad - I found bringing on a youngster a LOT more straightforward and rewarding than dealing with bad habits in an older horse. But maybe they arent prepared to wait to get going. good luck with it.
 
I have had my 4 year old exmoor up for sale on and off for over a year. Had next to no enquirys about her but over the last several weeks have had a fair few surprisingly! One person viewed her on sunday so have my fingers double crossed they want her as they seemed like the ideal people I wanted her to go to.
Im not in a majour hurry to sell as we have the space but I just lack the time to do anything with her and feel sorry for her just sat there as she is such a lovely pony.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Correct safe horses will always fetch good money and so they should in my view. How do you value safety ?
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I turned down huge amounts for the beast on the hunting field regularly, the Master always used to reckon he was the safest horse out! :D They wanted him as a hireling...not a chance! :p

We would have to move heaven and earth to find another sort like him, so yes, I'd pay a huge amount to buy another 'oss like our big chap.
 
People always want the horses most people will never part with.
I am lucky to have two at the moment like this I even get strangers walking up and asking if I would sell one of them but guess what he's a cracker and when he leaves here it will be to feed the hounds.
Good horses are still selling my dressage trainer was saying the market she sees is buoyant .
 
We have sold three in the last week but through contacts and word of mouth. Good quality, accurately described horses will sell well in my experience and by that I mean to the right home for a sensible market price. Now I will be sourcing more in Ireland, always a challenge as I am so fussy!
 
Some sellers seem to have '**** in their eyes' as my dear old granny would say.
I know of two advertised recently that had been no where, done nothing, no breeding and the owner wanted 3k a piece!!
3k??? for a horse that they didn't know the breeding of, is badly schooled, was badly broken and has a temper.
Catch yourself on mate!
 
I had mine for sale for a while last year - a truly fantastic horse with a very good competition record behind him and the easiest horse in the world, I would have thought Id have people fighting over a horse like this but nope.

From what I can see, the rubbish horses are selling and the genuine good ones aren't!
 
My friend was very lucky. She put the advert online, phone call 20 mins later, up the next day and sold the next. Gone by the weekend. Did tell her she was so lucky as nothing seems to be moving at the moment.
 
Good, sensible 100% schoolmaster types will always sell. My pony can't do what she did in her youth, but still pretty capable & one of those gold dust types. Even at 23 I could sell her in days if I wanted to. Except I never would. Tbh, the market kind of suits me at the mo. I don't really have time for projects anymore & my two are going nowhere, so not wanting to sell. But when daughter moves onto mine in 18months I will be wanting a cheap 14.2 project to bring on, with the potential to fit the bill if mine needs to slow down as daughter progresses.
With small ponies the difference is huge between safe kids pony & either unbacked/ project 11hhs. Seriously considering buying one or two in Feb or so while daughters still small enough to ride/show them.
 
Bosworth said:
i was offered £2k for him. No way. He is worth at least twice that.
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Says who? How exactly do you value a horse?

chestnut cob said:
Sellers seem to have an over-inflated idea of what their horse is worth or is capable of.
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This. Anything is only worth what someone will pay for it. Until then it's worth absolutely nothing. Maybe buyers are realising they don't have to pay stupid money to get what they want.
 
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"STILL BREEDING"

I agree completely just received the catologue for Brightwells auction on Friday loads of what seem to be average mares that have been running with stallions- I just don't get it :confused:
 
NoseyPosey said:
Says who? How exactly do you value a horse?



This. Anything is only worth what someone will pay for it. Until then it's worth absolutely nothing. Maybe buyers are realising they don't have to pay stupid money to get what they want.
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So says someone who is willing to part with money! If posters horse is anything like our horse, then I'd be happy to part with 4k.....
 
DragonSlayer said:
So says someone who is willing to part with money! If posters horse is anything like our horse, then I'd be happy to part with 4k.....
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Exactly - at the point of posting, someone has said they'll give 2K but Bosworth says it's worth double. Until now, they havn't had anyone willing to part with 4K have they? They may well do but until that point, it's only worth 2 because that's all that's been offered for it. Percieved value by an owner can be very different from actual value.
 
I currently have my very nice horse up for sale. :(
He is a flashy, scopey, forward going allrounder, and whilst he is safe (inc in all traffic etc) and definitely not a nutter (good snaffle brakes, very polite etc), it seems that he is much less in demand on the market than your steady, schoolmaster-type allrounder- and I don't know why, really, because he is the perfect fun teenager's horse :confused: I suppose it's because the steady, been-there-done that ones are harder to come by, maybe, and more attractive from a parent's point of view?
BTW the flashiness/classiness and subsequent advertised price is not just my over inflated idea of him :rolleyes: it's agreed upon by instructor, friends and other people who I can trust to tell me the truth, as well as my comparisons with other horses on the market.
 
tbh not sure the market has crashed, I brought at a reasonable price at the beginning of the year - by no means what I would call a bargain (£4.5k for an uncompeted 6yo of indifferent breeding fresh from ireland, unshod etc. etc.) but he had what I was looking for and so willing to pay and now am at livery on a yard where they buy and sell a few as a side line and they are having no problem moving horses on in a range of ages and types for good prices.

Yes there are a lot for sale although to me a lot does seem to be down to advertising but when most people are talking in the thousands for what they are trying to sell for it can be disheartening as a buyer not seeing an action shot of a competition horse in the discipline that they are trying to sell for or a confo shot that is not square on let alone not mentioning some of the basics of their temperament / ease of handling, life experience to date in the ad wording.

Yes there are a lot of ads to sort through as a buyer and if the picture is bad a good horse might get missed but I was shocked by the number of poorly conformed horses that I saw too, and whilst some looked ok in the pictures in real life there were obvious issues either with conformation or gait.

I've never previously looked for more than a few weeks / couple of months but it took me 5 months and probably 25+ horses viewed to find this time, previously I don't think I've managed to reach a half dozen viewings so as a recentish buyer quality of horses now seems to be was an issue to me & I wasn't even looking for anything beyond RC level.

BTW I set my rough budget by considering what typical inflation would have done to the value of my previous horse ... sad but I work in finance so it was as good a way of justifying a frivalous spend as any! :o
 
From what I've observed, there is a very large gap a lot of the time between what some (sometimes deluded) sellers want, and what the buyers are willing to pay. The high prices makes it appear that the market is still strong, but how quickly are they selling?

The quality horses with either runs on the board, potential backed with breeding, or those hard to find 100% reliable horses are still fetching the money.

It's the people who put 6 months work into perhaps a very nice OTTB, and turn around and want $10,000 with no performances that are not really 'reading' the market and seeing what sort of animal is available for that price range.

There was a boom a few years ago, where the low level PC mount was fetching some astonishig prices and sellers don't seem to have lowered with the times.

Of course there are those horses in 'niche' markets that may be able to fetch a rather nice sum for just being themselves :D
 
See I've got a friend who must have been to see about twenty, and got three of them vetted, all have failed, and many of the others were not as advertised. One very badly dished, both on the flat and jumping, and for the level of competition she wanted, could have caused a problem. (Her last horse was put down cos of kissing spine, so she wants to avoid anything that "could" cause a problem) She is a good rider and doesnt need an easy ride, but she has been thrown off, almost reared over with, watched owners ride obviously lame horses and various other things. She has had people lie in the advert and even over the phone.

She has a fairly decent budget, and wants a 5-7 year old capable enough for her to take BE. She preferably wants a gelding, as her yard is all geldings, but has also looked at mares. In this market where nothing is selling, she can't find anything!
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
theyre mad - I found bringing on a youngster a LOT more straightforward and rewarding than dealing with bad habits in an older horse. But maybe they arent prepared to wait to get going. good luck with it.
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I know! And she is the easiest youngster I have ever known! :( Professionally backed, good breeding, less spooky than Genie, and really would excel in any discipline. Interest - none. If she hasn't sold by end of September then I'll keep her over the winter and try again as a 4yo.
 
NoseyPosey said:
Exactly - at the point of posting, someone has said they'll give 2K but Bosworth says it's worth double. Until now, they havn't had anyone willing to part with 4K have they? They may well do but until that point, it's only worth 2 because that's all that's been offered for it. Percieved value by an owner can be very different from actual value.
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I have learnt as a buyer to be fairly disinterested In what seller wants for their horses as a buyer ( and I am one who wants a horse for herself not to be able to move on ) I concentrate on what I would be happy to pay for the horse in front of me as a buyer the common issue I see with price is people asking the price the horse will be worth after eighteen months hard graft but they want to you to pay the price and do the graft and people selling a horses that they have paid far to much for and expecting to get their money back.
 
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