To buy or not to buy…

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pavellan

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Hey everyone, I’ve been loaning a horse for some time and am very interested in buying her. i haven’t bought a horse in a number of years and wanted people’s opinions of the potential price of this mare… the brief description is 16.2hh, absolutely safe as houses in traffic, hacking, schooling, loads and travels well, good for vet, farrier etc etc. She can jump courses of about 70cm (I wouldn’t jump any higher anyway) and her schooling is coming along ok (still green however). I believe she has good potential to move up the levels in dressage, she has shown a nice medium trot on occasion. The mare is rising 7 years old. Honestly I couldn’t fault her in any way. I have been told that the owners would put her for sale at around £15,000 with full wardrobe, but would take offers. This is a whopping price, and am wondering if this is the typical expense of a more or less perfect horse? Am I mad for considering this price, or is it realistic in today’s market? Any advice is massively appreciated as I am really struggling on what to do!!
 
You don’t mention breed as this can sometimes effect the price range, but yes I think for her current level 15k is asking a little much.
 
Anything that is safe to hack and is a 'nice person' and is sound is worth £10k all day long at that age too... The rest of it depends, I think £12k would be a fair price if her schooling is good enough that she'd have a go at a prelim for example, but if she's greener than that then I'd be thinking closer to £10k, if she's better than that then £15k all day long.

Also the wardrobe could be a brand new Albion dressage saddle plus an equivalent GP and Rambo rugs, or it could be a synthetic Wintec and rugs with holes in them.. that made a couple grands worth of difference. An ID of that description would also be worth more than a ROR TB.. so there are lots of variables to consider.
 
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I think we’ve all had to get used to these 5 figure sums in the last few years and that doesn’t sound that shocking to me anymore!

It depends on the breed though, I don’t think you said? If she’s a well-bred ID, ISH, or warmblood, then around £12-£15 is normal these days, but I would expect her to to be capable of jumping more than 70cm, unless they are thinking pure dressage potential.

If she’s a cob (other than a show cob type) or an ex racehorse, or has not-very-good confirmation, then £15k is a lot.
 
It would depend on her conformation/type and vetting but it’s not necessarily way off.

I’d probably angle for 10k for a straightforward sale to someone they know who has presumably assisted in the horses value in the first place. (And if I were the owner I’d very much be thinking those sort of things)
 
Subject to a clean vetting and assuming good conformation and reasonable quality wardrobe then that price sounds high but not outrageous. If a sensible offer below that would be considered then that seems realistic.

If you were considering buying anyway I would say that you would be foolish not to jump at the opportunity if you like the mare as you will also be saving yourself the hassle of trying to find another genuine horse for sale that doesn't have undisclosed issues. I used to think horse shopping would be a wonderful experience... Then I tried it for real 😔 It's also expensive by the time you travel, try and perhaps vet a few. Consider the money you save searching as part of her price if she's a little above what you want to pay!
 
If she is capable of medium trot then she’s not wildly green. So if they were going to ask for £15,000 and accept a bit less incl tack then probably about right.

I would make an offer that doesn’t seem too cheeky and snap their hand off for the horse if you have the money. If the saddle is decent that’s a couple of thousand right there, several hundred in rugs and potentially many hundreds more saved in travel, failed vettings etc if you go looking for something else. Never mind the hours and hours scouring the country in viewings. And there are no guarantees even then. Nice horses just don’t change hands barring huge changes of circumstance- and then are snapped up overnight because the demand is huge and the supply tiny.
 
This is what happens you put all the work and they sell the horse for a big price tag. I had one that was skin and bones when I started loaning him years ago. Had him for 2 years and then they came along and wanted to sell him for a price a couldn't afford. They didn't want him when he was in poor condition.

If they respect the work you have done then they should be asking you what you think. But ofcourse it's all about money.
 
Kaylum said:
This is what happens you put all the work and they sell the horse for a big price tag. I had one that was skin and bones when I started loaning him years ago. Had him for 2 years and then they came along and wanted to sell him for a price a couldn't afford. They didn't want him when he was in poor condition.

If they respect the work you have done then they should be asking you what you think. But ofcourse it's all about money.
Click to expand...

I’m not seeing any suggestion in the OP’s post that this is the case?
 
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