What's the least you've paid for a horse that came good?

Wagtail

Wagtail

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Just wondering what bargains you people have had? I need another friend to love, but have spent £1k on vets bills alone these past two months and my mare was PTS for a condition that was excluded so no insurance money. It will be a year to save up for something decent. I keep my horses for life so it has to be the right one. But would love to hear about your special horses that you bought for a song!
 
When my mare was on "maternity leave" I bought a lil grey mare 14.2 off its owners as they said she wasn't quite right, vets couldn't find anything wrong with her but that perhaps Dr Green would help.

Paid £50 for her, gave her a year, bought her in got her fit played horseball all season on her, won best pony of the year then sold to a loving PC home as my mare was back in work and couldn't afford all three!

Real superstar still keep in touch with owner, if she had been that bit bigger I would have kept her!
 
£50 for a small pony that was as ugly as sin but turned into the most fabulous LR/FR pony on the planet. So, so very safe in every situation. My god children rode him from as soon as they could sit until they both outgrew him and then he went to anther family to do the same for their kids.

The last cheapy was £400 for a retired polo pony for my husband to learn on. We still have him and he is a total peach.
 
dianchi said:
When my mare was on "maternity leave" I bought a lil grey mare 14.2 off its owners as they said she wasn't quite right, vets couldn't find anything wrong with her but that perhaps Dr Green would help.

Paid £50 for her, gave her a year, bought her in got her fit played horseball all season on her, won best pony of the year then sold to a loving PC home as my mare was back in work and couldn't afford all three!

Real superstar still keep in touch with owner, if she had been that bit bigger I would have kept her!
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Wow! Sounds fab. I love ponies. Unfortunately I am five foot ten and weigh nearly ten stone.

Suelin said:
£50 for a small pony that was as ugly as sin but turned into the most fabulous LR/FR pony on the planet. So, so very safe in every situation. My god children rode him from as soon as they could sit until they both outgrew him and then he went to anther family to do the same for their kids.

The last cheapy was £400 for a retired polo pony for my husband to learn on. We still have him and he is a total peach.
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What a bargain for that pony! And also you are lucky to get such a good retired polo pony. They are often wrecked.
 
Bought a Section D at the sales for £150 really scrawny runt of a thing felt sorry for him. Kept him entire till almost four them had him cut and broken in. Now a veteran and has won loads showing, jumping, dressage etc perfect to hack, hunt absolute baragain was offered ridiculous sums for him over the years would never sell him. He is 15.2/3 Bright cHesnut with Flaxen Mane and Tail and 4 four full white socks. Ebbw Victor lines. Sometimes taking a chance pays off. Also bought a couple of cheap TBs ex racers one of which has just started ODE doing really well.
 
Charmel said:
Bought a Section D at the sales for £150 really scrawny runt of a thing felt sorry for him. Kept him entire till almost four them had him cut and broken in. Now a veteran and has won loads showing, jumping, dressage etc perfect to hack, hunt absolute baragain was offered ridiculous sums for him over the years would never sell him. He is 15.2/3 Bright cHesnut with Flaxen Mane and Tail and 4 four full white socks. Ebbw Victor lines. Sometimes taking a chance pays off. Also bought a couple of cheap TBs ex racers one of which has just started ODE doing really well.
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He sounds gorgeous. I really like section Ds especially chestnut. I've had a few ex racers, a couple of which have done well. I thought of going to a sale, but my most important consideration above everything else is 'personality'. They must like people and be affectionate with a cheeky personality. So many horses are just bland. Ability is secondary to this. I was lucky with my mare as she was excellent at dressage and show jumping, as well as having a very colourful personality.
 
If you are willing to travel to Wales, really nice Sec D youngstock is available for not much money and they certainly have personalities. :)

PS, I'm very sorry about your lovely mare.
 
Faracat said:
If you are willing to travel to Wales, really nice Sec D youngstock is available for not much money and they certainly have personalities. :)

PS, I'm very sorry about your lovely mare.
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My sister lives in Wales so it wouldn't be out of the question. But would have to be after the horses go out 24/7 in the late Spring. I can't travel far right now. :(
 
My Section D definately has lots of personality. He is always the first to greet me when i get to the yard and the last to look away when I leave. I have 8 horses and i love them all the same but I think he and I have a special bond because he was only 4/5 months when I had him and he had been taken from his mum at the sale. He was calling for her when I went to him and he cuddled up to me and i sat in the bacl of the lorry with him all the way home. I spent practically every waking moment with him in the beginning and it makes a big difference. He thinks I am the head of the herd.......
 
My brilliant TB mare cost me £1.00! She was underweight and with "interesting" feet, teeth and back when I brought her home.
She was also a witch to begin with and very trying (for a long long time I could be heard cussing that I'd kill for the day she was worth more than her tack!) but finally she has come good. She is perfect for me and will stay with me forever.
My Master Imp mare also cost me £1.00 after she came to me on long term loan as no one else could stay on her (I also don't have a perfect strike rate in that department) but all she really needed was consistent handling and regular work.
Like you I would never have the budget for even a half decent horse but in both cases people knew I was looking (or not looking as was the case with the last one) and so put me in touch with them. I wouldn't like to think about how much they've cost me along the way but no initial outlay. There are some really fab horses out there if you start looking.
Good luck x
 
i took a free to a good home pony that needed a new home, that I didnt even really want as was too big for children and too small for me, and he has turned out to be a complete superstar on the lead rein, really really looks after my little girl and is amazing round my toddler boys. despite being a bit buzzy yesterday as not done much for a while , hacked up lane on LR coped with barking loony dog, someone emptying wheelbarrow on other side of hedge and 3 shetland ponies galloping in formation up the side of a fence with him 2 foot away looking but walking nicely, I had the feeling he would have liked to have had an episode but knew he was 'on duty' bless him. I doubt I could have found that had I gone out a paid a good sum of money for a LR pony.
 
Ginger cost £400 +£150 p+p ;) unseen from Ireland.

He wasn't in the greatest condition when he arrived, 6 months of good food, schooling and hacking and he turned out to be rather talented! Sadly I didn't have the experience at that time to really push him or the transport to get to shows. By all accounts the home he went on to have had a lot of success with him.

Friend paid £30 from the sales for a pony who became a cracking PC pony.
 
Charmel said:
My Section D definately has lots of personality. He is always the first to greet me when i get to the yard and the last to look away when I leave. I have 8 horses and i love them all the same but I think he and I have a special bond because he was only 4/5 months when I had him and he had been taken from his mum at the sale. He was calling for her when I went to him and he cuddled up to me and i sat in the bacl of the lorry with him all the way home. I spent practically every waking moment with him in the beginning and it makes a big difference. He thinks I am the head of the herd.......
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He sounds wonderful and you obviously have an amazing bond. My mare had a quarter section D in her, but she looked like there was more. She was half Dutch Warmblood, quarter TB and quarter section D. I think it was the section D in her that gave her the most of her personality.
Baileybones said:
My brilliant TB mare cost me £1.00! She was underweight and with "interesting" feet, teeth and back when I brought her home.
She was also a witch to begin with and very trying (for a long long time I could be heard cussing that I'd kill for the day she was worth more than her tack!) but finally she has come good. She is perfect for me and will stay with me forever.
My Master Imp mare also cost me £1.00 after she came to me on long term loan as no one else could stay on her (I also don't have a perfect strike rate in that department) but all she really needed was consistent handling and regular work.
Like you I would never have the budget for even a half decent horse but in both cases people knew I was looking (or not looking as was the case with the last one) and so put me in touch with them. I wouldn't like to think about how much they've cost me along the way but no initial outlay. There are some really fab horses out there if you start looking.
Good luck x
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You've had some great bargains! I do think that the right horse will find you. I f I am not going to have to wait a year then I need a bargain or a LWVTB. Or just get a loan to pay for one.
 
My gelding was free, he was 9yo WB, unbroken and had been a stallion until he was 8yo. Owner was quite nervous and could not handle his insecurity issues.

My mare was having issues so we was contemplating retiring her and the owner offered him to me and I snapped him up.

A year later he is broken, has been SJ, XC, dressage and been placed in all. He has not put a foot wrong. My instructor has even suggested affiliating next year but I don't have my own transport yet.
 
Kelly1982 said:
My gelding was free, he was 9yo WB, unbroken and had been a stallion until he was 8yo. Owner was quite nervous and could not handle his insecurity issues.

My mare was having issues so we was contemplating retiring her and the owner offered him to me and I snapped him up.

A year later he is broken, has been SJ, XC, dressage and been placed in all. He has not put a foot wrong. My instructor has even suggested affiliating next year but I don't have my own transport yet.
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I think it takes a lot of courage to take on an unbroken stallion at that age! Well done you. So pleased you are now reaping the benefits.
 
Why don't you look at Horses4Homes.
I have listed one of mine on there (although doubt he would suit you as he is for light hacking only), but they may have others that are more suitable for what you want.
 
£500 for a skinny, knobbly kneed yearling colt. A few months on, he has shot up and started to fill out, and is growing into a wonderful gelding, with the best temperament that I have ever seen in any horse :)
 
£270 for a scrawny 10 month old TB/section d colt. He had character oozing out of every pore and and I kept him for 24 years. He had his little ways (I mentioned them in another thread) but he always made me laugh. Had fab paces, looked like a mini warm blood under saddle. He grew to 15.2hh.

Good luck with the search. There are defo good ones out there for not much money for a good rider prepared to put the work in.
 
£0.00 Rescued a foal, they wavered the donation because he was so poorly they thought he might not make it. 6 years later he's the best horse I ever could have dreamed off. Horse of a life time, not a world beater but just genuine and fun and perfect for me. :) Agree with above, so many cheap horses can turn out amazing if you are patient and put the work in. Definitely go for a youngster though.
 
Horse 1 - failed flat bred £100. Came to me at 3. Horse of a lifetime, turns a hoof to anything, absolute dream to own, good to do in everyday. Evented BE novice, completed 3day. Affiliated SJ & dressage (not lofty heights). Had a queue of people wanting to buy him after seeing him out hunting (1st/last/jump anything). Tough as boots, never sick or sorry, good feet & good doer. He's now 18 & my children ride him....I could've spent £20,000 & not got a horse as good as him.

Horse 2 - £5 another failed ex-racer. Had been given to an unsuitable home & he'd developed some unsavoury behaviour...was given the 'dangerous' label & no-one wanted him. I thought he deserved a chance because he was pretty :D
He's coming pretty good. Very bold & athletic jumping & moves like a warmblood but a quirky ride who wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea (but I love him lol). Personally I think if I find the buttons to get him totally on side he is going to be a phenomenal eventer. He's showed me flashes of it this year & it really is exciting.

Pony - took on loan for my eldest. 2 weeks later was told her owner 'couldn't ever take her back & she was mine'.Luckily I absolutely adore her. She is the most high maintenance animal you'd ever come across but I wouldn't part with her for anything.
She is brilliant on the lead rope but 'educational' ;) off. Safe as houses though & everyone who meets her falls a little bit in love with her.
 
I've been writing for hours about this and it turned into a bit of an essay and has moved on so I'll go with our Section D (just, he's 13.3) paid £300 with all his kit, he'd had a dozen people who'd been to see him off, in fact my daughter was the only person he didn't dump but when we went to see him he dumped his owner. He had been advertised for his full value with an extra £300 for all his kit but they rang us up a couple of days later and asked if we would take him for free and just pay them for his stuff. They wanted us to have him because apparently we were the only people who'd spent longer talking to the pony than to the owners. He had so many problems it was unreal - and I only discovered he was a true bolter weeks later when he lost it big time in an indoor school, I came off the first time he hit the wall but he just bounced off and kept on running, bouncing off every time he hit a wall:( It was terrifying because there were other horses in the school at the time.

He arrived at a time when my daughter really needed a friend - and so did he and they grew such an amazing bond although I couldn't let her ride him at that time. Thier bond really helped when she started riding, although he came to us as dangerous he has never bolted with her. He's also never reared or even bucked with her on board. We have spent a decade trying to work with and round his problems but in that time we have had so much fun and love.

After a year or so my daughter was happy riding him but they hadn't done much jumping because at some point he had been seriously overcooked and I spent a long time getting him to jump calmly. We took him to a show to try a minimus to see how he'd behave and they both loved it so they entered the smallest class - at this time she'd only ever jumped 18 inches. They stood by the side of the ring to learn the course and my goodness did he learn the course. He took her into the ring and cantered round and then to her consternation he started cantering on the spot, she was looking across to me in a panic when the bell rang and he was over the first three jumps before she really knew what was happening. They both enjoyed it (and their rosette) so much that she decided to enter some more classes that day and finished up being placed at 2'9. On his day he is unbeatable on other days he's too terrified to go into the ring, or you can persuade him to into the ring but he just can't cope and you have to take him out - he's not a pony you'd ever beat to make him do anything.

This is the last jump of that first ever SJ round, you can see how novice my daughter was!

chloeandcharliejumping.jpg


They've had so many firsts together, one of my favourites was the day she realised that out in an open field the quickest way from A to B is not a sedate trot but a good blast of fast canter. Or the day they first went XC schooling and had a whale of a time whizzing about and stopping for a picnic with friends before going back for another play.

He's getting old now, he's 30 odd, he looks old. It's going to break our hearts when he goes. He's a cantankerous old git, we still have to work round what he can cope with but we don't mind because he's done so much for us. He's spent the last few years retired - firstly playing young colt games with the chestnut from my sig - standing up and boxing, kneeling and trying to bite each other's legs, chasing madly and then standing up and trying to take the other's head collar off even though the other horse is nearly a foot taller than him - and for the past 10 months he has been supervising my homebred weanling.

edited to add: Ooops even that turned into a bit of an essay!

He's full of character, full of fun and sadly has a head full of demons that appear to be mainly manmade. I'm going to go and give his naughty nose a kiss now because I appreciate I won't always have him - but even that has to be done his way, or he'll give you a good bunt with his nose and his nose ALWAYS comes off best!
 
I paid £150 for a scrawny ID colt who just looked like a donkey and didn't like me.

6 months on he's a gorgeous bulky brave boy who moves like a superstar and has a heart of gold. LOVE HIM!
 
I'm sensing a theme here, everyone who has got a bargain has awesome horses! Most people who spend £20,000 on one end up slightly over-horsed and frequently get dumped or have gigantic vet bills!
 
i bought a 4 year old New Forest x Arab for £200 in 1979 after he failed the vet (he was £475 before). He died just before his 37th birthday. He came straight from his breeder as a blank canvas. He was sharp, brave and really it was all about him! He was my greatest riding critic and teacher. His dam had 12 foals in all (mine was her first) and interestingly they all stayed in their homes for life.
Part of the reason he was exceptional was that he was very comfortable in his own skin and came from a breeder who educated her horses well in the first few years of their life.
 
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RaynerK said:
I'm sensing a theme here, everyone who has got a bargain has awesome horses! Most people who spend £20,000 on one end up slightly over-horsed and frequently get dumped or have gigantic vet bills!
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I don't think that's fair really... I see a lot more 'bargains' with overhorsed riders, terrible manners and no schooling. Often very lame behind or stiff. When you get a good one you shout it from the rooftops, when you get a rubbish one you keep it quiet. With the upper end horse market, when it goes well you don't say anything but when it goes badly the world tends to know!
 
Wagtail, cheap ones are out there especially if you have a good reputation, I was given and andalucian earlier this year - she is absolutely lovely, she is only 2 but is maturing well.
I also have a tb*wc that I paid £1500 in installments of £500 as I was skint, I went to see him with a very top producer who didn't like his face, I loved him and the lady that owned him knew me very well.
She let me have him at a greatly reduced price because she knew he would have a good home, I still have him 11 years later and he is absolutely fantastic and won masses
 
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Lolo said:
I don't think that's fair really... I see a lot more 'bargains' with overhorsed riders, terrible manners and no schooling. Often very lame behind or stiff. When you get a good one you shout it from the rooftops, when you get a rubbish one you keep it quiet. With the upper end horse market, when it goes well you don't say anything but when it goes badly the world tends to know!
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It's all about perception isn't it ;)

I got a freebie once.
A really well bred quality horse, with hock issues.
He gave me a great deal of my confidence back after having a very ungenuine horse. I jumped round OPN's on him and qualified BD regionals on him. He was completely awesome and I adore him forever.
However he was a nightmare to keep sound, cost a fortune in vet's bills, and was always a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. I still have him (retired from competition at 12) and he will be with me until he dies.
Was he a bargin? No. Would I do it again? I'm not sure. Was he my horse of a lifetime? Yes.
 
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