Who is horse hunting at the moment?

ihatework

ihatework

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And what are you looking for?

Semi loaded question, as I think I might get myself something to tide me over for a few months while my comp horse is off.

Would be interested to see what the market is, or isn't delivering at the moment
 
I know a couple of people looking for low level grassroots eventers, one looking for BE100 max and one with potential to go higher. Both have very decent budgets but are struggling to find a horse that doesn't require a huge amount of work to be "straightforward" enough for an amateur or doesn't have previous medical issues.
 
Would you mind me asking how much the first one is playing with (PM if rather)
And when they say 100 max, do they want firm at that level or would they look at horses that had only done 80/90 to date? This category is probably where I'm headed, steaightforward allrounder.

Are they being particular about any specifics such as age/sex/colour?
 
I am looking for a well established laid back well mannered bombproof/spookproof cob 14.1 about 15 year old which can be ridden by anyone and is completely safe in all situations.
 
Please PM me the details as I know someone who is also interested. I only saw her last week and she was saying how she is fed up driving up and down the country to look at rubbish. I said she ought to go somewhere like the chap who sold me my horse organised - only he does it to Holland and takes you to his contact over there and you can try up to a dozen horses in one day. She doesn't want a WB though, she is looking at an Irish Sports Horse type. You never know, you may be the answer to her dreams!
 
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Good luck Flame, that's a pretty specialised area that I know little about - I'd imagine it would would come at a price for a decently bred Arab?
 
ihatework said:
Would you mind me asking how much the first one is playing with (PM if rather)
And when they say 100 max, do they want firm at that level or would they look at horses that had only done 80/90 to date? This category is probably where I'm headed, steaightforward allrounder.

Are they being particular about any specifics such as age/sex/colour?
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I think first one has a budget low end 5 figures - say £10-12k - but I don't honestly really think the budget is the driver - she had a bad fall earlier this year and so I think being "safe but talented" is the key there, and she is quite distrustful of sellers generally due to previous bad experience. From videos she has shown me so far - mixture of geldings and mares from 15.1 -16hh and ages from 6 -12. Having spoken to others in an attempt to find her something - I think the very hardest thing is to find the "safe but talented" - there always seems to be a "but"! :).
 
I am trying NOT to look, with varying success... I am s'posed to be giving Trev til spring to see if he will shake off his torpor, but I'm getting bored with plodding round the school for our daily 10 mins, seeing if he has any interest in going faster than walk. Was hoping that KS surgery (June 15) would be the magic bullet, but apparently not. In the meantime, I've joined a few FB groups & am kind of NOT looking for a TB or other random that no-one wants. Criteria would be 1) not a lunatic 2) huge jump.

Please, no-one send me any suitable horses as my resolve NOT to get anything til at least the spring is weakening...!

T x
 
ihatework said:
Good luck Flame, that's a pretty specialised area that I know little about - I'd imagine it would would come at a price for a decently bred Arab?
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Thanks, good luck with your project. :) No, its not that there's much on offer out of price range! I've seen one I like a lot and I'm hoping will work out, but he's not ridden ATM. My little arab who I lost in August was backed, brilliant, with very good breeding for about £3K. Arab breeders aren't generally in it for the money, I don't think. There are some international circles that trade arabs for fortunes, but that's a very different world to the one I'm in, lol. Thanks, also to Owlie185 and Irish gal!
 
I am seeking a horse that seems not to exist! A nice, easy all-rounder who will do be90 easily, do a nice BD novice test (with potential for more), hack on the buckle with no ifs or buts (this appears to be the big sticking point!), and generally be a nice chap to have around. 6-12 yo, 14.2-16hh, gelding, no tbs, no heavy cobs.... It's impossible!! I can spend 8K (ideally less) so I'm amazed it's proving so hard tbh :( Why don't nice RC all-rounders also hack sensibly?!
 
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Flame - Unfortunately I have always bought weanlings/yearlings from their breeders and they don't generally run on older ridden horses.

I will say that my Montoya gelding is a real tough cookie and could be a fab endurance horse if I was up to it. I don't know if Sue Bundy has any older stock left by Montoya or not? Devon is well out of your search area though.
 
ihatework said:
Would you mind me asking how much the first one is playing with (PM if rather)
And when they say 100 max, do they want firm at that level or would they look at horses that had only done 80/90 to date? This category is probably where I'm headed, steaightforward allrounder.

Are they being particular about any specifics such as age/sex/colour?
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Just seen this. I think I'm your target market! Age is key I think - not too young to be scary, not to old to be a potential vet bill ;) Geldings are always more saleable I think, and greys harder to sell... If you can find one that will be reasonably competitive at RC level and also hack sensibly you're sitting on a goldmine I reckon :D

Ets to answer your question about BE, personally I would love one who has done 100 as then I can be confident at 90... But I'm realistic enough to be happy with good results at 80/90, aff or unaff. I think (but may be wrong) that there are a lot of older riders like me who want to compete but are no longer as brave or ambitious as they were. Nice easy horses who will go on any stride at 90 and do it with a smile seem to be hard to come by.
 
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Broodle said:
I am seeking a horse that seems not to exist! A nice, easy all-rounder who will do be90 easily, do a nice BD novice test (with potential for more), hack on the buckle with no ifs or buts (this appears to be the big sticking point!), and generally be a nice chap to have around. 6-12 yo, 14.2-16hh, gelding, no tbs, no heavy cobs.... It's impossible!! I can spend 8K (ideally less) so I'm amazed it's proving so hard tbh :( Why don't nice RC all-rounders also hack sensibly?!
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That's always been my kind of search criteria and I think it's a popular market, although the price range varies hugely. But also agree that it's very hard finding ones that genuinely fit into this criteria. I was looking in Spring and ended up with slightly younger at 5yo, therefore a bit greener and no track record at events, but totally lucked out as he is proving to be awesome :-) Grey unfortunately but that's what full livery is for haha.

If you can get one that has a bit of experience under it's belt, then it would be a cracker and v saleable.
 
If I was looking for a BE horse like this, then I think it would be worth while approaching event riders who normally have horses in for sale. The reason being is I know some who have just taken horses off the market as think no one is going to be very interested at this time of year or will wait to get a couple more runs in at the beginning of the season. Kate Tarrant at Littleton (Surrey) has some young horses though haven't seen them personally - plus side is that of course, if you try out there, you really do get the opp to try the horse over all 3 elements.
 
I have a lovely one, and haven't had a single call. I think it must be time of year and maybe I'm not in the right area. I'm Midlands based 😏. Anyone want a lovely bay gelding😀
 
Broodle said:
Just seen this. I think I'm your target market! Age is key I think - not too young to be scary, not to old to be a potential vet bill ;) Geldings are always more saleable I think, and greys harder to sell... If you can find one that will be reasonably competitive at RC level and also hack sensibly you're sitting on a goldmine I reckon :D

Ets to answer your question about BE, personally I would love one who has done 100 as then I can be confident at 90... But I'm realistic enough to be happy with good results at 80/90, aff or unaff. I think (but may be wrong) that there are a lot of older riders like me who want to compete but are no longer as brave or ambitious as they were. Nice easy horses who will go on any stride at 90 and do it with a smile seem to be hard to come by.
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Thank you Broodle, I think you are my target market! There are plenty of 4 rising 5 year olds around but I'm just concious that to sell in the summer as a 5yo probably will still be too young for this market. I've got a 6 coming 7yo I have my eye on, nice stamp, but more spendy than I was originally planning on. That said if there are people out there prepared to pay a reasonable price then it might be worth the gamble
 
To give some of you some hope I recently started horse hunting again and within 10 days found what I was looking for. 16hh, 13yo Irish type, been eventing, doing very well at BE90, moves well (we just won and came 3rd in dressage at the weekend after owning him 2 weeks and no time in a school), hacks beautifully and is an all round good egg. I paid £4500 for him and I would have happily paid an awful lot more (if I had the budget! Thankfully he was just in budget at his advertised price). I was keeping a close eye on all the for sale sites and luckily was the first to call about him. Last time I was horse hunting it took me 8 months to find something. I think a lot of it is luck of the draw but also relentless searching. Look everywhere. I found him on Horsemart, which is not where I would normally expect to see a horse of his calibre advertised.
 
ihatework said:
Thank you Broodle, I think you are my target market! There are plenty of 4 rising 5 year olds around but I'm just concious that to sell in the summer as a 5yo probably will still be too young for this market. I've got a 6 coming 7yo I have my eye on, nice stamp, but more spendy than I was originally planning on. That said if there are people out there prepared to pay a reasonable price then it might be worth the gamble
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Yep, I think you can command a better price purely by adding a year to its age! Best of luck, wish you were selling now!!
 
Sprig said:
To give some of you some hope I recently started horse hunting again and within 10 days found what I was looking for. 16hh, 13yo Irish type, been eventing, doing very well at BE90, moves well (we just won and came 3rd in dressage at the weekend after owning him 2 weeks and no time in a school), hacks beautifully and is an all round good egg. I paid £4500 for him and I would have happily paid an awful lot more (if I had the budget! Thankfully he was just in budget at his advertised price). I was keeping a close eye on all the for sale sites and luckily was the first to call about him. Last time I was horse hunting it took me 8 months to find something. I think a lot of it is luck of the draw but also relentless searching. Look everywhere. I found him on Horsemart, which is not where I would normally expect to see a horse of his calibre advertised.
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Lucky you! :)
 
Me I want the impossible! 6 -9 year old 14 h to 15.1h totally sane but flash enough to do a nice affiliated dressage test and some low level jumping. Oh and without a massive price tag!
 
Oh, I am always horse hunting ;) If I see something I want I have the space, my numbers have dropped from 10 to 2 in a year, I can fit another small one in :D
Always in the market for 13.2 - 14h dilute Paso Fino mares.

Annoyingly I can get good, made horses for about $2500, but they are usually in Florida, which adds on another $2000 for shipping, coggins, quarantine etc. If I could find a palomino in Canada I would snap it up, but if they aren't in Ontario then they are 3000 miles away on the other side of the country and shipping costs rear their ugly heads again.
 
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I'm shopping too - I'm after something minimum 16hh, 6-12 years old, no preference for breed / sex / colour (although not a fan of coloured with a lot of white). Must be established at prelim as a minimum, and I'd like to progress to elementary on it (my dreams are little ones :p). Must hack safely alone, and if it can pop teeny (60cm) courses for fun it would be a bonus. Can't stand showing so cosmetic lumps and bumps are fine. Don't mind vices, within reason. Budget is around £4k - I could stretch a bit. I'm in North Yorkshire!
 
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