Young Dressage horse prices?

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Louise_88

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I know there are quite afew experienced dressage people on here so thought you might be able to answer my questions. What do you have to pay for a young dressage horse ,well bred, good movement etc with the potential for the higher stuff? At the ages of 2, 3 and 4yrs abroad and in England?

I realise this question is abit like 'how long is a piece of string' as there are a whole range of prices for different quality. I've been looking at Stallions i like the the look off i love Sir Donnerhall, San Amour and Sarkozy and i've seen some of there offspring and they look lovely, what might they fetch? It's not that i could ever afford one but it intrigues me and i can always dream. :)

One last question what are the really popular stallions now?
 
I think it depends what you mean by higher levels, if you mean a world beater then the sky is the limit -- there are plenty of babies sold for £200k, £300k. If it doesn't have to be a world beater then you can find youngsters for all sorts of prices, even very cheap, a lot of trainers are adamant that *any* horse should be able to get to at least PSG with good training. And a GP horse is made not bought :D

As for popular stallions right now, Belissimo M, Quaterback, are a few which spring to mind!
 
Will be cheaper at 2 and 3 than broken in 4 yearolds - obviously!

Anything from 10 grand to 200 grand or more. Depends what you mean by higher stuff as FB says. A horse that will get you to PSG is not that uncommon a thing and wont break the bank, a GP prospect horse more, an international GP prospect seriously more. If you look at something like the PSI auctions the 4/5 year olds go for 30k ish up to about ten times that. However, baby horses you cant tell if they really have the brain for the job, wont get crocked etc and as FB says in part these horses are made by the training they have and that is why you pay a lot for a GP prospect thats at PSG, because you can tell by then pretty much if its going to make it etc.

No breeding expert but people do go a bit in fashions with stallions and you only have to see how many unimpressive relatives of totilas there are out there to know just because its related to a famous horse wont make it a great horse. Probably cheaper to get a good horse who isnt by such a fashionable stallion.
 
Your best bet might be to go do the rounds of some breeders in Germany and see what you can get. I would imagine the prices rise sharply between 2 and 4, and it might also depend on other incidental factors, e.g. if you are looking for a smaller horse (under 16.1hh let's say) they will be cheaper than the larger ones (over 16.1hh) - this is not a reflection on the quality or ability of the horse in my opinion, just a market prejudice for large horses.
 
You are always going to get the Donnerhal/Sandro Hit stallions which are very popular along with Jazz aswell. Breeding your own is generally cheaper than buying, but then it depends if you have a good enough mare to breed with or not, and obviously there are a lot of risks involved.

If you are after an international GP horse obviously that is going to cost you a lot more than one that will go to say PSG and do a reasonable test. Most horses with correct training from an early age can get to PSG, but it dosent mean they are going to be world beaters. I reckon you could pick up a 2yr old for around 3/4k that could take you to PSG if you looked around hard enough. But to get the ones that are going all the way i would go to an auction and buy - even then you never know what you are going to get but at the auctions you will get the more elite end of the market. Like people have said, 200 - 300k can get paid at auctions for a decent youngster.
 
I've got a beautiful youngster by a now unfashionable stallion (Catherston Dazzler), see photo left, taken as a yearling. Wouldn't trade her for any poor relative of a popular stallion. Movement to die for.
 
Agree with what has already been said. You CAN find bargains and training/good riding plays the biggest part of all. There are trainers who get horse after horse to GP, not all world beaters but it shows what a consistent training method can achieve. My trainer is getting mid 60% at GP on a 16yo ArabxHannoverian with very average paces.

The difference between the 120k young horse and the 12k horse is often the former will be far easier to produce BY A GOOD RIDER as it will naturally have the ability to collect, piaffe etc and likely be very sharp to ride, wheras the cheaper horse will likely have the breeding and fair paces but is not going to have quite the same athletic ability and be endowed with the springs on its feet if you like! But correct training can still get the horse far, but it might physically not be possible to obtain the 70% at the upper levels where cadence and expression play a part. But In general the cheaper less extravagant horse may be easier for the "average" amateur, as it's perhaps less sharp and hence more tolerant to rider error. Even then there are many amateurs struggling with supposedly tricky yet talented mid priced horses, but really are they as difficult as Parzival and Alf once were??!!

Generalising a lot here but the main thing is paying big money for a youngster is useless unless you're a brilliant rider or can afford the necessary training.
 
Thanks everybody, some really great info there. Having managed to find some youngsters for sale by the popular stallions it looks like I could actually, only just about, afford a foal and to be honest when they are that young i have know idea what im looking at! I'll have to keep saving :) I would love to go down the breeding route as obviously that is the much cheaper, if slightly risky, way to do things but I have nothing like the quality of mare needed.

I have a horse that I have stumbled into dressage with at the minute, he has fair paces and an active hind leg with a great attitude to work and training and is also very sensitive off the leg (bred for showjumping bought to event now hes doing dressage :) ) so I am hoping with him I will be able to learn how to teach a horse the higher movements and see how we do.

I might in a year or so after abit of saving be wanting to go abroad to look at some breeders, does anyone know how would you go about organising something like that? Or info on the auctions? Like i said it's just a dream really.
 
Dressager makes a really good point, similar to what I was told when I bought my current horse as a 5 year old - I hadnt done any competitive dressage and wanted to get something to go up the levels. Was told to get something with good, true paces but nothing too flash. Was really good advice actually and have learned loads getting him up to PSG. He will never win at this level but now I feel ready for something that would go further and has more movement. And I have had some years to save up for horse 2 who hopefully I will get this year.

So dont be down ! Saving up and also buying a baby horse for the future are not bad plans. But in the meantime keep working away with your current horse. You will get lots of knowledge and fun from doing this I promise and in the meantime your slush fund will grow :). Will leave the foals and auctions qus to others as know nothing about either.
 
Thanks IMR. I have evented abit and trained a couple of TB horses to Medium/advanced medium level and one who trained to PSG at home but have never competed bar eventing dressage. I've never had a horse who i feel could be competitive at these levels and i think the one i have now could be but likely not to be a GP horse even if he can learn the movements. i know how lucky i am to have him and im going to have alot of fun with him, just now thinking about getting a young one with even more potential because i'm greedy and like spending any penny/time i have on risky things! haha :)
 
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