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Food for thought
when looking for a horse to buy Many people have advised me that I should buy horses, put some training into them and sell. When I hear this I laugh. Selling horses is hard. Most people are very unaware of what goes into the training of the horse. I am very systematic and emotionally involved with whatever horse I work with. Those cheap off the track horses for me have ended up being a one - two year project ending with limitations. I have learned horses bred for it's job and putting in the training time, has been well worth the time, energy, and financial investment. Two types of horses sell easily - very cheap and very expensive. It takes a lot of work to promote and sell horses. Personally, I would rather deal with very expensive. However, I choose not to go anywhere near buying and selling for a quick buck. I salute those who do and wish them great profits. To those reading this, I would like to give you food for thought. First be sensitive to the time and money that may have been put into a horses training. How much time has been put in? How long have they had the horse? Has the horse competed? To what level has the horse competed? Does it have registration papers? If the horse has competed is the horse registered with USEF, USDF and USCTA? Is it well bred with excellent conformation. Are there radiographs on the horse already? That would tell you something about the seller.This can save you money and give you something to compare if you choose to radiograph in pre purchase. It can also save you a lot of money too. You may not have to spend money on radiographs. How expensive is that $25,000 horse really? Let's break some prices down. I will be using warmbloods in my example. I do understand there are many horses that are inexpensive. You may truly not be able to make a big investment. But take note, the horse in the end will have limitations. You may have to end up looking all over again in a few years. I will admit, once in a while you can find that $600.00 horse that makes it to the Olympics. You can also spend your whole life looking for that great deal. But this article is about the investment of a registered well bred warmblood sport horses. I will start with young horse investment. Mare care, stud fees, vet fees and aftercare go into producing a foal. Weanling prices start at $ 5,000 and up. Good for the breeder - sooner they sell, the less risk and investment. You get the best price for a very high quality horse. Yearlings prices can vary between 6,500 -10,000.00. Two year old seem to start at $8,500 and range up to $15,000. Three year old go for $10,000 and up. Can they be found less expensive, absolutely. This is only a general guide line and prices are influenced by supply, and demand, bloodlines, conformation, emotion, results in breeds shows and early elements of training. Now,
let's look at your investment. I will stay on the frugal side. This
price breakdown does not include any emergencies, extra vet bills, fly
spray, fly masks, breed shows, horse shows, books, so forth and so on.
Those who have horses will definitely understand the extras I am not
including. Most that have had lots of horses will laugh at how
frugal I am being. I am sure I will get many emails saying I need to
raise the costs. This is only to give you food for thought. Think about this - look at the risk you have taken along the way. You hope they will turn out the way you want. You hope they will move or jump and have the temperament you want. Why did you buy this young olympic hopeful? To save money of course! Did you really save money? I ask you? Why do you have a problem paying $15,000 for a 3 year old that has been started? You know what you have and how the horse fits you. You have the opportunity to ride the horse and vet the horse. But yet people feel that is to much money and the sellers are crazy. Here is another example: This is an actual approximate estimate of my personal investment on a young Trakehner colt that I bought in Canada in 1996. I bought him as a stallion prospect. I wanted to save money, the exchange was excellent. I did end up selling him in the end. Not because he was a poor quality horse and did not do the job. Getting stallions approved is very high risk. He was not approved, after much thought I did sell him. Purchase
price $5,500. (good deal right?)
2 years old The prices above do not include my time, gas, equipment and any other expenses that go with owning and training horses. Oxyd was sold coming 5 years. He had awesome temperament, was a great jumper and well seasoned in the show ring up to his sale time. Oxyd sold for $23,500.00. In fact the buyer showed up on a Saturday and did a bank transfer on Monday. Do you think she got a good deal? I would like to share with you I ended up taking out a loan and buying an Approved Stallion, L.A. Baltic Sundance. Turned out to be a wonderful experience with no regrets. I did go in with the thought it might not work out, there are no guarantees. But I did my homework, and I felt the risk was a low one. I was right. I rarely have a horse for sale. But when I do, I would be happy to break down the costs. You will find that maybe not so expensive. When you go looking at horses, please keep in mind what has been put into them. If you can get on a horse and it will do exactly what you want, maybe the price is not so much. Horses are expensive, training is expensive respect that. Comment from one of my boarders after reading this article. "It is just as expensive to board, shoe, feed, show, etc. a cheap horse as an expensive one. If you amortize the up front price of your steed over its life, it will quickly calculate out to "pennies per day." Well, maybe not pennies - it really depends on the horse's life span. But kick the Latte habit and put those $3.00 Starbucks coffees toward something that is much more durable, healthful and rewarding. It is very hard to do horses "on the cheap." It isn't a cheap avocation. And, the same boarder has recently learned first hand there is a huge difference in starting out with an animal of excellent quality, good breeding, character and natural talent". Note:
I have gotten some very interesting emails in response to this article.
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