I don’t think most people would propose hard work for this type but it would be unusual where I am that he hadn’t been sat on yet.
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Eh. One of our new listings is an imported 5 y.o. sat on the for the first time this year and it will be hitting the market in the low sixes.
Out of the 7 new listings we’ve gotten this week only 1 is priced under 6 figs.
Two 8 y.o.s, two 7 y.o.s, one 5 y.o. and one 4 y.o.
The market is straight bananas y’all.
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It’s definitely not here. If you want to do the young jumper classes, well your 5 year old needs to be capable at the beginning of the show year of doing a meter 15. If you didn’t even sit on them until 4 you are probably going to have issues getting there. If you didn’t until 5? Heck that’s almost impossible. Also, at least around here, it’s seen as beneficial to get on the bigger horses when they still aren’t quite so big so that there’s less of a fuss.
2-3 is when most get sat on around me. This is very basic, usually they are sat on 3-4 times and then turned out for the winter to grow up. It’s not enough work to put them under undue stress, just enough that when your horse is older and more opinionated he already knows the drill.
The issue is, is that the second you have had a human on a horses back it’s price goes up considerably. And if you want a higher price, you have to have comparable to those other horses in that price bracket. Maybe by you it won’t be an issue ( I know there’s pockets of the USA and Canada where prices are inflated mainly due to location), but I know around me you would probably have a hard time moving a unbroke horse for 25 CAD/20 USD.
Unless this horse has something else going for it? Excellent pedigree? Half brother to some big name horse? Doing one tempis in its paddock? Was graded really awesome at his inspection? Etc.
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But those horses are all doing something. An imported 5-year-old, even if broke this year, has almost certainly been free-jumped and, if broke in Europe, has been pushed a lot more quickly than a North American counterpart would’ve been—for better or worse.
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My yearling is obviously unstarted but if we were to put her on the market her price would be well north of 25k.
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A yearling is a different story entirely. A yearling is expected to have not done much. Not so with a 4 year old
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I think this is where you and I disagree, young horse classes are what are creating the 9 and 10 year old that need to step down. Asking a 4 year old to be showing a meter, or a 5 year old to show 1.15 is too much wear and tear on their body - I prefer to take it slow and have a horse that is sound well into their 20’s. That’s my personal opinion.
Also I don’t know where you live but sitting on a 2 year old warmblood around here would definitely get you some dirty looks and talked about behind your back. Plus it would deter many people from giving your horse a second look.
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The 4 year old in question has been “doing something”. He’s been free jumped, lunged, tacked up, visited busy roads, learned ground manners, ect. You’re just assuming that he’s been sitting a field never being handled.
OK, that’s great. I’m sure it’s a nice horse, but you asked people’s opinions and they’re sharing them. 
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Yes? I know that but you were answering under the assumption he’d done nothing so I corrected you? Sorry if that rubbed you the wrong way this was a post about his specifically so I assumed you’d want to know information about him to answer? Guess not. Everyone seems to be taking everything very personally, at the end of the day you’re welcome to do whatever you want with your own horses. I’m happy with the fact that I gave him an extra year and the right person will like that too. Not every warmblood is going to become a Grand Prix showjumper.
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It is reasonable to have this opinion, but you need to be prepared to keep the horse until it’s established under saddle, or adjust the price downwards to account for the fact that the pool of potential buyers is smaller for a horse that is unbacked.
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Umm no. No they aren’t, there are many horses who have done the young horse classes and been perfectly fine from that. A meter on a 16 or 17 hand warm blood baby isn’t that much, especially in the young horse classes as they are supposed to be extremely inviting.
You can have a horse who isn’t started until 8 who is suffering from serious lameness at 12, and you can have horses who have been ridden since they were 2 be sound and competitive into their 30’s.
And no, no it wouldn’t. I don’t know where you live that someone would be surprised at all to have a two year old under saddle. It’s common. Have you been to a racetrack ever?
We aren’t going out and jumping and galloping our 2 year old warmbloods around. But I expect any 3 year old to have been sat on, walked around, and have a basic understanding of stop, go, and turn.
You have asked for opinions here and it’s largely the opinion that your horse should have been started already to be in a higher price bracket. It’s fine if you didnt want to start him yet, but don’t get upset when people give their opinions.
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No one is assuming that. Those are givens. If your four year old doesn’t have ground manners then there’s some serious issues going on.
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Why are you taking this so personally? I said that’s my opinion you don’t need to get so bent out of shape about it. I’m explaining what my personal experiences have been and you’re getting mad about it? At some point your going to have to realize that not everyone is going to agree with you. Get off your high horse. You don’t need to be condescending and rude (“have you been to a racetrack ever?”) just because I disagree with you, this was a post asking about putting my horse up for sale, not a post to hear everyone’s opinions on how personally offended you are that my 4 year old isn’t backed.
I’ve been getting a lot of unsolicited advice about a 4 year old that none you know anything about (breeding, history, temperament, ect) - this is not what the original question was about and I don’t want to hear about how upset you are that my horse isn’t backed, good he’s not for you then. As I’ve already said the right person will be okay with that.
The only one who has acted offended in this thread is you. You asked for opinions then acted defensive when you didn’t like the answers.
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If you already know all this, then what’s your question? I have no ill will or hard feelings nor am I taking anything personally; I just have a differing opinion as I have a 3-year-old who’s going under saddle with lead changes. He’s ridden maybe twice a month and has popped over a crossrail a few times. That’s just my expectation for that age.
You said your alternative is to let him sit for another two years (at which point you have an unstarted 6-year-old) or sell him. Most of us are saying that his value will drop precipitously as an unbacked 6-year-old.
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I asked peoples opinions about selling my horse, did you not read my first answer? I did not for anything else. I’m not going to respond to you again because this is pointless and I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall, we can agree to disagree.
I was simply asking about selling him now or not? I not some emotionless person who can sell a horse on a whim, it’s a hard decision emotionally for me. I’ve owned him since he was a yearling and I’m attached to him, sue me. I did not ask for the replies chastising me for not having him started.
Anyways, I think this is enough internet for me, thank you to everyone who was kind enough to give their opinions I really appreciated it.
