I was kind of thinking of volunteering at a horse adoption shelter so I was checking out the website. I was stunned to see that some of the adoption fees were in the range of $4000! I mean you could buy one at that price and probably a better one. Is this normal??
[QUOTE=Ladylexie;7892094]
I was kind of thinking of volunteering at a horse adoption shelter so I was checking out the website. I was stunned to see that some of the adoption fees were in the range of $4000! I mean you could buy one at that price and probably a better one. Is this normal??[/QUOTE]
For adoptions, nope not normal.
For a setup like CANTER where the horse changes hands permanently and without restrictions on future sales/ use? That is a facilitated sale and you pay a sale price, even if it is not much.
Depends on what the horse is and what it’s doing. Much like the rare purebred toy puppies go for $$$$ at our local shelter, the rescue might be using high adoption fees on the nicer horses to offset the cost of keeping the less adoptable horses.
Depends on the rescue, the horse, and the conditions of the adoption.
$4,000 does seem high, but to me it would depend on the above conditions. Some adoption contracts essentially turn into a bill of sale after a year and some never let ownership of the horse move from the rescue. If the horse is decently trained, I could see an adoption fee being that high.
A while back, I knew a rescue that took a horse as a donation. He was a pretty solid hunter/jumper/equitation horse for the local circuit, but his owners needed him to move. I think his owners wrote off ~$20,000 and the rescue adopted him out to someone for about $5,000.
There is a rescue I know about that is really, IMO, more of a hoarding operation funded by public donations than a rescue. They have ridiculously high adoption fees coupled with ridiculous adoption requirements, which means that their rescue horses are rarely adopted.
[QUOTE=Ladylexie;7892094]
I was kind of thinking of volunteering at a horse adoption shelter so I was checking out the website. I was stunned to see that some of the adoption fees were in the range of $4000! I mean you could buy one at that price and probably a better one. Is this normal??[/QUOTE]
You aren’t providing enough information for anyone to help decipher whether or not the adoption fee is “normal”.
Where are the horses from, how old and sound are they and how much training have they had?
Take for example an OTTB. Depending on its age, breeding, color and number of starts, the adoption fee can range from free to 4,000+.
It’s no big secret that a gray TB or one with some nice chrome will usually command a higher price than a dark bay or chestnut with little to no white markings.
Additionally, a horse “adoption shelter” may not necessarily be the same as a “rescue”, so again, without more details from you, it’s difficult to answer your question.
Not normal, unless it’s a horse with a lot of show experience. Look at ReRun or New Vocations for reasonable prices.
Second Stride also has lower fees and it’s not really an adoption contract.
I’m looking at an OTTB that’s at a ‘rescue’ right now, but it’s really more of a rehoming facility. They have a good relationship with a very large breeder/owner (800 horses+) and they buy the horses that the breeder/owner and ‘rescuers’ believe will make good sport horses (whether that be dressage, show jumping, fox hunting etc).
They put some light miles on them in the ring, after lots of turnout and trail riding.
They’re asking more than double your 4k, but I feel like it’s an appropriate price. So it really depends on many factors, more than it being a ‘rescue’.
(I should also mention that there are no adoption ‘clauses’ ie. I am allowed to resell the horse whenever I please, but they are open that they will refuse to sell a horse if they don’t think it’s a good fit and really encourage people to come out and ride the horses as much as they want before purchasing)
For 4k, I could buy 4 good pleasure mounts or 8 large ponies that are good pleasure mounts.
Plus, rescues have insane rules, contracts and all the inspections and check-ups…What am I, a convicted criminal!?? Give me a break!
The adoption fees at the big rescue near me range from $400-$1500.
[QUOTE=Ladylexie;7892094]
I was kind of thinking of volunteering at a horse adoption shelter so I was checking out the website. I was stunned to see that some of the adoption fees were in the range of $4000! I mean you could buy one at that price and probably a better one. Is this normal??[/QUOTE]
Welcome to the wonder world of…constructive fraud.
In reality you adopt children; you buy or lease a horse. Horses are chattels (personal property). We stopped selling humans as property in this country in 1866 (IIRC).
I have not read the full thread and have no idea who these folks are. The fees suggested here are completely outrageous. If they are getting this kind of money for animals they don’t need “volunteer labor.” They need to pay wages and benefits.
I’d do some real serious checking on the bona fides of this organization before I got involved with them.
G.
Agree - be sure it’s really “adoption.” E.g. Finger Lakes Trainer Listings are sales, not adoptions. Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program, is adoption. Neither is better than the other; but they are definitely different.
[QUOTE=Peaches;7892169]
A while back, I knew a rescue that took a horse as a donation. He was a pretty solid hunter/jumper/equitation horse for the local circuit, but his owners needed him to move. I think his owners wrote off ~$20,000 and the rescue adopted him out to someone for about $5,000.[/QUOTE]
I would like to see how that was viewed by the IRS as normally donors are only allowed to write off their contributions of money, food, and supplies to animal rescue not something that is to be rescued unless they were able to convence the IRS the donate was inventory … but ihow did they get $20K when the rescue valued it at $5k… yeah I know a whole different discussion so carry on with this thread
[QUOTE=clanter;7894531]
I would like to see how that was viewed by the IRS as normally donors are only allowed to write off their contributions of money, food, and supplies to animal rescue not something that is to be rescued unless they were able to convence the IRS the donate was inventory … but ihow did they get $20K when the rescue valued it at $5k… yeah I know a whole different discussion so carry on with this thread[/QUOTE]
I’ve seen this done several times. The (nice) horse is donated and meant to be used as a fund-raising opportunity. It’s not “being rescued.”
It’s the same as donating to a school. The school is not required to keep the horse to be used by students…many also use them as fundraisers and sell them off, either at big prices to private homes, or for whatever they can get at the local auction.
Either way, horse owner gets their write off for the full value, and the rescue/school gets funds from the sale of the horse.
There’s a whole lotta tax fraud out there. I once met a woman who, along with her husband, had set herself up as some sort of religious organization. She very proudly told us at dinner how she got the horse she was riding in the clinic that weekend. A very nice horse, I must say. Somebody had “donated” the horse, supposedly valued at $1M (previously some big-time jumper, or so she said), to her “church” and according to her wrote off that $1M. “Win win,” she squealed!
I asked her what a horse had to do with her church work, to which she simply replied, “Oh, anybody can donate anything they want.”
The IRS apparently tends to turn a blind eye when it comes to any group that claims tax-exempt status for religious purposes.
