I have been a working student selling horses for quite a bit and now want to start flipping my own. I know a ton of places with cheap draft x horses but I have been having trouble finding cheaper warmbloods on the east coast. Does anyone know anyone who sells at good prices (can be unbroken, and young)
What’s your definition of cheap?
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20k under
Hawk Hollow Farm in NY somewhat recently had a number of gorgeous young warmbloods for sale for $10k IIRC. She lost her young horse trainer so they hadn’t been backed - hence the price. She tends to have really nice horses so worth a look!
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Just something to bear in mind:
For horses bred domestically, just to get a foal on the ground it is a minimum of $10k, often more. Assuming you want a horse of riding age, you’re looking at between $5-10k additional investment for each year the breeder (or owner) has the horse. If you want something that’s over 4 and has been backed, someone (or multiple people) has probably put between $30-40k into the horse.
For horses that are imported, I cannot find ones with clean x-rays, good brains, and any kind of show record for less than $30k. And it’s not easy. Greener and younger at the reputable European auctions might get you a better deal on a jumper type. But they’re still not free. And then it’s another $12k to land it here if it’s a gelding, $17k if it’s a mare. Plus, now there is a 10% tariff on European horses. So you’re looking at $40-50k minimum just off the plane, no Americanization.
All this to say, if you’re looking for something that’s under $20k, someone somewhere is losing money on this horse. The reason for that may be innocuous (person has other life events and just can’t invest anymore, etc). But more often than not, the reason they’ll take the loss is because the horse has a physical or mental issue that became too much for the owner or breeder to deal with.
You might be able to find a good deal. You may even find one with an issue you can personally deal with. But I always like to caution people shopping at this price point for warmbloods specifically that there’s a reason they are priced below what someone has invested in them.
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Agree. Often, you can find one-off deals due to owner/breeder circumstances, but to be looking for a consistent, repeatable “source” for warmbloods (registered? Assuming quality lines here, not Something x Something “WB”) is a BIG ask.
Weanlings or perhaps some lesser known breeding unbacked 2yos might be possible in that range. There’s a few FB groups that might be worth joining, too.
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What’s your actual goal for the sales horse? Solid w/t/c safe for a reasonably talented amateur to take to their trainer to bring along their choice of discipline?
Does it HAVE to be a WB? 3/4 TB x draft can be a really nice horse for a lot of things. You can get some really nice TBs off the track, some of whom have even already been re-started, for well under $20k
IMHO, the WB situation you’re looking for is a here and there “oh hey by the way…” opportunity, not a regular, for all the reasons listed above.
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Keep an eye on http://www.virginiaequestrian.com/main.cfm?action=classifieds&CatID=18 . I have occasionally seen young horses on there for decent prices from small time breeders. Full disclosure some of them are known in VA and are slightly nuts. Or more than slightly nuts.
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Beware of the HHF horses. There is a reason unregistered horses from from $35k to $10k overnight. Check Facebook warmblood pages for more details.
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How vague. This is a strange first post.
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If we are going to vague post, I will add be wary of people selling Dutch Harness Horses as Dutch Warmbloods.
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Ah yes, make sure to check bloodlines and papers with a truly knowledgeable party - one would hate to think they have a KWPN of the “jumper/dressage” lines only to find they ACTUALLY have a DHH of the harness type. Especially if resale to a certain market that does not love the harness type is the plan.
Anyway. Be careful. If a WB of any supposed quality is ringing in under $20k, do your research and make sure you know what you’re getting. This includes weanlings and in-utero.
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If you’re looking at geldings, papers won’t matter nearly as much as what the horse in front of you looks like, assuming the horse is at least 3, and by the time you’re looking to flip, he can show his reasonable potential. But something you buy as an unstarted 2yo and want to sell as a basic super green broke 3yo with w/t/c would need a known pedigree if you’re looking to sell to someone who wants reasonably upper level work.
No, you’re not likely to sell a horse with an unknown pedigree as an upper level prospect, even if he looks like he’s got the potential as a greenie, but if that’s not your market, then it’s less of a big deal.
Mares are where pedigree matters more, since some will want to be able to go the breeding route if their nice mare gets injured. But then you’re back in the “good mares with good pedigrees aren’t really in flipper territory” boat.
So it really comes down to what your audience is. You really have to have one, to know what type of horse to buy
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Sent you a pm. You can absolutely find these horses if you are willing to start them yourself
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I find the DHH look distinct enough that you can usually tell before seeing the papers at least
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I pmed you because I don’t think yours came through
It was a vague-post about a debacle related to that exact issue. The take away being if it’s too good to be true, look twice; if it seems a little crazy, it might be crazy.
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It sounds like this person wants to buy something that’s of the age to be started under saddle so they can flip it… in which case it wouldn’t be applicable to the person y’all are posting vaguely about.
But it will still be very difficult to find a quality WB of that age under $20k, imo…
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Flipping started draft crosses is a very different business model from properly starting young warmbloods. I’d make sure you have a deep toolkit on the ground and under saddle along with a good mentor and a back up plan if you end up with a challenging young horse. Some babies can make anyone look good and there are some that 6 months in are making people wonder whether their brains will ever arrive in the mail.
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I have flipped quite a few warmbloods as well, we just don’t have a solid source for them.
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