Concerned about eventer price tags. Where does this leave our sport??

[Marginally_Safe]

Recently I have seen quite a few Rolex horses go up for sale. Not top finishers but horses that have the experience and can take a ambitious pro up the levels. This price range is between 50k-90k. I know of a “team horse” that got offered high 6-low 7 figures. For a team horse!!! Excuse my French makes me think WTF? Maybe it is because I have been working in DQ land for too long but we have 2 horses in the barn priced in the low 6 figure range no higher than 2nd level. I know 1.15m jumpers priced around there. A team horse in the dressage, hunter jumper land would be multiple millions. So where does that leave us eventers?

And don’t get me wrong I have seen the higher priced prelim/intermediate horse with talent in the low 6 range but in hind sight our horses just don’t seem to be selling on par with the other 2 Olympic disciplines. Or any other high performance discipline for that matter. Anyone care to shed light? Will we ever get the prize money for our sport to make our horses more “valuable”?

[rizzodm]

Hmm maybe I should have looked at eventers to be my next dressage horse.

[Couture_TB]

Sadly eventers have always been the lowest priced out of all three disciplines.

[JER]

Are you saying that you want event horses to be more expensive?

[independentlyawesome]

Why is this concerning?

A reasonable pricetag means that talented, less-wealthy riders can excel in the sport more easily than in other disciplines.

[Janet]

From a different perspective, Eventers are a LOT more expensive than they used to be.

Price is all a question of supply and demand.

While there are many more people in the market for Eventing horses than there use to be, the ratio of potential buyers to upper level Event horses is MUCH smaller than the ratio for Dressage and Show Jumping horses.

[JER]

Also, Marginally Safe, if you’d like to lead the way in higher prices for eventers, you’re more than welcome to overpay for one of mine.

[Snugglerug]

This is ridiculous. Enough people are priced out of equestrian sports–all of them–as it is. Really, you’re complaining that the price for an eventer is too low? :rolleyes:

[beowulf]

I think OP was more concerned about the value of our UL horses and them not being priced fair to their talent or accordingly, not that people aren’t paying enough.

It’s true, a 2nd level dressage horse can go for over six figures easily, and a comparable eventer that has the same dressage knowledge goes for a fraction the price.

[Scaramouch]

I think what the OP is trying to say is that it can cost $50K just in show and transportation expenses to get a horse to ****. She’s not talking about the horses the majority of amateurs are in the market for.

In light of that, is it not a concern that it’s even less likely to sell an elite event horse for more than what was spent bringing it up the levels than it is in other disciplines?

Or do we really think that proven upper-level horses should be affordable for everyone and their cousin? Not saying they necessarily are, but that’s the way the responses are trending.

If so, where’s the business incentive to produce them? Don’t we always lament the dearth of well-heeled owners available to support more of our talented riders? I’m sure in part that’s because of the nature of the sport, but it’s also because rich people got that way by being smart with their money and don’t rush into ventures that make no business sense whatsoever.

[Marginally_Safe]

From a sellers point of view yes. You put years and years of training into a Rolex horse and a measly 50k is all you get. When in another discipline 50k will buy you an average 5 year old with maybe a green change.

Im guess I am referring to the pro rides and the potential (and already made 3/4* horse). A team horse is 750k-1m for an event horse and Eurocommerce London was recently auctioned for 11.8 million. Yes he won gold at the Olympics but in that sense i can buy 11+ team event horses for the price of one show jumper.

For someone to make a living out of producing event horses, horses would have to be bought cheap put a quick 6 months on them because beyond that your are barely breaking even.

In my case I have a super super super horse that the owners are aiming towards dressage because he is worth double as a dressage horse even though it wants to jump. That is the point I am trying to make and where the frustration is coming from. Eventers work just as hard if not harder to produce their horses but in the long run they are worth less.

Almost forgot my flame suit.

[Marginally_Safe]

beowulf and Scaramouch nailed it

[tinah]

Seems to me that if you are looking to make a living in horses you are doing it wrong. The prices fire Hunters and dressage horses are so outlandish because a huge part of the target market just wants to ride the pretty pony and are willing to pay for the privilege.

[SnicklefritzG]

[QUOTE=Scaramouch;7602191]

[snip]

If so, where’s the business incentive to produce them? Don’t we always lament the dearth of well-heeled owners available to support more of our talented riders? I’m sure in part that’s because of the nature of the sport, but it’s also because rich people got that way by being smart with their money and don’t rush into ventures that make no business sense whatsoever.[/QUOTE]

I imagine there are some people who are in eventing for the love of the sport. However, if a rich owner wanted to get some return on their initial investment, I think they would choose a different discipline. Some show jumpers are going for astronomical sums, so that I imagine would be a factor for some people.

[JenEM]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;7602212]
I imagine there are some people who are in eventing for the love of the sport. However, if a rich owner wanted to get some return on their initial investment, I think they would choose a different discipline. Some show jumpers are going for astronomical sums, so that I imagine would be a factor for some people.[/QUOTE]

Show jumpers can also win money and make back some of the cost, or at least expenses on them, if they’re good. There’s no payback like that in Eventing. People are a little more willing to shell out $100K+ on a horse when there are plenty of opportunities to make it back.

[goodmorning]

Well the smart thing to do if you wanted to make money would be to sell it to the hunter jumper or dressage crowd. If you really think you are going to make money in this industry…

As the pro riders constantly griping about costs, could you imagine forming a syndicate to purchase a $5million horse? Do you want to do that to this sport? With money, comes greed, and many other things…MLM was apparently caught trying to sneak in her vet…she sells jumpers too…want to go down that road?

George Morris a few days ago on the current status of h/j land - you want to take eventing here?
“The United States forgot to be serious. That’s why we have big owners going to Europe for riders. Why would you want to have a kindergartener ride your horse when you could have a graduate? We got cocky, fat and happy. The US has become content with business and money, losing the competitiveness of the sport.”

[RockstarPony]

I would think that there’s much less of a market for an UL eventer than there is for a jumper or dressage horse. The handful of riders with wealthy owners are probably more interested in getting a super talented youngster to take to the top than one that’s already gone around and had middling results. Everyone else is pouring all their sales commissions and lesson money into campaigning one nice horse, and it would be a huge risk for them to throw that one away for something they don’t know. I can’t imagine that most UL riders are advertising their horses for sale unless they really have to, so it makes sense that they’re asking for what they think they can get, even if it is much lower than what it would be for a comparable dressage horse or jumper.

[Peaches]

I’ve seen the prices on two Rolex horses that are for sale. Here’s how I see it:

They aren’t team horses. They’re not going to have the dressage scores needed to win. Sure, they’ll get you around a course safely, but where’s the market for a going 4* horse that is not going to be competitive? A pro is not going to put together a syndicate for a horse just to gain experience on, which means those horses are being marketed towards Young Riders and AAs. That puts the horses in the 2* market. Still, they would probably not win the dressage. If you look at them marketed as YR horses that won’t be competitive dressage-wise but will get you around XC safely, the prices seem more reasonable.

In the past couple of months, I have been astounded by the selling price of several event horses. Horses, particularly in CA, seem extremely overpriced. High five figures for a 1* horse with talent? Back when I was competing, the going price for such a horse was less than half of what it is now.

Sure, there is less money in eventing compared to other disciplines. I don’t care about other sports. I like eventing. I’d prefer that the prices didn’t skyrocket (as they seem to be doing). Even within other disciplines, the price of a young dressage horse seems like pennies compared to what it would sell for in hunter land.

I also don’t think eventing has the market for schoolmasters that dressage horses do. If I want to putter around Novice, a horse that has done -Novice- will do just fine. If I want to putter around 2nd level while playing with lead changes, half pass, maybe piaffe, really any of the “fancy stuff,” I’ll probably want a horse that has done so competitively.

[wildlifer]

I’d say that if someone wants to make money in a business, they must have been intoxicated if they chose horses! Just because it’s a cliche doesn’t make it false:

“If you’ve made a small fortune in the horse business, you must have started out with a large one.”

I guess if eventers are “cheaper” ($50k is so out of my universe, I don’t think I’d even buy it if it cooked me dinner), then the riders have more money left over for lessons - and who doesn’t need those?

[FitToBeTied]

It seems that the if event horses sell for less then it is only an issue for those that are trying to make a living buying and selling them.