I own the Sir Gregory mentioned in the above listing and would like to speak with you. He is going to make a a very nice hunter in the future, and have debated selling him and keeping as my own show horse, but I need to make room and am trying to sell him before the summer.
My More Than Luck filly is also for sale, her price is higher as she is getting closer to riding age and is showing derby potential. If you go up in budget I might be able to work something out with you.
[QUOTE=stoicfish;7470566]
A couple of things.
Just because someone in business puts money into to something does not make it “worth” more. Especially horses. If someone wants to breed horses that has to board them, lives in an expensive part of the country, has an uninspected mares…and so on, that does not make the foals equal to the input costs.
A top horse will always be worth good money regardless of the input costs.
You could use frozen and the stud fee could be less than 1k, do the repo work yourself on your own farm (either learn or be a vet) and put in less than 6k including mare costs. The foal could be a dud and not be worth 5k or it could be worth 18k.
Dressage foals are usually worth more because people think they can see they can see the talent. Jumper foals are worth less because their talent is unknown until they go through a chute or are undersaddle
If you look at the Europeans, you see some of the best bloodlines go for cheap (under 5k) at elite foal sales. You also might see a foal go for 60k as it depends on the quality of the foal.
So the point is, it doesn’t really matter if some people can’t breed a horse for under 8k, it is the quality of horse they get out and the market they are selling them in.
I don’t get the “popular” hunter sire thing but I do know there are a ton of young horses out there that can jump 3ft for under 10k as a yearling. Some may not be hunter types but that is as any horse shopping trip, you need to find one that suits your needs.
PS this is not an insult to the example in the quote. Just wanted to point out that input costs are not equal to final value.
http://en.hannoveraner.com/home/auction/archive/auction-2013/39th-elite-auction-of-foals-and-broodmares/
An example: http://www.canadianwarmbloods.com/classifieds/classifieddetails.php?ID=302[/QUOTE]
Stoicfish, while I completely agree with the concept of your post, I have to say that things are a little different in the US when it comes to those things. Yes, it would be nice if quality of the youngster would be a generally acknowledged and agreed upon factor when coming up with a price, however, a lot of the folks that are looking for “top of the line” animals wouldn’t recognize one if it hit them in the head. Nor are a lot of the breeders objective enough to recognize and/or admit that some of their youngsters just are (God forbid) average.
I have been a breeder long enough by now to actually believe in young horse evaluations by competent judges (as in he KWPN-NA keurings) because I have seen those exceptional youngsters time and time again turn into spectacular riding horses. I have also learned that I cannot expect to get the high prices for exceptional youngsters that you see in Europe, so instead the horses are pretty much all priced the same regardless of quality.
Granted, that is just my opinion and you know what they say about that, right? 
P.S.: I have given away a yearling that didn’t live up to my expectations and you should have seen the amount of inquiries I got!
[QUOTE=siegi b.;7487628]
Stoicfish, while I completely agree with the concept of your post, I have to say that things are a little different in the US when it comes to those things. Yes, it would be nice if quality of the youngster would be a generally acknowledged and agreed upon factor when coming up with a price, however, a lot of the folks that are looking for “top of the line” animals wouldn’t recognize one if it hit them in the head. Nor are a lot of the breeders objective enough to recognize and/or admit that some of their youngsters just are (God forbid) average.
I have been a breeder long enough by now to actually believe in young horse evaluations by competent judges (as in he KWPN-NA keurings) because I have seen those exceptional youngsters time and time again turn into spectacular riding horses. I have also learned that I cannot expect to get the high prices for exceptional youngsters that you see in Europe, so instead the horses are pretty much all priced the same regardless of quality.
Granted, that is just my opinion and you know what they say about that, right?
P.S.: I have given away a yearling that didn’t live up to my expectations and you should have seen the amount of inquiries I got![/QUOTE]
I can’t say that you’re wrong 
I can’t say that your wrong
PS- They know their bling though…
Some good advice here for OP. However, there are quality hunter prospects that are in the OP’s price range. If she’s willing to consider horses off the East Coast, better prices can be found between the two Coasts. She might also look at the USHJA Breeders Directory (ushja.org/resources/breedersdirectory) . You can select by state. Many of the names listed are not the people with high-priced ad campaigns but trainer-breeders that have horses in competition. Another resource is SportHorseAuctions.com operated by Tim and Cathy Jennings. Some very nice horses go through those auctions for (unfortunately) rather low prices. Tim and Cathy are really nice, and I’m sure would help any buyer learn the ins and outs of buying at an auction.
Just food for thought.
Judy
OP check out these youngstock for sale.
All under your budget and Symmetry has the “bling” you seem to be looking for.
http://www.elitehuntersales.com/horses.htm
Yes, check out horses in Ontario. The prices here are quite competitive and the exchange on the American dollar is in your favor.
I see what you are saying, stoicfish and I agree that even if your costs are lower, high quality command a price. I don’t think my costs were at all unusual but because I am in the NE US, my costs may have been higher than they would have been elsewhere. I have just read several posts from buyers on a budget where they mention that they are looking for a top quality youngster for under $10K. It was enlightening for me as a rider to go through the breeding process to produce my own and realize what the cost and time commitment really is to produce a nice youngster. Apart from the money for direct costs, I still had to go up several times a week to teach the baby to lead and get used to handling, having her feet picked up and being groomed, get her to her inspection, check that I was happy with the way her feet looked and that I didn’t need to have the farrier correct anything, etc, and the amount of time I had to put into doing all of this would have had to be done regardless of waht I paid for the stud fee or board.
My guess is that many of these low budget shoppers do not understand how much resource (time, experience or money) goes into producing a nice youngster. I know I did not really understand this until I did it myself. I am sure that you agree with me that the time and energy you spend on your broodmares and babies along with associated costs, no matter what they are, entitle you to receiving a fair reimbursement for a nice youngster regardless of what exactly the stud fee or upkeep costs were. I also agree with you that breeding is quite a gamble and regardless of input costs you can end up with a diamond or a dud. The only way this gamble is worth it for a breeder is if they can make a fair profit on the diamonds they produce.
Not sure if this will help you but as a point of reference… I bought my baby in utero for around your price range. She has great bloodlines like the ones you mentioned and is a registered warmblood. She is two and will be three next month. She is beautiful to look at and is a 10+ mover. I couldn’t be happier. I was offered close to $20k for her as a yearling and a little more than $30k a couple of months ago and I wasn’t trying to sell her nor will I ever. As others have said, quality comes with a hefty price. There are deals out there. I am on the east coast so they are few and far between here but the reality of it is your budget is going to go very far for what you are requesting. When I bought her I wasn’t in a position to ride which is why I didn’t mind the wait. If I had been able to ride and train though at the time I would have taken my money and bought a TB with hunter movement. I love thoroughbred and we have some fantastic ones at my barn. Good luck. No matter what you end up with, bringing up babies is fun!
