Just for a little fun on a Friday - what was your best bargain?
A friend recently purchased a nice Dutch warmblood gelding for $10k - advertised for $25k. She got a pretty darn good bargain!
So tell me your best bargains! I’d love to know the original asking price and what you paid.
ETA - or percents would be great too!
I’d prefer to not post pricing, but I paid 46% of the asking price on my mare.
100% off on both my horses!
ETA: Mare was injured, so given to me as broodmare prospect. Lovely horse; hoping to get a dressage prospect for me out of her.
My boy needed a job after producing many daughters for breeding program, so gelded and becoming my endurance/dressage horse.
Would conservatively value them each in mid 4 figure range- I think I got great deals, since with training their value will increase.
I like percentages. I paid 5% asking in a firesale type situation for a young wb, and 27% asking for a gelding who’d done the pre-greens in Florida then sat around for four years being overpriced and underworked.
I knew someone who got a 50% discount on a horse that went on to be a real A circuit horse. The reason for the discount was that the horse was in a specific discipline and was a super square peg for that round hole and the seller was frustrated and not creative enough to think about marketing to square holes. Fantastic horse!
100% But they were asking money for a horse they described as “possibly pasture sound”. I said I’d be happy to take him of their hands and put the money into making him comfortable. Seven years later, he’s my Husband Horse.
I sold a mare and then got her back, trained, for free, some years later…
fairtheewell - I think you are the winner! 
Not only did you get the horse for free, you made money when you sold her the first time.
I paid 36% of asking price for my daughter’s horse - he was over priced but we still got a bargain. (15.1 is a great size to get a great deal!) 10 years later he is still an amazing little guy :).
I got my mare for 76% off!
Asked in the beginning of the summer and was told an outrageous price for a mare who was athletic and talented, but had no foundation underneath her. I was the only person who rode the mare the entire summer, then I went back to school without her. When I left, she was just a money machine in her stall- doing nothing but essentially eating money. Because she did nothing she went wild in turnout and pulled her shoulder pretty bad. I got a tip off that she was going to be sent to a dealer because she was “lame”, so I called with my (ridiculously low) offer which was accepted. Within a week I had my new mare at school with me, 800 miles from home.
*Granted when I got her for rock bottom pricing, I put a lot of vet work into rehabbing her shoulder and all the other workup that the farm failed to do (explains why the horse some days COULD NOT canter on her right lead- have never had that issue since- and now she has push button changes). Have had offers for 8x as much as I paid for her.
My husband was offered an OTTB that was apparently wild, bucked, took off, and generally not trained for 300. We went and tested it out and had no idea what this girl was talking about. She told us he was just too big (17.1) and she was terrified and wanted something smaller. Offered a trade for a 15 hh QH who is a one person horse instead of 300. She took it, and everyone is happy! Also the OTTB is fantastic. I show him in Hunter Under Saddle, Equitation over Fences, and English Pleasure at local stuff and he is fanatastic. Had one girl offer a high four figure price for him to be her eventing horse b/c he can also do dressage. We refused because he is an awesome local show horse for me and a great lesson horse for my husband’s program. But we know we have people who would pay good money for him if we needed to sell him.
I paid 50% of asking for my last resale project - and sold her for 8x more than I paid.
I put a lot of training on her and took her to some shows but I kept her for essentially free the entire time I owned her.
I’m gutless. I never offered a lower price for my mare as the owner wasn’t in a rush to sell and was considering breeding her. I realize the worst she could have said was no, but water under the bridge, eh?
My gelding I got 50% off 14 years ago but that was due to the fact I had taken care of him for 3 years so when he went up for sale the owner knocked the price down for me.
Special circumstances, but I’m an “100% off”. Wasn’t looking for a horse, but was offered one by a friend who decided to get out of horses. She had hardache thinking of selling him (she’d had him since he was 3mo old!) and never knowing who we went to / what became of him. She knew from seeing how I cared for my last horse that he would be in good hands, and of course she’s welcome to see him anytime. So, I paid $1 for a horse that was about to be sold for $15k. He’s young and still green, but has a wonderful mind and I think will be an excellent long-term horse for us.
I’ve always said… Y
Special circumstances, but I’m an “100% off”. Wasn’t looking for a horse (lost mine a year and a half ago and had a baby, so other things to keep me busy), but was offered to me by a friend who decided to get out of horses. She had hard-ache thinking of selling him (she’d had him since he was 3mo old!) and never knowing who we went to / what became of him. She knew from seeing how I cared for my last horse that he would be in good hands, and of course she’s welcome to see him anytime. So, I paid $1 for a horse that was about to be sold for $15k. 
He’s young and still green, but has a wonderful mind and I think will be an excellent long-term horse for us.
I’ve always said… You don’t find horses; horses find you.
Opposite of bargain - (I have paid 100% for my horses, all in the 3 or low 4 figures)
I sold a horse (actually only horse I have ever sold!) at 130% of asking price when two buyers got into a bidding war.
Not exact prices, but I got my 1.45m+ jumper for less than 25k. Owners before me bought him for +120k…
It wasn’t a good match for them and he was being campaigned as a dressage prospect when I got him because he stopped jumping for her. Back up to schooling 1.20m-1.30m! He’s a happy boy now that he can live outside full time!
Someone PAID me $5,000 to take their mare… yes, you read that right…
My current mare was advertised for $500. (OTTB with a bowed tendon, but super fancy). I looked at her for about 5 minutes. Said to the trainer as I reached for my pocket, “So, your asking 500, right?”, he looked at me for a moment and said, “I’ll take $250”… I told him he’d have to take 260 because I only had twenties, but he brought me back change.
My current mare came to the barn as a sale horse and since I had recently sold my hunter, my trainer had me ride her a few times. She was very fancy but oh so spoiled. Her previous owner had never really disciplined her and had some difficulty handling her. They were asking 5 figures for her…I bought her for a fraction of that after emailing the owner with a list of issues that were going to have to be fixed before she could become a solid citizen. It’s been 18 months of slow going and retraining but am getting ready to move her to Pre-green this summer.
My mother got around a 50% discount on my first pony when I was little. They threw in all of his supplies, tack, etc. as well. Owner was going to college and had to move him.
He was a cutie pie!
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