How is the horse market?

[Dispatcher]

[QUOTE=LockeMeadows;8203279]
You are flat out wrong on this one. Last month at New Holland, unbroken, fat QH’s were bringing $800+. Most ended up at a kill pen in Shippensburg PA. Every single one shipped to slaughter. Rescues are not prepared to deal with 1,100lb horses that are barely halter broke.

Back in Sept when we picked up my personal horse at the kill pen, there were over 350 horses there that Monday. That Wed, all were gone except for the few that had been bailed and were waiting on their transpiration. Out of that 300, Coast To Coast had bailed 3, HORSE had helped rehome 14, and the rest SHIPPED. Yep, over 300 horses between Monday and Wed. There were 50 gallon barrel FULL of horse shoes. Those shoes are not pulled if the horse is bailed - they only pull off the horses that ship to slaughter. About 500 horses leave WEEKLY that ship directly to slaughter from this feed lot. WEEKLY.

Please, if you don’t personally know these kill buyers, see what they are paying at the auction, and see these horse actually ship, don’t spread false information. It helps no one.[/QUOTE]

$800 at New Holland? That sounds hard to believe. Also, New Holland is not a feed lot

[quietann]

[QUOTE=Dispatcher;8203665]
$800 at New Holland? That sounds hard to believe. Also, New Holland is not a feed lot[/QUOTE]

Read carefully. LM said that the KB feedlot is in Shippensburg, PA, which is about 90 miles away.

[Dispatcher]

[QUOTE=quietann;8203682]
Read carefully. LM said that the KB feedlot is in Shippensburg, PA, which is about 90 miles away.[/QUOTE]

oh, yes, I should do that! sorry…

[LauraKY]

[QUOTE=quietann;8203598]
I’m going to side with LockeMeadows here. There is NO secondary market for a barely halter broke, 1100 pound QH except slaughter, especially not when you can get a trained one for $1000-2000 (or less in some areas.)

I do agree that prices have increased a bit for horses known to have a secondary market, e.g. in breed-specific rescue. Morgans are a good example; the auction prices at New Holland etc. have crept up maybe 50-75% over the past few years as there are at least two rescue groups in the Northeast… but some DO still ship.[/QUOTE]

Of course there is a secondary market. There are auction horse advertisers and brokers springing up all over the country to “bail” horses from auctions and feedlots. The truck is coming is the selling point. I got into a heated discussion with some moron who wanted an unbroken mare in foal so her 5 year old could raise the foal. She claimed her 5 year old only wanted a rescue from a feedlot.

Just go to some of those facebook pages. You can start with with Auction Horses South, they work directly with Mike McBarron in Texas. There’s another one working with Sam from CBER (Sam gets a fee to evaluate out the horse which is charged to the buyer, IIRC it’s $150/horse). It’s big business…according to Animal’s Angels the secondary market is keeping the KB in business. Since the EU cut off export from Mexico, processing in Mexico is down 50%.

The so called quarantine is questionable and another one was using a non DOT registered hauler until they were caught.

[butiwantedapony]

I think he market has picked up. I have been casually looking for a new resale project. I’ve picked up several nice WBs and WB crosses over the past few years for under $2k for resale. This time i can’t find anyyhong worth looking at under $5k.

[adelmo95]

red mares - the kicker is he is black with 4 white feet - I figured that was bound to get some attention…

[LauraKY]

Where are you advertising, OP?

[LockeMeadows]

[QUOTE=Dispatcher;8203665]
$800 at New Holland? That sounds hard to believe. Also, New Holland is not a feed lot[/QUOTE]

Then go. I do. On a regular basis. If you are unable to attend in person, they also publish the prices and that is available to the public.

[Lady_Eboshi]

One thing to know is that there’s a lot of “spin” around auction prices, in part because some sale barns go to places like New Holland or Unadilla and buy a trailer-load of cheap horses, then quadruple the prices when they’re “networked” by the rescue crowd. Camelot/Cranbury is a good example.

If you’re in the market for a CHEAP horse, you’ll do better at New Holland because there you really ARE bidding against the KB’s for the cheap ones; the identical horses will be resold for $500–$800 when they get up to Cranbury. OTOH, the Cranbury folk tend to cherry-pick the ones that seem sound, sane, pretty, cute, or otherwise desirable to bring up to their own weekly sale, so in effect you’re paying for the “pre-screening.” Without a doubt some very nice, useful animals go through ALL these places. As well as the sick, neurological, dangerous, spoiled, misbegotten, drugged, and just-plain screws. As often than not, the papers or Coggins don’t match the horse, and the description is hearsay at best. YOU need to know what you’re looking at, particularly with respect to size and age. The “health certificates” are a bureaucratic exercise only, biologically meaningless. QUARANTINE IS KEY!!!

IN ALL CASES, the purchase price is the LEAST of the expenses of horse ownership. It’s also key to remember that you may have some serious vet bills immediately on any horse coming from an auction–Strangles, shipping fever, pneumonia in the youngsters, or hidden problems are not at all uncommon.

Not saying don’t go–just take someone with you who knows the gig, and be prepared to put them right back on the Wheel of Karma for another go if they don’t work out. There’s someone for everyone, as Kenny Rogers sang. Auctions are not evil–they are useful!

[Twigster]

I was shopping for off the track this spring. What I found was that prices have seemed to have gone up (at least here). A couple years ago, trainers would have been willing to part with many for free to $1000. Now they are asking $2000-$3000 and getting it very quickly.

No judgement here, I’m glad that people are realizing the value of OT horses. They are still beyond reasonably priced.

[Malda]

So is there any reason why the market is going up?

[quietann]

[QUOTE=Malda;8204765]
So is there any reason why the market is going up?[/QUOTE]

A bit more financial confidence among the people who can still afford horses. People taking early retirement if it pays out enough, and having more time to do things while still healthy enough to do them, hence the demand for well-trained trail horses.

[KiraSophia]

Someone was telling me yesterday that there are a ton of nice ponies on the market right now, which is unusual for our area.

I’m horse shopping and there is basically nothing out there. Very few horses on the market at all, and most of the ads have been up a while without the horses selling. I’ve expanded my search parameters really far and still have only come up with one horse that I have actually gone to see.

[soloudinhere]

This is a strange time of year - because it’s the middle of show season, most showable horses won’t be on the market until mid-fall. What is available right now? Ponies that have been outgrown, prospects who got a late start due to severe winters in a lot of the country, and horses for sale due to circumstances.

At least in my experience, the best time to BUY a horse is in October and November - after show season has wrapped up, when people are facing having to feed a horse through the winter. The best time to SELL is in early spring, when people have thawed out and are thinking about showing and want something for show season. Midsummer is not an optimum time in either case.

[Bluey]

Many quit breeding in the economy’s wreck of 2008 and beyond and it is now showing up in less numbers of riding horses.

Many of the better western horse sales have been going up and up the past two years on the better horses, pretty, nice colored and with bragging rights pedigrees to them.

That is not even counting the performance horses, the better ones, not that many of those, are getting pricier every day also.
In some categories, they have doubled their price in the past few years, because there are not that many out there for the current demand.

Then, there is a point where, the better the horse, the higher it’s price, the smaller a market for it.
Not that many want that good a horse or have those higher budgets for one, but that market seems to be very strong right now, for the kinds of horses I am seeing sell as soon as they are put on the market.

All that can change any day, or may not for a few years yet.

[BigMick]

^ I’m seeing this too. Fewer nice horses and a high price tag.

Not to mention, the entire process is frustrating. I have posted an “ISO” ad on several niche Facebook group pages. I am very specific about what I’m looking for.
The majority of the responses are for the opposite of what I want, way too far away, or grossly out of budget. Some sellers won’t answer in coherent sentences with complete details. One lady I talked to actually got nasty with me when I asked for information about how much training the horse had.

And don’t even get me started on the terrible videos and photos. Or lack of basic info.

So to address the OP, maybe have someone review your ads to ensure they include all of the basic info (location, price height, age, size) and that it’s easy to read, engaging, and includes photos.
Consider posting on niche Facebook groups in addition to equine.com, dreamhorse.com, etc.

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=adelmo95;8204013]
red mares - the kicker is he is black with 4 white feet - I figured that was bound to get some attention…[/QUOTE]

Depends, black with 4 whites is actually pretty common in the area.

Mom’s Pony is priced at $20K because she’s a rare miniature Friesian.

[Malda]

[QUOTE=BigMick;8205038]
^ I’m seeing this too. Fewer nice horses and a high price tag.

Not to mention, the entire process is frustrating. I have posted an “ISO” ad on several niche Facebook group pages. I am very specific about what I’m looking for.
The majority of the responses are for the opposite of what I want, way too far away, or grossly out of budget. Some sellers won’t answer in coherent sentences with complete details. One lady I talked to actually got nasty with me when I asked for information about how much training the horse had.

And don’t even get me started on the terrible videos and photos. Or lack of basic info.

So to address the OP, maybe have someone review your ads to ensure they include all of the basic info (location, price height, age, size) and that it’s easy to read, engaging, and includes photos.
Consider posting on niche Facebook groups in addition to equine.com, dreamhorse.com, etc.[/QUOTE]

It’s not only you. Gaited horses have hit the 7k and up range and they’re just pacing or trotting. People have gotten cocky about what they’re selling and I’ve also gotten nasty responses to reasonable questions (i.e. asking for a video of the horse gaiting). The gaited community has always been a dark hole, but it’s gotten worse. I didn’t know the higher prices was across all horses.

Agreed about Facebook groups. There’s a sales group for almost anything, I put my Icelandic up on the Icelandics for sale page (still didn’t get any responses).

[ybiaw]

I’ve found that the market for 4-figure horses and the market for mid to high 5-figures and up is just fine. It’s the lower 5-figure range that’s struggling. At least IMO/IME.

[Lady_Eboshi]

[QUOTE=Malda;8205059]
It’s not only you. Gaited horses have hit the 7k and up range and they’re just pacing or trotting. People have gotten cocky about what they’re selling and I’ve also gotten nasty responses to reasonable questions (i.e. asking for a video of the horse gaiting). The gaited community has always been a dark hole, but it’s gotten worse. I didn’t know the higher prices was across all horses.

Agreed about Facebook groups. There’s a sales group for almost anything, I put my Icelandic up on the Icelandics for sale page (still didn’t get any responses).[/QUOTE]

This is true! There’s a guy up the line from me regularly moving green TWH trail horses whom I strongly suspect have no brakes for anywhere between five and ten thousand! Considering I picked up my guys a few years back for less than a truck payment, that really blew my mind. But he’s getting it! And this in H/J land, not a TWH part of the country at ALL. My nice horses just appreciated quite a BIT!