My Dad bought my first horse for me in 1968 for $200. He was a 7 year old grade gelding (probable Morgan). He was a terrific horse and I had him for 32 years. He was 39 when he died in 2000. What a bargain! In that 32 years he was never sick, never lame and never refused a fence. We fox hunted, did pony club, low level eventing and a million trail rides. My last ride was two weeks before he died.
A few days of work cleaning up an old barn. 
She was an 18-year old, black-bay Arabian mare with a star and snip. Karlina and I spent three happy years together before my ability outgrew her age, when she went back to her former owner. She got out of the pasture, foundered on apples, and died shortly thereafter. I’ll never forget her. :sadsmile:
$300 for a rain-rot encrusted frosted 9 y/o Appaloosa mare with a big right knee. I didn’t care… she needed to get out of where she was.
I had her for only 2 years and about 10 rides. 
The arthritis in that knee took her from me.
Boy do I miss that mare. 
In 1973, my parents bought me a shetland pony for $60–the owner would have sold her to us for $55 if we would have been willing to take her weanling, too!
My very first one that I owned all by myself (without having to share with siblings) was a connemara pony stallion and my father (who was a horse trainer and hunt master) took it and 2 hunters to part settle a debt. I’ve not the faintest idea what the value of the debt was though as I was too young to care.
“Free to a good home” pony mare that ran away with me continually on the trail. She was a flaxen, 14.2hh, and quite pretty. I still have a fear of being run away with, though, so there was some cost involved…She taught me to keep my butt in the saddle, that’s for sure! If I got ahead, she’d stop, duck her head and let me roll off the front. Got behind, she’d take off. There’s something to be said for a first horse that makes you ride right!
Thomas, it figures your first horse would have been a stallion. 
Oh, that would have been $175 for Shannon the wonder pony. He was a Connemara/Arabian cross that had run wild as a stallion in a herd of cattle since he was 2 yrs old. When he was 7 the neighbors of the farmer bought him and had to round up all the cattle and run them into a corral then thru a shoot to catch him. They had him castrated and slightly started under saddle when I talked my father into buying him for me. I was 16 yrs old, Shannon was 7 and basicly had learned to buck anyone off that got on him. Very talented boy. He was sired by a well know Connemara, Jimminy Cricket who was fairly famous for his jumping ability. Shannon inherited that ability and could jump anything he put his mind to. Fences of all type and heights to include electric and barb wire. Stall doors too if they had an open top. I rode him over a few 5’ courses which I thought was darn good for a 14 hand pony. I sold him eventually to a family who had 3 young daughters and he went on to do really well in Junior Jumper competition. He was retired to their farm and lived the good life into his 30’s. He was quite the character and a real gem.
chicamuxen
$500 in 1977. The one I own now? Also $500. The one before him, $1000. OTTBs…cheap!
$750
My second was $350
and my third $125 !!
My very first horse was a 30 something Saddlebred. I got him from the humane society for an adoption fee of $100.
2nd horse was a yearling colt for $200.
3rd horse, TB/QH mare 4 years old, around $2,000
4th horse, TB/QH mare 2 years old, $2,900
5th horse, Arabian mare very old, $700
6th horse, Arabian filly weanling, $1,000
7th horse, TB/QH mare 9 years old, $2,500
8th horse, PO/QH mare 16 years old, FREE (rescue)
Those were mine specifically. We’ve had a lot of others that were family owned. Some very expensive, and some free.
Mine sounds a lot like the OP’s!
I bought her in '88 for $250! She’s 1/2 Arabian and has done almost everything with me: A level jumpers, eventing, dressage, trail-riding, camping, etc. I just had a hunter pace with her on Sunday, so at almost 20 she is still going strong!
You can see her on my website if you like. Go to MARES and click on her name (Satyn)!
I breed warmbloods now, so unfortunately several Zero’s have been added on to the price of my horses!
[QUOTE=matryoshka;2406134]
“Free to a good home” pony mare that ran away with me continually on the trail. She was a flaxen, 14.2hh, and quite pretty. I still have a fear of being run away with, though, so there was some cost involved…She taught me to keep my butt in the saddle, that’s for sure! If I got ahead, she’d stop, duck her head and let me roll off the front. Got behind, she’d take off. There’s something to be said for a first horse that makes you ride right!
Thomas, it figures your first horse would have been a stallion. :D[/QUOTE]
My first was a shetland pony gelding that I bought with my own money for $17 at a sale barn in 1970. He used to do that exact same thing to me!!! I never had a saddle, though, and rode him bareback with just a halter and two lead ropes. I have no idea what his height was. I only had him a year and a half before I got too tall to ride him (and I’m only 5’ tall, so he couldn’t have been very big).
Free for # 1,2,3, sent #3 back, and bought $700 QH in 1977 and had her 22 yrs, bred her to Arab for $250 in 1979, had the filly for 25 yrs, just paid $800 for her purebred 1/2 brother who was 4, untouched and untrained, but coming along great. Lets not talk about how much I’ve spent for training, lessons, vet fees, or assorted tack and junk.
The first horse my dad bought for me when I was 12 was $4500. The first horse I ever bought was $800.
I rode other people’s outgrown or cast away horses and ponies up until I graduated. None were really good horses or ponies and all of them had a quirk or temperament issue to deal with if. My dad did lease a pony for 6 months for me for my last year as a jr. Cost was 50.00/month, board was 30 or 40/mo that I remember.
My first horse was 700.00 and I made a few payments with a contract to a man in Great Falls, VA. Horse was a nutcase TB and I traded him for a wonderful pony from a “dealer” after about 6 months of failed handling (being new to this, I had no idea at the time the next person was a dealer).
I have spent as little as “free to good home” to 6500.00 on ponies.
The cost? Not having good ones wasn’t good for the confidence or for the wallet when you had to sell them. I can collectively say I lost over 10k in sales price alone over the course of 20 or so years (but I have honestly never counted). It would have cost as much to have had a top trainer teach me these lessons in retrospect. lol Lots of heartbread involved (don’t know if that is avoidable no matter what, though).
Good points, I learned A LOT of knowledge from the horses and ponies themselves. Wisdom only the horses themselves can teach. It is not in a book, nor can a human give you the feel of these lessons. I learned to ride and to read a horse–to really feel them, not to just ride on a horse.
I also know what I like and can feel it when I try it out. I think riding a lot of ones with quirks, dangerous tendencies and ruined temperaments helps in this respect. I can see it in a horse before I ever even get on and certain ones I won’t even get on to try because I can see what they will be like and know I don’t want that for my own. If it passes the trial test (usually 2 separate rides) and does not work out in a few months time, I will sell it and look for something that does click with me.
I look at horses as dance partners. If you cannot dance together, time to find a new partner… 
$150 cash in 1975 (mostly ones and fives) in babysitting money I saved for the express purpose of buying a horse. She was an unbroke grade 3 year old chestnut filly with star-snip-strip.
She broke my shoulder the first week I got her back from the trainer when she reared up while I was riding bareback. I lost my balance and pulled her over backwards on me. Kept that horse for 7 years. We had such fun riding the trails together.
I’ve been riding horses since before I could stand, so my Mom says. I know my parents led me around on a big Arabian mare, and a little grade pony gelding.
My first horse that I considered mine, (though she taught my two siblings to ride too) was a QH pony mare, and I have no idea what she cost. (And I guess I really didn’t care.) We ended up putting her down because of founder.
Then I got a wild Paso Fino mare, that we had originally bought for my sister. But she was too spirited, so I got her. I loved that mare and we got along really well. She was expensive, 3500 if I remember correctly. But she had good bloodlines and had been a high level show horse. We sold her a couple of years ago when we made a big move.
Then I bought my little Arab mare, (they were asking 1000 for her, by we traded another horse, and I only paid 400)
And just in April I got an Anlgo-Arab mare for my birthday. She was 3500, but she is also a seasoned endurance horse.
$40 in 1973 for a 13.1. h pony that we had to walk about 5 miles home. We turned him into a great little hunt pony!
Mine have all been dual purpose - show plus distance - so mine have cost considerably more. Anywhere from free to $10,000.
It pays off too as we have many champions in multiple divisions/disciplines with the same horses within their breeds.
My first horse was an arabian gleding (5 years old at the time) he was $5,000. My second horse was a thoroughbred mare (7 at the time) and she was $7,000. And my third was a 3 year old thoroughbred mare and she was $2,500.
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