Looks like a weedy tb or grade cross. If you could get 1500 I would be surprised. Sell to trainer for whatever she is offering and move on. Don’t buy anything for a good while.
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I have to amend somewhat: to most trainers who might possibly be able to make this horse a solid citizen, his price really is next to nothing, like nothing.
for some unsuspecting person, and more likely their kid, who probably isn’t going to be safe, maybe you can get 1500.
if you happen to be in a self proclaimed cowboy type rough rider area, they might give you 500-1000, like they would any auction horse.
OP is in Los Angeles. I added a little to my estimate for the higher costs across the board out there.
I, too, would take the offer of 4K. I think it is more than fair market value for a horse as described and photographed.
Now, for sake of educational purposes, things that could drive a price UP in an open market:
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Proven show results in a specific discipline (and the results are good). “Ribboned in a schooling show” is not the type of show record we’re talking here.
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Track record of skills (example: has been used as a lesson horse and is proven to be a babysitter, has been on trails regularly and is reliable, goes off property frequently and is the same horse there as at home - no anxiety about new places).
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Talented (tangible evidence of claim necessary). I’m dressage there are a bunch of ads who like to claim “upper level talent” because their horse “passages/piaffes naturally” - AKA jigs in hand or can’t stand still. They cannot be compared. The jumping equivalent is saying that a horse makes an UL jumper because he’s free jumped X height. Not super comparable. You can talk about scope and form over fences but just because a horse has free jumped 1.5m does not mean he will replicate this under saddle.
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Papers/registration/proof of breeding (if desirable). Not all registries are created equal. And as far as the market goes, not all breeds are worth equal money. And not all disciplines have the same cost-of-horse for a horse skilled or schooled in it. If a seller isn’t certain of what they’re selling, a lot of times they’ll try to link their horse to the “highest value” suspicion they have (trying to command top dollar for a horse on breeding alone, is the horse is green, unproven, etc). Depending on how certain a seller is, these claims can unravel quickly and make them look unscrupulous.
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Educated. Training is money - and this reflects in price. Schoolmasters or even horses that “know” the buttons, are going to be valued higher than a horse of a similar age with less training. You can increase value of a horse by putting training into it - but doing so also costs money so must be subtracted from the seller’s margin of profit.
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Physical type. The market for a while was skewed to favor tall horses. the exact same horse one hand shorter would be less expensive. Your horse is what they are, you can’t change phenotype but you do have to be realistic about what “type” it is you’re selling (and what market exists for them).
Some of the above can be changed. You can invest time (which is money), or money (which is also expensive and can require time) in a horse. Training, shows, etc can be worked on but it will all require putting money into a horse (and the time will also cost you through things like board, farrier, vet). Some of the above (physical type, breeding) cannot - so at the end of the day being honest about where a horse sits in a market is the best way to have realistic expectations about selling prospects (prices, interest, ease of sale).
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Previous owner is selling because she was hurt and horse had been with a reining trainer? Sounds to me like a bronc that got sent to “the cowboy”. If I were you, I’d send the horse to a trainer to sell rather than try to represent yourself. Don’t know that he sounds like the safest sort.
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