Also. I second shopping in Canada, USD to CAD is extremely favorable. Your mid 5 budget is a high 5 budget here since you gain 35c on every dollar.
So, not for nothing, but having done the import thing once, I wouldn’t do it again. Or at least, I wouldn’t do it thinking you as an amateur are going to in any material way end up paying less by the time you end up with a reliable, relatively amateur-or-kid proof horse for the American show ring, and I especially wouldn’t if I was concerned enough about the ancillary expenses that the trip itself was an issue. This is doubly true if you’re looking at the horse as a “move up” horse for you.
The horse we imported wasn’t a great fit for me physically, mentally, or otherwise, nor was he in any way ready for an amateur to show in the US, and we ended up selling him for about his purchase price, but we were still out import fees, my trainer’s trip to Europe to look for him, vetting, etc etc…and that’s only because we got lucky and sold him to the trainer who found him for me originally – had we needed to market the horse openly, we would have then had to spend a bunch of money showing him and trying to confirm him at those fence heights in the US. I’ve seen this happen time and time again to friends and in sales horses I saw when I was looking for another horse after we sold him — really nice horses for sale for effectively bargain basement prices because the horse got imported, was too much horse for the kid or amateur he was purchased for, and then the family didn’t have the resources (or couldn’t emotionally rally to invest the resources) to get the horse show enough that it would have a record for sale. Unless you’re ready to commit to doing what you’d need to do to realize that investment — and you have the means to do it for a reasonable amount of money, I.e., not in the context of a full-service show barn, unless you’re really rolling in it, I’d pass.
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Thank you everyone for the input. My trainer does have contacts in Holland she trusts, but I’m leaning maybe towards Canada. We have friends up there that we can visit and plan more of a ‘trip’ around, and the currency exchange is enticing.
I guess the biggest thing would be trying to find an agent up there who could assist. Anybody have any experience or ideas of places I should reach out to?
I would go to warmblood-sales.com
and search Canada. You could look at individual horses, and also find farms and contact them directly
Check your PM’s, I sent you some Canada info.
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When I first read this thread I assumed the OP was an adult ammie. Now that I’ve seen several threads from the OP I realize they are a teenager who is grooming for cash and also asking 'how do you afford horses?"
To me that changes the context alot. It explains why the OP was unfamiliar with the process of booking trips to Europe and initially was hoping they could order a nice horse from Europe off a video. It also explains why the OP isn’t personally mobile enough to fly around even the USA to horse shop.
OP, I’m afraid at your age you really are at the mercy of adults in your life, which is difficult. It does mean that it’s going to be hard for you to horse shop independently outside of your home town. And you will be limited by what your trainer feels comfortable with.
As far as Canada, there are no “agents” because the market is small, the culture is very similar, and except in Quebec everyone speaks English. Also horses cross the border everyday in both directions. Just get online and figure out the major show barns in Ontario for a start.
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