This made me laugh out loud. Thanks frankiec!
It is doable, but as PNWjumper pointed out the hardest part is finding the right horse. We’ve imported 2 horses, the first was a great investment and the second starts showing this weekend, so we’ll see, but he is kind of a dreamboat. I shop for a VERY specific type that I know my trainer has a market for. My husband keeps saying we should do more, and I tell him if I could find them, I would buy them. I don’t ride as well as PNWjumper so mine come in jumping at least 1.30 with lots of horse show experience. Good luck!
I think it’s certainly doable. But a lot depends on your eye and having a contact you trust from a buying perspective and having a contact you trust to help you sell them. We had a client in the US who did it for years - would buy 3 YOs at auction, they would stay with us to get broken/trained and then were imported to the US and were and sold by his daughter’s trainer. He did very well over the years.
Yes, there is always an element of luck (good and bad). That is a fact of life. A good vetting and insurance will help hedge your bets. The rest, you cross your fingers.
I think it’s a great idea provided you a) trust your trainer and b)understand there are no guarantees.
10-20k for a middle man??? An honest agent will do 10% of purchase price, not add 10-20K euros on top - if that has been your experience that is terrible! Certainly not how we do business.
[QUOTE=snaffle1987;8963130]
When you hire a middle man to find such a unicorn; you automatically tack on 10-20k onto the purchase price right off the bat.[/QUOTE]
10-20k for a middle man??? An honest agent will do 10% of purchase price, not add 10-20K euros on top - if that has been your experience that is terrible! Certainly not how we do business.
Though I tend to agree that if you can, it is certainly ‘better’ to hit breeders or sale barns directly, let’s not knock the middle man completely. A tremendous amount of what we do is finding those diamonds in the rough that are well priced and suit the US market. Those aren’t always at the breeders, nor at the big sale barns (where they know they can get X amount of money out of an american client!), they are often owned by individuals, or in a stable somewhere with a top rider not everyone has connections to. And for what its worth, I have found a lot of quality prospects for under 30K (so that’s 33 total) 
Also, keep in mind what smalfie said. I budget $5,000 to make sure the horses are feeling great. We automatically do 30 days of ulcer treatment, because between the trip, feed changes, and a new schedule, it’s stressful. And they always need dental, farrier and chiropractic work when they arrive. It’s a good idea to have your vet go over them with a fine tooth comb after they’ve settled into their new routine and make sure the new shoes/footing/schedule isn’t stressing anything. Not trying to discourage you at all, but it is best to go in with your eyes wide open. Another thing that no one has mentioned is that this can be tough emotionally. Trust me, you will fall in love with your investment horse just like you do any other. Your best case scenario is that you choose something so wonderful that it gets sold (and sooner is better for the investment part of this strategy). That, for me, is the toughest part. It’s the horse of a lifetime, but it’s someone else’s horse of a lifetime.
