Hi, how much do you think a Big scar on a leg may influence thé sale Price of a yearling ?
A Friend of mine has a super nice yearling quarter horse, really nice bred but injured His forearm as a weanling. It is only cosmetic, no lameness but it is quite Big and you Can sée it. How much could this influence thé Price of thé horse? Tia
Depends what the horse will be used for. Some show disciplines it might be a disqualification altogether.
Reining horse
Maybe post in Western as you will get people that know the discipline.
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Really? Definitely not at QH shows. Unless the rules have really changed since I last looked.
ETA: I forgot to answer the OP’s question! It wouldn’t make a difference to me personally if the scar is purely cosmetic.
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If the horse is being aimed at a performance career, as long as there is no risk of the scar tissue causing soundness issues, I doubt a nice horse will really have a problem with a scar.
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Yes, my question is if thé Big scar could affect thé sale value, not thé performance. Tia
It might put some people off, but if she’s good it shouldn’t affect the sale value. I wouldn’t offer less because of a scar.
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I think it will affect marketability because there are people who just won’t be interested in buying a horse with a really noticeable scar. This will reduce your pool of potential buyers.
But, I don’t think it should have much affect on price. Lowering the price isn’t going to make someone who isn’t interested in buying the horse with a blemish reconsider. And most people who don’t care about the scar aren’t going to expect a big price reduction because of it.
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If the buyer is specifically looking for a Halter horse, it would be unlikely they would be interested in one with a large, easily visible blemish.
Otherwise, it shouldn’t make a huge difference in price for a horse trained for whatever the buyer wants it for. In an unstarted “prospect” it might as it does remove Halter as a possible career path for a youngster whose future talents are yet to be discovered.
Just tell friend to train him up well and the blemish will be a non issue.
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I assumed (sigh, I know, one should not do that) that since this is a stock breed and those halter horses are conformationally totally different than any of the horses bred for a use, that it was doubtful that this horse would end up on the line.
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Of course you know that but what OP and their friend are expecting buyer wise is unknown as is their experience level. Likewise some readers may be new to the QH world.
Performance Halter has many riding horses in it, since they need riding points to be eligible.
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Is the scar near a joint. If not, you are probably okay. But I would probably want a vet check on anything with a scar just in case there are any other injuries.
No one will flinch as long as he is physically able to do the job and is sound.
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I bought a young (sound, good-moving) Welsh pony with a visible scar at asking price with 0 qualms–BUT I knew the seller/agent, I’m a veterinarian, and I use him for combined driving, so looking pretty ain’t the main goal.*
*To be fair to the pony, he’s actually very pretty; he just has a big honkin scar on one (light grey) leg.
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Well, I guess I have bought two horses with scars and I didn’t bother me, so there you go. (one missing a chunk of muscle from the forearm; the other missing eyelashes and scar above the eye, and on ear)
If it’s only cosmetic, then it shouldn’t matter.
What show disciplines state disqualifications for scars? Please enlighten us.
As long as the scar isn’t affecting the horse’s soundness or movement, scars are disregarded.
My old horse Beau had a terrible looking hoof scar from an old injury, but it didn’t affect him at all once it was healed, and he continued to win halter classes after that even with his scarred foot. Because the judge could see it was not altering his way of movement and not bothering him.
My current horse Red has a big chunk of muscle on his forearm missing that got kicked off when he was a yearling. He has won many a halter class (local) and has placed well in ranch horse conformation at AQHA. It has never bothered him.
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Someone at my barn picked up a very very nice QH filly in a super desirable color, gorgeous horse, through the rescue pipeline because the tips of her ears froze off as a foal. I don’t know the details but I understand the breeder facilitated her just being given away.
we had a Morgan that also had the tips of its ears frozen, he was a foal from North Dakota that had gotten trapped in a blizzard
He became a reserve champion working hunter over fences at Morgan Nationals and was a national champion NATRC trail horse… no one ever mentioned his ear tips
The scar, as long as just superficial, should not effect the horses price or marketability if the horse is bred well for what they are wanting to sell it for.
I’d tell your friend to expect a lot of questions about it. Likely have old records ready to go, and that people will likely want PPE and to possibly do x-rays just to make sure. The scar might deter a few people who really like eye appeal ( just like some people ONLY want color), but a serious buyer wouldn’t just say no based on pictures if the horse is truly sound and has no issues.
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