I mean I would be okay if someone did that for my pony!! Holy heck!
maybe, back in 1992 our horse won a major championship back east our trainer said there is a person who wants to buy your horse, he wants to talk. He actually did not talk but handed me a signed blank check telling me to just fill in the amount. I handed it back telling him the horse was not mine but my kids. He said something along the line of me being a fool.
Trainer said the guy was worth about $5b and his check would have been good. He wanted our kids’ horse for his grand daughter
Refusal to sell ended up ending the relationship with the trainer as his wife in her mind was spending the commission, We brought the horse home to live in our backyard for the next 25 years,
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Do you negotiate directly with the buyer? Or do you let your coach take care of it?
I do (I bought my current horse without my trainer’s participation 
Though I did brief her about what I was doing so she wasn’t in the dark on it.)
When should you bring up a lower offer?
So here’s my take on this: if I am looking at a horse, it is presumed that it is a horse I am (at least passingly) interested in for the price it’s listed for based on the ad. Of course things can change: an ad can disguise all manner of things so when you sit on the horse or see it you may reassess and while the ad made you think yes I agree this horse is a fair value at the price it’s listed, now I’ve seen it I don’t necessarily think the same. That reevaluation can happen when you see the horse, when you vet the horse, etc.
Something to consider is the point where the price starts vs your ideal. In your case, you’d like to pay 8000/12,500: that’s a 35% reduction in price and honestly, I do not know if I would consider that realistic (and in fact, some sellers might be enormously insulted by the attempt). It sounds like you’re willing to buy him at 12,500 (so you’re inherently agreeing that while you would like to pay less - which, don’t get me wrong, I think we can all relate! - you find fair value in the horse in front of you at the price he’s advertised).
I would do a PPE. If the findings are unexceptional, ask how firm she is on the price. She may indicate there is no wiggle room. “Flexible to a good home” or “I’m willing to negotiate a little” opens the door. Make a counter-offer, but again - I personally would have hesitations offering 35% less than asking. $10,000 is still a 20% reduction off the asking price and personally that would be as low as I would offer in this situation.
It comes down to value. The seller values the horse at 12,500. If you value the horse at 8,000, that might be a gap too wide to overcome. If you agree that 12,500 is fair value too then I can understand the impulse to want to get “a deal” (we all want to save money, realistically) but would recommend about approaching with care and assess how much a deal (or trying to get it) is worth to you: is it worth ticking the seller off so they walk away entirely?
All that said: I’d be curious to hear how it goes, if you’re willing to come back and update us! I hope things go well for you.
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I suppose you were talking about me? Well,
I suppose i think of horses in a different way than a lot of people do. Dogs too.
I think horse buying is somewhat akin to buying a house or new car. The list price is often not what the seller expects to receive. (though they would like to!)
If I think a horse might be suitable and the price is in the ballpark, I will go see it. If it is above my budget I avoid if it says “firm” price unless I have had a conversation with the seller. After trying it, I may decide that I am not willing to pay the asking price but will pay somewhat less.
The last horse I bought was greener than I wanted. I made a lower offer but we didnt reach an agreement. I continued looking and they continued trying to sell. Eventually I got back in touch and we came to an agreement below asking price but higher than my initial offer. Everyone was satisfied.
If he had been exactly what I wanted, I might have offered slightly less, just because every penny matters to me, but I would have caved and paid full price if necessary and I was convinced that was his market value. If I was looking for a horse with the qualities that most ammie shoppers want, I might grab that unicorn at once!
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I thought you were presenting your own thinking, as your own feelings. Which is never wrong.
I just realized I’ve always paid asking price for my horses, except one where I made an offer that was accepted as offered. But then I’ve never gone looking for a horse to buy either. I sort of tripped over all of them.
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I mean, I bought a cute little appy for $800 several years ago. I certainly didn’t haggle, and when I sold her for $3K a few years later, the buyers didn’t haggle either. It would really raise a flag with me if I was selling a horse for $1K and the buyers were begging to get it for $750 because that is all they can afford. Much different than if you multiply those numbers by 10 or 100. Then the care costs are just fractions in comparison. If the cost of a ton of hay is the difference between being able to buy the horse or not, the buyer probably can’t afford proper care either.
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Still it doesn’t mean they can’t afford anything if they haggle. When I bought my departed gelding, they asked $1k, I haggled down, I supported him for the next 11 years just fine. When I bought my pony, she was $3500 and I didn’t haggle. I supported her for four years and am now hoping to sell her for three times what I paid (or more 
) and if they haggle reasonably, I’m not going to wonder if they can afford to feed her or get her feet trimmed.
It’s just dumb logic.
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To me this is a whole different ball game than what OP asked below.
I was thinking back to when we bought my daughters mare. She was listed at $1000. She rode well and has been a perfect horse in every way ( 13+ years now) and 100% as the owners described. I offered $800 and they took it and I don’t usually haggle and would have happily paid the $1000 if they didn’t accept my offer.
I still don’t know why I even haggled on the price as it isn’t like me.
I was selling a really nice, barely used, dressage bridle complete with a sparkly browband for an insanely cheap price. Someone from my pony club was interested in it as a christmas present for their daughter and asked if I’d drop the price $50. I agreed and then found out at the PC christmas party that they live in a million dollar home, horse is boarded at one of the top stables in the area, and their home was full of high end furniture. Here I was, living paycheck to paycheck to afford my horse and they ask me to drop the price of a bridle. Still pisses me off to this day.
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I would feel similarly bc the buyers “were begging … because that is all they can afford”
That’s like those iso ads that read: looking for a project to by my next 3’ hunter (insert eye roll here) but have to stay under 1k because I spent all my money on my prom dress. That’s questionable bc of the words used.
I’m surely biased, but when I say I’m looking to stay under 1k for a glorified pasture puff, I’m saying I don’t want to spend more than that on a pasture puff. Not I spent all my monies and still think I can swing another horse.
Words matter. Just like the words used approaching a seller regarding a lower price on a big ticket horse matter. Telling a seller that you can only offer 75k on a 100k horse because 75k represents the sum total of your net worth might also raise some flags (about your sanity).
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Or
"No, I won’t spend $29.00/bale excellent quality hay to supplement our meagerly stocked home-grown crop from this summer, just in case, because I have to go to Mexico" emphasized text 
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Right. Not “my husband got laid off and we don’t know how we are going to pay the mortgage much less keep our horses”.
I have to get my hair done. Right after I buy more of that excellent Teff at $38 per bale (big bales at least).
$38.50 was our last load
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As a seller and trainer I don’t begrudge anyone asking “is there any room to move on the price?”
Or a trainer offering to forgo the assumed commission to them to bring the price to a more affordable number for their customer.
Or asking if the owner would do any better for cash (depending on if the horses are their business or not, many are willing to get mattress money as opposed to a wire transfer or check.
I also may be open to negotiation if the horse is staying in my program.
Remember, many buyers need to feel like they are getting a deal regardless of the actual price or what the horse is worth. Even if it’s $500 less.
As for what your potential gelding is worth. Sale price of a racehorse prospect has zero bearing on what he’s worth now. Seller seems confused by that or trying to use it as leverage for a higher price.
A gelding who has not been restarted at all is not worth a whole lot. Especially as a gelding…how it’s bred literally does not matter…at all.
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In my area I’m seeing resellers putting 2-3 rides and asking very high 4 figures/low 5’s on TBs from the track.
So unless horse is exceptionally nice 12k seems high at least in my area.
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Haggling is probably how they afford a lot of their things, house prices are negotiable, cars too. Salaries. Being a smart haggler often gets a person ahead.
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That was one of the interesting outcomes of the negotiation class I took. People who got the short end of a deal, even if they accepted the deal eventually (and for their own reasons) often decided on a “never again!” policy with their counterpart. Since this was a business class, it’s important for both sides to realize that folks can get to “never again!”
Personally, anybody who comes at me, without seeing the item, with a lower price, I automatically say no. They aren’t looking at the quality of the item, and it’s a signal to me that they’re going to annoy me. But I have certainly and without rancor reduced a price when someone’s come, looked, offered lower for some reason, and I’ve accepted the reasons.
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Just today saw an ISO ad for a horse under 10, likes to jump and able to move up, does decently in dressage, friendly personality with some pizzazz. Oh and under $1,000 or preferably free.
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I am struggling to find a companion horse that can do occasional pony rides and walk hacks with beginners at this price point.
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