Same. I’m buying recip mares for $750-$1500. Most could go on to have riding careers but need a lay up and some let down time.
Just had a drop dead gorgeous mare given to me with a cracked sesamoid, x rays are very promising that she will make a full recovery for a competition home but owner just wanted her to go to the right place and have an easy life. So she will be a pasture puff and carry a few babies for me.
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Friesian horses have always been way overpriced. And the problem is that every green rider wants one. They are a breed that does not suffer fools. If you are an idiot, they will quickly learn that. And after being around idiots for a while, they just decide all humans must be idiots.
IME the Friesian crosses are very well behaved horses though and can actually be really nice mounts for amateurs, depending on what the cross is. I’ve seen Friesian/TB crosses turn out very well.
I personally think the OTTB resale market is insane right now. 5-7k for a horse with 30 days off the track. To me, that’s crazy. You don’t even know what you have under you at that point. An OTTB 30 days out and an OTTB 6 months out are usually completely different creatures. (Also, you could go to a claim race and just buy one you like for a fraction of the cost and pay for quite a bit of professional training and still not hit the price they were asking. Or go to literally any auction, where you can see a bunch of them going through for $500-$1000).
And right now, anything warmblood is absolutely bonkers. Unregistered 10 year old warmblood who’s done pretty much nothing? 30k. Registered 12 YO gelding who entered a rated show once, and placed middle of the pack? 40k. Just insanity.
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We have a Friesian in my barn that is quite possibly the dumbest horse I’ve ever come across. Spooky, rude, pushy, never seems to learn past a certain point. He isn’t mean but he is SO DUMB. Not great conformation, but lots of hair! The non-horsey owners imported him, sight unseen, for $$$$$$ from a Dutch seller who advertised him as bombproof, for their tiny child.
Why you would import one in the first place is confusing, since we have plenty of them here, and why for a very small kid who doesn’t know how to ride is also crazy. Unfortunately, the people got very, very badly scammed about his level of training and temperament. He was kicked out of the first barn for being an unmanageable monster who the staff refused to handle after several dangerous incidents, so they found my trainer. The current situation has the beginner mom on him (the kid now has her own, very appropriate pony), and they do walk with a tiny amount of trot.
He’s horrid to ride- think lazy, completely block-headed, spooky pogo stick, although his canter is sort of fun in a novelty kind of way. The mom loves him and thinks he’s so handsome and amazing, which is good, but still crazy. She always tells me her favorite horse is my older jumper, and I think: so why do you have this dingbat animal that can’t do anything and that scares you every time he spooks at a butterfly?
My only explanation for why people like them is that they are now in every single show and movie being fabulously hairy as a warhorse (hah hah hah- I can just imagine a herd of Friesians running slowly away from battle) or just fancying around, cantering across the countryside with a hot actor on them. People see the big, beautiful, black, long-haired beasts and want one.
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Here-here! That’s my all-around solution. They tick all my boxes…especially the super-sharp memories they have and their general health and functionally correct conformation.
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I don’t understand the obsession with hairy horses. So much work! I also don’t understand why people who want riding horses gravitate to driving breeds, but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion
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It always makes me sad to see people shit on WP horses. We’re such a small community as it is, to divide ourselves further and say shit like:
The more WP “training” the higher the price…Quotes because what I see - though I’m repeatedly lectured on how difficult that training is - is unnatural movement with less than zero engagement in any joint & exaggerated headset …Congress is Nirvana, local unrated shows reward the most (to my eye) pitifully slow jog & lope with barely any forward movement.
It’s just gross to me. If you can’t say something nice, or if you don’t have the education or experience to understand what your eye is seeing, you don’t have to comment.
The industry in my part of the world has come down within the last 6-9 months. Young AQHA/APHA horses were going for $20-$40K as unbroke prospects for a while. They’re now coming down to what I think is a much more reasonable $7500-$15K.
I keep eyes on websites that list advertised prices to keep tabs on how the market is moving:
Obviously, not all will sell for these prices - but it’s still interesting to see.
I left the H/J world for the stock breed world ten years ago. What’s been nuts to me over the last nine months or so that I’ve been putting a toe back into the H/J side of things has been the way that lease pricing has exploded.
I’ve seen several decent horses, meaning they’ll be top five if ridden accurately, at either a competitive local level or small A level. Lease prices have started at $25,000 for the year. A decade ago, if I was spending that kind of money on an annual lease, I wanted to have a monkey ride and still win the circuit. As you increase in show quality, the prices double and triple. 
I’m cheap and will probably never spend more than $10-$15K on a horse, but I also can ride decently well and don’t mind waiting around for a young prospect to be developed. I’ve been all but priced out of the hunter world, even just leasing.
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I don’t understand the obsession with hairy horses. So much work! I also don’t understand why people who want riding horses gravitate to driving breeds, but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion
Sometimes it’s an innate/inborn preference. I come from a long line of family who bred horses for driving, working, riding and racing (trotters). Here, the breed is Morgan. In the UK well there are a few options but the Welsh Cob is what spoke to me. I don’t ask that anyone else understand it. I don’t care if anyone else approves it. I also don’t expect either to be the taste or selection of another individual. In fact it works for me if they’re considered to be only that which the working class or rather the commoners settle for if you know what I mean 
IMO the Welsh Cobs in the US are stupidly overpriced which I’m sure will test my flame suit for saying it; but, I can still find a reasonably priced (quality-bred) Morgan in certain backyards.
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i love Morgan horses. I grew up riding them at a board and training barn that taught lessons. After my first mustang died, i bought a Morgan stallion and a Morgan mare and bred some, showed some and learned a lot. To me, they have the most beautiful heads in horsedom. There is an elegance about a Morgan horse, but in a substantial, solid way. I’m not so fond of the long backs, but that’s more of a personal aesthetic thing. And once you put a saddle on it’s not that noticeable. Love their shoulders and how their necks tie in. I currently have one remaining Morgan mare in her 20s. The last of my little breeding project. I’m into Mustangs now.
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Funny, I would never think of the Morgan or Welsh Cob as purely driving breeds, but perhaps that’s because neither are very common where I am. I’ve always considered them “all round” breeds designed to serve a number of purposes well, compared to say a Hackney or Friesian, designed to be a driving horse. Not that those breeds can’t be ridden, and not that people haven’t been breeding them specifically for ridden sport, but I think of their physical characteristics as being purpose-built for driving.
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People call Saddlebreds a driving breed as well despite the fact that Saddle is in their name!
And yes, many do also drive, but they do canter easily, and many have lovely round canters!
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I am a member of a Facebook group that focuses on the historical background regarding the Morgan breed. A picture was posted today of a Morgan stallion that stood in the 70s/80s that looks so much like my mustang that I just might spring the cash for a DNA test; but, I won’t. Seriously I had to make adouble take because I swore it was a picture of my horse. There is no question he’s a heinz 57 with mostly remount breeding. Given where he came from he might have a bit of draft in him as well but the remount program with its base steeped in Morgans is most likely where the majority of his DNA hails.
My family came to the US in the 1600s. We have stud bills that show breeding of my family’s mares to Woodbury and Bullrush. We had multiple dairy and wood mill operations along the Vermont/New Hampshire line. Mostly we settled the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I have pictures of Morgans that my family had from the 20s - 60s. Being a typical black sheep though, I decided to focus on Welsh Cobs thinking I was making a stand and going a different direction. Well truth be told there’s not a lot of difference or separation between what makes a good Morgan vs. Welsh Cob vs Mustang - if you really dig those three are all tied to one true melting pot. I, of course own a fine example of each and have been breeding Welsh Cobs and Morgans for more than a little while
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No I wouldn’t consider either ‘purely’ a driving breed but that is what many are used for and both have spent time at the top of the CDE world. In fact I would say either, from good blood and training, could hold their own in the international circles because historically they have.
Both breeds though were developed by and for the more mainstream rural inhabitants, ie, commoners who often needed horses that could fulfill a variety of practical needs. Our Morgans were focused on being used during draft pulls after their work in the wood mill(s) was done; but, all were broke to ride 1700s to more modern times). We had one stallion that could be in the top ribbons in English Pleasure and then be hooked to win the draft pull against some pretty formidable Belgian team on the same day in more ‘modern’ times (60s).
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I wanted every horse I saw in a show or movie as a kid. I blame Ladyhawke for the Friesian.
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Years ago, maybe 33-35?, the New England Welsh Pony and Cob Society show judge from the UK came to visit the Morgan farm I was working at at the time (more sport than show Morgans—for those in the CDE world it was the home of Kennebec Count). He was quite taken by the Morgans, especially one little mare my friend owned who only stood about 13.3 hands tall. He felt that the Morgans and the Welsh were close if not in blood than in type. I loved that he appreciated them. (Of course, I also loved that he had pinned my 26-year-old gelding reserve champion Section B at the show that weekend. 
)
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@exvet, now I’m dying to know what your family prefix was. I am in central Vermont, currently have three Morgan mares that span the different types. My two retirees are more show bred, one from Tara Farm and the other more of the old New England lines. Then the third is western working on top and Equinox/UVM on the bottom. She’s a stout little sooty buckskin, and everyone always guesses she’s a Connemara.
On topic though, Morgan prices seem to be all over the map though. I’m starting to think about another riding horse, and would prefer something already started. I thought a $10-15k budget would be adequate for that, but I’m seeing that the sporty young horses I’m drawn to are looking closer to $20k right now. I don’t have the time, facilities, or experience to start a baby from scratch so it will be interesting to start looking more seriously and try to find something that’s a good fit.
Did they buy him from a Nigerian prince?
Hah- maybe a Dutch one?
I love Morgans. We have two in our barn and they are both excellent little guys for their owners. One is probably a cross–he’s relatively large and came from the Amish, so who knows, but definitely has a lot of Morgan. I think of them as all-around breeds that can drive as well as anything else. The two we have are trained/being trained to event, and are perfect.
We also have a Mustang that my trainer got for the Challenge, and she is amazing. Smart, super cute, looks and moves like a very small Iberian type, but she can jump.
I’m a jumper rider, and I gravitate toward horses bred to jump–both of my current guys are jumper-bred out the wazoo. But (as we all do) I love horses and see the value in all of the wonderful breeds people have developed. I just don’t quite get the Friesian as a riding horse thing. The hair would really upset me! More seriously, though, while I know they can jump, and some of the crosses seem to be fun lower-level jumping horses, they are built to pull, with that long back and flat croup and the llama head carriage and so on. So…shouldn’t we let them do what they are built to do?
Obviously people can do what they want and if you super-duper want a large, black, fancy-haired horse, go for it. It’s just weird to me as a riding horse. They don’t seem all that easy to get working over their backs, and I feel like the rider would have to be very careful to develop the topline properly if they wanted to do more than really basic WTC without having back issues down the road.
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I think there are more than a few both on this side of the pond and the other who feel strongly that there is a connection between the two breeds. Certainly it’s possible that a specific need for type developed the two breeds similarly but I think it’s actually more a blood line connection. Unfortunately there has yet to really be solid proof of that. I did see one report that feels there is a blood connection on Figure’s dam side but I can’t say how solid the claim is in terms of records.
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I thought i was paying a LOT when i bought one of my mustangs at auction for 2k lol.
I have one that looks very Iberian, light colored and 16h. And my newest youngster, (the one that came as an uncut stud-surprise!!) looks like a cross between a warmblood and thoroughbred and he’s headed toward 16h i think. Both of those two are pretty fancy movers. Though not the best of the lot…the best one has an overstep at an ambling selfwalk across his paddock. He’s two. He cost $25.00. There’s not that much difference starting a mustang than starting any youngster once you get them gentled. I think they have very stable personalities. They are more serene about their jobs and their surroundings than many domestic horses.
?..If i had all the money in the world i don’t know what breed i’d buy…? But i’m pretty sure it would be a black mare.
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LOL MorganMaresVT I wish I could piece together all the information to come up with a solid ‘play book’ from my family. Unfortunately all those directly involved in the Morgan world have long passed and as a kid I failed to get documentation other than pictures. I am a direct descendant of John A Darling, the human not the Morgan horse I apologize up front for the following digression but who knows maybe somebody knows something if they dare read the tale.
My family donated a large part of their land in Vermont to the state or so I was told. Much of that land became a park/preserve and the documents attaching my family to the Morgan world I believe are either still at the homestead or Groton Historical Society has them. They were shown to me when I was a kid visiting the homestead before it changed hands. The land my family owned in New Hampshire (just across the river) was passed down through the family though my father lost track back in the 70s/early 80s as to what went to whom at that point because I think only one of his cousins was still operating a dairy and the wood mill back then. Much of my family history was also ‘lost’ because my father’s aunts and uncles (of which there were a total of 13, 14 children begat by my great grandfather) sued my father to prevent him from inheriting any of the original family land. Long story short, my natural grandfather who I have pictures as a very young man on his Morgans died when my father was only 13. All of the names of those horses that I was provided were barn names, Bessie, Sally, Lass, etc. My grandmother remarried, a friend of the family (who I have pictures of his Morgans and knew some before he stopped competing/breeding) which set everyone’s teeth on edge of the Darling clan (hence the reason why ‘the clan’ felt it inappropriate that my father should inherit his father’s part of the family trust). My father didn’t even fight them. He told them to have it.
During my childhood, which was long after all the legal threats, I met some of my father’s aunts and uncles, actually worked on some of their farms when it was needed as well as the dairy farm where I grew up that was officially in the LaBossiere family, a farm called Labby Dale located in Putnam, CT. I have not been able to nail down a Prefix and honestly I don’t think any of my ‘closer’ relatives had one. The family plot is in Mcindoe Falls…so maybe you can help me in my sleuthing?! LOL All I know is that I have a picture of a gorgeous chestnut Morgan stallion with chrome that was taken and submitted to a morgan magazine and his stable name was Sunny Jim, registered name, I dunno. He was still alive when I was very young and living on the farm which was in the early 60s. What I’m able to access through the Morgan Registry leads me nowhere; but, the man who helped raise me, who fueled and fed my equestrian pursuits at a very early age, was far better at keeping records on his dairy herd than his horses. Also many of my first ponies were ‘welsh’ or ‘welsh crossbreds’ that my grandfather knew or accessed through friends - no papers to my knowledge, all word of mouth in terms of breeding, though purpose-bred based on claims. Realize it was a child’s perspective but it seemed like there was a lot of breeding, selling and swapping of ‘grade’ animals - all with a purpose and value - but not a concern regarding registry. Many weekends spent at county fairs, state fairs, etc competing but no knowledge of my own if any were registry sponsored. It didn’t matter at the time. all I cared about was that I was free to fly on the backs of many ponies and horses over the years. Backyard breeding had a completing different connotation back then.
I must also admit that at a time when I did have access to records and family (Darling/Welch/Scott side) pursuits with Morgans, I was not that interested. All my interest beyond my ponies was invested in thoroughbreds and their crosses because I thought that is what I had to have to jump. THAT is what my friends in pony club had and I had an uncle (by marriage) who had thoroughbreds and was into racing. I snubbed my nose at Morgans. Yes, I admit it. I was a deemed black sheep.
Despite my stepping away from the fold, I did have a relative contact me about 25-30 years ago after I got into Welsh Cobs wanting assistance in convincing those in the Morgan Registry to help fuel some interest and backing for researching which Morgan lines were prone to metabolic disease (back then the focus was on lines prone to founder/laminitis). She informed me of the fact we were distantly related, knew I was a veterinarian and had been involved with some of the pressure placed on AQHA regarding HYPP. She was an active breeder. Unfortunately I do not remember her name or her farm/prefix. I, also and unfortunately, did not want to get involved in the political strife. I did not have a Morgan at the time and thus was not involved in AMHA. I was also aware from family gossip that some of my kin were ‘responsible’ for the American Saddlebred influence of the breed and just didn’t want have anything to do with ‘that’ upheaval. So there you have it in as much of a nutshell as I can provide.
In the end I love a good using horse, that of sound build and mind that is handy and people oriented. Being reasonably priced is also a bonus. It’s true that most of the more affordable Morgans I see are youngstock, especially those of working western lines, occasionally I see one with training that is priced south of 10K. Of course I’ve also seen those with training and show records priced far higher than I ever could afford. I do hope the prices stabilize, though not to the detriment of good breeders.
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