Geez Louise! Don’t people realize there’s a pandemic and the economy is tanking??? I’ve been looking for a younger, bigger pony in the $1000-$3000 range for some little friends to plunk around on. I train, it doesn’t need to be “kid proof”. I’ve been casually looking for about a year. Holy crap, the prices of horses seem to have doubled in the last few months. What gives???
I think it is entirely area dependent. Here are 2 from my area I saw just causally browsing today. Not affiliated with either seller.
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Ohhh shoot. I have a 6 yr old GS and we are going to be quarter pony shopping within a year.
I don’t know; $1K is essentially “free.” Do you really expect to find a free horse/pony that is actually trained? Or sound? Or both? I mean - maybe sound but untrained, if you’re going to put the training in.
Maybe $3k… but below $2K in my opinion is still practically free (a well bred puppy costs more!)
I recently joined my local horse FB group again because I was looking to hire some farm help, and it’s the same over there. Everyone is looking for a well broke, <15 year old, and under $2K. Good luck. Why would anyone sell “that horse” (broke, sound, young) for so little?
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I’ve got one that I got for $1500. Older owner who just really wanted him to go to a good home more than anything. It does happen and if you’re just looking for pleasure and not show quality it’s even more doable. At least here in the Midwest.
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Horse prices here are up from what they have been in years past. Looking on CL people are wanting 1500-2000 for weanling/ yearlings and horses that haven’t been ridden in years and late teenage riding horses are priced at 1500+.
I think the horses in that 14 hand range that are ridable and fairly well broke are always harder to find and always priced higher. For them you usually get what you pay for. Maybe if you would travel to another state you may have better luck?
Agree that it’s going to be hard to find anything <$3k that’s not a project horse (and I’m in the midwest also, not like some pricey coastal area).
i have no connection to any of these, it’s just fun to spend other people’s horse budget:
This guy looks pretty cute: https://www.dreamhorse.com/show_hors…rse_id=2175372
Over your budget but could someone please buy this pony just so we can see lots of cute pictures of her https://www.dreamhorse.com/show_hors…rse_id=2175556
Only 4 y/o but says broke to ride/drive, maybe worth a call: https://cedarrapids.craigslist.org/g…156866581.html
I’m with you OP. Restarted 4-6 yr old OTTBs with very little experience are going for 20-40k here. Equivalent WBs start at 35k for nothing special at all. I’m struggling to find a nice horse for Prelim one day that’s under 40k… and people wonder why we shop in Europe! (Same price more experience)
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I’ve been seeing some really nice mustangs go for pretty cheap lately, so maybe if you’re a little more open on breed (or lack thereof), you might be able to find something?
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OP, please don’t take this personally but I would not offer anything to the public priced that low. Just too risky to ensure a good outcome. Among trainers there are however lots of deals to be made. Trades, free leases, retirees, etc.
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I’ve been looking as well and yes, prices are definitely a bit high eg. 22 y.o. w/ no specialized training - $3,000, the 11 y.o. light riding w/ arthritis in his hind end - $4500, the very nice 3 y.o. unraced TB filly with a knee fracture - $2000, etc. I don’t feel as if I’m looking for something special, but generally, prices start at $4500 and rapidly go up regardless of quality or training. Good luck!
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I don’t doubt that it is possible to find one…but I don’t think there will be many to choose from.
Green broke maybe. But anything with actual training and miles isn’t.going to be <$2k…not around here anyway. Or not under 18-20 years old.
Very possible to find something $5-10k though.
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I am seeing the same thing here. I think it is because the people hurt by the economy aren’t the typical horsey set or the farmers with nice ranch types. Hay prices / hay shortages seem to play a larger roll in low end horse prices.
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For those of you doubting my price range, I’ve been in this area over 60 years and in horses 55 of that, I know what I’m looking for, I know what they cost a year ago. I’m speaking to the change in price in the last 12 months.
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Let’s see, the last economic downturn ended around 2014/2015. From 2008 until then, the number of horses in most breeds registered dropped by about 40-50%. (And some, like paints and Appaloosas, even fewer registered) So we began the slow economic recovery with fewer people breeding… six years later, is it any wonder there isn’t much inventory around? Prior to the last crash, there were lots and lots of horses on my local CL. Now it’s way more farm equipment than horses.
I think you’re seeing the hangover from the last economic crash, not the pandemic. Pretty basic supply and demand issue. Good for people selling, not so good for people looking for a deal.
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So true. I remember back in 2014 when I last shopped it felt like facebook and horse-specific sites were truly flooded with options. This past year a friend had an enviously big budget and I was struggling to find horses remotely worth her time.
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I’ve noticed much of the same having been casually looking for a little while. I went and looked at three purebred ponies, one trained (8 year old) and the other two just handled (both 3 year olds). The prices on the 3 year olds were 7500 and 9500 - no training of any sort other than wearing a halter, leading, grooming and standing for the farrier and both geldings. They were located in one of the Northern tier states. Definitely a jump up in price due to several factors imo including the owner has access to a lot of pasture; so, in some sense not in any hurry but at the same time they’re approaching an age where training of some sort is really needed to keep them at those prices.I will also say that breeding/bloodlines and conformation as well as movement were all there.
Fortunately I did just find a sweet, level headed (taller than pony but not by much) Morgan gelding, also 3 with a lot of handling but not under saddle yet for much less than that and in the price range of the OP. Of course he’s now mine :)but they are out there. You just have to keep beating the bushes and word-of-mouth helps a lot. I would think that as you get closer to fall/winter prices up North might become more negotiable as opposed to here where right now people are a little bit more anxious to get them off the feed bill due to this horrible heat, the economy coupled with the challenge of getting them out and ‘seen’ and few being able to ride right now.
That all makes sense. I have found a 13 year old quarter pony about 50 miles away in my price range, and I’m looking at her this evening. A little older than I want, but according to the photo she’s got some good foundation training on her. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
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I hear you, OP. I just spent 3 months shopping for a nice project and also think prices seem crazy high. Two years ago I bought a nice Welsh/TB pony for under $2k, without any protracted search (she was the first and only horse I tried). This time I couldn’t find anything under $5k worth trying. TBs just a couple months off the track are advertised at $8-12k. Seems nuts to me.
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That’s all very interesting. I returned to horses in 2007, probably didn’t start window shopping the sales websites until 2008/2009. I’m in Canada where the economy played out differently.
But now that you mention it, I think there were a lot more horses for sale on these websites in 2008/2009 than I see for sale now. Of course FB replaced Dreamhorse and CL, and fragmented the market. And now FB is being shut down for horse sales. I was wondering where all the ads were. It hadn’t occurred to me that there were fewer horses in total. But it makes sense.
The TB race industry is essentially a sunset industry and is slowly winding down, so OTTB might get scarcer. I feel like all of the fad backyard breeding for minis, Andalusians, Freisian crosses, etc, may have played itself out. It’s possible QH breeders have pulled back. As hay and gas get more expensive year over year, breeding up low value horses might get less attractive.
It’s instructive what’s happened here with dogs. The spay and neuter programs have been so effective that there are basically no mutts or unplanned cross bred puppies being born except for pittbull crosses from the most unreliable sector of dog owners (either for sale on CL or at the SPCA). No one really wants a 6 month old “rescue” pitbull chow rottweiler Cane Corso cross for a family pet. So people are “adopting” ie importing selling buying street mutts from developing countries that look like the sweet tempered “lab cross” mutts we all grew up with.
Or you buy a purebred dog for the price of a good project horse :).
If low end or excess or backyard breeding of horses is indeed being discouraged by circumstances these days, then the low end diamond in the rough horse will start to disappear.
Also if maintenance costs keep going up, people will need to charge more even for OTTB they basically got for free.
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