Depends on a lot of things. Was he in the hunters because of an initial resistance to dressage training? Big dressage gaits without a willingness to transition, do lateral work, or collect aren’t going to get him beyond the lower levels. Why does he not want to be a hunter any more? Could be a real diamond in the rough or a complete head case/horse with an undiagnosed lameness. Either way, I’d put him on the lower end of the price spectrum. Maybe $25k.
[QUOTE=hoopoe;8582390]
If this horse wants to be marketed to the dressage crowd, then I suggest a trip to a dressage trainer for evaluation and perhaps training and a few shows.
high 60 low 70 at training / first level at a schooling show, on a horse that supposedly has great blood line and a “beautiful mover” says there is something amiss.
With top lines and beautiful mover ( great gaits 7 or 8 on the score sheet) ) , i would expect consistent 70+ scores at training and first[/QUOTE]
With a pro, I agree. Assuming the prominent bloodlines are indicative of horses who mature younger (and based on the description) I would also expect those type of scores, especially at just schooling shows.
My coming 6 year old mare has been more low-mid 60s with me and she is VERY physically immature, which has affected many of our scores. She’s from late blooming lines so I expected it, but with her crummy AA rider as her only rider at shows except for one test at one show, and only 5 shows, we have lots of little bobbles and things a pro wouldn’t have - so her gaits aren’t where they will be due to lack of maturity/strength, and her rides have bobbles. Not the beautiful gaits, wonderful behavior described in the first post which would make me expect a 70s kind of score with a pro.
Thanks to everyone for your input.
I’m genuinely interested in learning more!
I came over from Hunterland, so I’m not familiar with dressage scoring or levels. He went to one combined training schooling show and I don’t remember the exact scores or even what level class he did. I do remember the blue ribbons, though, so I thought he did ok. 
He also did a couple of h/j schooling shows.
Is there a huge difference between, say, a 68 and a 72? If someone told me they scored a 68 vs a 72 in a hunter classic, I wouldn’t consider that to be a huge difference - at least not big enough to change my opinion of the horse’s value.
Is a high 60’s/low 70’s score considered low for a horse who doesn’t have dressage as his main job? If you had a great hunter with gorgeous movement, would you expect 70’s scores if you plucked him out of the hunter ring and put him in the dressage ring with a competent dressage trainer?
(Now I know how non-horse parents feel when watching their kids compete in the hunters - I am completely clueless!)
I think there’s a decent difference in a 68% and a 72% score–4% is a big difference in a dressage class, where often people can be separated by just 10ths of a point. They’re both good scores, the problem is that generally schooling shows score a whole lot higher than rated shows, so your score of a 68% at a schooling show could end up being a 62% at a rated show. (Not always, there are definitely “Santa Claus” judges to be had at rated shows.)
Unfortunately, blue ribbons in dressage also don’t necessarily mean much, though they are great to get. Shows in my region often get split Open/AA/JrYR, so sometimes (often) you end up getting placed out of only 3 people.
[QUOTE=Otter;8585446]
Thanks to everyone for your input.
I’m genuinely interested in learning more!
I came over from Hunterland, so I’m not familiar with dressage scoring or levels. He went to one combined training schooling show and I don’t remember the exact scores or even what level class he did. I do remember the blue ribbons, though, so I thought he did ok. He also did a couple of h/j schooling shows.
Is there a huge difference between, say, a 68 and a 72? If someone told me they scored a 68 vs a 72 in a hunter classic, I wouldn’t consider that to be a huge difference - at least not big enough to change my opinion of the horse’s value.
Is a high 60’s/low 70’s score considered low for a horse who doesn’t have dressage as his main job? If you had a great hunter with gorgeous movement, would you expect 70’s scores if you plucked him out of the hunter ring and put him in the dressage ring with a competent dressage trainer?
(Now I know how non-horse parents feel when watching their kids compete in the hunters - I am completely clueless!)[/QUOTE]
Scores in standard tests rarely get above 80%, so yes 68 - 72 is a pretty large margin.
If he was plucked straight from the hunter ring, i’d expect lower - mid 60s scores. The horse probably isn’t stretching into the contact, moving from behind or able to lengthen strides that well. Although I know some hunter trainers that work on variation within a gait. So may lose points on impulsion/submission.
^^^ Thanks, Dutchmare! I’m beginning to see the light.
If he showed Training level, there is really nothing the horse has to do that would be so different from Hunter flatwork, so it is pretty irrelevant whether he is mainly a dressage horse or a hunter. The work gets much more specialized at 2nd level. At Training Level, he has to walk, trot, canter, do 20 meter circles with correct bend, and a stretchy circle. Has to be able to do transitions, reach to contact, show all three gaits. So if the horse is a fancy mover and an uncomplicated ride, and has those basics, they should be able to pull off a 70% at a schooling show, scoring mostly 6s, 7s, and 8s. If he’s a fancy mover, it is easier to pick up those 8s, especially at the lower levels where there isn’t a lot of advanced training involved.
