I am doing my own research, but this is not my exact niche so I come to the wisdom of COTH. I am thinking of picking up another project pony … what are folks seeing the first or second pony / lesson program / local show types going for? Think the super safe, cute but not so fancy grade QH pony type that wouldn’t quite fit in at a rated show but could do lessons, trail ride, and hold its own locally bopping around the 2 ft or 2’3. We’re in a pricey area and our unrated/schooling shows are enormous.
I don’t think lesson programs actually pay market rate for horses. They make up their own projects or free lease retired junior jumpers.
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As a potential buyer of that type, I can’t find anything that can right now do lessons and jump around 2’ at a local show for less than $10,000. Obviously much less if it has the potential to do that but needs training.
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Anything proven youth H/J safe, papers or not, is going to be at least $12k. Scrolling through Dreamhorse just now, I couldn’t find anything remotely what you are looking for, for less than that. Most where $15k-$22k
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Maybe a soapbox, buuuuuuttt…
I see a lot of ISOs for “it doesn’t need to be fancy, just super safe.”
My issue is with the word just.
I think “just super safe” is exactly what drives the price up. Because that’s what everyone is looking for. I think super safe is nearly as rare and marketable as super fancy…and everyone wants it.
So buyers thinking they can find a deal because they just want super safe…It doesn’t seem realistic.
OP, I hope I’m wrong and you can find the perfect pone!
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I’d say safe bet $15k-$20k for something like that. If it’s for sale at all. Maintenance or a vice like cribbing/won’t tie/bad loader might bring the price down but if it’s safe for kiddos it’s going to be expensive.
Most lesson programs I’ve been in either made their own lesson horses from scratch or lease them from a client who has moved up. A lot of programs in my area are not replacing the lesson horses they retire but have moved to a lease/own requirement program. It’s just not financially reasonable to buy and maintain the type of horses they need these days, which is super sad to me but is the reality of horse keeping in a lot of places.
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That’s exactly the scenario I’m facing. If I’m going to continue my lesson program I need to make my own. I’m very VERY fortunate to have two perfect lesson ponies that are owned by friends and loaned to me on long term care leases. I cover all expenses including appropriate maintenance. But both ponies are elderly and will inevitably need to retire or be lost to age related conditions. So in planning for their replacement, I try to buy the right brain and build from there. I’m hoping the long game will pay off.
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If you’re cool with the horse being 15 or 16yo+, you can pick those up for well under $10k or a free care lease. You will pay more for a horse that is well schooled and less for one that’s mostly trail broke (ie bending may be a foreign concept). I’m also in a super high COL area and that’s what I see selling on the facebook groups.
I personally think that’s not a bad age for a lesson horse and also at that age it doesn’t hut them to get out more than once a day with a small kid doing beginner stuff or a couple trail rides. Lots of walking and a bit of trotting/ cantering with kid sized riders + a handful of schooling sessions/ advanced lessons a week with someone better who can maintain their training and topline and keeps them sounder well into their mid to late 20s.
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I have this pony. I’d price him around that $15k point as he’s only 7. He pays his way doing lessons during the week and my 11 year old daughter shows him on the weekends.
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Thanks, all - sounds like I am on the right track!
And I agree with you @DawgLady… great brain and safe is the key criteria. Basically everything else can be worked around if it’s truly kid-friendly. You just gotta find those little guys!
I just came across a FB ad for a 15.0h, 14 year old AQHA mare. She can go English or Western, but is very green at jumping. She’s not a great mover or jumper. Not built great. No flying change. But she seems sweet and safe enough.
$18,000. Freaking yikes.
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so these $20,000 schooling ponies… how do you calculate the return on investment? Per ride. per month or however ?
There is sort of a general rule of 1% on investment for real estate per month
A property that cost $20,000 (if there is such a thing these days) would need to produce $200 income per month
I’ve never heard that (not that I’d have any reason to learn about it anyways as I’ve only just been able to buy my own house, let alone a rental property) but that’s interesting.
At that rate, it’d take a little over 8 years of that 1% ROI to break even, so I suppose that’s not an unreasonable amount of time to expect a horse to work. Say it’s $1000 in expenses per month to upkeep pony (I’m in a HCOL area, so ymmv), so you’d need to have $1200 in revenue monthly, and lets say 6 lessons/wk (~24/mo). That works out to $50/lesson before you ever factor in how much money the trainer needs to make to put food on their table and/or maintain their barn.
I wouldn’t have expected this based on the initial “$20k for a school horse sounds expensive”, but for my area, that about works out believe it or not. Most lessons around here are ~$60 on your own horse (obviously the better deal for the trainer here) or $80+ if you’re on a lesson horse. Private lessons are generally $100.
Now… some barns may struggle to keep 24 lessons booked per month on any given pony, and horses always carry inherent risk of catastrophic injury that lays them up for weeks/months at a time, but I’m actually a little surprised at how not-unreasonable those numbers look.
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I don’t think you can use the real estate rule of thumb because at the end of that period, you can sell the real estate presumably for more. Not so much with a horse at the end of its useful years.
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was using real estate as an example of expected return on investment which buying a horse for a specific use for training riders should have an expected return on the investment as it s nothing more than an asset for the enterprise
If that is the horse’s only expected use is for schooling riders insuring that horse for that use may be problematic
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