This is me too. A relative died making it possible for us to spend more on a horse than I ever planned. Which is still nothing compared to many but we aren’t looking for a fancy show horse.
But the part about things worse than lame or death is true- I do not want to be ‘stuck’ with a horse that doesnt work for us. I need a safe horse that can do what we want now and would easily find a good home if ever needed.
A lot of people I know sub 35 with five figures horses were gifted them by their parents or they are family “investment” horses. I actually don’t know of anyone in the 18-35 range personally who was able to outright purchase a $25,000+ horse without a loan or family assistance. Of course I am not saying it isn’t done, just that I don’t personally know them. Most are on four figure horses and a few in the $10-20k range. I have several good friends with horses that were $50-200k purchases. Some with multiple horses in that range. They have families with means and there is the expectation that they will provide for their own children and their passions when they are in the same shoes 30 years down the road. I do know of a few people who now have horses worth a nice five figures that were strategic yearling purchases, bred, or true diamonds in the rough with a robust show record now.
A lot of the careers that make horses financially easy down the road (law, medicine, etc.) often require great sacrifice during your 20s and 30s. Right now I make crap money but I’ve got insane flexibility and a few degrees in my back pocket. Big picture, I need to get my butt in gear to make the next leap but it was the perfect time to get a horse from a time perspective. In the next two weeks I have two massages, a saddle fitting appointment, and farrier appointment in the middle of the workday and it’s a nonissue.
Dh and I have crossed the 30 threshold but are child-free. Joint income not much over $100k but we live in a low cost area, cars are paid for, $200k home, but about $50k in student loans. We bought a horse at the end of 2019 for 4 figures using savings. We budget conservatively for horse expenses and I teach a few lessons to bridge the gap and we cross our fingers. If it really hit the fan I have a strong family support I could tap into but because of my pride it would have to be extreme circumstances. If we didn’t have my family I don’t know if I would feel comfortable even using that much of our savings.
I’ve never bought an expensive horse. I’ve sold a few mildly expensive horses. If you are rich, you can buy an expensive horse. If you are not rich, you must go and kiss a lot of frogs. You have to “shop around”. You have to look in places that other people are not looking. You have to look in people’s back yards, in “unlikely” places. You have to avoid looking in places that sell expensive horses, with gardeners working full time to keep the grounds looking fantastic, because if you buy a horse from these people, they are dumping a bad one on you for cheap. You have to look at horses whose current owners may not recognize their horse’s potential value. Just because a horse has not performed at the discipline you are interested in previously, does not mean that that horse may not be a super talented athlete, who simply has not had the opportunity to show the world what he can do yet. The horse may not be a “fashionable” breed, he may be a plain colour. These things are perfectly acceptable for what you are looking for. But if he’s broke to ride, and you feel comfortable riding him, and he feels good underneath you and moves like an athlete, if you can try him over a free jump and he likes it, does it easily, nice form, he may be the gem in the rough you are looking for. Some of the very best horses in competitive history have a background just like this, and they are not expensive to buy, yet “take to” the new sport discipline easily, quickly, and are not difficult for a decent rider to “bring on” in competition. How far you go in competition depends on the horse, and on you.
Myself, it is the racetrack where I have found my new prospects. Don’t rule this out, find the right one from the right trainer who has ridden the horse correctly, and it’s not difficult to bring one of those on as a sport prospect. This is what all the teenagers used to do in decades past, and most were quite successful, both learning as they go. Don’t think that you can’t do it too. You just need to select the right one, from the right trainer. Other than OTTBs, there are many other breeds and sources that you can look at, on ranches, in different disciplines. Don’t rule a horse out simply because he hasn’t had the chance to be tried yet. Go and try him, source him out from somewhere that rich people are not looking. Find one that “speaks” to you, and says, “I am the horse you are looking for”.
Do not go into debt to buy a horse. Do not spend more money than you can afford to flush down the toilet. If you are rich, you can flush quite a bit of money down the toilet, and be OK with doing that. If not rich, understand that you must shop in a different location for the prospect you are looking for. Good luck, happy shopping.
My first horse was $4k (I was 17 years old) my parents helped me with the purchase price, alongside savings from my summer jobs - I worked off board and other expenses at the barn.
I bought my second horse in my 40s for $10k and cashed in some investments to do so. Again (regressing to my teenage years) I worked part time at the barn to help cover his expenses, along with a part boarder.
Unfortunately he had to be semi-retired and then euthanized less than 5 years later, so I didn’t have a budget to replace him. I stumbled across an ad for a 22-year-old schoolmaster, took a chance and it was the best $2500 I’ve ever spent. I don’t have time to work at the barn between my jobs and kids, but I do still have a part boarder, which reduces the costs of horse ownership.
I think leasing / part boarding is a great option for most amateurs. If they put away a little every month for a few years towards the horse they ultimately want to purchase, part boarding can still give them the experience and saddle time they want, but at a fixed, predictable cost and without the risk of a career ending injury or illness wiping all your savings out.
It sounds like you are ready to move up to a more advanced horse and into a program / barn that aligns more closely with your goals. I would look for that program and find a lease situation there while saving to buy. The best advice someone gave me is to find a barn / trainer where the students are already successful at the level you dream to reach.
I know you said there is nothing suitable in your area so your options are a long drive or moving to a more suitable area. On average my commute to the barn is 70-75 minutes each way. The downside is I only get there three times a week. The upside is I have a fabulous trainer there who taught me more in my first two months than I had learned in the previous 20 years.
Financially, though, this is not all that different from a loan.
I don’t say this because I like loans, only because I didn’t always appreciate that this kind of scenario is similarly expensive and rigid as a loan. If the situation is you can pull the horse from training and turn it out someplace inexpensive, then it is less so, but it’s really uncomfortable to find yourself in a position where the horse has to be ridden n days a week, you can’t do it all yourself, and you have to pay someone to ride for you. Different barns and different areas and different disciplines will have more or less of that kind of financial liability, depending upon what horseless riders or other barn rats are around, availability of turnout, etc.
So if financial flexibility is important to you, I encourage you to look for a horse that is laid back and rideable by as many people as possible, regardless of age or level of training. That’s a horse you can lend, lease, or worst comes to worst sell if the money becomes a problem.
I would think you would want to do that NOW, and put that towards your horse purchase fund.
Eh, maybe. But honestly, I’m in this for the long haul. If I’m at the point where I have to stick to buying just the necessities then I would argue I’m not ready to buy a horse. Saving up this much cash will take me a bit of time - might as well have fun during it so long as I’m meeting my savings goals.
Plus, I’ve told myself nothing is happening this year. The economy is too fragile right now for me to buy. I’m waiting until next year to see how things shake out.
The hard part is deciding whether to take a year or two off entirely, to save all or a good chunk of the cash for the purchase. The majority of my friends who found themselves in this situation simply couldn’t bear to take a significant break. Several took a decade or more to save what otherwise would have taken just a year or two. (I don’t necessarily blame them!)
@Redlei44 Tried to quote but isn’t working with the new design. Oh wow, that’s so hard core! There is no way I could take that long of a break. I took a bit over a month due to COVID barn closure and it was so hard not to have the mental and physical outlet. Definitely going for the “sustainable” approach.
I got my then-12 yo 17 hh registered Holsteiner gelding for $1 because I knew his breeder and she was trying to find him a new home after he had flunked out of the lesson program he had been given to by a previous owner. He had some issues to work out, namely bad ground manners and some herd bound-ness, but with a little TLC and a LOT of training rides, he’s turned into an absolute unicorn.
I’ve always used savings to buy horses with one exception. When we refinanced the house, I used some of the money to augment savings to buy. Literally, that was the ONLY horse I’ve ever owned that had a career ending injury and it was well before the mortgage was paid off.
I say never, ever, finance something that can die.
you insure what you can not easily replace
Have you priced loss of use? I’m guessing not.
Honestly - ten years ago, when I was 25, I decided I was sick of getting concussions on the “free” project horses I rode in my youth and on a bit of a whim I wrote the LSAT then went to law school. I’m really lucky that law worked out for me - a lot of lucky things aligned to make my legal career what it is now.
That’s how I afford horses. I wish I had a better answer but nope - that’s it. Just long hours on a laptop, stress rashes and an over-inflated salary that I spend exclusively on horses.
haha…same story here. I rode things that were free leases, free, or four figures (or things I got to ride as a working student) until I graduated from law school at 24. I used my first biglaw bonus to purchase my first expensive horse. My career (and its endless stress and excessive hours) provides for my horses.
Honestly, my parents were clear about how expensive riding was - and back then I was doing it at a much lower level in an exponentially less expensive area and way. I knew that my career choice was going to impact how, and if, I could stay in horses.
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