I’m just going to leave the nice TB for the people who love TB. (:
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blm website: https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/wildhorse_adoptionsandsales_generalreq_9.11.19.pdf
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Arabians can be had for relatively cheap, although not many are in the $1000 range. I’ve bought a few “projects” over the past decade and I usually find them in the online classifieds or through friends. That said, I’m looking at resale projects, and have paid about $4000 for the ones I’ve bought more recently. One was an unregistered WB (1/2 TB) and the other (current) project is half Arabian. I steer away from OTTBs because as nice as they can be (and a good horse is a good horse), selling one for dressage until its doing at least 3rd level for any kind of good money seems to be nearly impossible. I know there’s a market out there for them, but people just won’t pay what they will for other breeds.
The 1/2 Arabian was a choice for me that may or may not make money in the end for me. But after my last project who I didn’t really click with and didn’t enjoy, I wanted something I could take to some fun shows, and Arabian shows are fun. At the end of the day, this one may stay with me longer than normal because I enjoy her and she’s a little tricky so not a super easy sale. But at least I enjoy her!
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She’s lovely, but 13 hh?
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She’s only 1.5 years! And I’m only 5’3". 
Her cannon bones look long to me, I would bet she will mature a bit.
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Good to know. I don’t see very many Arabians around here, but I do know one person who took her full Arab to 4th. One of two Arabians I know personally.
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Structure is structure. The ones ive seen that drop in the back with age were structurally weak as youngsters. Short coupled and a triangle hip seems to keep a strong back with age. My only caveat with the breed is that many are narrow and to not pack on excess weight trying to create “substance” because they are metabolically more like ponies and IR can be an issue. Many I know are out 24/7 and thriving but I just don’t think they are a breed that tolerates excess weight well.
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OP, you’re clear across the country from me, but here in Arizona there are a lot of horses that are lingering in someone’s corral or roaming state land, and they’re for sale cheap. It could be for a variety of reasons: the owner died and the heirs don’t want the horse; the owner discovered riding was harder than it looked; they bought a fancy baby but never got around to the handling/training part, etc.
They aren’t advertised on facebook. They’re on craigslist or posted on the feed store bulletin board. I have an aquaintance — a local cowgirl— who picks through these horses and buys the good ones, restarts them, figures out where their talents lie, and resells them at a decent profit. She says she never pays over $700. She brings cash and her trailer and leaves with the horse. She found one really pretty little buckskin (allegedly a Morgan) that had been abandoned at a local boarding barn. No one wanted it because it was thin, barely broke and had a superficial leg wound no one had doctored properly. She paid the back board and got the horse. After about 18 months it’s quite lovely, the wound is healed and the mare goes down the trail and does well in western dressage.
So depending on the make-up of your area, you could perhaps consider searching the less familiar sources (?). Consider it a treasure hunt!
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That’s not as much of a Thing here. Land is expensive and sought after, there’s not a lot of empty space to house horses. They are too expensive to just have around. I do keep my eye out for bargains like that, though. I just so rarely see them.
Ranch-broke QH’s are not cheap here on the west coast, but I’m not sure what they sell for in New England. I have one and he passes for a WB cross and is a super mover. Great brain and easy gaits to ride. I have checked out some of the auctions and prices for a nice horses are high.
Three years ago, I bought a fancy pony mare who had been found on a feed lot. She had been ridden and few times when I got her. I competed her (schooling and USDF level), getting good scores. She was ready for second level and offered clean changes when asked. She was on the spicy side, so I sold her for five times her purchase price and bought the QH gelding. He has shown and scored very well.
On the west coast, feedlots do get some nice horses. I’ve seen lots of Andalusians and crosses along with some QH’s that are potential prospects. Auctions and feedlots in other parts of the country will likely have different breeds, For example, I wouldn’t turn down a Saddlebred or a Standardbred with decent gaits. It only takes a good eye to spot potential in a breed or individual horse others may overlook.
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How do they know her age so accurately?
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Very well. Most are still going, even at saddleseat, well into their 20s. Mine has a short back for a saddlebred and he rides more like a PRE with flatter movement.
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The BMA filly?
Note that her date of birth is given as Jan 1 2020 and she was captured in Aug 2020.
The Jan 1 birth date is like the TB convention of using Jan 1 as the official birth date of all race horses. Guaranteed a mustang mare wasn’t giving birth on New Years Day in any climate belt. More like April.
She was captured as a foal so her age in years can be calculated.
As an estimate.
Not my story, but a local lady around here has a Friesian cross gelding (“Amish warmblood”) that she found at an auction online. She saw his photo, contacted the auction and put in proxy bids. I know, I know… auctions. Yuck. He looks almost Spanish. Apparently he flunked driving school, lol, so he got sent along. She has trained them herself and she cleans everyone’s clocks wherever she shows.
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They know her age in years. They don’t know her actual birthdate. That can matter when a horse is very young, but after 3 or 4 the actual month of birth is irrelevant to development.
Most feral foals are born in spring maybe later in very snowy areas. Most foals indeed are born in spring. If you have TB you can conspire to have them born as early as possible to be as mature as possible each year of their life. Obviously an October foal would be at a disadvantage on the track as a 2 or 3 year old.
Anyhow whenever you see Jan 1 as a horse’s birth date you kind of know it’s a place holder showing the real year but not the real day. If you capture a foal in August it’s pretty clear it’s still a foal and likely still nursing a bit. So you know it’s that years foal.
Interesting to know. Andalusians and Lusis (which I’ve had a string of and have now) are so much cheaper out there. I’m also considering waiting a year or two and going to go pick up a youngster out there. The Aztecas are cute.
The Aztecas can be super dressage horses. The QH tones down the tension and the movement is a little less active. (Disclaimer: I know not all Andalusians are tense, wing and have choppy gaits.)
A lot of them do. Their conformation can really accentuate tension. I love that the QH can calm down the quick brain while keeping the booksmarts, and flatten out the movement a little while keeping the meatball shape.
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There is a feedlot in Washington that occasionally gets young Aztecas. A few years ago, a reseller picked one up that had been a ranch horse. Stunning dressage type. He sold for five figures. He was out of my price range and I really wanted him.
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