Update: Bottom dropping out of “low end” horse market

[Heinz_57]

@lenapesadie

Ponies for kids still seem to be following the national trend of crazy pricing here. Though I have serious doubts about actual suitability for kids on many I’m seeing.

Same here. “Kid safe” and then the video shows it barely steering or stopping with some oversized tween rider who is clearly not a beginner Though that’s not limited to ponies, I’m seeing a lot of the same on horses that are supposed to be “gentle for anyone to ride”.

I’ve all but given up looking for now!

[lenapesadie]

I bet something will pop up for you when it’s the right horse and the right time.

Or we’ll ship one of the horses I find here to you lol!

[173north]

@lenapesadie

In regards to my update about local boarding being full. Some barns have increased prices as demand has gone up so much. Another facility has started evicting boarders that don’t line up with the barn’s main lesson/show program.

I just had a chat with my old trainer who runs a boutique H/J program in a pricey part of NJ. She’s out of stalls, has multiple clients horse shopping, and is considering sending her school horses and her personal horse to a different barn down the street, and running over there to do school horse lessons, to free up her stalls for boarders.

[Tha_Ridge]

@EverElite

I’m interested in hearing about the market for OTTB in other areas of the country. I’m on the West Coast, and horses seem to be moving like hotcakes, despite pricing being at an all-time high.

For example, a listing for a lovely, correct gelding caught my eye. Plain bay, so no gray tax, priced at $6,500. Still on the track, so will still need let down time.

Have these horses been undervalued all this time? Or is this an inflated market because people are COVID bored and looking for a project? Or is this just a California thing?

All three. I’m in the northeast and just sold my OTTB project for… seven times what I paid for her. Had a deposit on her 72 hours after listing her for sale right after her first trial (which pissed off the lady who was going to buy her off video but got cold feet—oops!). Now, granted, she was a nice horse at a very fair price, but the interest in her was INSANE. If you are skilled with OTTBs and can find those diamonds in the rough, it’s a nice time to be in the market.

[Caligirl83]

I agree with @Tha_Ridge and @EverElite re the market for well started TBs… I’m in Southern California and got an unraced 4yo plain bay TB from the breeder (he had race training just didn’t start so no tattoo and was still a stud so we had them geld him) for $3k last April, and I was just starting to think about taking him to his first show this month and I almost got him sold out from under me for $5k when I took him along on an impulse field trip with the cowhorses to a local branding… but he’s just not ready to move on in my book. He’s solid but just needs more miles so I’m holding on to him and sticking to my original plan of marketing him for $10k after 2-3 local hunter jumper shows.

We’ll see…

[Malda]

Hang in there! I go through 70+ horses when shopping, mainly for the reasons you mentioned. I’m not a beginner but I wanted a quiet trail horse.

It took me awhile to figure out why the “gentle for anyone to ride” were usually the worst/problem horses. The people selling them are hoping a true beginner, i.e. someone with no experience and no trainer, would come by. It’s easier to scam those people than someone who’s experienced.

I’ve also noticed prices on the West Coast going up. I feel lucky I bought my papered, pretty palomino QH three years ago for 6k. She’d be twice that much now.

[baybrio]

@Malda

The people selling them are hoping a true beginner, i.e. someone with no experience and no trainer, would come by.

I boarded at a place that I found out had one of those sales people in periodically. I had to leave. She’d slap a saddle (any saddle from the tack room, including mine ) on the poor untrained horse, have an incredibly gifted but naive kid get on, yank the horse around in trot and canter, take a picture standing on the saddle and call it a beginner horse.

It made me sick, poor horses and poor buyers.

[quietann]

This is my biggest fear, should I ever shop for a horse again. I don’t want to get taken. While my mare was not the best choice as a first horse, we have managed to work things out reasonably well over the years, and part of that was me learning that for the most part, she is safe. Complicated, yes. But not mean.

[cutter99]

I was horse shopping over the winter on the local horse sites, as well as Dream Horse, and at college and university programs. I am a trail rider, and am not looking for fancy, but am looking for quiet, non-spooky, willing to work, good conformation and trainable. Noticed fairly quickly that prices has jumped substantially in the last year, as I had bought a horse in November 2019, after shopping for 3-4 months.

Horses with no training, no consistent riding, no papers or history are bringing $5K. Horses, with those things, are bringing over $10K.

I also noticed that a number of the “dealers”, who usually have decent horses for the money, had many that were priced at $15K or more. They also seem to have developed “auction” websites, where the horses are going for absolutely ridiculous sums of money- over $50K for unregistered horses, who have done nothing. To me it is what my husband calls “funny money”- auctions where you cannot verify that the horse truly sold and changed hands to another buyer.

I ended up buying a two year old, technically three year old, from an ad on a local buy/sell page similar to Craig’s List. He turned two last November, so is technically a three year old this year. He had not been handled much, had a halter on less than five times, and did not lead. He is a very pretty bay paint, that is conformationally correct. He came with paperwork to register him with APHA, but $200 to register a gelding, who is not going to be shown is not a priority for me.

I paid $1K for him. If I send him out to be broke, I might spend between $800-$2400, depending on how long he goes out. He is already leading, loading on the trailer quietly, getting his feet trimmed regularly and did well for all his vet work two weeks ago.

I am lucky that I can sit and wait to break this horse, as well as the fact I have room to have him at home without any expensive boarding costs. I have also realized it was probably a good move to make as I am enjoying just spending time with him, teaching him the basics. He has turned out to have a wonderful temperament and personality, and is a quick learner.

For me, going this route has been a great option, but it might not work as well for others. But when I see today’s prices, I am absolutely shocked!

[Malda]

@cutter99

I was horse shopping over the winter on the local horse sites, as well as Dream Horse, and at college and university programs. I am a trail rider, and am not looking for fancy, but am looking for quiet, non-spooky, willing to work, good conformation and trainable. Noticed fairly quickly that prices has jumped substantially in the last year, as I had bought a horse in November 2019, after shopping for 3-4 months.

Horses with no training, no consistent riding, no papers or history are bringing $5K. Horses, with those things, are bringing over $10K.

I also noticed that a number of the “dealers”, who usually have decent horses for the money, had many that were priced at $15K or more. They also seem to have developed “auction” websites, where the horses are going for absolutely ridiculous sums of money- over $50K for unregistered horses, who have done nothing. To me it is what my husband calls “funny money”- auctions where you cannot verify that the horse truly sold and changed hands to another buyer.

I’ve wondered about these auctions. Love the term “funny money” and I think your husband is right about not being able to verify the horse sale.

“The Horse Bay” is one that I look at sometimes. Many sold prices are shocking (that’s why I look).

https://thehorsebay.com/product/kodiaks-black-gold-aka-chrome/ He seems like a nice horse in the video. Nice gait, some good training but nothing amazing. What makes him worth $61,200?? He’s a gelding so he can’t be bred and has no show record. He would probably make a nice trail horse and could do local shows, that’s all. Who’s paying this kind of money?

I think cutter99 is right, there are dealers dumping horses at these auctions. At the end of the video it thanks the Borntreger Family, so I looked them up. They seem to be sending horses to these auctions.

Borntreger Horses & Shoeing