Isn’t that what Akiko did with the new horse she just bought for Steffen?
For what it’s worth, if I was considering a horse from WEC I would not buy sight unseen. Some reported discrepancies between current condition and that which was advertised in prior videos.
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the BEST horses never get on the open market 
people buy them too quickly. NETWORK! I have bought horses that were not even for sale.
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Maybe the trouble finding a horse stems from the fact the OP may have a different definition of what “correct, classical training” is than most sellers do? Otherwise the horse described shouldn’t be hard to find with an appropriate budget and a knowledgeable trainer helping with the search.
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Yup, I think you are right BigMamma. All is not what it seems my friends.
I wonder could it be the location? Though OP hints they may go to Europe to look, so I guess not…
So many of the better breeders/trainers have excellent websites to peruse also. It was much harder back in the pre-internet days! but even then, with a trainer who was dialed in, it wasn’t impossible.
Now that we have more breeders in the US who are focused on Dressage and sport horses, the internet, and other advantages… I’m not sure what I might attribute the difficulty to, your guess is as good as any.
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She has lovely horses, but they do not generally meet OPs criteria as they are on the younger side - 4-5 yrs old and obviously not ready or confirmed at 4 level or above.
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what do you mean “correctly trained” are you into the french school? Classically and correct are very much open for debate.
If scores mean nothing, what is your barometer?
What kind of horse do you like? Breed preference?
Is your budget over 100 K USD?
To the OP, one of the sources I PMed you has a coming 10 year old WB for sale, showed in Developing PSG and PSG (scores in 70s) classes as an 8 year old, is schooling GP. Can be ridden by an Amateur who knows FEI. Radiographs available. This is not from a BNT.
These horses are most certainly out there if you have the budget and traveling is no issue for you, as you say. They really aren’t that difficult to find if you do your homework and network a little.
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Not sure why you consider my phrasing as weird. I want to advance in my riding to beyond PSG. Since I don’t show, I am not hung up by the exact levels. I do want to experience the advanced levels of collection and learn o ride through the movements and move above my current level of knowledge and ability.
I am happy to discuss my budget with sellers but I dont see where it would make a difference a forum where I am asking for help in finding places with well trained horses.
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Thank you so much! I am looking into the sources!!
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I am checking out breeders, but many seem to only have very young horses that are either not even started yet, or very green. But I am doing tons of internet research. My reaching out to this forum was to see if there was an easier way than looking at each breeder, trainer, sales barn’s website.
I think it’s hard to suggest places to look for this type of horse without knowing a general budget, you’ve said you have a healthy budget, but that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I think also people on here aren’t generally going to want to give out their personal connections/contacts to an unknown quantity. I think probably waiting a few weeks and taking a trip to Wellington would get you the most horses to see in one go, but those horses won’t be cheap.
If there are breeders whose horses you’ve noticed and particularly like, you can always contact them, they often keep in touch with people who buy their youngsters and many know when one gets brought along and offered for sale. While this approach could net some good results, it would involve a lot of leg work and potentially a good bit of travel.
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RE budget, as Dutchmare noted, it’s hard to direct you when we don’t know if your idea of ‘healthy budget’ is the same as ours or more importantly, what the breeders and sellers one might direct you to would consider ‘healthy’ for such a young, yet well trained/UL ready horse.
That’s not saying you need to give the exact balance in your savings account, but a price range you are aiming for would help.
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Where are you? use your local USEF chapter. If you are someone who has shown and been you should already have some networks started.
What is your budget? over 50K, 100K? Are you coming from more of a french background or classical german?
What kind of horse do you prefer? Heavy WB? Lighter? PRE? Do you have any preferences as far as breed? color? size?
Otherwise “upper level horse” is so generic, it will be hard to direct you to the right groups.
What have you done in the past? Are you a confident ammy or more need more of a babysitter schoolmaster? are you willing to do maintenance at all? Do you have a trainer who can travel with you (fly) to test horses?
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Breeders sell horses to [usually] make a profit. The longer you keep them, the less profit there is.
Most of the better breeders only keep and continue to train those they see as prospects as a stallion or [much less often] as broodies that are SO good they must be kept- those are usually mares of very rare bloodlines.
You are looking for a horse under 10.
No breeder is likely to keep a horse that long, or even really half that long, and then sell it for less than A whole lotta’ money if they sell it at all.
I’m not sure what could be ‘easier’ than looking at websites to whittle down ones’ list of potential prospects that merit an actual in person visit. shrug
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I do want to experience the advanced levels of collection and learn to ride through the movements and move above my current level of knowledge and ability.
You said you were already riding at the PSG level. You now want to ‘experience the advanced levels of collection’. That translates to me as wanting to do piaffe, passage, and one tempis. Those are the collected movements above PSG. Since you don’t want to show, there are horses (mostly spanish types) that excel in the high collection but are not as strong at some other things. Maybe that’s the direction you should go. If you want the whole enchilada, then you are looking for a GP horse. A GP horse, under 10, well…$$$$$$$
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I think there is a huge range in “healthy budget” - I have friends who have gotten PSG (and even GP) schoolmasters for $25k to $40k - but they are OLDER, need maintenance, are not going to score 70%. I have friends have have spent $50k on a 1st/2nd level horse after finding they couldn’t afford a decent quality 3rd/4th level horse in that price range. I have other friends that wouldn’t dream of spending more then $10k on a horse. Healthy budget is very subjective.
I think if you are looking for a COMPETITIVE 4th level horse that is under 10 years, you are probably looking at $50k to $250k (depending on how competitive, as well as other factors like how easy to ride, and what talent they show for higher levels).
If you aren’t competing, you don’t need big gaits, that changes the picture a bit. I still think I’d start with an ISO post, and let trainers know what you are looking for. Start networking.
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This really is about engaging with the kinds of correct, classical trainers you respect.
Some that would come to mind for me are JJ Tate (and she does buying trips in Europe plus represents the Hanoverian verband in the US) and also has sales horses in training) and Jeremy Steinberg (doesn’t sell or train many horses, but sees a lot from teaching around the US and is well connected to breeders).
