Why does no one question horse prices?

[Jealoushe]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

You do? How?

Experience and education.

[twostinkydogs]

@quietann Interesting. And sad. I keep an eye out for Morgans as I had one as a child, but I rarely see them for sale. Saddlebreds too. I just put a deposit on a half Saddlebred. He doesn’t have the best conformation for dressage, but I absolutely love his personality

I am in Maryland and I am seeing a slight softening in the $20-40k range for green to 15 y/o average horses in the mid-Atlantic states. It’s not much, but it’s been noticeable in the last 2-3 weeks. It could be a blip, but I think it’s a response to inflation, the stock market, etc.

[ThreeWishes]

So many tangents…… my takeaway is that if you suspect nefarious activity a la money laundering I’m sure there are authorities you can contact. That should not be the same as wondering about the high cost of a hobby and it’s upkeep or showing. You’re comparing apples to orangutans

[KBC]

Of course hypotheticals are fun, because you can make up any bovine excrement situation you want.

Is there dirty money in the horse world? Well yes of course there is, it’s everywhere. Is it prevalent? Who knows, but I’m thinking not, supply and demand is the main price driver, as in any other market.

[trubandloki]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

Obviously, as you can see from this thread, the horse industry is full of some…”characters” and some very powerful people.

Characters…that is a good word for some of the people alright. Characters.

[Jealoushe]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

can you see how big of a problem/opportunity that is for people who aren’t let’s just say “stand up citizens”?

this is an issue everywhere in life, not just horses. Shady people are shady, horses or not.

@lenapesadie

Calling you out on an uneducated and illogical argument isn’t an attack. That’s calling a spade a spade btw.

[Jealoushe]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

One time or occasional sellers - good for you. Doing it repeatedly feels like a systemic problem that could reasonably be a part of the sharp increases in horse prices. Just because you’re expensive doesn’t mean you’re good at what you do in this sport.

Or maybe they ARE that good at finding horses, and selling them to homes who are looking.

I will say it again, jealousy is an ugly trait.

[Jealoushe]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

same stuff still goes on today. Insurance companies may have wised up, but the amateurs buyers haven’t and probably never will.

Why do you care so much about random amateurs?

[self_made_hunter_jumper]

It’s the people who don’t have to rely on this industry for money that have the power to push for change. It’s unfortunate you can’t see that.

[Jealoushe]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

Your jealous line is a little tired and couldn’t be further from the truth. I walked away from being a pro in this sport and I could not have found myself in a more successful position than I am today.

It’s the people who don’t have to rely on this industry for money that have the power to push for change. It’s unfortunate you can’t see that.

Yeah so unfortunate I’m not lost in delusion like cough come posters on this thread LOL

You profile says it all sweetie. You can claim you aren’t jealous all you want but everyone in this thread (except you) can see it.

Sorry not sorry some ammies have big wallets to play their game. Such is life. I routinely compete against 5/6 figure horses, and beat them. If all you see is dollar signs you are going to live a miserable life full of envy.

Let people make money and let people spend money. If you wanna play that game then get off CoTH and get to work.

[trubandloki]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

It’s the people who don’t have to rely on this industry for money that have the power to push for change. It’s unfortunate you can’t see that.

Please… tell us what you think the answer is. What do you want people to do to solve this problem as you see it?

[StB.YM]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

Do you really think anyone with half a brain would post names/dates/farms on a public forum? At the very least they’d do it privately, through an encrypted messaging platform, like Signal. And they’d only speak to reputable journalists to ensure the integrity of the story were to stay in tact. As you can see from this thread alone, there’s plenty of appetite to discredit truth tellers.

So have you or anyone else who has witnessed these events contacted the FBI? That to me would seem like the logical next step. Even if you don’t have concrete evidence, it could help point to something the FBI is already investigating or encourage them to investigate into the matter.

[colorfan]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

Exactly - let’s get back to the unexplainable price explosion…

What I see and have heard explained in regards to home improvements seem reasonable to apply to horses. When Covid lockdowns started people had holiday money, office work clothes money, gas money not spent on going out to work,-restaurants -camping etc, money not spent on restaurant eating…people had money to spend.
Home improvements skyrocketed to the point that hardware stores had a hard time keeping some supplies in stock.
Have you seen puppy prices?? x person has a GS/collie x GT poodle and want $1500 per pup!!
Now some people who have always wanted to try out having a horse are buying. Overpaying because, well, they don’t know better and more $$ must mean better.

[lenapesadie]

And we are the mob. Don’t forget that bit.

[ThreeWishes]

What change do you want? Price controls on horses? Anti drugging ( there are already mechanisms in place ) You keep throwing so many different pieces of spaghetti against the wall. Which one do you see sticking? I’m a hunter rider. Who bought a unicorn of a 6 year old in 2016. High 20,000s. I Put the miles and training and pro rides on him and I guarantee now I could sell him for 3 times that. But you couldn’t pry him from my cold dead hands. Horses are always a chance. They can poke an eye out in a rubber padded room on day 1. Having the savvy to find and trust potential is not nefarious it’s wise. And sorry to break it to you but every hobby, every sport has an unlevel financial playing field. Conflating that with money laundering is ludicrous. And lastly my horse is as kick ride as they come. You could set a bomb off and you’d still have to add leg. Not all nice hunters are drugged and not all middling ammies don’t deserve the lovely horse they searched for for ages, take incredible care of and adore.

[self_made_hunter_jumper]

[lenapesadie]

You’re hysterical.

Mobsters? Money laundering? Price controls on horseflesh?

What are you 12?

[colorfan]

@self_made_hunter_jumper

Asking because I’m genuinely curious. That is not how most other industries run so I’m trying to understand what is/isn’t acceptable in the horse world these days.

This is exactly how industries run. I know a handyman carpenter, he buys a house when he finds the right one, he and his wife fix it up, resell it, they make huge profit because he has the knowledge and skill to pick out the right ones and the skill and work ethic to put in the hours to fix the issues.
Same thing with a mechanic I know, he buys vehicles other people say are broke down, he has the skill and knowledge to repair and seriously one time he got a car for towing it away because it was broke down and useless and all it needed was the carb cleaned out. Yup a while ago but same principle. He didn’t give it away just because he got it cheap, he sold it for as much as he could to pay his mortgage.

[Mealticket]

First world problems.

[trubandloki]

@Mealticket

First world problems.

Pretty much everything on a horse forum is a first world problem.