I can only imagine what the big eq horses lease for these days. I know that kids lease them just for finals, and it costs an actual sh*t-ton of money to lease for a week or so. Anybody know the approximate range?
I suspect that market is not as unusually inflated as the rest of the equine market. There’s only ever a finite number of really top eq horses and really top eq riders and it doesn’t appear to me that interest in truly big eq has blossomed during the pandemic similar to how interest in more entry level/weekend warrior type hunter/jumper and dressage has. So I suspect these horses still sell/lease for eye popping amounts but not substantially more than they did in 2018 etc. I could be wrong, but to me the big growth during the pandemic has been in the more entry-level-show-horse market and less at the tippee top.
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100% your last paragraph–I’m the same way. I can’t imagine ever really spending more than 10K on a horse (unless I come into some money, ha) and am realistically expecting to spend significantly less than that when I buy my next horse, since I’m fine buying green and am not hooked on needing a warmblood or any specific breed (my retired guy was a fancy little hunter in his day and is…an Appaloosa. I literally don’t care about breed, only type). But I don’t skimp on care for my horses. I try not to spend “stupid money” (way too many supplements, treatments with limited or no scientific backing to them, custom saddles when I personally have a very average build and can have things reflocked or shimmed to fit my horses, etc) but I don’t stretch vet or farrier visits, don’t bat an eye at specialty shoes or whatnot when they’re needed, and maintain a small emergency fund plus a Carecredit card as well as a credit card with a high credit limit–all of which could be cobbled together to cover even a very large emergency. I also have an employer-provided life insurance policy that is explicitly meant to be used to take care of my horses financially should something happen to me.
So yes, it is 100% possible to be the person who either can’t or won’t spend large sums of money on purchase but will provide high quality and expensive care.
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Re big eq horses - some years back, an acquaintance almost sold her homebred 18.1 gelding as a big eq prospect. Kid that was looking was a 6’ teen boy and needed a tall horse. They were negotiating around the $100K mark, even though the horse had mostly basic dressage training and virtually no experience over fences. I think the kid’s trainer and vet nixed the deal as the horse toed out fairly significantly in front (18.h horse from a 15.1h dam) - he would never have held up for a jumping career. I was shocked that they got as far as they did in the process at that price, esp. given the horse’s conformation issues and lack of any credentials suitable for the intended job.
I know a few went for $60-75k for the year, and they were average 3’6 horses, nothing fancy or amazing. Looking at BigEq, that’s an average range for what’s advertised with prices, too. Id venture to guess $100k is within reason for a “top” horse with name recognition (something like a Charisma, Kascade, etc with multiple riders ribboning at finals likely even more).
I don’t think the point was that people who don’t spend a lot of money on horses can’t afford care. The point was that the people with these incredibly low budgets are searching for a “Unicorn,” and we all know this simply doesn’t exist. And we know that a lot of them, unlike you, aren’t planning on custom saddles, investment in training, finding a diamond in the rough and bringing it along, etc… They aren’t looking for the same thing in a horse that you are, either. They NEED A UNICORN!!!
I cringe every time I see it, and I find what people want in a horse to be even more cringeworthy than the word “unicorn.” In many cases, they have created a complete fantasy in their heads, and truly expect someone will concde to their wishes.
They expect the horse to be:
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Cheap - and never need any type of maintenance.
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A warmblood. With training. Lots of training. As in can walk into 3’ today and 3’6" tomorrow. And needs the show record to prove it. At rated shows. For under $15k. And you should make that happen for them because they showed WEF or Global when they were younger and have talent and ambition!
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Did I mention no OTTBs (They actually mean no TBs but they, like so many looking for unicorns, think they are one in the same. They aren’t). They also don’t want Quarter Horses. Or Paints. Or Appaloosas (which is crazy because some Appaloosa are seriously athletic and typey, and some are even solid and blend in well. They are also darned intelligent.).
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Because they are nice and will give it lots of carrots and stuff you should feel GOOD about practically giving your horse away to them for significantly less than its value, because they worked hard and deserve it! Everyone is a deserving student these days (much like all horses seem to be unicorns now). I’m sure the kid is deserving. But horses aren’t free and we need to stop expecting that every sob story will convince a buyer in the hottest equine market since horses served as transportation to drop their price for little Suzie. Who will sell to Suzie for $10k when the horse has value at $60k+? Not any person I know!
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Horse needs to magikally work with whatever tack they already have, because it’s a unicorn! They will show up with low grade tack and not understand why you won’t let them slap it on the horse for a trial.
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They expect it to pack little Susie around a course of jumps, will take DH on trails, and will allow the family to come take holiday pictures with it annually and will stand like a statue during said photoshoot.
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It needs to be the EXACT color they want, like black (no chestnuts, and no chestnut mares, and DEFINITELY no chestnut TB mares!!!)
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Little Suzie is a great rider, so she needs to be able to keep this magikal unicorn at home and be able to bring it along herself (no budget for lessons or training).
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Horse needs to go from stall to the ring with no warmup or longing - must be a “saint.” I mean, what is more rare? A saint or a unicorn? I would think unicorn, but everyone and their brother not only wants one, but they seem to expect them.
Anyone else tired of people expecting the world in a horse (or more, since there are no actual unicorns in this world) for a mere pittance?
#overit
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I do not have absolute confirmation for what the figure was but I have been told that a recent winner of the finals that was sold went for mid-high 6 figures by someone who would absolutely know.
A lease for a final can be high 5s for just two days for the right horse.
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I saw an ISO ad this morning for a “unicorn.” They were okay with something older, been-there-done-that, but then they said the horse MUST PASS an extensive PPE. Whenever I see that, I can’t help it, my eyes roll. There is no such thing as “passing” a PPE really. A vet wouldn’t dare “pass” or “fail” a horse. It’s a mission of discovery, and most times you will discover some stuff. Also, how can this person possibly believe that a BTDT unicorn would be medically flawless? Maybe I’m being too quick to judge, but if I were a seller of a horse like this, I’m not sure I’d respond to these types of ISOs.
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All of your post is spot on.
In addition, the horse must have NO spook, NO bolt, NO buck. So basically, what they want is a dirtbike, but in horse form.
Some people need to take up a different sport. They expect the animals to function as machines, which is ridiculous.
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Agree. You have to have little courage if you want to participate with horses at any level. Even the most docile, quietest, well-trained horses will spook or buck or bolt under certain circumstances. I wonder…if someone is so timid in the saddle that they can handle NO spook, is riding much fun for them? It must be a very anxious, fearful experience.
I actually knew a beginner adult who lessoned on the oldest, quietest schoolie at my barn. Although he never did anything wrong with her, she confided to me that she started to get anxious before even getting in the car to drive to the barn. She quit riding soon thereafter.
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The girl I give “lessons” to is this type of fearful.
Honestly, I wish she would just quit already.
But, (not related to this thread tangent incoming) everyone else in her life has quit on her, her mother included. I don’t want to be one more person that gives up on her, so I keep trying to build her confidence and abilities. It’s exhausting though.
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I think many many people are in love with the IDEA of riding. Or having a certain type of horse. Or competing at a certain level. They like it because they read The Black Stallion, or My Friend Flicka. Or they know people who compete. Or it’s a status thing. Or they love how a galloping horse looks. But there often is a disconnect between their knowledge and abilities and their idea. And so they need the overprepped, drugged horse or the machine so they are not fearful or hurt. The rider of today is a very different demographic than 25 years ago. And liability issues have changed also in this country. People think because they can afford it it must be possible. The reality is–sometimes it is not.
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If you have that much contempt for a student you are teaching, you should refer her to an instructor who does not. A teacher who wants her student to quit will not only kill the girl’s love for riding and horses, but her confidence in herself as a student in all other areas of her life.
If her life (including her own mother) has taught her that the world is an unsafe place, and her own riding teacher wishes she’d quit, why shouldn’t she feel fear, including of riding? She would have to be an absurdly insensitive child not to.
The only way to deal with fear in a student is to keep doing the things within their comfort zone, until the comfort is no longer comforting, but boring, and then they are ready to move on.
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The reason I wish she’d quit is because I deal with her literally hyperventilating when my absolute saint of a horse does anything but move like a robot.
I have to make her repeat to me words so she remembers to breathe, because I’ve had to catch her while sliding off because she was about to pass out.
Where is the fun in that, for anyone?
But if she claims she wants to do it, I will continue to support her. I don’t dislike the girl, I dislike the unreasonable amount of fear she has over the whole riding experience.
FWIW - she went from rank beginner to being able to tack her own horse, and walking and trotting off the line.
It’s very funny to me that anyone would pretend that there are not students that are easy to teach, and students that aren’t. I’m sure every “instructor” (which I am not, as I am not taking money nor do I do this for a living) has students they wish would just beat it - for either fear or overconfidence.
That said, how do they learn different behavior if the “instructor” doesn’t just trudge on through the BS?
Thank you for saying that I have “contempt” for the young girl though.
For someone with an anxiety disorder, being able to tack up independently, walk and trot, and remembering to breathe while riding might be a huge milestone. It’s not fun to feel fear and anxiety. No one chooses to feel anxiety doing something they love. They aren’t doing it for fun. Fear and anxiety always seems unreasonable to someone else who isn’t experiencing those emotions. It’s never easy to teach people who have emotional baggage.
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I agree. She has improved leaps and bounds!
I do not have contempt for this girl, not in the slightest. But it’s hard to teach her when in a flash she can go from fine to hyperventilation, over effectively nothing.
I don’t know that it will ever be resolved, but if she quits it will be on her own volition. I will not quit on her, nor will I stop being the best instructor I can be to a very difficult student.
Honest moment though, which it’s good to be honest right? - I would not be sad if she quit, because of the emotional toll it takes on me to try and stay so positive-but-forceful during her fear moments. I don’t know how my Old Man horse does it - there’s a reason we call him a Patron Saint, though.
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I definitely agree that those Patron Saint horses are worth their weight in gold. Which is, honestly, what many riders need. Nothing flashy, just a horse that is patient with a rider’s mistakes.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a rider admitting to needing a horse like that, though, to return to the original point of the thread, and sometimes it’s those steady horses that help riders get through the anxious times that enable them to deal with more unpredictable moments. Perhaps not in the saddle, because some people will always want an old plugger, but at least in life, if humans are failing them.
Now if someone wants an saint who can also win a piece of the hack and complains about the price tag (the unicorn-seekers 
described up-thread), THEN I have no sympathy. 
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You can still take a lot of pleasure in something that gives you anxiety. People parachute out of planes as a hobby FOR the adrenaline rush. Many of us get butteries around shows! Why do we do that if it’s anxiety inducing? We enjoy it even with the anxiety! Finding a way to work through anxiety can be hard but I would not give up on a rider simply because s/he has anxiety.
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Thank you for being kind to her and trying. I hope she can keep riding with you.
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Anxiety is one thing.
Hyperventilating, trying to curl up into a fetal position while horseback, etc… it really, truly does become a safety issue.
Thank god for the Patron Saint Old Man, who just slowly…comes… to a stop… when she’s up there, legs bunched like a jockey, hands tearing at the reins (attached to a halter, she’s not allowed in a bridle yet for this reason) or death gripping the horn giving him no guidance, either not breathing or hysterically crying. etc etc.
It’s not butterflies we are talking about.
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