What's happening with the horse market?

[5asbs]

Is the Horse market similar to the House market right now? I have heard of people actually giving away nice horses due to the price of hay, fuel and grain. I keep my horses at home, so I am not that savvy about the market. Please educate me. Very curious.

[katie]

This is something across the board - it's affecting everyone, whether they have horses or not. The economy is pretty crappy right now and people are finding themselves in tough financial situations. When you have barns raising prices every couple of months to cover their costs and still make a bit of money to put food on the table, the clients are having to shell out more and more and more. When a good majority of the country is pinching every penny to pay their bills, put gas in their vehicles, and groceries are skyrocketing, it doesn't say much for hobbies/past times/what have you, especially when horses are expensive in the first place.

It is for sure a buyer's market right now. You can get a whooooooooole lot more horse for $5k than you could last year, or two years ago.

[3kidsandahorse]

I agree in principal with Katie. However, I've just been horseshopping. I didn't look at any horses priced at $5k. Maybe a green-broke or unbroke horse would sell for that, but what I saw already broke was a few K more than $5K, and I wasn't interested in any of them. Each had issues.

Perhaps I'm looking at the wrong kind of horses. I'm not looking in big barns, or at former WGC horses. I was looking for a basic ammy pleasure/park horse, not necessarily A rated show level, although that was quite fine if I found one!

So did they see me coming...?

[Foxrun]

I recently sold just what you're looking for. His price started out at $15,000 and I ended up having to reduce it until we dropped down to $5,000 to get a buyer. She will readily agree that she got way more than that in value now that she's had him for a few months. However, I couldn't keep paying for him until the market improved and could not get interest until I started dropping the price. Just his mind alone was worth more than I could price him for.

Now I'm marketing his 2YO brother. He's only green broke, but I'm hoping that being able to use the first buyer as a reference will help me get more money. I've reduced the price on my unstarted 2YO in hopes of selling her now. If I wait until I can afford training for her, as our business has been very negatively impacted by the economy and the drought, she'll be too old to start. I'm basically having to price my weanlings at a bargain basement price, all due to the market. My 2YO that's in training will be priced at a fraction of what a colt with his talent would have been priced just three years ago. The market has changed, IMO.

Always more important to me than anything else is the type of home my horses are going to. If it means reducing my price, then that's what I do. Ideally though, I have a much lower overhead than a big breeder, so would think that I'd have more room to make money, but that's not necessarily the case. In fact, it may be the opposite. I certainly can't afford "volume discounts".

This I'm sure will be viewed as a rambling post, but I have so many mixed feelings about our market. I LOVE this breed and have been around them most of my life. That love never lessens. However, my disenchantment with the available market for them grows. I've been attempting to give away a beautiful, healthy 21 year old retired broodmare that's a blast to ride, as our farm is for sale and I need to reduce numbers. Since I can't seem to sell the young stock, I thought I'd at least try to find a home for her. She has many useful years left and is always welcome to come back to me, so it's not like I'm trying to push her off on someone in her twilight years. I've found a potential owner for her that can utilize her for a lesson program, but she first needs first to find a home for a rescued 3YO that just needs a good place to be turned out for grazing so that she can fill out and grow up. Do you see the cycle/circle here? There just aren't enough of us to meet the needs of the horses available for purchase/ownership here.

I admit that I've been part of the problem, and not part of the solution, by continuing to breed my beloved mares since they have good thinking, useful babies, and I've been told you shouldn't leave a mare standing open in case you "have" to sell them. Not this year...no more babies for those gals until I've sold/given away my current inventory and my financial situation improves tremendously. Will my life be empty without foaling season? Yes..there's nothing to compare (for me) to that time of the year. But until I find a better way to market, or until I can once again afford to always send my youngsters to a trainer, I'm done.

Anyway, yes, I think the economy is making many of us rethink our business plans and look differently towards the future. I'll be anxious to read the other thoughts out there.

[djf]

I am hearing of more horse farms in trouble every day it seems now. It don't look good. but maybe it will help to improve the quality of the horse in the long run. meanwhile lots of good ones are falling through the cracks and headed north in all breeds. Sure wish i could be on the buying side of all of this.

[3kidsandahorse]

Remember, a horse is worth what a buyer will pay. No more. You may have considered your horse worth X, and I'm not picking on anyone here, but obviously it isn't worth X. It's like a house. I'd love to sell my house for $200K, but it isn't worth that much. If I cleaned it up...

Having said that, I've had a few horses that ended up being worth more (in a sale, and one thru insurance :( ) than I paid for them. Perhaps the idea is to find something not finished or a problem horse (story of my life), pay someone to train it for you (you have to pay that anyway but find a problem-solving trainer), wait for 2 years, and sell. Repeat. But the key is to buy it at a fire-sale price, because you are taking a chance, that the horse will never be anything.

What I tried out was a greenie & a few more experienced horses. With a problem. Or an issue. I bought a greenie, but one that was rather well-known. Sometimes it's the having some experience with the horse that sells it.

I would at least consider, if I were a seller, letting the potential buyer, under carefully controlled circumstances, try the horse several times. Perhaps in their own barn. I know it's a gamble for the seller, but it's a better sale than taking the horse to an auction. The buyer wants to know the horse is good enough to pay whatever price, and 1 ride isn't always enough to determine that.

Just miscellaneous musings from a horse buyer...

[SaddlebredMom]

I admit that I've been part of the problem, and not part of the solution, by continuing to breed my beloved mares since they have good thinking, useful babies, and I've been told you shouldn't leave a mare standing open in case you "have" to sell them. Not this year...no more babies for those gals until I've sold/given away my current inventory and my financial situation improves tremendously. Will my life be empty without foaling season? Yes..there's nothing to compare (for me) to that time of the year. But until I find a better way to market, or until I can once again afford to always send my youngsters to a trainer, I'm done.

While it may be hard for you to pass up a breeding season, congratulations for making the tough decision and being a responsible breeder. :thumbup1:

[5asbs]

I agree with SaddlebredMom full heartedly. Can we get other breeds to do the same?
Kudos to any breeder who chooses equine abstinance:o