04/03/2023
“The horse market will never be the same. Welcome to the new normal. It has become a luxury again to be a horse owner. The great ones are going above $40k. One in MT brought $100k. A Gypsy Vanner brought $500k last week. The average cost of a decent and safe family horse that is well broke, nice looking, not lame and not old is over $10k now. If you want a cheap horse you have to be ok with green or old or some lameness. If you are waiting for the market to come down I personally do not think it will. We are in new territory. The audience that can be reached now for horse sales has no limit due to the world wide web. Horse auctions that use to only have buyers sitting in the seats in front of them now go live online and have bidders from all over the US and beyond. When you view one of these sales you will hear the auctioneer say "sold online!" Over and over and over. You may think that an auction in Montana or Texas has nothing to do with local private sale prices but it absolutely does. The internet has also made it possible for Private sellers to have a wider audience. We went from hanging up a "horse for sale" sign on telephone poles to online horse groups with thousands of members in such a short time. Now shoppers are willing to travel and some willing to buy and have the horse shipped just from viewing videos. Buying the horse is only the start. Everything else about horse ownership has gone up. Gas prices effect every bale of hay, bag of grain, dewormer and suppliment. Now we cannot even get our own penicillin. Equine Vet prices are triple what is charged for dogs or cats. I don't sell very many horses anymore because people are still expecting to get a great one for $3500. I cannot even get one for that price right now but IF I DID then I would need to tune up, vet up, feed up, haul around and experience up, farrier up, dental up, pay teen riders to test and test and test up to make sure it's safe for anyone AND then be able to price it so that I am covering all those expenses and still have good profit. Most people who enjoy improving a horse even if it's just to resale have invested their heart too. How can you not love them after all that time spent but you still have to come out ahead financially. The horse is only part of it. Sellers have to deal with hundreds of people. The just curious, just looking, just want a thousand questions answered on text and then ghost you without even a thank you, the not in my price range even though I knew the price before coming, the rode your horse for two hours then say I don't have all the money, the bring my trainer and my 3 friends and all of them ride your horse for 3 hours and then say we have 10 more to look at before deciding, the people who say they can ride then do not know how to get on, the know it all with attitude, the rude, the lonely who just like to test ride all over the state and talk for hours,, the loose kids running all around your property, the ones you coach and give free lessons to for hours and then say they do not plan to buy until next month, the can I make payments?, and the ones who just do not show up after you have bathed, groomed and braided the horse. And in my case I do it ALL with a smile and kind words because I like people. If you encounter a less patient seller keep all this in mind. They go through a lot 😅😅 The moral of this story is save up and increase your budget before shopping but still ...you only live once! Buy the horse!”
Written by Donna Gardner-Hale
