I am NOT thinking of selling. However, my mother and I were talking about our horses. We get our personal horses usually from friends for free/extremely cheap. We paid $300 for my horse, Sonny.
We were trying to figure out, at full price, how much he'd go for logically. So, indulge us and give us your input.
Stats:
Sun Canyon Bluff (Sonny)
Double registered Palomino/Quarter Horse
15.3 hh
17 years old
gelding
Healthy weight
Good overall health
Good barn behavior
Discipline:
Barrel Racer (average time: 14.947)
Western pleasure
Very good trail horse
Needs an intermediate - experienced rider unless he is being worked in the pasture
5/6 on temperament scale
Spooks at cattle and water but *will* tolerate them with encouragement
Gentle and responsive with ground work
Loads/unloads trailers flawlessly
Plays well with others (very submissive to other horses)
Difficult to catch (he likes to play a game where he lets you get close and then trots just out of reach).
Not head shy
Difficult to control if he bolts (thus why he needs an intermediate/experienced rider)
LOVES to run. Clocked him at 45 MPH
Does not bite/kick/rear/buck
I couldn't be sure what he would be worth in the U.S, but here in Ireland, you could probably ask 3000 euros for him. We like our palominos here, and also most horses here are spooky things anyway, due to the wind constantly blowing in!
Well, where I'm located you'd probably get 2000 for him. I'm not sure about where you are though, I'm in Virginia and we've got mainly english horses going for those prices.
Down here in my part of TX, you would probably be lucky to get $1000-$1200 for him. While he sounds like a mostly good horse, the spookiness and bolting issue is a very big deal that there are not many people around here able to deal with or willing to correct something like that in a horse that age.
He doesn't spook bad. He usually just stops, stares, and after turning him in a few tight circles, continues. The only issue is he does that every time. Even if he sees them when you're running him. He comes to a dead stop :p
I'm up in Michigan where cattle aren't everywhere, but they're pretty common.
No more than $1000, but likely more in the $500-$800 range. He's older, but not kid or husband safe, so there's not a whole lot of market for him in a market that is already bad. I also don't consider a spooky horse that has trouble crossing water and sometimes bolts a "good" trail horse, but that's just me. He is registered and a pretty color, so that helps a little bit. It might also help him go to a home that can't really handle his potentially dangerous habits.
They had a younger barrel horse at an auction near us last year - no issues with anything, he was fizzy but OK with it and no spook, really responsive to ride. She didn't get a single bid on him.
So many horses on the market with no problems now that its not easy to sell one that's got some
He's worth what someone is willing to pay for him...
Me, I wouldn't look at him if he was free, especially at his age.
He looks healthy and attractive from what I can see in the photo.
Maybe you should work on his quirks to get him worth more? If he were mine he'd be living with cows, sleeping in puddles, and learning to follow me around the pasture ready to be caught or else!
As far as the bolting bit? I don't know, it's out of my expertise and I would never fully trust him.
I'd say $300-$500 too. Those are some big vices and he is unreliable. While he's done barrels it doesn't like he's shown outside of that or placed in the ribbons. He'd be a project horse. Posted via Mobile Device
I should mention that if you know what you're doing and he knows you know what you're doing, he'll walk through fire for you. Thus why he needs an experienced rider. He relies on you to know what's what. If he knows he can trust you, he's an excellent ride. But if he knows you're nervous, he gets nervous times a thousand.
Thanks for all your inputs. The only thing that really matters is he and I work well together and are an awesome team. But it was nice to get some insight.
This is exactly right. I've got one like that on my place, he's hot and chargey and arrogant and if you don't have just the right feel, the entire ride on him is nothing but frustration. He's not worth a plug nickle in the actual market, but I wouldn't sell him for all the money in the world.
Where we are, a horse like him who is older, spooky and difficult to ride Im afraid would not sell for much. In our area, older horses are only as good as to the amount of experience they can provide to a new rider. If this horse is older and can't provide that, you will have trouble selling him.
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