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Question About Value.

3K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  maura 
#1 ·
I have a GORGEOUS Spotted Saddle/TWH mare (not sure of age) that is green broke, and getting more training at the moment. She's very sane, and trail worthy, but she doesn't like being away from the other horses when you go riding, and she gets kind of nervous about animals making rustling noises in the leaves. I will be selling her soon, and I was wondering how much she might be worth, in this economy. With her problems and with them corrected. She's a sweetheart:)
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#3 ·
Green broke horses just aren't terribly marketable right now, at least not in my neck of the woods.

A dead broke, rock solid, reliable trail horse with no soundness issues is around $2500.; which I think is a crying shame. Most people will have way more than that in a horse before they get it to that stage of training.

Your girl is cute and flashy, which is a plus. It's usually easier to sell color.

You don't mention her size, a horse up to carrying weight will usually birng more. Anything 15.3 - 16 H and up you can get a little more for.

So my real answer to your question is right now she's worth between free to a good home and $500. Sorry, that's the market right now. Finished and rock solid broke with no holes in her training and no "buts" as in but doesn't load, but doesn't go in front, but isn't good for the farrier. $2500 - $3500 depending on her size, how well she gaits, etc.
 
#6 ·
Work on her a couple of more months, get her to a 'solid broke' rather than 'green broke' status, work out the spooky issues with her. Stick it out for another couple of months.
The horse market WILL increase in the next months, horse prices will rise again in the next year. You may see a better turn-out then, than now for what she has to offer right now. if you can afford to keep her and train her further along, she may yet be more valuable than right now :) It should be worth it.
 
#8 ·
The horse market WILL increase in the next months, horse prices will rise again in the next year.
Why, because people want to butcher them for meat? I would rather horses are "free to a good home" than worth $500 to the slaughter house. I value their quality-of-life more than a few bucks. :evil:

That is why I am so afraid to part with my horses. You just don't know where they could end up. :cry:
 
#7 ·
I think it depends on where you are at too. I would guess there are a lot of gaited horses where you are.

In Arizona gaited horses used to bring a minimum of $2500. A couple of years ago I found a 15 yr old Fox Trotter for $500 and felt like I stole her. She's not perfect either, but she's a good girl and a lot of fun. A neighbor got another Fox Trotter, 7 yrs. old, for $800. So I would guess in that price range. Really, it's exciting to me to be able to even afford a gaited horse. But on the other hand, it's kind of sad that a horse barely brings a months worth of training.

I am going to have to spend about $700 a month to get my colt trained, probably a minimum of 3 months if I am lucky, and then what I will get back is a horse worthless to anyone but myself. But hey, if he works out for me, that's all I am asking for.
 
#9 ·
I agree with bubba on $500, give or take a little. My horse is exactly like yours. He's ten, green broke, and spooks at everything, I paid $600 for him.
 
#11 ·
LittleZeasel, I'm pleasantly surprised by your response. When I put my feelings out there, I almost went back and deleted what I wrote because I was afraid I would get jumped on. I never should have mentioned the "s" word. But I figured that is why you stated prices would rise.

But anyway, thank you for not jumping on me. I kind of feel strongly about it, and I think most horse people do. It seems to be an either "for" or "against" thing. Not very many people are in the middle. Even my best horse-friend is pro-slaughter. I sometimes feel alone. Maybe I am naive for trying to live in an ideal world where horses don't go to slaughter. But I think we should at least strive towards that goal.

And actually, I like being able to go out and buy a horse. Before the market dropped, "good" horses were hard to find in my price range. So it's cool to be able to afford a gaited horse, even an imperfect one. :)
 
#14 ·
Where I live, you'd have a hard time selling that horse now. No one wants to buy horses in the winter when hay prices are at their highest, especially horses that can't be ridden now. In the spring, however, you could probably get a couple hundred dollars for her. Throw 30 days on her and take some pictures of her in tack, and you'd get more. In Canada, it's all about the season, it seems.
 
#15 ·
1. Figure out her age (ask a knowledgeable friend, or vet to look at her teeth)
2. Figure out her height. (you can measure her in inches from the ground to the top of the withers. Then convert it to hands 4 inches=1 hand)
3. Maybe post a video of her? So we can see the way she moves

The first two are a big deal. A young, tall horse may easily be worth more than $500. Dependent upon where you live.

I would also finish her. That should bump up the price another $250. If done right.

In conclusion, a tall (over 16h), young (over 4, but under 10), finished horse could bring in 1,500. Here, that is.

What are your motivations for selling her? You can't afford her, or you want to make money off of her? I would really consider giving her to someone you trust for free if you can't afford to keep her. I wouldn't trust a random joe-shmo to take care of your mare.

Realistically, you won't make nearly as much as you've put into her. That's just the horse market.
 
#16 ·
I sold my registered 16hh buckskin twh gelding, who was greenbroke, for 1000 on the spot. the guy didn't even ride him. said he could tell all he needed to know from how he moved.


Guess it depends on who your buyers are?
People who really know gaited horses and can spot the really good ones seem to be willing to pay more, in my experience.
 
#17 ·
Regardless of your personal feelings about slaughter, the fact remains that slaughter facilities in the US closing had a very chilling effect on the US horse market, particularly on the lower end of the market for family/pleasure and trail horses.

I have two horses in my paddock right now. One is a rock solid, dead broke, well educated registered 10 yo QH that is sane and sound and anyone can ride. He also had good feet and is a ridiculously easy keeper. Ten years ago a horse like him would have been anywhere from $2500. - $5000. He was free to me. The owner could have gotten $1500. for him but much preferred to know he was in a good home.

The other is a drop dead good lucking, athletic QH, 9 years old that requires a little riding but is a boatload of fun. Also free to me, and for the same reasons.

It's a tough time to sell a horse.

If a lot of the unsound, unsuitable, badly bred, need more work than they'll be worth horses were taken out of the bottom of the market, my two horses' market value would increase.

I may not like the mechanism by which the glut of unsalable horses will leave the market; but I can't deny the effect it would have on the market, no matter how distasteful I might find it.
 
#18 ·
I honestly don't believe that the horse slaughter ban was what caused the giant drop in horse prices. Sure, it was a factor, but I think the far bigger player was just the general tanking of the economy. Becaue you can't figure supply and demand into it, as supply stayed pretty much constant--the same number of horses were slaughtered as before, just out of the country. And the value of a kill horse may have dropped, but shouldn't much affect the value of a good, broke horse, since those were never going for kill, anyway.

We're just in a recession and will be for awhile. Unless you want to blame the housing market catastrophe on the slaughter ban, too.
 
#19 ·
No, I don't want to blame the housing market drop on the slaughter situation, which wasn't technically a ban at all; the US gov't just stopped funding inspection for the plants.

My view of the cause and effect relationship is this: if you're an average backyard horseperson or 4-Her, and you want to sell your current horse and trade up to something nicer/fancier/more capable, you have a heck of a lot of trouble finding a home for the horse you have now. Assuming that you're not going to sell your sweet, useful but outgrown horse for a $100 and risk the he's going to ride a double decker to Mexico, you hold on to him and defer trading up. The glut of horses at the bottom of the market has a chilling effect on the whole market, because your average owner isn't trading up. Yes, the economy figures into that as well, but when you can't give away what used to be a nice entry level horse, that means no one's buying the second or step up horse. Which chills the entire market, except for the performance horses at the very top end. And I do attribute the current glut of horses at the bottom of the market to US slaughter houses being forced to close.

However, I do think there's a market for the OP's horse with the right circumstances.
 
#20 ·
No, I don't want to blame the housing market drop on the slaughter situation, which wasn't technically a ban at all; the US gov't just stopped funding inspection for the plants.

My view of the cause and effect relationship is this: if you're an average backyard horseperson or 4-Her, and you want to sell your current horse and trade up to something nicer/fancier/more capable, you have a heck of a lot of trouble finding a home for the horse you have now. Assuming that you're not going to sell your sweet, useful but outgrown horse for a $100 and risk the he's going to ride a double decker to Mexico, you hold on to him and defer trading up.
But you could have sold him for $500 a few years ago, maybe, and still risked him going on a double decker. Just to Illinois.

The glut of horses at the bottom of the market has a chilling effect on the whole market, because your average owner isn't trading up. Yes, the economy figures into that as well, but when you can't give away what used to be a nice entry level horse, that means no one's buying the second or step up horse. Which chills the entire market, except for the performance horses at the very top end. And I do attribute the current glut of horses at the bottom of the market to US slaughter houses being forced to close.
That's where the number's don't add up, though. If the same number of horses were slaughtered in the past few years as ever before (as they were), how does that constitute an abnormal glut?
 
#21 ·
I would rather get nothing for a horse and have comfort in the fact he will not be slaughtered than get $500 for a horse and worry he is going to slaughter. In a few years I won't know where the $500 went. Having a clean conscience, priceless. :)

I guess I see horses as companion animals. Would you sell your dog to the meat man for $50? I don't see a horse as any different. But I know other people do. :-|
 
#22 · (Edited)
trailhorse, I sympathize with your position, I don't want one of mine going to slaughter either. However, I'm not following your logic. Giving a horse away as opposed to selling it for $500.00 does nothing to insure a horse won't end up at a slaughterhouse.

Bubba,

The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reports that 88,276 horses were processed in North American slaughter facilities in 2009. That number is 10 percent below the average number of horses slaughtered annually in North America in the last decade, and attributable to the closer of the US facilities. I think that's a significant 10 percent. It may not seem like a huge number in terms of the overall horse population in the US, but 9,000 unwanted/unuseful horses at the bottom of the market does have a chilling effect, IMO.
 
#23 ·
The horse market is like the home market right now - foreclosures are dragging it down. When you can get a decent horse for free, there is little incentive to spend over $1000 - unless you are buying for a specific sport or work. But a horse to go ride on trails?

That, plus the cost of hay where I live. It has gone from $12/bale to $20/bale, and the folks who ride twice a month whether they need to or not are trying to unload their horses. They just want to cut their losses.

The market could be very different in places that don't depend on importing hay.
 
#24 ·
You are missing what is called a causitive link...
There are more drug convictions since the advent of color TV, there fore color TV causes drug crime.
People throw out statements like that all the time, Since A there is more B therefore A causes B.
This is completely wrong if there is no causative link. There is no causative link between US slaughter houses closing and horse prices. According to my research on other issues. I found the same number of horses being exported for slaughter as were slaughtered in the US before 2007. The market tanked for the same reason the market for almost all discretionary entertainment goods did. People were broke.
I also take exception to the "BAD". Prices are just simply a state of being. I entered the world of horse buyer at this time. So I enjoy being able to go out and have my pick of really good horses for well under 2k, and quite a few under 1k. I pretty much buy with the intent of keeping it forever so resale price doent mean a lot to me. I am sure there are alot of other people that have taken advantage of the low prices to get some really nice horses they wouldnt have been able to afford 5 years ago.
 
#25 ·
Horse slaughter sets a floor. If a horse has $500 of meat on him, then he is worth at least $500. That in turn makes it easier to accept $1000 for a healthy, trained horse. Horse slaughter reduces the number of folks who are willing to give their horse away for free.

As for bad prices...right now, prices are so low that a trainer has a hard time putting 60 days of training into a horse with any reasonable chance of making a profit. It turns horse training into specialty market, since you have to add value beside trail riding to make it worthwhile. We're currently living off the training done several years ago.

Buying a horse has always been the cheap part of horse ownership. The mustang we were given has been on the market for 4 months, free to a good home. When the owner was desperate enough to give him away to ANY home, and my wife (ignoring my wishes) asked about our getting a 3rd horse, the trainer was willing to deliver him to us the following day - so he would go to a good home.

The economy is driving prices more than slaughter, but slaughter should set a floor during a really bad economy like we have right now. You cannot compare slaughter numbers from when the market was good to what will happen now.
 
#26 ·
Joe,

In a situation like we're discussing, there are too many variables for anyone person to point definitively to a causitive link.

However, in the time I've been actively involved in the horse business as an adult (30+ years) there have been several economic recessions. (And gas prices during the 1st Gulf War hurt the horse business because of the cost of hauling.) At no time in the last 30 odd years (40 if you want to count my years as a junior as valid and relevant) has the market for a basic pleasure horse or beginner's horse been this bad. And that's a sentiment I hear repeated over and over again from professionals, vets, farriers and rescue organizations. The unique factor in the current situation is the closure of the US slaughter plants. So I chose to believe those things are related. Is the general state of the economy a factor as well? Of course. Does the price of hay affect the cost of horses at the bottom of the market? Sure, of course it does. Backyard owners decide they can no longer afford the expense of a pet or hobby horse, and professionals no longer take resale prospects on as readily because the value proposition has changed. But again, hay prices have fluctuated over the past 30 - 40 years as well, yet the market now is worse than it was during a drought year.

I could perhaps believe that today's market is a result of a "perfect storm" of the economy, hay prices and the glut of horses at the bottom of the market caused in part by the slaughter situation.
 
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