A couple question for you horse fans!

I'm gonna have to go w/ elizavixen on this one. she's right, the term expensive is a relative term. Expensive to my family is 3,000 so my horse was kinda a splurge. Expensive to another chicks family that i know is upwards of 50,000. so it's all in who you talk to. lol, some people just don't know how to make the best out of someting "cheap". when i got my horse and told people i was going to show him, eyebrows were raised and hysterical laughing could be heard. Now everytime i turn around someine is telling me how great my horse is and how well we work together!

 

With all due respect, I don't understand why you are getting uptight about my usage of "expensive" I was just amazed that some people spent that much money on a pet cause I have never seen that before. I'm sorry if horses can be over $3000, I did not know that they could be so expensive! I don't have a horse, and I'm not usually in this forum, and that is essentially the reason why I made this post. So, I honestly don't understand why I am being scorned for making my comment. In addition, I hope that you are not offended by my post(s), because the intent is not to be harsh in anyway, I am just trying clearly express and defend myself without any misconceptions or misunderstands, because that can make things worse than they are!

 

I and horse child (I believe) were not trying to scorn you or anything. That is why I didn't want you to take it the wrong way. Sorry if I offended you. I was just trying to tell you the way it is.

 

i have 3 horses we pay over 250000for all of them i don't have any pictures of them

 

Please, please, please, don't take it personally. I understand that someone who doesn't know much about horses would be amazed at how much they cost. I know I was when i was looking for my horse. I guess horses are kinda like cars. If the ad says 3 year-old, flashy, great temperment, experienced rider only, 500$. You know that you never go and look at it. the term "experienced rider" is a tip off. Now the car ad, red toyota truck, lots off miles, needs some work, 1000$. You probally wouldn't go look at that either cause the term "needs some work" is a tip off that you have your "hands full" same way with horses. I'm really sorry if i hurt you in any way, I didn't intend too.
](*,)

 

I was just wondering why you guys were kinda uptight when I amazed that the value of your horses were so high that I could probaly even buy a new car with all that money.

 

Not uptight. I just thought your amazement at a horse costing a few thousand $$ was amusing.

 

Ditto
(but then again, pretty much everyone without a horse reacts the same way :lol: )

 

I understand your amazement. Many people who don't know much about showing horses are floored by the prices. My $2000 horse was cheap, really a bargin. At work, the horses start at $20,000 2 year olds and they just get more expensive the older they are.

 

How old is your horse?

 

he looks great someday!!!


i have a tennessee walker. i paid 2400 from a friend, but i would probably get 5000 for him if i sold him now. hes my baby. have had him eleven years. would never sell...not for "all the tea in china!!!" :wink:



and in this next picture...notice my friend behind me. that is "dingo". he is a queensland heeler that used to ride with me like that every time we went out. for a couple of years. hes too old to do that now...about nine and not as agile. he is a joy. best dog i have ever been around.



:wink:

 

geez...somehow i missed the posts on the second page. good topic. its true...people spend a huge amount of money...but it really is all relative. and i have seen horses that have not cost alot...win over horses that do. my horse has very good blood lines...but there are some walkers that come from the same lines that cost 100000 dollars.

but...what do i know. i have been around horses most of my life, but i am not into showing....i like to go to shows sometimes, but i am a desert gal here in phx. ridin in the hills and mountains of phx.

i got a horse in sixth grade. she really was the best horse (ponyhorse) in the whole world. she had more heart than i can tell you. could jump higher than some horses that are trained in jumping. she only cost 250 dollars. but at the time, i thought that was a fortune. i agree. its all relative.

hi horse child!!! im usually in the cat forum...but stop over here from time to time. i like this forum...should come over more often :wink:

 

Hi!
I had two horses: a 15h bay QH mare named Delta, and a 16.2h brown TB gelding named Lewis. Delta was my precious girl who I learned to ride on - she was my best friend and I loved her SO much. She was truly a family member. Sadly, she died of colic nearly 2 weeks ago. She was in her twenties and the vet suspected that she had a tumour in her intestines. Making the decision to have her put down was the hardest moment of my life, but I know I did the right thing. I still miss her so incredibly much though. I don't think I will ever stop missing her. A huge part of my life went when she passed away. I guess anyone who has lost an animal they truly loved can relate to how I am feeling.

But I still have Lewis and for his sake I am trying to be strong. Delta was always the centre of attention so now it is his turn, and I'm trying to use the skills that Delta taught me to turn Lewis into the younger brother horse that she would have been proud of!

Oh, and to answer your question, I paid $650 for Del, and $2000 for Lewis. But I'm in Australia and I think our dollars are of less value than US dollars. Not sure of the conversion though.

As for the discussion on horse prices, yeah, it's a pretty wide market, although from what I've heard, horses here in Australia are dirt cheap compared to the rest of the world. I was told once that Australia is the only place where you can own a horse even if you are on welfare. Although I wouldn't recommend trying it... but then again, I had two horses and I'm a full-time uni student living off a student allowance and a part-time job! So I can't really talk, hehe! But I am not really into showing. I love pony club and low-level eventing, and I bought both Delta and Lewis based on their beautiful quiet temperaments. They are both very special horses and worth their weight in gold to me!


From left: Lewis, me, Delta - sorry it's not the greatest photo of them but it's the only one I have of the three of us together!

 

Ok my mare Sheba was only $500. Now the cost of a horse today all depends on what it does, bloodlines, and age. Sheba is a grade mare that is not skilled in jumping or any rodeo event, she is just a good ole trail horse. Now my cousins Appy gelding was trained in barrel racing, however he is 27 so she got him for $500. So it really depends. My friend Ronalyn got a beautiful AQHA stallion with excellent bloodlines for $1500. The best thing about him, hes 4 years old and has a 4 year old riding him. He is worth well over $5000. Now your horses are around $2000-$4000 because of one fact, they are skilled. Not trying to make anyone upset, its just the price depends on the horse.

 

I agree that prices depend on the horse; skill, bloodline etc. But I believe as in my case and in OTTB's case our horse were not skilled as we got them off the track. They were rideable, but they were sold, in my case because my horse wasn't any good at racing, so he was sold probably cheaper than they bought him. So at $2000 he was cheap because he was unskilled, however, he had nice bloodlines. Now that he's been trained in dressage, his value has sky rocketed. He's 10 now, I bought him at age 3. A couple of years ago someone offered me $10,000 for him at a show. I could easily get that or more for him now because he's a great show horse and has a wonderful temperment. But I'm not selling him. So I agree that skill indeed plays a factor in price, but $2000 is not necessarily a skilled horse. At work, 2 year olds are going for 15,000-20,000. They know nothing, but they're the babies of bronze medalist Windfall 2, so...they're expensive. I'm not saying you can't get a perfectly great horse for $250 either, it's all about where you look and what you want to use it for.

 

I agree that prices depend on the horse; skill, bloodline etc. But I believe as in my case and in OTTB's case our horse were not skilled as we got them off the track. They were rideable, but they were sold, in my case because my horse wasn't any good at racing, so he was sold probably cheaper than they bought him. So at $2000 he was cheap because he was unskilled, however, he had nice bloodlines. Now that he's been trained in dressage, his value has sky rocketed. He's 10 now, I bought him at age 3. A couple of years ago someone offered me $10,000 for him at a show. I could easily get that or more for him now because he's a great show horse and has a wonderful temperment. But I'm not selling him. So I agree that skill indeed plays a factor in price, but $2000 is not necessarily a skilled horse. At work, 2 year olds are going for 15,000-20,000. They know nothing, but they're the babies of bronze medalist Windfall 2, so...they're expensive. I'm not saying you can't get a perfectly great horse for $250 either, it's all about where you look and what you want to use it for.

 

I agree, my horse cost so much because of all the training he got. He wasn't trained to do any specific thing, but he was trained so i could train him to do whatever i wanted. right now i am showing him and then this winter i'm going to teach him how to cut and teach myself how to rope. He loves cows and so do i. the people i board with during the winter have buffaolo too. so i can play with them.

 

It is not necessarily skill or training, but rather potential. At least that is how it is here. Bloodlines have a lot to do with it, but a lot of it is just how the horse looks, i.e. conformation, gait, etc. Stuff you can't teach a horse but that is important in shows is where the $$ comes from.

I got my horse for cheap b/c he was only ever used as a trail horse so they never thought of him as anything more than that. I got him and started jumping him and he did fabulous. He is an excellent jumper. He did great at local shows. However, he would never get terribly far in the bigger shows b/c of his conformation. ? There is just nothing I can do about that.

That is where bloodlines/breeding, etc. becomes important.

Training does have something to do with it. The girls at my barn who bought the $20K + horses - they came to them ready-made shall we say. All they had to do was stay on them and instant blue ribbon. That is where it got frustrating for me at least. Sort of like, what's the point?

someday - was Windfall 2 the horse who got hurt in the show-jumping? I remember watching that and it really freaked me out (hate watching when the horses get hurt). If so, is he ok do you know?

 

elizavixen- Windfall 2 did eventing. He bruised his foot in the cross-country phase and barely passed inspection to compete in the jumping phase the next day, but he did and he went sound through it. He's just fine now. A little rest and he's back to normal. But to answer your question, no, he wasn't the one that was injured during the jumping.

 

I didn't get to see much of the eventing.

I guess the American horses were just having a rough go of it. I would like to find out about that showjumper though. They said on the TV he was taken to a vet hospital but I would like to know the outcome.