Cheap horses

[Officedepot]

Always thought that the price of a horse would depend on following things:

• age
• size
• temperament / manners
• breeding (ie pay more if pure-bred / registered breed)
• competition potential
• any vices / illnesses etc

Anything else?

Have seen several ads on Preloved etc that seem very cheap, for example:

• 16hh 16 year old for £350 (apparently good and no vices),
• 5 year old 14.2hh cob £750 (again apparently good in every way and no vices)
• 10 year old 15hh (again apparently good and no vices) for £650 including tack.

The low prices make me suspicious that the horses actually have hidden vices etc. Can anyone think of a genuine explantion why people are selling horses so cheap? I know you might get the odd person who just needs a quick sale, but there seem to be loads of ads for cheap horses at the moment.

Seems odd that these horses are so cheap and if you buy a cob from a dealer like Safecobs you could pay £4,000 (although appreciate you are paying for the training and peace of mind there).

Anyone got any experience of buying a cheap horse, good or bad?

I'm not actually buying (well not yet!) just curious!

Fango They were when we were children, fashions change! I saw a friend's hunting photo recently and the field was full of duns - perhaps they're on the rise again now?

I like duns. They don't show the dirt .

I paid £75 for the pony, she was wild off the hills, but 18 months later is a wonderfull little pc pony.
Most recently paid £200 for my ISH mare from the knackers yard, who was slightly short on the front and loopy to ride, changed her feed - got the back lady out & she's safe as houses and perfectly sound. If somewhat lacking brain cells.

I paid £50 for my daughter's pony from the sales (black sec.B was colt). We bought him outside the ring as we the meat man was there that day. I just had a hunch about him. For the first month I couldn't get near him. He wasn't aggressive in any way just nervous. Moving on 2 months and a new yard with a regular routine he is a super star. He is only 2.5 yrs so not being broken yet but showing a lot of promise. My 7 yr old daughter leads him around like a dog on a lead. He has been seen by the vet and is sound. Everyone who meets him loves him as he is such a character. He follows people around like a puppy, he has been named 'the stalker' at the yard! So... you can get cheap ponies that are fine as we have found out.

I have a young cob quite Hairy in clipped , will she be ok living out in this weather with a light weight turn out on ?

Sarahlou, rug the horse for the horse's comfort. If he feels warm to touch between his front legs in a lightweight then he's fine, better to under rug than over rug. Bear in mind that a no fill rug flattens the hairs which fluff up on a naked horse, but your horse may be fine as long as he has constant forage to heat him from within.

We sold a lovely Section B pony for 300 pounds because we'd outgrown him and that was all people would pay despite the fact we'd had terrific success in the show ring with him. He's since been to RIHS and HOYS (placed) a couple of times - as we said he would...

Ponies/horses are only worth what people will pay for them.. (having said that we always seem to spend thousands!!)

This particular one cost me a pound . Fully papered , branded Belgian Warmblood , whose father is a world class jumping stallion. And he cost me a pound because the man who bought him for his granddaughter was scared shitless of him , because he bit , and barged , and had no manners whatsoever to speak of , and is very quick to learn , including bad habits . It took me a year or two , but come the spring , we're going eventing . And I have a feeling he's going to be fab.

Thanx for the advice lasttangoin2016 she felt a bit cold so have a medium weight on her now as there isn't much grass and I have put a large bail of hay in the field with her

I got an ex racehorse for free (then even dropped him off free of charge) straight from the track and he was amazing.
Show jumps, dressages, hunts, loves xc, hacks out on the Buckle, doesn't heat up at all ever, has novices on him happily, Saint to do - loads himself, brings himself in, easy to clip/shoe etc etc

Sold him about 2 years ago for a few k.... Thoroughbreds usually go for less than the equivalent warm blood/ish would

Someone at my yard sold theirs for £800, fantastic little horse and was worth more but she couldn't afford the monthly livery costs as her ex P used to pay half (daughters horse) and she couldn't afford it on her own and she said she could have put the horse up for £2500+ but if she took 3 plus months to sell that would be the livery costs each month and she wouldn't make any money any way so was better to go for a quick sale rather than get in to debt trying to get a higher price that negated all those extra months of livery costs.