Ballpark budget for this kind of horse

[cannotthinkofaname1]

I appreciate that this is vague, I am considering buying a horse in the next couple of years and have no idea what anything costs anymore, I feel like Horsemart won't be the best guide!

I am not very into jumping so would be looking for something that enjoys dressage, although it would be mucking around for fun in the school I don't think I'd be interested enough to go out to comps. Would like to be able to hack alone or in groups. Probably needs to be upwards of 15.1, maybe 15.3hh+. I'm not after a cob, and I probably want something not much older than early teens.

I don't want something batty, but equally it doesn't need to be an ex riding school horse. I rode as a child in a riding school but latterly shared a couple of horses for a few years. I shared one TB x who was a bit of a shit and would spook at anything so he wasn't the most enjoyable ride, but I've been tanked off with and chucked off in a stubble field and always got back on. I'd rather those kinds of things be an unusual occurrence and not expected on a regular basis though!

Are my odds of finding something that fits the above pretty slim, and does anyone now what kind of price bracket I'd be looking at? My plan would be to ask the horsey people I know to put some feelers out, but I felt like MN might be a good place to get a £ idea.

A safe sensible allrounder would probably set you back 3k ish I would think.

You could probably get a cob type for less.

I don't think this will be that hard to find at all - you aren't looking for bombproof or a competition horse. If you can cope with a bit of unpredictability then that opens your market up a bit. However 15hh are bit harder to find than 16hh.

How do you intend to keep said horse - livery? How often will you ride and will horse be stabled or not - that impacts on the type you'd want and I'd run a million miles from anything from a riding school - they are often nappy buggers that won't hack alone and are used to a lot of work - when they only get asked to do an hour a day or less they turn from placid into mad.

I'd suggest £2-£3k would get you something safe and fun easily.
Very cheap horses tend to be young/old, green, problematic, have soundness issues etc. So I'd be wary of anything too cheap. Yes people can be lucky and get something amazing for under a grand, but I'd not expect that. Equally you shouldn't need to spend more than that unless you want a specific breed e.g a papered Connie.

You will see a lot of dealers selling between the £3k and £5k bracket for something not very special as they have a profit to make.

For context, I could buy a younger version of my mare (15hh unreg Welsh X dragon - very forward and strong but fun and safe) for £2k. She has a list of quirks (doesn't load, crap in large traffic, sedated to clip). A less quirky example would probably be £3k+

Happy horse hunting!

An example:
Ok, so this is fat and in a rubbish part of the country to get to for a lot of people (location does impact price a bit) but includes tack www.horsedeals.co.uk/detail/allrounder-hacking-and-leisure-hunter-riding-club-sports-horse-280356

But you can get a nice horse for not that much £

You would have a great choice of quality Lusitano/cruzado (cross) horses here in Portugal for around €1000 so even factoring in transport (Brexit could cause a problem) you'd be around the €2000 mark.

For example - www.olx.pt/anuncio/cavalo-lusitano-9-anos-IDC8Cet.html#880c96d36d

I suppose it depends on where exactly in the spectrum you want the horse to sit between 'ploddy ex riding school cob' and 'nutty TB' (as there's a lot in the middle!), and also what your keep arrangements for the horse would be, i.e. can it be stabled overnight particularly in winter, and are you prepared to do a bit of extra care for a horse that might have a few issues, e.g. sarcoids, sweet itch, tendency to lami, needing remedial shoeing?

If you like TBs they often make excellent hacks (contrary to popular belief they are not all mad, even the ones that have raced!) and can be picked up for pennies. There are quite a few rescue centres that look after ex racers and they usually have quite a few looking for homes as hacks/light ridden work for just the adoption fee of a few hundred pounds.

But they are not usually beginners' rides, they will need confident, experienced handling and they also do tend to need to be looked after a bit over winter and be well rugged, plenty of forage and usually some hard feed as well. Whereas if you need something that will live out all year unrugged and on grass then you really need a native or cobby type which I find are a bit pricier than TBs (due to the TB stigma!)...

It also depends a bit on where in the country you are as the SE is more expensive than Scotland for instance. But I think the £2k-£3k mark quoted above would be a reasonable budget to set yourself, providing you don't mind a bit of greenness and/or some minor health issues or confirmation flaws. You probably could get something cheaper than that esp. a TB but it would probably be wise to aim to get something that is a slightly easier ride or better schooled that your maximum 'tolerance', rather than risk over-horsing yourself which is all too easy to do on a limited budget esp. if you are a sucker for a pretty face!

I'd say 3-5k depending on how well trained you want it to be. DHorse was advertised at 3k, I got him for £2700. He's been a handful but I finally cracked a few of the issues and he's now the perfect horse bar some physical issues stemming from a long career.

My ex racehorse was the quietest hack on the planet. I was given £300 to take him out of someone’s hands...

A proven safe horse than doesn’t need to jump about £3k

My mare would be perfect for you but she would only be £1000 because she is an eventing loss of use claim. If you jump her she goes lame, but she stays sound for dressage and hacking. My 74yro mum rides her and she is the most adorable mare ever, but long term I can’t justify paying her keep for my mum’s fortnightly hack. Plus the mare gets bored and needs to be showered in love as she’s a people person.

I would recommend a slightly broken event horse. 3 older ladies on my yard have them for dressage and hacking and they are perfect horses for them: cheap, mannerly, brave, kind.

I think you'd be looking at 3-5k ish really depending where on the spectrum of age, quirkiness and level of schooling you were happy with.

For example something safe and well mannered with no vices or notable quirks/ health issues (ie. bad to clip, sarcoids etc), schooled well on the flat and younger than 12 - you're looking more like 5/6k really.

At the bottom end of the spectrum then you might be looking at one that's mid teens, isn't as well schooled or has some kind of quirk or issue that limits value.

A bombproof safe hack,not nappy, not a cob would be about 5k here.

Health issues, greenness or cobbiness then 3k

Also they are like gold dust. Its what most people want.