Please help me price my horse

[Liketheclappers]

15.3 Irish cob gelding, just turned 8 years old. Skewbald, more white than brown patches. Perfect to load, travel, clip, barefoot. Hacks alone or in company. Can gallop on the end of a buckle on the beach. Not a plod but has been nicely schooled, taken to shows, dressage, camp, forest rides and always safe. No stable vices, loves pole work and a keen jumper. A real honest sort with a kind eye. Never bucked, reared or bolted. More suited to confident novice/experienced rider due to having been totally unspoilt and would like his education to continue.

£12k upwards, he’s what everyone is looking for.

£13/15k minimum

It sounds like I’d like to buy him tbh!! ( I’m not allowed another horse!!!)))

Yeah, he’s gold dust. I once tried to get my riding school to sell me similar, and they wouldn’t even name their price.

Met a woman on a riding holiday in Ireland, she’d fallen in love with her « horse for the week », similar type of cob, the stables refused to sell at any price. Those kinds of horses are such a joy.

I paid about 12,000 for a very flashy but unsuitable warmblood. Would certainly love something like your cob if i were to buy again.

Around £15k? He sounds lovely, he’d be perfect for me and DD!

Where are you located?! I am looking for two exactly like this for clients! 😁

Easily 11/12k. These types sell all day

You can probably virtually name your price if he vets clean as well - to a really good home I'd say £10-11k is a reasonable price to charge (I'm sure you could make more but if home more important)

Name your price.

My local cob dealer would probably have him up for 15k+ and he would sell within a few days.

£15k and possibly over. He sounds amazing!

I'll buy him off you for 11k!! (I don't have any more than that 😭)

The reason I'm having to see what he's worth is due to me planning to leave my husband and I'm scared he will count him as an asset. I absolutely don't want to sell my boy and I'm petrified I'll be backed into a corner and forced to do so

I’m sorry - that sounds very difficult and I suspect most of these replies, although well-meaning, haven’t helped. His value as you’ve described him will be relatively high but if he has any vet history or quirks that could reduce his value as an asset quite considerably. I hope you don’t have to sell him.

Oh no @Liketheclappers that's so sad!! Surely your husband wouldn't make you sell him?! 🥺

Fortunately (or in this case unfortunately) he has a clean bill of health from the vet. Never had any treatment in the past 4.5 years that I've had him. Up to date with dentals etc. No quirks either, he's a big soft teddy bear that shouts as soon as he sees me. He's almost human like and I adore him.

On this basis I’m pretty sure he’s started being very nappy and possibly now wind sucks? £10k MAX in these circumstances, possibly id try and even write £5k untill ( if) challenged. Good luck op!

He’s an expense not an asset. Horses cost A ton to keep.

Oh no, I hope you get to keep him! You certainly didn’t sound to me like the kind of owner who would sell out of choice. I’m sorry for what you’re going through.

Not knowing whether you’d be forced to part from him will be super super stressful.

Ill keep my fingers crossed.

I love your advice 🤣...it's made me smile. I think I'll add in bucking, rearing and bolting on hacks as well!!

What makes this even harder is that my dad helped me buy him during COVID when we had just lost my mum. Having such a lovely horse to take care of and bring on slowly has really helped us with our grief. Now I've lost my dad too I just cannot part with my boy for anything x

I’m not normally an “equate horse with dog as a family pet person “ but if he were a dog, there would be no question of your husband having any say in you selling him in a divorce. Kind of double standards for different species.
but otherwise yes, apart from the wind sucking, rearing and bolting ( such a shame it devalues him so much ) he would be 12 to 15 k and snapped up .
maybe if your husband wants to sell him, you should make him ride him for the viewings !

I'm no lawyer but surely there's an argument that the notional 'value' of family pets doesn't get included in any divorce (or at least they're only viewed as a 'chattel' and transferred to the ownership of the person who will keep them rather than going onto the balance sheet and/or being sold (obviously different in the case of very valuable racehorses or sports horses)? Even if you have to attach a notional value to him for the purposes of this exercise surely you can't be forced to sell. I'd certainly check with your solicitor before launching into lies about vices or illnesses which may be easily disproved, amusing as they are MNetters are not legal experts and you don't want to get yourself into bother. Perhaps if you really do have to suggest a value can you use what you paid for him as a youngster (+inflation?) as a fair baseline?

Talk to a solicitor (preferably a country/hunting type). My horses were considered in my divorce. He’s worth a lot but you could reasonably sell him as an Irish cob, a bit green and no BSJA / EI/ BE type history to a friend for 3k if your husband doesn’t know the worth of this kind of animal and then once its all sorted buy him back for the same money as long as you have someone you 100% trust.

Oh he sounds dangeous , probably £3k now , what a shame …. 🤣

Teach him to rear on command so you can get videos of his “vice”. You can teach all sorts with r+