What is a horse worth?
At this moment I have a number of students looking to buy a young horse. Young being 1-3 years old. That choice because they would like to find a “nice” horse but can not afford the training cost to get in to a 4-5 year old or higher. They also prefer to gamble on their own ability to train and keep a horse sound than to buy into someone else’s problems.
I sure sympathize – one of the motivations Clayton and I had in buying land here in Colorado was the ability to breed our own mare and raise our own horses here. We spent almost a dozen years traveling to Europe to buy horses for clients, and are keenly aware of the cost of purchasing well bred horses.
The long and short of it, however, is that horses, whether you buy them or breed them, are a gamble. I once told a worried Dad who was looking at a large investment on a horse for his daughter, to only spend the money if he was comfortable throwing the money out the window of a speeding car. He looked as though I had slapped him, but it is true. Horses come with 100% no guarantee other than that it costs money to buy one, it costs more to keep one, and you are extremely likely to have unexpected costs and issues along the way. Farrier, vet, nutrition, training- there is one direction the money goes, and it is not into your bank account!
For breeder’s, it is truly the harshest gamble of all. When you look at a young horse, you can rest assured that the price of whatever age it is, does not equal what it cost to GET the horse to that age. When I have rider’s upset at the cost of a well trained horse, I have to constantly remind them of the years that went in to creating that horse. Buying a well trained horse is like buying artwork- it is a matter of taste, and your decision what value that “art” brings to your life. It is not possible to say that spending $2500, $25,000 or $125,000 will bring you “more value” or a “better horse”. Just as buying a Jaguar guarantees more time in the shop than buying a Honda, and costs a whale of a lot more up front, it is really important to do a lot of soul searching for truly what it is you are looking for.
Here are some parameters I encourage students to examine:
1. What are your REAL goals? Not dreams- GOALS.
2. How old are you? Do you have time to start a horse and 4 years down the road start another one if this one does not work out?
3. Can your body truly stay with a young horse?
4. What kind of time do you have on a daily/weekly/monthly basis? Young horses need time and attention- will you have it to give? If not, do you have enough income to parse out training time with a professional?
5. Are you willing to take your horse to new environments and just BE THERE- maybe not showing, or riding in the clinic, but just letting your horse get acclimated?
These are just a few elements to consider as you decide what kind of horse you can afford. I personally am a hopeless horse addict and need horses in my life, but I am starting to rethink whether breeding them, or saving all that “trickle out” money and just buying the ones that have made it to “sound and rideable” is not ultimately the better use of time and effort. That is me- how about you?

