Pricing horses

Many of you ask how do I determine the selling price of a horse? There are many factors that determine the price such as disposition, amount of training/how broke the horse is, how gentle the horse is, age, size, confirmation, athletic ability, and least important color. All of these factors all play into price along with the rising costs of feed, farrier, training, vet, and gas prices.

In my program, the horses most sought after by clients are horses that are most gentle, well trained and suitable for beginner level riders and/or kids. In my many years of equine experience it takes years of riding and training to get a horse that is well broke and gentle enough for inexperienced riders. Most all of my horses are true ranch raised working horses that have had this time put on them. In return is what you are paying for is a trainers time and expense in making a great horse. Of course the price that I am able to purchase a horse for makes a huge impact on what I can sell it for as well. I am finding three things in the horse market right now. 1. Cheap horses are cheap for a reason. 2. Unwanted horses are still unwanted and it’s hard to give away a bad horse. 3. Good horses are more expensive than ever and hard to come by.

I have been able to maintain my prices for quite some time. However many of you may notice that I have not had near the number of horses that I use to have. Reasoning is rising expenses of everything, good horses are harder to find, and ranchers don’t want to sell their good horses cheap that took them years to make. Most of you know that I get all of my horses from one supplier. Recently my supplier has told me he has been considering getting a job and getting out of the ranch / horse business because there is not enough profit to make ends meet. To find me horses that fit my "super gentle horses" program, my supplier is having to drive and travel much farther increasing expenses. My supplier has also told me has passed up some exceptionally nice horses due to price. As my list of clientele continues to grow, I say bring them, because it’s hard to put a price on a great horse; having a horse that is "enjoyable" to ride, and most of all a persons safety.

You also may consider your time involved and how many miles you have already driven to look at horses for sale by others. How many times have people intentionally misrepresented a horse to you just because they want to sell? I spend countless hours evaluating my horses to ensure the horse is what I say he is.

I am writing this letter to all of my clientele to help you understand the rising costs involved with my business. I don’t want you to think that I am just raising the prices to put money in my pocket. Occasionally I may get lucky and find a good horse for a low price, and if this happens I will pass the savings on to you. However, I am just not seeing the price of good horses any less expensive anytime soon. The price of horses is just like everything else, it keeps going up, up, up!

Sincerely,

Sherry Richardson

Super Gentle Horses