Want your input non-racing sales question

[Diane]

If you were in the market for a dressage schoolmaster, let's say a Tb who was confirmed Prix St Georges and schooled piaffe/passage. What would you be willing to pay if the horse was 17? What if the horse was 20?
Thanks for your input. An equine appraiser is going to be hired but I'd like some general ideas from people here.

[Derby Lyn]

You would probably get a better response on COTH. Lots of dressage people there. Just make sure you don't sound like you are advertising....maybe pass it off as you need an idea for insurance or something and coth will let you post it. If it sounds like a sales ad they will delete it.

[foothillsequine]

I am currently taking an equine appraisal course, and am new at pricing other folks horses, but I would think you could ask $10,000, with the training you have already done. If the horse is older than 17, I might reconsider depending on what the horse has done....

[ak1]

I think I would most definitely take into account the vet report/xrays. I seem to remember reading that at the highest levels of dressage, years of work can predispose some to arthritic changes. So I think, no different than a pre-purchase exam for racing, how the horse vets out weighs in on the price significantly.

For what it is worth, from how you worded your question, I cannot tell whether you are looking to purchase a horse for yourself or looking to sell one.

[Diane]

Thanks. I'm not looking. A friend bought. Yes the vet exam included all the xrays you'd want. One page did not make it to the fax machine. The page with his BCS (?) very slyly came unreadable, she had everything else. The horse was transported directly, 3 days, no shenanigans there, good layovers etc. He arrived looking like he was half starved and no muscle. The kid that sold him to her tried to flip him saleswise and the flip took longer than expected. The horse wound up standing in a stall for 6-8 months. She located the real former owner who hasn't been paid and details emerged. The horse was sold to her as being 17. He's 20. She's turning it over to her attorney. She should have done a few things differently but...... I think she's got ~ 11k into this deal.
What was it someone else asked just last week here about filing down teeth to distort the picture of age? I'll be getting more details.
Thanks

[LB]

Thanks. I'm not looking. A friend bought. Yes the vet exam included all the xrays you'd want. One page did not make it to the fax machine. The page with his BCS (?) very slyly came unreadable, she had everything else. The horse was transported directly, 3 days, no shenanigans there, good layovers etc. He arrived looking like he was half starved and no muscle. The kid that sold him to her tried to flip him saleswise and the flip took longer than expected. The horse wound up standing in a stall for 6-8 months. She located the real former owner who hasn't been paid and details emerged. The horse was sold to her as being 17. He's 20. She's turning it over to her attorney. She should have done a few things differently but...... I think she's got ~ 11k into this deal.
What was it someone else asked just last week here about filing down teeth to distort the picture of age? I'll be getting more details.
Thanks

As with so many things relating to horse sales, the recourse your friend might have--after the fact--is going to depend on what the contract or bill of sale says. If it says the horse was sold As Is she is probably out of luck, even with the age difference since aging a horse by its teeth is an imprecise science. If the teeth have been physically altered, she can (for a price) hire a lawyer, go to court, and try to prove fraud.

Unfortunately this may turn out to be a very expensive learning experience.

[madelyn]

.....The page with his BCS (?) very slyly came unreadable, she had everything else.

Sounds like the Body Condition Score. If he was a 2 or something that would have been a Big Red Flag. But since the horse was not originally paid for it was not the "seller's" horse - sounds like fraud, period.