"I want the best horse in your herd for free...and by the way, he is only worth $0-$100 because his mane and tail aren't white enough." Okay, bear with me, you are my sounding board today. I know we all dream and tease about getting a perfect horse for free, and I won't turn away a fair offer, even at half price. People have accepted offers from me. This is another loving alert to newbies.
You can find mediocrity for $100, but to be honest with you, if you buy a horse for less than meat prices you are probably buying a conformationally poor horse with 0 resale value. If you go to the local auction there is a good reason that horse is there. Either medical or behavioral or conformational or sadly unwanted. Papers, papers, papers, I have heard so many people tell me that the papers don't mean anything to them. Papers do mean a lot, to the horse if nobody else. Not only can you track his pedigree, but you can track who owns him, his progeny, and where he has been. It affects resale value, and can mean the LIFE or death to a horse.
Many equine adoption centers won't adopt horses out for less than $200 and meat prices are 75-80 cents per pound. As awful as bringing meat prices up is, it is just a scary thought when someone offers less, for that very reason. There is a good reason that adoption fees aren't less, because the folks that want to pay pennies on the dollar can't afford their upkeep and will not value them. So when I tell folks I purchased said horse for $xxx, knowing what I paid still offer to take the horse for free, yes it is a little bit disheartening.
In addition, I had owned most of these horses since they were youngsters and I have put loads of dough into owner transfers, registration memberships, original registration, DNA, and temp to permanent papers. Vet costs, feed, the toll trimming my own and haying every year takes on the aging body. Digress...I am absolutely not in it for the money, but I also won't give all of my horses away for free. I have donated horses to camps, therapeutic riding centers, and retirement homes, horses that were actually excellent for those purposes, they weren't crap either, but not for this boy, not this time. But I am thankful to say that I have finally found a worthy home for this horse! I am a billion times over thankful for all of the good homes. It's so much easier to donate or take a fair offer when you know the person isn't expecting you to hand that horse over for free. I am thankful for the homes my horses have received, the best homes in the world.
Sorry about my passion on this one, but sometimes I just don't get it. Sometimes I feel like a sucker, like I'm the only one in the world that sees the great potential and value in these beautiful little horses! They are worth the time money and the love!
You can find mediocrity for $100, but to be honest with you, if you buy a horse for less than meat prices you are probably buying a conformationally poor horse with 0 resale value. If you go to the local auction there is a good reason that horse is there. Either medical or behavioral or conformational or sadly unwanted. Papers, papers, papers, I have heard so many people tell me that the papers don't mean anything to them. Papers do mean a lot, to the horse if nobody else. Not only can you track his pedigree, but you can track who owns him, his progeny, and where he has been. It affects resale value, and can mean the LIFE or death to a horse.
Many equine adoption centers won't adopt horses out for less than $200 and meat prices are 75-80 cents per pound. As awful as bringing meat prices up is, it is just a scary thought when someone offers less, for that very reason. There is a good reason that adoption fees aren't less, because the folks that want to pay pennies on the dollar can't afford their upkeep and will not value them. So when I tell folks I purchased said horse for $xxx, knowing what I paid still offer to take the horse for free, yes it is a little bit disheartening.
In addition, I had owned most of these horses since they were youngsters and I have put loads of dough into owner transfers, registration memberships, original registration, DNA, and temp to permanent papers. Vet costs, feed, the toll trimming my own and haying every year takes on the aging body. Digress...I am absolutely not in it for the money, but I also won't give all of my horses away for free. I have donated horses to camps, therapeutic riding centers, and retirement homes, horses that were actually excellent for those purposes, they weren't crap either, but not for this boy, not this time. But I am thankful to say that I have finally found a worthy home for this horse! I am a billion times over thankful for all of the good homes. It's so much easier to donate or take a fair offer when you know the person isn't expecting you to hand that horse over for free. I am thankful for the homes my horses have received, the best homes in the world.
Sorry about my passion on this one, but sometimes I just don't get it. Sometimes I feel like a sucker, like I'm the only one in the world that sees the great potential and value in these beautiful little horses! They are worth the time money and the love!
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