"I want the best horse in your herd for FREE...

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Tab

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"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!
 
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I don't want to steer anyone away from adopting horses in need. Please adopt, but also give horses that people have put their whole selves into a little more than half a glance, and if you offer a price, be fair. Do not let me discourage you but encourage you not to overlook good horses from good homes!
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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!
Absolutely they have value and potential. Your whole post was great, but this part stands out for me.
 
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I had to go back a couple of pages to find this one. There was a ad on my FB today: Wanted mini must cost between $100 and $500, the lower the cost the better, I may want to show it in the future, and must be located in my area for pickup. The was more, but by the time I read this I was laughing so don't remember the rest.
 
I can see the point you are trying to make (I think I would be offended if I was trying to sell a horse and someone seriously asked me to give it away for free), but at the same time looking at the current horse market out there buyers can find some excellent deals if they look for them or have friends that can lead them in the right direction. I do not see $100-$500 as laughable if they are just looking for a pet and maybe some local shows and are willing to take the time to look. Though the wording "the cheaper the better" does leave a sour taste in my mouth.

I probably should not admit this, but if you combine the purchase prices on my two together they would fall into the range asked for in that ad. Both have papers, nice builds, good temperments, etc. They may not be perfect Breeder quality/high-level show quality, but they are perfect for us and what we want to do.

But overall I think what is influencing the people looking for "cheaper" horses is the fact the market is down and has been down for a while so people expect a lower price.
 
Please don't get me wrong, I've sold horses in the past two years for next to nothing. When my foals are born it cost $260 for a well foal check from the vet, if a dystocia, could run into a thousand or more. Add in papers, ink for pictures, hours spent training, coggins, health cert. or a consignment fee if doing an auction, I always lose money. I've even given horses away to kids for 4-H.

Any how I went back and reread the ad, the poster wants a bred mare or one with foal at heal, registered so it can be shown, and trained. So in other words one is going to be free.
 
Well, I had a refreshing call this week from someone who wasn't looking for free or $200, but wanted a healthy mini that was up to date on vaccinations. farrier work, etc and recognized that was going to cost something! I didn't need to tell her that vaccinations for our mares before they foal (Pneumabort plus pre-foaling shots) cost > $500 or if I sell a foal at that price I am losing money. But if you don't have the shots/immunity your new mini can easily get very sick. She got that!! Having just sold our yearling filly, I gave her some other places to look.

I have also been very encouraged by the calls I got for the filly (no longer for sale so I think it should be OK to say this). I got a number of calls from people who were really interested, asked the right questions, and said she was JUST what they wanted - a mini for therapy work. I think I could have sold her several times. I have also seen ads for people looking for child safe driving minis. I am very happy to see this!!! Maybe the Ponzi scheme phase for minis is ending. You know, "you buy my mini mares and breed them, find 4 people to buy the fillies, then those people sell their fillies to 4 more people....and everyone makes money". But there is no thought to the minis doing anything except making more minis (and money).
 
I hate to say this, but everything is going up, vet, hay, grain, transport, etc. well you get the picture. The breeder is being squeezed out. We havn't bred for years except for when is necessary, by that I mean to consign to a really good sale like the Champions in Ohio. We spent $2700 for a filly by a really good breeder, we showed her, open, ametuer, and youth, she earned many championships, we consigned her to this sale as that yr. was bad for us and we needed money to buy hay. $200 consignment fee, $60 vet call out, but was for four horses, $36 coggins, $25 health cert., $60 sono fee to confirm preg.. Not to mention mare was clipped, had to pay for facial, gas, lodging, and wear on my truck and trailer. Sold her for $500. sopmeone got a really good deal and we lost thousands of dollars. Problem is I can't believe people are now so bold as to post want they want for free! Seems they have us over a barrel, sure I'm going to sell you a mare I spent over $4000 for and bred to my stallion that I paid twice that for, then spent over $10,000 to promote for $500. Now I know they may not be educated and what they want is everything for nothing, but it has to stop! I certainly hope no one sells them some well off the wall mini mare to foal out as show quality. They probably will, then she'll be wondering why this horse doesn't place in the show ring.
 
Mary, I'm glad your gorgeous filly found a great home but you held on to her a year and were waiting for that perfect home to come along and I admire that. The ads that drive me crazy are the ones that say more foals arriving so the yearlings must go at rock bottom prices. If you breed those babies, you have a responsibility to them. I admire Mary's work with minis and the fact that she is such a great ambassador for the breed. I have my first foals born this year and I have to say having them around has been such a joy and I can understand why people have foals. I've become way less judgmental hanging out on the Mare Stare board and seeing what awesome homes mini foals have. I think there are minis for everyone. Some people are looking for horses to show in halter, others for driving, some for therapy work and others for family horses. The market has such a huge price variance too and just like with everything these days, if you look long and hard, you'll find the mini you want, the breeder you want to work with at the price that is right for you.

And to go back to the original post they are definitely worth all the time, trouble and expense. They give back way more than we spend.
 
That's just it, above and beyond the emotional attachment to the horse, there is a practical side that makes giving away for free very illogical. Say you don't trim your horses or make your own hay. You're looking at $5-$10 per bale, $15-30 per trim, and vet work that starts at about $50 per horse and goes up from there. Forget grain and various supplies. As owners, it is also very hard to take someone who wants something for nothing seriously as a good home, because you probably aren't going to be able to afford the basics of horse care. Most breeders aren't even expecting to break even at this point, we put the money back into caring for the horses.
 
So now start telling them, the horse is free but they are required to leave with my halter and lead and those cost $2500, they are very special halters and leads.
LOL! that's a good one. so in the case the horse is free with purchase of very special halter and lead. [We've all heard the halter and lead are free with purchase of horse.]
 
Same dynamic with dogs. One guy hung up on my wife after asking the right questions, seemed like a good placement, then asked about price. Click. Really...

In the dog world that is frankly the middle of the going rate, but with puppy mills churning out unsocialized dogs with psych issues in abusive production situations and selling to pet stores (or direct), people get the expectation of a thousand dollar +, decade plus companion, for a few hundred bux. Fortunately there are enough in the dog world who know better... as consumers.

Guess they gotta learn the hard way. Just say no. The people dumping minis on the market will peter out eventually and the poor souls who buy them for peanuts will learn the hard way. Eventually supply will dry up. Don't breed unless you intend to keep.

RE: the halter price, I guess the horse is a hunnert bux. But the immunizations, show wins, halter & lead, health checks/vet bills, training and feed consumed are additional.
 
"Don't breed unless you intend to keep..." Agreed! With us that means less than 10 at the absolute most. I remember the boom. "We have a small herd of 50 head." Hate to break it to them but 50 is not a small herd. Now we are experiencing the consequences of that boom period. Problem is some are still booming without buyers buying. Because folks can shop around, great horses are also getting overlooked. 3 years ago one saw Niobe with Romeo at her heels and wanted her cheap, without papers so they could register her wcmhr. Another wanted Joe, papers didn't matter to them, they just wanted to sell the babies for $200 apiece. Unregistered. There have been great new owners too, they make it worthwhile! Glad for good homes always!
 

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