Is the best horse you own also the most expensive?

[Tammy Breckenridge]

The best horse I own is my gelding who will do almost anything I ask of him. Loves kids, taught me how to drive, and has gracefully covered almost all of my blunders in the show ring, making it look like I know what Im doing! And he isnt the best looking or best bred horse or the most expensive.

Tammy

 

[FairytailGlennMinis]

Actually yes...(out of the horses I have now) he was twice as much as the other geldings I have bought and only $100 more than my mare...that said, I still got one heck of a deal and my other geldings were VERY inexpensive. He has the best conformation in my herd by a million miles. He has better....well, everything.

For all of my horses ever...my best and most beloved was free--simply given to me and we gave each other heart and soul until he laid down and went to sleep at almost 22 years old. I will ALWAYS miss him.

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

I have two favorites.

These two are worth a lot more than what I paid, I was very fortunate and the sellers were really nice and generous.

What makes them the best horses? Well, my favorite mare ( Misty, in my avator)is the sweetest most gentle creature in the world,she is great with the 4H kids, and she LOVES me. She decided I was her person when I got her off the trailer. She stands at the fence and stares in my sliding glass door windows and watches me all the time. Her babies sell within 2 weeks of foaling( I take the deposits not actually sell them) She is a good mom and loves her babies, but loves me the best! She has the most beautiful, perfect foals and they all get her wonderful ice blue eyes! Her color is terrific, she is nice and straight, and her foals are even better than she is.

My other one is a terrific gelding, American Gigalo, and I deeply regret my friend gelded him as he is perfect. I wish somehow I could clone him or have his ballinies sewn back on! I would love to have some of his foals! He is bombproof, has taught many 4 H kids all about showmanship and halter, has visited hundreds of kids at special schools and old people at nursing homes. He is sweet. loving and gentle, conformation is great, so is his color and he has those blue eyes that I adore.

NOTHING would make me part with these two. Not even a LOT of money!

 

[Charley]

We do not breed. My best horse is my stallion. Yes, he was expensive to me. I paid all the money, every nickel that I had set aside, to buy him at a reduced price from what he was listed at. I bought him from a reputable breeder and just love him to pieces.

But he was not the highest price that I paid for a horse; my highest priced horse was a just weaned filly that I bought cause she was so darned cute; purchased off the Lil Beginnings Sale Board. I never did breed her; I was scared that we could lose her.

Anyway, my stallion is my pet. He will not be gelded as I think he is perfect as he is. We do have two geldings that were born on our farm; so don't take it that I don't believe in gelding. He is my favorite, my smallest, my spunkiest. What makes him my best is his spirit! I remember the day he came off the transport trailer....he took my breath away with his prancing...and he still takes my breath away. For being so tiny he is very well put together....just as a miniature horse should be.

 

[Margaret]

I have a double registered mare with the kindest temprement, and a bit of quiet wisdom to her. She keeps the other horses I have in line and keeps peace in the herd dynamics.. Everyone can eat together peacefully as long as she is there. She can, and has been ridden bareback and allways has a ears up attitude around people. She has a tail flagging big springing trot that makes me think arabian thoughts about her.

She has a "Golden Pedigree" that is only National Grand Halter Champions on her top side, and is out of a Buckeroo Granddaughter.

I guess the best thing I think about with her is how gentle and kind she is, even though every thing else is perfect about her.

I bought her dam for alot of $ years ago and she was the inside package that came with.

She is right up there in dollar value with my Stallion.

 

[Erica]

Actually my "favorites" are ones I have bred through my program. It's hard as I could pick a favorite weanling (TKO), a favorite yearling (Prankster), two year old (Behold), maiden mare (Angel) broodmare (Knocker), stallion (that ones too tough to answer), gelding (Jesse or Gambler) ext......but the majority are the ones that I have bred.

Of course to get to that point I had several expenses to get the foundation breeding herd I wanted.

 

[angelridge]

My absolute and most bestest horse is my driving mare Sweetwaters Bali Hi. Her price was very reasonable as far as mini prices where going in 2001 when we purchased her as a yearling in a batch of other skittish and mostly unhandled yearlings,, she come right out of the bunch and looked at us as if to say,," Hello, who are you and do you have any snacks for me? LOL. My husband had to have her. We were told she would probably stay very small. She matured at 33.5. Which is fine by mine as she is a 3 time World Champion, 3 time Reserve World Champion, multiple Grand Champion and Stakes class winner in Country Pleasure driving. She has also been a 2 time high point winner and has 3 Honor Roll certificates and that is with limited showing. In 2006 I took her to one show where she qualified in all CP classes. She really shows her heart out for me and loves to please. Always accepts anything I ask of her,, (as long as there is a snack at the end) She is very sweet and loving. She is now retired from showing as we do not show any more.

Now the challange is to find the right stallion to cross with her for that ultimate driving prospect. Didnt breed her this year as I could not make up my mind. OH! I will start looking again soon.

I have 2 other mares that are super nice mares, but Sweety is my BEST!

 

[wildoak]

Interesting thread.

I have some mares we paid a good bit for years back, that are nice mares but not what I consider my best. Hard to pick just one best - we have raised several horses that are right up there at the top in my book. I have a couple of now 5 year old geldings we raised that I adore - Mr Charisma has done everything I asked, in and out of the showring, and done it with such personality & style I can't help but be head over heels for him LOL. He is by Affirmed Royalty, who is probably the best purchase we ever made (and kind of on a whim because my husband saw him as a baby and thought he was "cute").

Charisma's dam is out of one of those higher priced mares we bought early on who has produced such nice babies, 1st 2nd and now 3rd generation winners.

My favorite / best horse ever of any kind - probably the 30 QH standing out in my pasture who babysat my daughter from the time she was 5 years old.

Spent $4000 on her and thought I'd never recover from spending that kind of money on a kids horse LOL. Worth every penny and more.

Jan

 

[MiLo Minis]

The best horse on my farm is the horse that I paid the least amount of money for of any horse I have ever purchased, large or small. He is not conformationally correct and I don't use him for breeding but he is the BEST. I drive and that is what I love to do. So does he. He excels at dressage in harness, he is quick and athletic in cones, he is strong and full of heart in cross country. When you are out on a course and presented with a major challenge and your horse gives you everything he has in his heart, with nothing more than a few words of encouragement from you, HE IS THE BEST. I have lots of other horses that have better conformation and better bloodlines and more show titles that I paid a lot more money for but Willie is PRICELESS.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

My best horse is Sunny- he was reserve Grand at Nationals in his driving class this year. He also does the parades, funday CDEs, anything I can get away with. He was not the most expensive horse, that title belongs to a AMHR/ASPC filly we just got and hasn't seen the ring yet....

We also have an aged gelding worth his weight in gold. The kids play with him, he does all the fun stuff, but is NOT a show horse in any way, shape or form.

But he'll never be sold.

Lucy

 

[Lisa Strass]

My best horse is my stallion affectionately known as Redi. National show record in both halter and driving, producer of top ten foals, and a great personality to go with it. And he was quite affordable. So no, my best horse was not my most expensive.

 

[HGFarm]

Cost wise? No... but I am really having trouble picking who would be my BEST horse! I love them all, and for various reasons, so I can't really be specific on just one!! Great question and thought provoking!

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

My take is a bit different. The horse I consider my best (conformationally) is a coming 2 yr old mare. Is she my favorite horse? Hard to say. But she is the one to date that we have paid the highest purchase price for. Is she conformationally perfect? No. I have horses with individual features that are superior to hers, but as an overall picture, she is the most correct, certainly the most balanced horse we own. She is the only one I would consider has that 100% natural hook to her neck. She also has evenly distributed proportions for hip, back and shoulder and an adorable, tiny, short head.

Her name is Wisteria Rubicon Raven Beauty and she brought us home our highest award to date - Reserve World Champion (yearling mare futurity) in 2007.

We bought her sight unseen on the recommendation of her breeder who said "she is your type!" We first laid eyes on her at the World Show and she is surely our type! Tiny, tiny, tiny and a gorgeous head!

Our most expensive horse total cost wise is Mira, our weanling that was born so early and spent so long in the hospital. Her hospital bill alone was more than we've ever paid for a horse! But I'd do it again if I had to. Hope I don't!

BTW, she brought us home a Top Ten from Nationals! That was TOTALLY unexpected! She was too small to even measure when we got to the show. They just waived the stick over her and put "< 24" on her measurement card! She actually measures 22.5".

 

[maestoso]

I have one mini, and he is the best. He is happy and healthy, and I am happy with him, that's what makes him the best.

 

[whitney]

Yep!

 

[sedeh]

Well I didn't "pay" anything for what I think is the "best" on my place. However her dam was the most expensive horse I bought and she was in foal with Lily at the time. I've been showing Lily(Total Eclipse Starlight Dancer) in Pinto for 2 years now and she has cleaned up big time in halter. Very rarely does she get beat. At an 8 judge show this summer she won 7 grands and one reserve. She also has a wonderful temperment and has done well with the in-hand trail also. She managed to finish out her Pinto Champion in just 2 show seasons. She's got some competition in the "top spot" coming up though....her half brother this year is going to be awesome!

 

[Westwood Farms]

Without a doubt my favorite is a mare named 001s Angel Baby. We call her Angel baby, and she is the best horse ever. I was told that she was a horrible horse, and did not really like people so much. She is just the opposite, and is super gentle, and she loves my little girl. That is what makes her my favorite. She goes to nursing homes, and church functions. She loves all children, but most especially my Savannah. They do everything together. That silly horse even lets Savannah dress her up,. paint her nails with washable paint, pick her hooves, and drag her around all over the place, including the porch. We can let Angel out to spend the day in the yard, and she just hangs around the house.

She and Savannah developed a bond several years ago. We almost had to make the decision to ship her up north due to heaves this summer. I am crushed she has developed this. She is our 4 legged Angel.

Angel baby was a champion in her time as a halter horse. I only paid $800 for her, and she is an old girl now. She has only foaled for me a few times. That is just not what it is about. It is about personality and love.

 

[Tammie-C_Spots]

I'd say my best horse I currently own is one I bred myself. She could definately show but I do breeding so she went right to the breeding herd and proved herself with a superior colt by my home grown stallion (who is a pretty nice quality guy himself). This mare is also my favorite.

I found I was happiest buying horses in the mid range prices. I think I'm too cheap to bay the big bucks (LOL!) but I was able to find quality in the price range I was comfortable with.

So is my best horse my most expensive? Depends on the buyer. I don't plan on selling her anyway

Tammie