Buying an imported event horse in the US can get you real quality without the American price, or it can get you burned. This is an honest map of where US riders actually look, what each route is good for, and the questions that protect you. Dunedin Sports Horses wrote it, and yes, we are on the list, we have said so plainly.
You are choosing between a marketplace and a producer. A marketplace shows you listings and leaves the judgement to you. A producer rides, vets and stands behind the horse, and that work is built into the price. Marketplaces are wider and cheaper to browse. Producers cost more and carry the risk you most want carried. Most riders who got burned were burned on a marketplace horse they judged alone.
Good for seeing what is out there. The vetting and the judgement are on you.
These operations bring horses over and stand behind them to varying degrees. Each works differently, and each is worth a look. Ask every one of them the same questions below. A spread worth knowing includes C Square Farm, Bourke Eventing, The Frame Sport Horses, Westminster Sport Horse Sales, Irish Manor Stables, Equinox Farms, and Top Horses. If one of them fits your brief and you trust the person, that is a good outcome.
Dunedin Sports Horses, yes, us. What makes us different is where we stand. Our principal Martha sources across Europe and, based in Ireland, rides and vets every horse in person before it ships, and 5-star event rider Hayley Frielick confirms from the saddle that it suits your riding. We sell horses we own and produce, so the terms are ours to state plainly, and we do. A buyer left this on Google: the horses were well presented and exactly as described prior to viewing.
Eventing asks for gallop, bravery and cross-country, not just a clean round in a ring. Plenty of horses are sold as eventing prospects with little real cross-country mileage. Whoever you buy from, confirm the horse has been produced as an event horse, and ask to see it school cross-country. This is the single most common way a buyer ends up with the wrong horse.
Who rode this horse before I did, and will they tell me its flaws?
Was the horse vetted in person, and are the x-rays on file?
Is any commission disclosed in writing?
Who handles the import paperwork, quarantine and transport, and who carries the risk if the horse does not vet on arrival?
Will you work alongside my own trainer, and can my trainer come and look?
A seller who welcomes those five questions is worth your time. A seller who gets cagey has told you what you needed to know.
If you want the widest choice and you are confident judging a horse across an ocean yourself, use the marketplaces. If you want someone to ride it, vet it and stand behind it, use a producer, and ask the five questions. We built Dunedin to be the producer we would want to buy from, event horses sourced across Europe, ridden and vetted in person before they ship, and nothing left unsaid. If that is what you are looking for, talk to Katie, Hayley or Martha.