Every buyer wants to know what their money gets them, and most sellers answer with a price list. We would rather tell you what actually drives the figure, so you can judge for yourself whether the horse in front of you is fairly priced.
Quality, first and always. How the horse is made, how it moves, how it jumps, and its temperament. Martha buys on those four before anything else, and has paid top money for a quality horse with little on its record. Everything below adds to the price.
A horse you can ride. Of those four, temperament is the one most riders end up paying for. Talent sets the ceiling on what a horse is worth, and at the very top the horses are extraordinarily talented, which is why they cost what they do. In the range most riders are buying, the premium goes to the horse an amateur can ride on a Tuesday without a professional standing in the middle.
Experience, on top. A horse that has been round a course at the level you want to ride at costs more than one that looks capable of it. An experienced horse of real quality is hard to find, and that is what you are paying for.
A history you can see. Results, x-rays, and who produced it. A horse whose history is open to you, with a known producer behind it, is worth more than one that arrives with gaps.
What you are not paying for. A story, a photograph, or a sales video shot on the one good day.
A horse bought in Europe arrives with more than its purchase price attached, and the cost of getting it here is much the same whether the horse is a modest one or a very good one.
That is what sets the floor on importing. Below a certain price the shipping and the paperwork take up so much of the total that the horse stops being the main thing you are buying, and a US rider is usually better served looking at home. If your budget sits there, we will say so.
Most of the horses we sell are ours, owned outright or with co-owners we work with directly. If you want to know who owns the horse you are looking at, just ask.
Tell us the figure you have and what you want to do on the horse, and Katie, Hayley or Martha will tell you plainly whether it is realistic. If your budget does not buy what you are describing, we will say so rather than show you something that nearly fits. That conversation is worth more than a price band, which is why we do not publish one.
Enquiries are answered personally by Katie, Hayley or Martha.