Value of a horse can be appraised in different ways.For example:The loved and trusted horse that you raised and you and all your children grew up learning to ride on is invaluable to you.There isn't a price for this horse. The value of a horse such as Secretariat or Smarty Jones has a price tag on them because they are race horses and the owners of these horse will make money on the track or in stud fees. But, not all horses are priceless pets or world champion race horses, so how do you add value to your horse? The value of your horse may depend on the bloodlines, confirmation, training and age of your horse. Confirmation should always be a factor in the evaluations of a horse. When you buy a horse or plan to breed for a horse, always look for good confirmation. Training takes time and money. Young horses need training factored into the price you are willing to pay.The older horse will already have this factored into the purchase price.The decision to purchase a young horse verus a older horse depend if you want to rider without training problems or the horsemenship skills to start and finish a colt.You should be honest with yourself on this, so you do not end up in the hospital and the colt end up sold for slaughter. The age of the horse is a factor.A young horse with no training is going to need either a trainer or you if you havetraining skills to put time into the young horse.Whatever the dollar amount the owner is asking, you need to know what it is going to cost you to get that horse from a young inexperienced animal to a dependable mount.My husband and Ihave been riding all our lives and when we were younger we would start our own colts, but now we are older and so we have them started with either 30 or 60 days by our trainer, depending on the colt and the advise of the trainer on which horse needs more time.We then take over and ride the horse from the day we get them back onto the finish.If you are not experienced with colts, then you might want to have a trained ride the horse longer.A ranch horse make take a good four years to reach a dependable level.Other disciplines take longer and some take a shorter period of time. A older horse with training is a good buy, but many people are always trying to get more value for their dollar by purchasing a younger horse.They figure, if I buy a two or three year old horse verus a sixteen to twenty year old horse, I will get more years of life for the dollar.This isn't the way to look at a horse purchase.If you need a good sound horse, one that has no buck or bad ways and has experience, you should take a good look at that older horse.Chance are you are only going to have the horse for a few years anyway, not a life time. If you on the other hand are a experienced rider and have the time and work for a younger horse, then you maybe correct at looking at a younger horse.If you buy the colt right and put the time into the horse, then you should be able to resell the horse for a profit. If you are a weekend rider or just want to go to the field or barn and saddle your mount and ride without any problems, then look at that older horse. If you are looking for a kid horse, I encourage you to always look for the older, trained and stable mount.Let the horse train the kid not the kid train the horse.If you get a very well trained horse and place a inexperienced rider on the horse, the horse will drop to the child's level within time.But, if you start with just a good sound gentle horse then you will make the child step up to the horses level.You need to find a horse that will challenge the child but not hurt them.A very well trained horse may get the child in problem by turning out from under them or the price you paid for the trained horse well be of no use because the child isn't experienced enough to cue the horse in the disclipine it was trained for. So, now you have your horse and whether you purchase a young horse or older horse a good way to add value to the horse is to register the horse.If the horse is already registered, please make sure you transfer the horse's ownership into your name.Many first time owners forget to transfer the horse into their name.If they sell the horse, then the "transfer of ownership" is broken and many times the horse can't be registered into the new owners name and the registration papers are not transferable. If your horse is not registered, then you have several options.The American Appendix Horse Association offers a hardship registration to registered lost bloodlines.The hardship horse can be registered on confirmation.Other registeries offer hardship also, but their cost are a lot greater.
Due to the fact that many race horses with Thoroughbred and/or Quarter Horse bloodlines are sold without papers, these horse are what we call the lost horses.We try to help locate the bloodlines and bring them back into a registry just for the Appendix horse.This way the bloodlines of your horse will be validated for prosperity.This makes the offspring of your horse eligible for registration of their bloodlines.Registration into AAHA will allow you to compete with their "Performance Card" and earn points for your horse for end of the year awards.