Reply to DD Expensive Taste-Horseback Riding, Figure Skating & Ski

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We found a great lease for our daughter - $2k a month. It included 6 lessons a week. Eventually, we bought. I highly recommend when you buy, shop overseas - its cheaper. We took two trips with her trainer who had horses lined up when we got to Europe. Saved 10K on the same quality horse you'd find showing or auctioned  in Wellington during the winter[/quote]

Really? I'd have thought that European horses would be more expensive. What do you think causes this price differential?[/quote]

Dressage person here.  It simply costs less to bring a horse from foal to competition, costs less to compete young horses, and there is a much deeper pool of sport horses and qualified trainers in Europe.  Distances are minimized as Europe is small, and at many training places you can easily sit on a dozen horses in a day.  In the Us you can fly all over and see a horse or 2 at a time, unless you want to go to Wellington, Ocala or Thermal and pay max prices. It costs 8-10k to fly the horse over, so at the end of the day it often isn’t that much cheaper, it is just way, way more convenient.

I will say you need to take someone with you who knows what they are doing.  Lots of great riders in Europe who can make a half-broke lunatic of a horse seem easy and amateur-friendly I know a LOT of people who imported and got a completely different animal than the horse they thought they bought, training level and horse temperament-wise.  I myself tend to buy weanling a (or breed my own).  We have excellent bloodlines in the US and some great breeders.  My trainer and I can do the rest.[/quote]

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