Horse prices.... wow wheee: A good all around horse

» whirlybird - A good all around horse

This isn't really a question but... I have just started putting out feelers for a new horse. I haven't owned a horse since the late 1980's and have a bad case of sticker shock. Back then a good all around 4-h horse, well trained,not too old, ran from $1000.00 to $2500.00. Now days (at least in my local area) you can expect to pay $3000 for a young untrained horse and $6000 to $10,000 for a trained one. The prices above are for registered animals... but even a 12 yr old grade gelding was $3000. To be honest I was hoping to be able to get a decent trained horse (for just riding around the farm) for $1000 or less.

What happened to jack up the prices? Are horses more popular than they were then? I cringe when I think about how I sold my championship mare for under $1000 when I went to college...

-- posted by whirlybird