Here is a news story from Iowa and one of the Horse Sale barns located there and their experience with horse prices and the state of the horse market there –> Horse market could be in trouble, local experts say
Here is a quote from Devon Mullet, owner of the Kalona Sale Barn
Mullet estimated 30 percent of the 700-800 horses bought and sold out of the sale barn each month go to Amish families. He said they commonly buy Standardbred racehorses that aren’t fast enough to race. He said Standardbreds, bred for trotting speed, are known best in this area for pulling buggies.
He said they used to be able to sell a horse for $700-$800. Today he said they are worth a mere $50-$100.
He blames the Horse Slaughter bill for an increased horse population and a decrease in horse prices. In my opinion the amount of increase in horses is negligible; however the price can easily be a cause of the bill. There are no longer any kill buyers at the sales in middle America. Gas is too expensive to transport to Mexico or Canada, so it is not worth it to purchase horses at these sale barns for slaughter, which means there is no longer a bottom to the market. Before a horse could only go so low before a killer buyer would bid on the horse. Now when a horse starts to drift down to the lower price ranges it will only be bought by someone who actually wants a horse. What this shows to me is an increasing population of unwanted horses. Now I also believe this only to be a temporary problem and the market will eventually correct itself. Basically it will become unprofitable for backyard breeders to just breed because they think they will get a good price for a horse.
Now the other part of the story is about concerns over the economy and health care for the horses. Claims that the horse market as a whole will be affected because of the decrease in horse value. In my experience so far this has not been the case. I am still working on plenty of horses and my field is more of a luxury than say like stitching a horse or care of a sick horse. I am also receiving new inquiries on my services on a regular basis. So there is still concern over health, which I would expect. If horse prices are cheaper than those that can afford them will be more inclined to purchase another one, until they calculate the cost of actually caring for one…LOL. Also on the other side of the coin they will be less likely to sell their horse because they will get nothing for it and therefore keep it longer. With all this said the majority of my clients have their horse because it does the job they need and want and the only reason they would sell and or buy a new horse is because their needs change or the horse they have can no longer fulfill their needs say for example in the case of an injured horse. Also the majority of them treat their horse truly as their companion not a piece of property so again the current prices of horses is not going to affect them. All this means that horse health care will be of greater importance rather than less importance and horse owners will be inclined to spend more money for better health of their current horse since they will be keeping it longer.
My feeling is that the horse market is depressed in middle America on the low end horses especially and that it is not and most likely will not affect horse owners from providing health care to their wanted horses.
