But I Want to Buy a Finished Reiner for $2500

Today it's time for a harsh reality post. Having a reining horse is a luxury, there's no doubt about it. The amount of money to maintain a reiner alone is as much or more than the lease payment on a luxury car. So when it comes to the purchase price of one of these horses you get what you pay for.

When people ask me what they should expect to spend on a finished, ready to show horse I give them this guide line:

$10-15k: A simple starter reiner. Will know the pattern, able to score around a 65-68. When people are first getting started and aren't yet ready to invest this is a good starting point. But please note this price range also contains horses with some soundness issues, reiner rejects, and horses with behavioral issues.

$15-25k: When you're ready for something a little nicer, maybe a little better bred. Here is a good starter investing point. Here you'll find horses with some more talent, able to score around a 70-71.

$25-35k: For the much more serious reiner looking to make a bigger investment in a horse. These are going to be much nicer, better bred horses. These horses will be able to compete on a national level.

$35k+: From here come the big hitters of the industry. Reining horses have been sold for well into the 6 figures, and I have heard rumors of some in the 7 figures. These are the horses you see in the L4 finals. It's easy to spend as much as you want. These horses will be from the top bloodlines and reside in the barns of the best trainers. If a client wants to go shopping in one of the top barns here I tell them to expect to pay in this price range.

Why are refiners so expensive? Well look at the breakdown of what it's cost an owner to get a horse to the point of being ready to show:

Let's say an owner breeds the horse themselves to an average priced stud at $2000. The cost to breed the dam, feed her, foal out the baby, and feed and care for it until it's two year old year means that before the horse even goes into training that owner will probably have around $5000 into that horse at minimum.

It takes at least two years to train a reining horse. With an average bill of $1000/month that means that owner will spend at least $24k just in training before the horse is even shown.

Now start thinking about showing that horse. On a conservative basis to send a horse to a few medium level shows in a year say an owner spends $3000 just to season their horse at a couple of shows.

So now an owner has $32,000 invested in an average horse with some basic show seasoning. Think you're getting such a bad deal now?

So how do you know what you should be spending? My advice to buyers is to buy the best horse they can afford. As I remind them the training and maintenance bill will be the same no matter what they spend on a horse, and a cheaper horse might need more upkeep. But most importantly get an agent before you even start to shop! Whether your agent is your trainer, or a professional buyers agent you need someone in your corner making sure you're not over spending on a horse and helping you to find the best partner for you (make sure to read my blog post on this). So next time someone tells you they want a finished reiner for $2500 you'll know the reason why us reiners get such a chuckle out of it :)