11/10/2026
Talk to anyone who sells horses right now, professional or not, and theyβll most likely say the same thing:
Itβs really difficult.
Iβve sold a handful of horses in the past year, and I swear sometimes it feels like pulling teeth.
You make a post and get a ton of interest. Then comes the barrage of messages, a million requests for more videos and photos, people asking questions that are already answered in the ad, or asking if your jumping horse would make a good barrel horse. Mostly joking on that last one, but I am honestly shocked by how often I see versions of it.
Then you get the people who are SO EAGER.
They absolutely want to come see the horse.
But they canβt tell you a time.
Or even a DAY.
Then when you reach back out, theyβve βdecided on another horseβ without ever letting you know.
Itβs exhausting.
And I donβt think itβs just flaky buyers or bad communication. The entire horse market feels difficult right now.
Owning horses is more expensive than I have ever seen it in my almost 30 years around them. Hay, feed, farrier work, vet care, board, hauling, training, tackβjust about every basic expense has gone up dramatically.
People have less disposable income, but horses cost more to keep. Sellers canβt necessarily afford to drop prices because theyβre already spending so much just maintaining the horse, while buyers are looking at the total cost of ownership and understandably becoming more hesitant.
So you end up with horses sitting on the market longer, sellers getting more desperate to move them, and buyers becoming more selective.
Meanwhile, expectations have somehow gotten higher.
People live in this βInstagram realityβ where they think every horse should move perfectly like a robot 24/7 and never have a moment of being a horse that wouldnβt make the highlight reel.
They expect perfect transitions, perfect manners, perfect behavior, perfect vetting, no maintenance, no quirks, no bad days, no spooky moments, no opinionsβand preferably all of that at a bargain price.
Then you have auctions everywhere now, both in person and online, and somehow every horse is advertised as PERFECT for your kids, your grandma, your nervous beginner spouse, your uncle with disabilities, trails, ranch work, jumping, cows, parades, traffic, whatever else you can think of.
Every horse is bombproof.
Every horse is safe.
Every horse is uncomplicated.
Every horse can do everything.
And I genuinely think seeing those ads over and over has changed what people think a normal horse sale ad should sound like.
Nobody wants the honest horse because theyβre so used to seeing these embellished ads claiming horses are 100000% safe and capable of doing whatever job you want.
My ads are not embellished.
My horses are capable of spooking, because EVERY HORSE is capable of spooking at some point.
They have strengths and weaknesses.
They have things they enjoy and things they donβt.
They may prefer a certain kind of rider or need someone at a certain skill level.
Sometimes they need management.
Sometimes they make mistakes.
Sometimes they have an off day.
And I do my best to be upfront about all of it because Iβm not trying to sell a horse to whoever shows up with money. Iβm trying to match that horse with somebody who actually fits what they need.
A huge part of that comes from my own experience.
I was sold a horse that was WAY too much for me when I was young.
I was small for my age, maybe jumping 2'6" at the time, and had big dreams. He was almost 17 hands, had jumped Grand Prix, and was far beyond what I needed at that point in my riding.
I remember circling at the canter for what felt like forever because he couldnβt even tell I was asking him to stop.
That horse did not help me grow.
He kept me stuck.
But the trainer saw inexperienced parents willing to write a big check and a kid with big dreams who didnβt know enough yet to know what kind of horse he actually needed.
I donβt ever want to be that person.
So yes, I will tell you when my horse gets strong.
Iβll tell you if they spook.
Iβll tell you if I donβt think theyβre appropriate for your kid.
Iβll tell you if I think your riding style or experience level isnβt a good match.
And I may talk somebody out of buying my own horse.
In a market where horses are already harder to sell, that probably doesnβt make my job any easier.
But the answer to a difficult horse market cannot be pretending every horse is perfect.
If anything, I think we need more honesty right now, not less.
