AndalusianWorld Magazine Dec 2013 | Page 10

A 6 Buyer’sinMarket Top Reasons to Buy Horses the Autumn and Winter Have you been thinking about buying a horse? Autumn and Winter are the ideal seasons for purchasing horses. While it is often thought that springtime is the best time to sell (and therefore, buy a horse) it is a lesser known fact that Autumn and Winter are in fact the best times of the year to buy.  These are not hard and fast rules, many sellers are quite unmotivated to get rid of their best stock merely because summer is over. However, having an entire summer of handling under the horse’s belt, and an entire winter to work with your horse before the next show season are our top two reasons to buy in the Autumn and Winter! Remember, just because it is a buyers market in the Autumn and Winter does not mean that you should try lowballing sellers. Remember to be courteous. A seller who might have been willing to part with a horse for a few thousand less than the asking price may become annoyed, and unwilling to work with you at all if you offer too little. In the spring, new babies are being born, summer coats are slick and shiny, and buyers are anxious to begin a promising new show season with a promising new horse. Arenas dry up, jackets are shedded, trails become passable, schedules get busy, and prices go UP. But, what happens in the Autumn? Find out, and start shopping!   Breeders are in the business of selling horses, and then breeding more of them. They may be more motivated to sell youngstock in the Autumn to make room for the next crop of babies.   2. With the onset of winter, coats become shaggy and dull, and updated sales photos will probably have to wait until the next season. This means that marketing for the sale horse is going to be largely suspended until spring, and the seller is stuck feeding and training their sale horse all winter, which is something they’d like to avoid.     3. Youngsters are more likely to be handled for the vet and farrier by the end of the summer, making less work for you.  Their papers may also be processed, and in hand.   4. You may “inherit” the sale horse’s previous show season, and have one more season of experience under that horse’s belt that might not have been there the previous spring.   With all that said, we hope you’ll enjoy checking out   some of our featured sale horses! 5. You will have the entire winter to train, evaluate, or fit up your new horse, so that you are more than ready for the  http://andalusianworld.com/blog/category/sale-horses/ next show season!   6. Broodmares sold in-foal are often halfway done with their pregnancies already. Happy shopping! 10