Market Trends - Why Yearlings Come Available

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Why Yearlings Come Available

By Donna DeYoung. Added 01/21/08.

picture of andalusian yearling horse In Kim Shogren's article "Yearling Clearance Time", she brings up some good points. Why ARE those yearlings for sale NOW?

She's talking about the availability and pricing of yearlings just after the New Year and before the next foal crop hits the ground.

I'd like to answer this question as well as to expand on the topic of yearling Andalusian foal sales.

Kim says, "It seems that breeders go through some sort of amnesia between the birth of foals from one year to the next. Somehow they either don’t realize space issues or choose to ignore them until the spring when they drastically cut prices on the previous year’s foals to make room."

This is certainly the case for many breeders. What you don't know is what is going on behind the scenes. Many breeders are keeping all or part of their foal crop because they haven't yet decided to SELL them!

Why and when they decide to sell is a matter of opinion.

Some breeders would like to expand their herd. Others get emotionally attached. For whatever reason, they sometimes keep too many foals from a foal crop.

And then reality sets in.

They just can't afford to keep so many horses. Some must go.

"Most of the time, breeders have had young stock for sale for awhile. Perhaps the pricing has been above market average, or maybe the advertising style shed the horse in an undesirable light. "

It's true, some of these horses have been for sale since they hit the ground. Others have been "hiding" out at the farm and haven't been advertised. If you're looking for a good deal, either type will do. The breeder is usually willing to negotiate on the average foals.

What about the superior ones?

Nope. They just don't negotiate well on those. By now they've had them for awhile, gotten emotionally attached, and they start adding dollar signs to the price of their best yearlings.

For example, I was selling some foals in-utero for $12,000 to $15,000. Then one year I kept a filly. She turned out to be one of my best. My yearling asking price? $40,000...

Just how bad the seller needs to sell and how much room they need is often revealed in their pricing. In the example above, I obviously didn't need to sell that yearling filly very badly if my asking price was $40,000.

Yearlings are sometimes offered at the same price as newborns, or only slightly higher. In some cases they are offered at a lower price to attract more buyers and move the sale along. Colts especially fall into this category as they are labor-intensive to raise and keep.

Whatever you do, when buying a yearling, be sure to factor in "cute" (you like pretty horses, don't you?) and factor out "ugly" (gangly is okay, but that butt really isn't going to shoot up 4 inches to catch up to the withers, and those ears, well, those ears ...).

And one other thing ... don't forget your inscription papers. Yearlings should have them.

picture of Donna DeYoung About the author:

Donna DeYoung is an "Andalusian Expert" and raises Pura Raza Espanola (PRE) horses on her Texas farm. She is an avid dressage and endurance rider and enjoys teaching others.

For more articles on Andalusians, please visit our sister website Spanish Vision Farm.