Ranch horses

[Dave]

Back in 2010 the youngest daughter and I went to the Real Ranch Horses sale by Billings MT. This is an invitation only sale. No traders. These are ranch raise horses consigned by ranchers and cowboy who make there living on the back of a horse. My daughter bought a grade grey gelding who was 6 if I remember correctly. She paid $3,600. He was the lowest selling horse of the sale. I had 2 picked out that would work for me. I don't remember what they sold for but it was way over my budget. I did get to bid on one but dropped out way before it sold. I do remember the highest selling horse that day was over $9,000.
For kicks I looked up the sale results from 2021. The highest selling horse sold for $23,000. Second highest was $20,750. Third was sold for $19,500. The top 5 averaged $20,300, top 10 averaged $18,800, top 20 brought a $16,025 average, and the entire sale 60+/- horses averaged $13,240. I would bet that the lowest selling horse was over $8,000.
What does a quad or SXS cost and how long does it last if you really use it? What does that make a horse that you seriously use worth?

 

[SBMF 2015]

I'm not sure in dollars, but a good ranch horse is worth as much or more than a good cattle dog, and better than any wanna be cowboys.

 

[GoWyo]

A good horse and a good dog is worth several cowboys. Think of the payroll savings. One cowboy's salary for a year can about pay for the horse/dog combo.

 

[Chevy]

Normally, you get what you pay for. I don't know much about horses... seems everything has gone up.
My cowboy () uses a dirt bike or a mini horse to round up the cows. No worried he doesn't ride the mini horse.
Our mini horse didn't come with any fancy papers or anything. We bought her off Craig's. Didn't really have a clue what we were getting in too. She sure is cute and her mini is twiced as cute. that's all I know about that.

 

[Silver]

To me the horse and the quad are both indispensable. I spend more time on the quad, but there are things that must be done horseback, and things to be done that are much more enjoyable horseback.

 

[Chevy]

I thought I could put that Christmas sweater on the mini mini. Bahahahahaha. That didn't go as planned. Hahahahaha. I laughed!!! Old man laughed. Whatever that was silly laugh. Hahahaha. Maybe get a santa hat next time.

 

[Lucky]

I was told a few days ago that a decent using ranch horse that probably won't buck you off is worth around $7,500 in my area. A decent Team Roping horse that'll stand in the box and has some ability is gonna start at $10,000. These are private sales and not at auction. The going rate for horse training is $800 a month. This gets your horse trained for at least 1 hr a day and it generally takes 35 days to get 30 days on it. All the horse trainers around here stay booked. I used to think people were crazy for paying these high rates until I rode a few bad horses. A good horse is definitely worth the money if you need one. With all the outsiders moving in around here I keep hearing the horse needs 2 weeks and the rider needs 2 months.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

I thought all horses bucked from the little black shetland right on up, was in my mid to late 30's before I realized some horses don't buck.

 

[Lucky]

I thought anyone could ride a "good" horse. I found out with my new horse just how much the rider has to do with things. It was a little embarrassing but good lesson. A good cowboy that can connect with a horse is really an impressive thing.

 

[Stonewall Joe]

Back in 2010 the youngest daughter and I went to the Real Ranch Horses sale by Billings MT. This is an invitation only sale. No traders. These are ranch raise horses consigned by ranchers and cowboy who make there living on the back of a horse. My daughter bought a grade grey gelding who was 6 if I remember correctly. She paid $3,600. He was the lowest selling horse of the sale. I had 2 picked out that would work for me. I don't remember what they sold for but it was way over my budget. I did get to bid on one but dropped out way before it sold. I do remember the highest selling horse that day was over $9,000.
For kicks I looked up the sale results from 2021. The highest selling horse sold for $23,000. Second highest was $20,750. Third was sold for $19,500. The top 5 averaged $20,300, top 10 averaged $18,800, top 20 brought a $16,025 average, and the entire sale 60+/- horses averaged $13,240. I would bet that the lowest selling horse was over $8,000.
What does a quad or SXS cost and how long does it last if you really use it? What does that make a horse that you seriously use worth?

te comparison of a horse and a quad doesn't make sense in some parts of the country because there's some things you just can't do on a quad; I prefer working cattle on a horse. The cattle remain quieter if handled properly, they are easier to sort with a horse and it's probably just me but I just prefer a horse to a quad anyways except for a few things like carrying wire to build a fence

 

[Dave]

te comparison of a horse and a quad doesn't make sense in some parts of the country because there's some things you just can't do on a quad; I prefer working cattle on a horse. The cattle remain quieter if handled properly, they are easier to sort with a horse and it's probably just me but I just prefer a horse to a quad anyways except for a few things like carrying wire to build a fence

Here both get used a lot. Very little of the gathering happens on a quad. Mostly horse back because the country is too steep for quads. But this time of year when the cattle are down in the valley where it is flat quads get used a lot. Cows get driven down the roads. That is often a combination of horse and quad. As for cattle being quieter that depends on the person not the horse or quad. I know people who will rile them up with either one. I have never seen cattle sorted here on a horse. That is done corrals built for that purpose and done on foot. A former owner of my place is said to have done everything horseback. It is all flood irrigated everyone uses quads to move the tarps. It is a daily chore all summer. They say he did it with a horse.