Economists use the term luxury good for products that people buy more of as their income rises, and show horses definitely fit the bill. Demand at the top of the hunter/jumper market comes from buyers with significant disposable income, and many are less sensitive to price than the average consumer. Often times, a high price signals higher quality, while a horse priced too low can make buyers wonder what’s wrong with it. Understanding that helps explain why this market behaves the way it does.
Luxury markets follow their own rules. When the economy wobbles, buyers at the top often keep spending while the middle of the market pulls back. I expect the top of the horse market to hold even if the middle softens. Scarcity matters more than usual, since a proven, sound, competitive horse can’t simply be manufactured to meet industry demand. That combination is why the top of the horse market can stay strong even when the rest of the market struggles.
Here’s where horses differ from most luxury goods: there is no official price index. Art auctions publish results, and real estate has public sales records and indexes that track prices over time, but most show horses sell privately, and the final price is rarely shared. Researchers have tried to fill the gap, like an Illinois State study of more than 3,000 online auction horses, but the private-sale market, where most hunters and jumpers change hands, remains largely invisible.
For sellers, that missing data cuts both ways. Without public comparables, a seller can’t easily prove a price is fair, and buyers may assume the worst, which is why transparency matters so much. The sellers who stand out will be the ones who keep their own records, document show results and vet history, and explain how they arrived at a price. Even an informal picture of what horses actually sell for, rather than what they are listed for would make this market more fair, and building that picture is a big part of what I want this blog to do.
Would you share a past sale price anonymously to help build a clearer picture of the market? Let me know in the comments below!
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