The one that got away.

[Come Shine]

A few years ago I picked out a lovely mare from an auction catalog. Figured she would be too pricey for our budget, so didn't go. Turns out she went for well within our budget.

Guess who is winning in the jumper ring now?

Head Desk.

Anyone else?

[supershorty628]

A lot of people have approached me about Nikki - supposedly they thought about buying her before I got her and then didn't... but I guess I'm the case where I'm the person who got the one that got away!

[spmoonie]

I've work at a QH barn that produces AQHA style horses, however every once in a while, there is one that could be a cute hunter jumper type. The BO once offered to let me buy a 2 year old she had for 1800 $. My parents wouldnt let me get him--we just were not in any position to be buying a horse.... Guess who just sold for close to $30,000? Another situation: BO offered to let me buy a pony for $2300. I already had my current horse and really wasnt interested. Guess Who's price tag is now $15,000? I cant complain though. I turned down some good offers for nice horses, but have absolutely no regrets. Ive got the pony of my dreams now, and it was well worth it! :D

[Hunter Mom]

I've work at a QH barn that produces AQHA style horses, however every once in a while, there is one that could be a cute hunter jumper type. The BO once offered to let me buy a 2 year old she had for 1800 $. My parents wouldnt let me get him--we just were not in any position to be buying a horse.... Guess who just sold for close to $30,000? Another situation: BO offered to let me buy a pony for $2300. I already had my current horse and really wasnt interested. Guess Who's price tag is now $15,000? I cant complain though. I turned down some good offers for nice horses, but have absolutely no regrets. Ive got the pony of my dreams now, and it was well worth it! :D

Maybe your next horse should be named "Guess Who"!

[pony grandma]

A TB race breeder friend offered me a big 17 h gelding that he had that was coming off the track. He was the 1/2 brother (from a mare of his that I favored) to two 1/2 sisters that I had already bought from him, and they were both fabulous. I didn't have the cash at the time to move on him. He later told me that he would have sold him to me on time :(

He ended up selling him to a H/J trainer that flipped him, for $20K I heard, to England where he turned out to become a successful steeplechaser.

He probably would have made a very nice eventer.

[Buglet]

I had a boarder offer me her horse for $1500. He was a OTTB and she only trail rode him. I already had two other horses I was trying to sell, so I turned her down. She sold him to a local barn for $1000. About 6 months later he was sold for $40,000. Turns out this guy had an amazing jump. A year after that he was in Florida competing and winning at the "A" shows in the 1st year greens. He was then sold for $150,000!!!! The lady who has him now says that she will never sell him.

[ponymom64]

A pony that I passed on a few years ago because I thought he was too young for us at the time was champion in the large greens at Pony Finals last year......

[spmoonie]

Maybe your next horse should be named "Guess Who"!

Perhaps! :lol:

And just to think, right now I could be sitting on a 30,000 dollar warmblood.....*starts daydreaming.* Oh, who am I kidding; I wouldnt trade my rescue pony for the world. But, It really does make you think about "what could have been."

[norcalammie]

I bought the horse several others turned down as he was just 3 and had large splits on both front legs and each leg pointed in a bit of a different direction. Bought him at 3 and showed him all over Northern California successfully in hunters, jumpers and equitation. Only problem was an occassional bout of thrush. Retired him at 18.

The ladies who turned him down 1/ bought a nice 4 year old green mare - lame and a broodmare 6 months later, 2/ bought a nice young jumper who could not jump successfully over 3'6" and 3/ bought a 6 year old gelding and quit riding 6 months later. Both #1 and #2 said they should have bought the horse I bought as they watched him show over the years.

Sometimes you get lucky and get the one others turn down and they turn out to be the horse of your dreams!

[PNWjumper]

I grew up riding with a trainer who was a genius at picking out diamonds in the rough. He had a horse for a while that he told my parents they should buy for me, but I wasn't ready for a new horse at the time. He sold him to a local BNT for $5000 and that trainer then sold him to the east coast for $250K. Definitely the one that got away! :lol: But to be fair, he was an truly outstanding hunter and there's no way that I could have developed him the same way the very-hunter-leaning BNT did.

And I don't feel too bad. We bought a QH dirt cheap a year later and he ended up being my Junior Jumper and Grand Prix horse. Definitely a better fit for what I wanted to do (and one of my "once in a lifetime" horses) :)

[Come Shine]

But to be fair, he was an truly outstanding hunter and there's no way that I could have developed him the same way the very-hunter-leaning BNT did.

My one consolation about letting the mare "get away" is that the girl who bought her is an amazing rider.

[cajunbelle]

I gave someone a freebie that went on the market for $30,000 about 2 hours after he stepped off the trailer to his new home.. Beat that one. He has now been sold twice since. Can you say BIG MISTAKE!