I had an interesting conversation from a very long time breeder of horses. He and his family goes back many years raising horses. He said he has seen the ups and downs of the market different times in his career. I haven't been a breeder as long as he has, but I also have seen the highs and the lows. He said something that I never realy thought of before. There are some horse owners such as myself that will own horses regardless of the market, we just have always had horses and we will always have horses. Currently there are more horses in the US than there ever has been in the history of our country. This was primarily fueled by the baby boomers catching the horse bug in the 90s when the economy was as strong as it ever had been. People were making good money, the stock market was thriving, and business was good. People that grew up with horses and didn't have them in their lives suddenly rode the wave of the popular horse movement. They bought horses, they became breeders, and the market got saturated. Now I hear from many of those people that jumped in on the wave, say that there is no money in horses so they are bailing out or they already have. Many of these same people struggled with high mortage costs on their newly bought horse properties and when the stock market and the housing market tanked, they now found themselves strapped for extra money.

The horse market has always followed the tradition livestock markets. In the years I have seen it, if cattle were high, so were horses. If cattle were low so were horses. Since the 90s and the peak of the horse market, the cattle market was rising but the horse market dropped. Now cattle prices are falling off and horses are in the tank. That tells me only one thing, the rise in the horse market in the 90s was only high because it was fueled by the baby boomers and their new found wealth. Fast forward now to today's economy. These same people are not spending money and if and when the economy turns around, they are probably going to be too old to be active with horses or they will not want to gamble again.

With all this information, I am kind of agreeing with the guy I talked to, I personally don't think we will ever see a strong horse market for the rest of my lifetime. Anybody else have an opinion?

Doesn't sound to far off. I buy a horse to ride or use not as an investment, at least not in a few years. I guess I'll try to keep a horse for a bit yet.

I agree with Mike. I train working cow horses and the market that I serve is not with people who are into horses as whim. It is good to bring new folks into the horse business but I think that we want folks who see it as a realistic endeavor and not as a temporary hobby. Perhaps this is part of the reason that people are giving me horses that they don't know what to do with.