Coliced horse for sale.?

Question

I have a horse that is currently for sale. He coliced 1 year ago. He is a very valuable horse, big and a big jumper, but I am being told that he lost his value do to the colic surgery, is this true? Would you buy a horse that has coliced? He has had no problems since and it was a very mild colic, meaning he didn't lose any intestents or anything. Your opionions are appreciated.

We are located in Central FL.
How much of a price drop do you think it should be??
He is insurable and is currently insured. I just had to wait 1 year after the surgery and I had no problems getting insurance.

I meant to mention he is worth in the $30,000 to $40,000 range and I have him listed for $20,000. I have taken the surgery into consideration it just seems everyone won't even make an offer because of the surgery.

Answer 1

I would, if I could afford a horse, but I think in the show community he may have lost value.

The best thing to do would be to have a vet check him out and have a written statement about his good health.

Answer 2

Personally if the horse has good bloodlines and is still a valuable riding partner I would buy him.

The truth however is that his value did go down a great deal. I'm a retired veterinarian myself and there has been a case study put together that shows that horses that have a severe enough colic to need surgery often have those same problems at that level or even more severe than the first time. So although you say that the last time was mild- having surgery for a coliced horse is very rare. So your surgery case may have been mild- but the sheer fact that your horse had to have a surgery to fix a problem that many other horses are able to self heal or heal with very little help- is a big concern for a buyer.
It's no attack on you- but it brings into question that if he were to colic or get hurt some other time will his body be able to do the job and heal itself or will he have to have more surgeries.

Answer 3

Colic surgery really drops the value. The surgery doesn't mean he is cured. If they had surgery once, they probably will need it again. I know of 6 horses that had colic surgery (intenstinal problems for all of them) and 3 of them were put down after the second surgery (a year or two later) and the other 3 are doing ok, but are on strict diets.

Any major surgery takes the value down. Your horse may be work 40k, but no one wants to risk that much money on a horse that had colic surgery. Your best bet is to ride him for a couple more years and get more experience. After 2 or so years, people will be more ok with the surgery than just one year later.

Personally, I would only buy a horse that had colic surgery if it was really cheap and 2-3 years at least after the surgery. There is too much of a risk of it needing surgery again in the future.

If he required surgery, it was not minor colic. A minor colic episode can be passed on it's own. Only severe colics need surgery.

Answer 4

Yes, I would buy him if he was the horse I wanted. Keep in mind, some people will say that to get you to lower a price. I call them "tire kickers" To the uneducated, the fact that he had the surgery could make him "less valuable". It tells me you care enough to spend that kind of money to get him healthy. And most horses at some point colic. You just do not know about it. I had a mare that had the same surgery and I paid $10,000 for her. I showed her for several years and bred her with no problems. And later sold her for more than I paid for her. It is something that I would disclose up front in my ads, and the serious buyers will still come and look. I did that with a cribbing horse and he still sold for over $15,000. Mostly it depends on what an owner can and cannot live with. Your vet should be able to do a full disclosure on the surgery and a buyer can make an informed decision from there. Good Luck in selling your horse.

Answer 5

Colic is a concern and does affect the price of show horses in particular. Competitors at the higher end of the circuit need a horse they can bring out every weekend without worrying about colic. Furthermore, when a horse colics there's some research that says they're more likely to colic again. No one wants to face that horror. And when you think about it, show horses are valuable animals. The sell for big bucks. So if you've already committed yourself to spending a certain amount of money for a horse, you're going to find the best horse out there. If you see two horses with basically equal past performances in the show ring (roughly the same amount of wins at the same caliber of competitions), and they're both priced the same, would you buy the one that's coliced in the past or the one with a colic-free history? Now, if the horse that coliced were priced less, there's a chance someone might take a chance on him. But as a buyer, you have to be weary of that.

Answer 6

If a horse has had previous colic surgery it would be excluded when applying for veterinary insurance cover in the future. Personally, I would not take on a horse that had needed surgery to cure colic and would expect the price of the horse to reflect this issue...

Answer 7

sure. i would by a horse that has coliced. i dont see why anyone wouldnt besides the fact that he could have health probs later own. but that would not stop ME frombuying a horse. especially one that can jump!!! in fact where do you live because i am looking for a horse right now. do you live near north carolina?

Answer 8

Your horse may be worth a million dollars. However, with the market flooded with horses today, you will be lucky to get around $2000. This is why it is so easy for these killer buyers to buy horses and sell them to the slaughterhouses. Last year, the horse slaughterhouses slaughtered over 100,000 horses. And I bet it isn't going to be any better this year.