Pricing a horse

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

This is not really "endurance" related...only slightly in a shirt-tail
relative sort of way.  I need some thoughts from the list anyway since many
have quite vast and varied knowledge of the horse world around here.

Here's the situation:

We've decided to sell Sherry, our one and only QH, so I can buy another
Arab gelding that needs to come live here (and I'm out of stall space and
Steve won't let me have more than 5 at one time...at least for now.;-))  I
have absolutely no idea how to price this horse.  I'm hoping that some of
you can give me a rough idea...I don't even know how Washington state
compares to the rest of the country.  

Here are her specs...She's 6, absolutely drop-dead gorgeous buckskin dun
(or is it dun buckskin) with zebra striping on the legs and the dorsal
stripe...her buckskin is close to a butterscotch color.  She has huge brown
"cow" eyes, stands a full 16h (sticked) with huge feet, is very loving and
gentle, looks more like an appendix with great bone, nice withers, nice
back, *not* built downhill as in a lot of QH...built level to slightly
uphill...and has very, very nice gaits.  

She is green as grass...done some longeing, had her in a saddle a few times
and someone on her back at a walk a couple of times (nearly unheard of to
have a 6yo QH that hasn't had much done to it!)  These were all non-events
and I would have loved to had more time to work with her since she seemed
to be very attentive and calm.  She kept getting "back-burnered" because of
other horses coming in that took priority (as future schooling horses
and/or for endurance conditioning.)  We've had her here for about 2 years
(we got her as a payment on a bad debt) so she's had a lot of ground
contact but very little saddle work.  She has not had shoes on yet (has
awesome feet) or been bitted.  I think she weighs about 1100lb and she is
an easy keeper.

I have her papers, but don't have them in front of me right now -- I have
to locate them...they're somewhere between the house and the office (100'
away) but everything around here has been *re*located in the last year and
not everything has been *re*filed yet nor do I remember where I reassigned
the stuff that has actually been refiled!! :-p  My shoer looked at her
papers and said they were *very* good.  She was born in Nebraska and the
original owner out here paid $2500 for her as a 2-year old (I think.)  She
has some racing stock in her pedigree...that much I remember.  I hate to
sell her, but I really want to buy this other horse...who is, BTW, nearly
ready to be a schooling horse and has done some endurance competitions very
successfully so he'll get put to work right away and I won't have to worry
about the very initial schooling of another completely green horse.

If anyone can give me any hints on how to sell her...pricing, etc., I'll be
most grateful cuz I don't have a clue.  I'm not going to have any time to
do any more training, but she's really ready to go and would be an awesome
dressage, reining, trail, breeding, etc. mare.  I had also thought she'd do
well bred to an Arab for a QH/Arab cross.  She's well built and would
complement most well built Arab sporthorse stallions...does not resemble
those obese, sorry looking "hang dog" QH with dinky feet.  She would fall
into the sporthorse category of the Quarterhorses.

TIA to anyone who can send me any ideas!  

Sue

"If all you can do is what you've always 
done, then all you can be is what you are right now."
                              author unknown

sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.