You will find more options, at a better price point, than you will in the US. It’s that simple.
Shopping for a horse in Europe is more within reach than most people think. A trip to Europe to buy a horse will cost you about what it costs to buy a horse in the US. You also get more bang for your buck because of the higher level of competition amongst breeders and trainers.
There’s no such thing as an average cost but if you tell us what you are looking for, we can tell you what you can expect to pay, which includes price range for the horse, travel costs based on your preferences, commissions, import fees, quarantine and shipping. Conversely, if you tell us your budget, we can tell you what you can get for that price.
We strongly caution against it. We are not in the business of fear mongering but there are a lot of ways to get into trouble shopping for a horse on your own and most of it is preventable. For every story of someone who went to Europe on their own and got a great horse, there a dozen who wasted time and money, or got a different horse than they bargained for. There are a lot of unscrupulous horse dealers, even at well-known barns, who prey on American buyers because they aren’t familiar with the local horse scene. They will show you horses that they know won’t be able to perform and tell you they will be super stars. Some agents charge an “American tax,” which is to say that they overcharge if the buyer doesn’t know what they should be paying for a horse. Some breeders won’t even deal with buyers unless they come with a trusted agent. There are 100 ways to be defrauded when buying a horse and shady horse agents know that it is very difficult for you, as an American, to seek any sort of financial retribution. Allida has worked in some of the top barns in Europe, made connections with upstanding breeders and trainers, and knows how to protect you from selecting the wrong horse, for the wrong price. Many doors have been opened to her, through her dealings with the world’s best trainers and clinicians and she in turn can open doors for you.
Coaching from Allida is part of your package, when you shop internationally with G.E.I. Allida is an experienced clinician, who has trained and coached hundreds of horse and rider combinations. She will help you get the most out of your test rides and you’ll take away some new skills that will help improve your every day riding. When testing horses, Allida will always ride a horse first, to understand how the horse goes, what it’s capable of, and identify potential areas of concern. You will never be encouraged to get on a horse that you aren’t comfortable with and if we think a horse is not safe to ride, we will tell you.
That’s never happened to us. Usually our clients have the opposite problem, in which they fell in love too many times and have to make a tough decision. In the extremely unlikely event that you don’t find a horse, you are under no obligation to buy. You will not have to pay our commission, if you don’t buy. You will only have to pay the per diem rate for Allida and the associated travel fees. We want to assure you that we have never had a client go home empty handed. Our clients are serious about finding their perfect partner and we are serious about making that happen.
The ability to negotiate it very dependent on the culture of the country. Sometimes we can negotiate, and, in those cases, we do. Other times, we know that the horse has already been priced at the lowest price the seller is willing or able to go. Either way, you are our client and we are advocating on your behalf, so we are there to get you the best deal. We will let you know if we think the horse is not priced appropriately to what is being offered, though generally, we don’t deal with sellers with overpriced horses.
We put a lot of time and effort into helping you pick the right horse. It’s what our reputation and business is based on. We think you will love your new horse but if for some reason you don’t, in the first 30 days after receiving your horse, we will resell the horse for you, commission free. Most of the time, these relationships take longer to develop and almost anything can be fixed with training. Allida is there to offer support for training issues. Our lawyers want us to tell you that there are some provisos to this: if you bought a horse that we have deemed as not having passed the initial pre-purchase exam, we cannot resell it for you. If you chose to go against a veterinarian advice, you will be given a revised contract with voided warranty, at the time you buy the horse. We also may not be able to resell a horse that sustained an injury during transport or after it was imported into the US. For this reason, we always recommend that clients insure their horses against loss of use.
We always offer to help resell horses that were purchased through GEI. We also take select, outside horses into our sales barn. We will help you prepare your horse for sale, arrange for professional photos and video, and manage the ads.
Contact us for information on selling a horse through GEI.
We use JetPets for shipping, as we have a long, healthy relationship with them. They have always taken good care of us and our horses. If there’s a company you have worked with before or one that you are interested in working with, we are happy to discuss it. Some shipping companies are wonderful, some are not as great, and we can talk about what we know about them.