I often receive investment proposals for sport horses. Most arrive on WhatsApp: a few photos, a video, a price, and an invitation to come on board.
Some of these horses may well be good opportunities. But almost none of these "files" give an investor what they need to decide. There is plenty of enthusiasm, and very little that is encouraging or reassuring for someone about to commit capital.
This article looks at what is missing from most sport horse investment pitches, why it matters more in this market than in any other, and what a serious proposal should include.
The pitch everyone in the market knows
Anyone active in the sport horse world will recognize it. The horse is presented through its pedigree, a few results, photos and a jumping video. The rider is enthusiastic, the potential is "huge", and the price is given as a single number.
Then come the figures, usually thrown out on the fly, in a voice note or a quick message: what the horse could be worth in a year, roughly what it costs per month, what a similar horse sold for recently. None of them is documented. None of them can be checked. And they often change from one conversation to the next.
For someone who knows horses, this is part of the culture. For an investor used to any other asset class, it is a red flag.
What's missing
The problem is not that these pitches lack information. It is that they lack the information an investor actually needs.
- Consistent figures. Numbers given at random, without a source or a calculation behind them, cannot support a decision. An investor needs one coherent set of figures, written down, that can be compared and checked.
- A track record. Nothing shows what the person behind the pitch has done before: which horses they bought, at what price, how long they kept them and what they sold them for. Without it, there is nothing to rely on.
- A budget. The purchase price is usually clear. The monthly cost of the pension, the vet, the farrier and competitions rarely is, and neither is the total capital required.
- A plan and an exit. How long will the horse be kept? What level is it expected to reach? At what price, and how, will it be sold? Who takes the decision to sell?
- A measure of return. Almost no pitch states the expected profit, let alone an ROI or an annual return over a given period. Even fewer mention what happens if things go wrong.
In short, an investor is asked to commit capital on the strength of a feeling.
A market without a price guide
These gaps would matter less in a transparent market. The sport horse market is not one.
There is no real price guide, no equivalent of a used-car index or a property price database. Most sales are private, and prices are rarely made public. Auction results give some reference points, but they cover only a small share of the horses that change hands.
The consequence is simple: an investor cannot check whether a price is fair, whether a projected resale value is realistic, or whether the costs announced are in line with the market. Everything rests on the word of the person making the pitch.
This is exactly why documentation and track record matter so much here. When the market gives no benchmark, the only reassurance an investor can get is a clear, written history of what the person proposing the deal has achieved before.
The exit price: a method, not a promise
Of all the figures in a pitch, the expected sale price matters most: the whole return depends on it. Yet it is usually announced upfront as a fixed number, with no explanation of how it was reached.
In a market without public prices, a number given in advance proves nothing. What an investor needs is the method behind it. The most solid one is the comparables approach, the same logic used to value property or private companies:
- Identify comparable horses: same age, discipline, level, pedigree and type of results, sold recently in the same market.
- Gather real transaction data: auction results, which are public, and documented private sales, rather than prices heard in conversation.
- Adjust for differences: a horse with better results, a stronger pedigree or a cleaner vet record should not be valued like an average comparable, and the reverse is just as true.
- Turn it into a range: a low, central and high estimate, tied to the level the horse is expected to reach and the time it will take to get there.
- Deduct the rider's commission: pitches usually state it, typically 10% of the sale price, and it must be taken off the estimated price, since the sale price is not what comes back to the investor.
A pitch built this way does not claim to know the future price. It shows how the estimate was reached and what could move it, and that is what makes it credible.
What a serious pitch should include
A good proposal does not need to be long. It needs to answer the questions any investor will ask. Here is the checklist I would expect, and the one I recommend investors use before saying yes.
- The horse: age, level, results, pedigree, and a recent vet exam with X-rays, dated.
- The acquisition: the purchase price and every acquisition cost, including the vet exam, transport and any commission.
- The holding budget: the monthly pension with the named rider, plus vet care, farrier and competition entries, both per month and in total over the planned period.
- The plan: the target level, the competitions planned and the intended holding period.
- The exit: the expected sale price range, the method used to estimate it and the comparable sales behind it, the level the horse must reach to justify it, and the rider's commission on the sale.
- The expected return: the projected profit, the return on the capital invested and the time it takes, with a less favorable scenario alongside.
- The track record: previous horses, with purchase price, sale price and holding period, documented rather than recalled.
- The structure: who owns the horse, who decides when and at what price to sell, and how often the investor will receive updates on costs and progress.
None of this is complicated. But a pitch that covers these eight points immediately stands apart from the rest, because it shows that the person behind it thinks like an investor.
Conclusion
The sport horse market is attracting more attention from investors, and that is good news for the sport. But capital goes where it is reassured. As long as horses are pitched with photos, a video and figures given on the fly, many investors will stay away, and those who don't will be taking risks they cannot measure.
The market does not need to lose its passion. It needs to add discipline: documented figures, a real track record and a clear plan from acquisition to exit. Those who adopt this language first will be the ones investors trust.
To see how these figures turn into a real return, read How to Measure the Real Return on a Sport Horse Investment. And if you want to track your own horses this way, this is what HorseFolio was built for.