>>>> She bought a beautiful, 8 yr old, well trained Haflinger gelding for around $3500. She couldn't find a comparable Icey for less than twice that amount.
That may be the case now, at least in some areas, but when the Haflingers were first building up numbers in this area, many were selling for well over $10,000 - I think some for $15,000+...and the numbers still grew. I know of seven-year-old Haflinger mare for sale (owned by an old friend) right now for $7000. She also has a couple of untrained 2-3 year olds for $3000-4000. I don't think the difference in the overall numbers is price. Any breed is relatively pricey while the numbers are small, especially if they have to be imported, as breeders and importers try to recoup at least some of their initial costs. That doesn't keep people from becoming attracted to a breed for long though... The downside is that the price of a breed often drops when the breed is overbred, and often the quality suffers during this initial rush. I hope that we never see the Icelandic's bred to the point of becoming an overabundant commodity...although I hate to see good potential owners priced out of the breed too. It would be ideal to find a good balance in the middle. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
