Equine Appraisals What You Need to Know be comfortable jumping at a lower three-foot level. The quine appraisers are horse would then be evaluated personal property and appraised as the lower appraisers who specialize three-foot level jumper that in valuing a horse’s current he/she is currently. In this worth. Banks, attorneys, particular case, I would nonprofits, accountants, include the horse’s Grand Prix horse owners/trainers, and record in the appraisal, taking estate planners, are among into consideration the level those who may use equine the horse has accomplished; appraisal documents. however, his value would Determining the Fair Market be based at the lower threeValue of a specific equine foot level of jumping, the can be tricky. No sales requirement of his donation. As regulations exist within the required by USPAP regulations, equine industry, and finding comparable sold horses with sales prices of comparable the attributes closest to those horses is necessary to comply of the subject horse on the day with the Uniform Standards of donation would need to be of Professional Appraisal found. In order to accomplish Practice (USPAP). this, appraisers may need Each appraisal is different to reach out to breeders, depending on circumstances private sales, and auctions. and its intended use. It may Once comparable horses are be needed for litigation, found, a grid system is used to insurance fraud, or even a determine the subject horse’s donation to a non-profit; value. I assign a sliding scale consequently, required of numbers to each attribute documents will vary. Basic that I feel is important in each factors to consider when case. Next, a dollar value per appraising a horse are age, point is determined. The sale health, pedigree, lameness/ prices of all comparable horses injury history, competition are added up and the total is records, training, and any divided by their cumulative attitude issues. Also included scores - yielding an average and factored in may be the value per point. That number horse’s purchase price and is then multiplied by the costs invested in training. If points scored by the subject available, I also evaluate the horse. This will then give a horse overall in person while rough estimate of the subject matching up registration horse’s worth. Appraisers may paperwork. When available, adjust from here to determine competition videos are also the educated estimate of value reviewed. based on supporting facts. How do appraisers Another case example determine values on horses? would be an insurance claim. When conducting an equine A trailer accident resulting appraisal, the important factors in the death of an equine to focus on may vary. Horses may necessitate an appraisal must be appraised as they are of the deceased animal. In current day. Let’s say a top this case, the date of the loss Grand Prix jumper worth of the equine would be the $500,000 is being donated effective date of the report; to a nonprofit because of its evaluating the horse as it advanced age and inability was just before time of death to be competitive any longer would be necessary. Since the at that higher jumping level. horse is no longer available The horse may, however, still to be evaluated in person, an by Sara Ballinger
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appraiser would have to rely on the owner’s records and any competition records in order to value the horse before death to obtain an insurance claim. Even if a horse was insured at a certain price on the effective day of the policy, that doesn’t mean the horse is worth the same price at the time of the accident. An appraisal would help justify the horse’s worth at the time of the accident. Another scenario may be an uninsured horse involved in a trailer accident that was
caused by another driver. The horse would need to be appraised for its worth on the day of the accident for the insurance companies to decide the settlement. Overall, investigating and determining the key factors of the subject horse’s worth, and finding comparable sold horses which are the most similar to the subject horse are critical in determining a regulated equine appraisal. For more information: sebequineappraisals.com
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