Horse prices in the UAE: what horses actually cost

The UAE horse market runs on four broad tiers. Leisure horses and first ponies cost AED 4,000 to 15,000. Quality riding horses with correct schooling and a clean vetting cost AED 20,000 to 80,000. Competition horses with verifiable records cost AED 80,000 to 500,000. Elite endurance Arabians and international show horses start around AED 300,000 and the best exceed AED 1 million.

Where a horse lands on that ladder is set by five things: age, training, papers, competition record and vet history. Breed matters, but mostly as a proxy for those five. A crossbred schoolmaster with ten years of honest work can out-price a papered Arabian that has done nothing.

Prices below are asking-price bands, not valuations. They reflect what sellers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain actually list at during the October-to-April season, and they match the bands Faras publishes on its breed pages.

Purebred Arabian: AED 15,000 for leisure-quality geldings to AED 300,000+ for proven endurance or show bloodlines. EAHS or WAHO registration is expected on serious listings.

Anglo-Arabian: AED 20,000–120,000 depending on training level.

Thoroughbred: AED 10,000 for retrained ex-racers out of the Meydan and Sharjah yards to AED 150,000+ for race-ready stock.

Dutch Warmblood (KWPN): AED 80,000–500,000 for competition-proven horses.

Belgian Warmblood: AED 70,000–400,000.

Hanoverian: AED 60,000–350,000.

Holsteiner: AED 70,000–350,000.

Selle Français: AED 70,000–400,000.

Argentine Polo Pony: AED 25,000–120,000 per made pony.

Andalusian (PRE): AED 40,000–200,000. ANCCE papers are the registry to look for.

Lusitano: AED 40,000–200,000, with APSL registration the standard.

Akhal-Teke: AED 60,000–300,000+ for papered stock. Rare in the Gulf, and provenance is everything.

Welsh Pony: AED 8,000–60,000. Height, temperament and a child-safe record drive the price.

Crossbred: AED 4,000–40,000. The value tier of the UAE market, where the individual matters more than the label.

Endurance is the UAE's signature discipline, ridden at Al Wathba in Abu Dhabi and Seih Al Salam in Dubai. Unraced prospects with the right Arabian breeding start around AED 20,000 to 60,000. Horses with qualifying completions and clean vet-gate records trade between AED 80,000 and 300,000. Proven 100 km-plus campaigners from established French or local bloodlines run from AED 300,000 to past AED 1 million.

Show jumping is a warmblood import market. A safe schoolmaster to learn on costs AED 80,000 to 150,000. A horse jumping clear at 1.30 m with a verifiable record costs AED 250,000 to 500,000, and Grand Prix horses sit above that. KWPN, Belgian Warmblood, Hanoverian, Holsteiner and Selle Français papers dominate the results boards.

Racing splits into two markets. Retrained ex-racehorses leave the training yards from AED 10,000 and make excellent riding projects for experienced hands. Race-ready Thoroughbreds and race-bred Arabians cost AED 150,000 and up, and serious bloodstock trades privately well beyond published bands.

Polo runs on the winter season at Ghantoot, Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club and Al Habtoor. Made ponies cost AED 25,000 to 120,000. Strings turn over every season, so late spring brings the sharpest supply and the sharpest prices.

Leisure is the widest tier. Honest hacks and first horses cost AED 4,000 to 15,000. A well-schooled, vetting-clean family horse that anyone in the household can ride holds its value at AED 20,000 to 60,000, because that combination is rarer than most buyers expect.

Age first. The sweet spot is roughly 7 to 12: old enough to be sensible, young enough to have a career ahead. Horses under 5 sell on potential and pedigree; horses over 15 sell at a discount unless they are proven schoolmasters, where experience is exactly what the buyer is paying for.

Training is bought by the month. Every season of professional schooling a seller has paid for shows up in the asking price, which is why a green 4-year-old and a made 8-year-old of identical breeding can sit two price bands apart.

Papers multiply price. Every properly documented horse carries a passport; registration papers are the price lever. WAHO or EAHS registration on an Arabian, European studbook papers on a warmblood, or ANCCE on a PRE can double what an unpapered equivalent brings.

Competition records are public and checkable. FEI and Emirates Racing Authority results, and endurance ride histories, can be verified in minutes. A searchable record moves a horse up a band; a claimed record that cannot be found should move your offer down.

Vet history closes or kills deals. A pre-purchase examination (PPE) is standard practice in the UAE at every level above the cheapest, and a seller with clean, shareable records defends the asking price. Missing history is a discount, not a detail.

The purchase price is the entry fee, not the cost. Keeping a horse in the UAE runs from roughly AED 2,800 a month for basic livery in Sharjah or Al Dhaid with a maintenance ration, to AED 8,500 or more for a Dubai competition setup with training board, competition feed and a physio on rotation.

Livery is the biggest line: about AED 1,800 a month for basic livery, AED 3,500 for full livery at a Dubai or Abu Dhabi yard, and AED 5,500 with training board. Add feed at AED 600 to 1,500, farrier at AED 150 to 450 on a 6-to-8-week cycle, and routine vet and dentist work averaging AED 250 to 550 a month.

Run the numbers for your own setup with the Faras cost calculator at /guides/cost-calculator before you agree a price. An AED 15,000 horse costs its own purchase price again in keep every four to six months, which is why the cheapest horse is almost never the cheapest decision.

Comparables beat opinions. The fair price for a horse is what similar horses are actually listed at right now, in this market, not what a horse of that breed costs in Europe or what the seller paid for it.

Faras does this comparison for you. Where enough comparable listings exist, every sale listing shows a market band: the middle range of asking prices for similar horses currently on the marketplace, stated in AED with the number of comparables counted. A horse priced above its band needs a reason you can verify, such as a competition record or fresh vetting. A horse priced well below it deserves questions, not a fast transfer.

You can also read the market directly. Filter Faras listings by price band, from under AED 10,000 up to AED 250,000+, alongside breed and emirate, and you will see within minutes where a given type of horse actually clusters.

At the top of the market, expect POA. Elite endurance horses, proven jumpers and serious bloodstock are routinely listed as price on application. The price is not a secret; it is qualified. Sellers share it with buyers who introduce themselves properly, and on Faras a POA listing invites exactly that: a short WhatsApp message with your discipline and budget range.

WhatsApp is the deal channel, and etiquette matters. Open with your name, your discipline, your budget band and your timeline. Do not open with a lowball or with one-word messages asking for the last price; in this market that ends conversations rather than starting negotiations.

Expect movement of roughly 5 to 10 per cent on mid-market horses, agreed after the viewing rather than before it. Elite horses move less on price and more on terms: the vetting window, a trial ride, transport, or tack included. Almost every serious deal in the Emirates concludes subject to a clean PPE, so agree the price and the vetting condition together.

Timing is leverage. The riding season runs October to April, and asking prices are firmest in autumn when every yard is buying. At season's end, polo strings turn over and yards consolidate, so April and May reward patient buyers.