For aspiring appraisers
So you'd like to appraise horses.
We get asked this often enough to answer it properly. Here is what the work actually involves, and where to train for it.
Start with the association.
Training, standards and certification run through the American Society of Equine Appraisers, which runs home study courses and certifies the appraisers who complete them. Lindsey is a life member. It is where anyone serious about this work should start.
Courses and certification at ASEA
What the work is like
It is research, not horse trading
Most of the day goes on finding comparable sales and reading records. Pedigrees, competition results, veterinary history. The horse is the easy part.
The report is the product
A written appraisal runs ten to fifteen pages, and it has to survive the IRS or a court reading it closely. Writing clearly matters as much as valuing well.
Standards are not optional
Qualified appraisals are written to USPAP, and for a donation the appraiser has to meet the IRS definition of a qualified appraiser. That means coursework and a credential. Knowing horses isn't enough.
Your discipline is your starting point
Nobody knows every market. You build out from the breeds and sports you already know, and you learn where the evidence lives in each one.
Looking for an appraisal instead?
If you landed here with a horse to value rather than a career to start, that's the rest of this site.
Request an appraisal