Is safety valued in the Australian pony market?

Do vendors value safety in the Australian recreational (non-thoroughbred) riding horse market?

“…With respect to warning and reassuring descriptors, the findings of this article largely concur with the hedonic pricing model of the Australian pony market (Hawson et al, 2011). There is evidence that the inclusion of phrases that allude to the presence of potentially dangerous behaviors in an advertisement reduces the calculated price by an estimated $196.…”

“…The 4 categories were the same as those used by Hawson et al (2011), but additions and deletions to the list of descriptors, chiefly to reflect terms more relevant to horses rather than to ponies, were made after consultation among the authors, 3 of whom have relevant expertise as veterinarians and riding instructors. Behavioral descriptors were scored with þ1 for each mention of a behavior that corresponded with 1 of the 4 categories described (very reassuring, somewhat reassuring, neutral, and warning).…”

“…A hedonic regression technique can be used to identify the financial value attached to these characteristics. Previous research has fitted hedonic pricing models to estimate the value of safety in the Swedish car market (Andersson, 2005) and in the Australian pony market advertised in print and online (Hawson et al, 2011).…”

“…The authors previously reported that for a sample of advertised ponies, descriptors of possible unsafe characteristics reduced the price set by vendors, but those of potential positive behavioral characteristics associated with the safety for the rider/handler had a neutral effect on the advertised price (Hawson et al, 2011). Despite the reported frequency of accidents involving ponies and their riders (Hawson et al, 2010), it is possible that ponies are considered inherently benign because of their size.…”

“…But what about safety as a pricing component for larger recreational riding horses ridden by adult leisure riders? To answer this question, we applied the method used by the same authors for advertised ponies (Hawson et al, 2011) to a sample of horses advertised in the Allrounders and Adult Riding Club sections of the monthly horse trading magazine Horse Deals (Australia). By using the advertisements to investigate variates associated with pricing set by vendors, we created a hedonic pricing model for recreational riding horses advertised through Horse Deals in the first half of 2009.…”