Jane* will never forget finding out what the actual price tag was on her favorite amateur horse. She’d flown to the Midwest to try a plain bay 11-year-old.

“He was an adequate mover, but he jumped just the way I rode. It was like magic, me getting on him,” Jane said. “I talked to my trainer in the aisle after I tried him and said, ‘He’s 11. He’s never shown on the East Coast. He’s not pretty. $50,000 seems like a lot,’ since that was the top end of my budget.

“He told me, ‘I’ve already tried to get the price down, and they’re firm at $50,000.’ ”