If you’ve been around Clydesdales for any length of time, you’ve probably heard the chatter: prices are up, volume is down, geldings are king. But how much of that is perception and how much is reality? I pulled a decade of National Clydesdale Sale results — 2015 through 2025 — and laid them out side by side. The numbers tell a clear story, and it’s one every breeder, buyer, and enthusiast should be paying attention to.
The Big Picture: Same Money, One-Third the Horses
Let’s start with the headline number. In 2025, the National Clydesdale Sale grossed $997,750 on 74 horses sold. Go back to 2006 — the modern peak — and the sale grossed $999,300. Nearly identical. The difference? That 2006 number came off 218 horses. Today, we’re moving roughly a third as many head for the same total dollar amount.
That tells you everything about where this market has gone. The pie hasn’t shrunk — the slices just got a lot bigger.
A Decade of Sale Results
| Year | Horses Sold | Gross Sales | Avg Price | High Sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 93 | $548,700 | $5,900 | $25,000 |
| 2016 | 98 | $749,850 | $7,600 | $60,000 |
| 2017 | 79 | $551,300 | $6,978 | $45,000 |
| 2018 | 109 | $1,102,250 | $10,112 | $75,000 |
| 2019 | 114 | $826,900 | $7,254 | $38,000 |
| 2020 | No sale (COVID-19) | |||
| 2021 | 59 | $788,750 | $13,369 | $40,000 |
| 2022 | 93 | $1,157,400 | $12,445 | $70,000 |
| 2023 | 71 | $832,900 | $11,731 | $40,000 |
| 2024 | 83 | $832,650 | $10,032 | $46,000 |
| 2025 | 74 | $997,750 | $13,483 | $65,000 |
Average Prices Have More Than Doubled
In 2015, the average Clydesdale at the National Sale brought $5,900. In 2025, that number was $13,483 — a 128% increase in ten years. That’s not a blip. That’s a structural shift in what people are willing to pay for quality draft horses.
What’s notable is how steady the climb has been since COVID. Before the pandemic, averages bounced around between $5,900 and $10,100. After the sale resumed in 2021, the floor moved to roughly $10,000 and hasn’t dropped below it since. Buyers came back with more money and more conviction, and neither has faded.
The COVID Reset: A Price Floor That Stuck
The 2020 sale didn’t happen. When 2021 rolled around, only 59 horses sold — the smallest catalog in recent memory. But here’s the thing: those 59 horses averaged $13,369 apiece. That was nearly double the 2019 average.
You might expect a correction the following year, a return to the mean. It never came. The 2022 average was $12,445. In 2023, $11,731. In 2024, $10,032. And in 2025, right back up to $13,483. COVID didn’t just interrupt the sale — it reset the market. Pent-up demand, stimulus money, and a year of people reconsidering how they spend their time all converged. The price floor that was established in 2021 has proven to be durable.
Geldings Are Running the Show
This might be the most important trend in the data, and it’s one that should make every breeder sit up and take notice.
In 2025, geldings averaged $22,324. Mares averaged $10,610. That’s more than a 2-to-1 premium for geldings. And it wasn’t just the averages — the top six lots in the entire sale were all geldings. The sale topper was a grade gelding at $65,000. Right behind him, another gelding at $63,000.
Read that again: the highest-priced horse in the National Clydesdale Sale was a grade gelding. Not a registered mare. Not a champion stallion. A grade gelding.
This reflects a fundamental shift in who is buying Clydesdales and why. The market used to be dominated by breeders acquiring mares and stallions to build programs. Today, it’s increasingly driven by pleasure and show buyers who want a finished, ready-to-go gelding they can hitch or ride. They don’t care about papers — they care about disposition, broke-ness, and presence. And they’re willing to pay a serious premium for it.
Volume Is Down, Selectivity Is Up
The National Sale peaked at 218 horses sold in 2006. In the decade from 2015–2025, the range has been 59 to 114. More recently it’s tightened further — 71 to 93 over the last four years, with 2025 coming in at 74.
Fewer horses isn’t the whole story, though. What’s equally telling is the no-sale rate. In 2021, only 2 horses failed to meet their reserve. By 2024, that number was 21. Buyers aren’t just spending more — they’re getting pickier. They know what they want, and if a horse doesn’t check the boxes, they’re comfortable letting it pass.
For consignors, the message is clear: bringing a horse that’s well-prepared, well-presented, and honestly represented matters more than ever. The days of selling anything with feather are behind us.
What This Means Going Forward
The Clydesdale market in 2025 is smaller but stronger. Fewer horses are changing hands, but the ones that do are bringing real money. The breed’s buyer base has shifted from primarily breeders to primarily end-users — people who want a horse to drive, show, or enjoy, not necessarily to breed from. That shift favors quality over quantity, geldings over mares, and finished horses over prospects.
For breeders, the takeaway is that raising a few good ones and putting the miles on them before they sell is a better strategy than consigning volume. For buyers, the takeaway is that good Clydesdales aren’t getting cheaper — if you find one that fits, the data says waiting probably won’t save you money.
And for everyone who loves these horses, the takeaway is encouraging: the Clydesdale market isn’t just surviving the contraction in numbers. It’s thriving in spite of it.