Nalah, price doesn't any horse far away from the meat man, a horse is only every one owner away from the worst case scenario. There are plenty of high dollar horses getting canned at the whim of an owner. Some have injuries that are easily treatable, some just have little personality conflicts or angered the owner in some insignificant way. I remember my friend had a heck of a time trying to give away three racing (sound) geldings where their sire's fees were no less $50,000 and one had won over $100k. My friend was a ranch manager and the owner simply decided one day that he didn't want to have any geldings anymore because they had no value for breeding (there was ample resources to keep the geldings around). They could have done great in anything from branding to grand prix if given the chance. Those geldings weren't as famous as some competitive horses that have been found on the feedlot or shipped. If they leave your barn there are no guarantees, none.

That doesn't mean that rehoming horses is bad, just always risky, even when you take precautions.

"It's really quite amazing what a horse will do for you, if he only understands what you want. 
And it it's also quite amazing what a horse will do to you if he doesn't." ~ Bill Dorrance