Best place to find someone looking for a companion pony?

I would be very, very cautious about advertising a pony as a companion - I've heard of quite a few cases where the new owner immediately sells the pony on as a riding animal
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If you truly cannot keep the animal yourself, only let the pony go to someone you know and trust, and preferably make it a loan arrangement so you have some control over the pony's future.
 
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Do you think that it would be worth withholding the passport initially - so that in theory (hmmm) they would not be able to sell on dead or alive?

[/ QUOTE ] Don't think it would make much difference - a lady on this forum had a veterinary endorsement put on her horse's passport to say that it wasn't sound for riding purposes, so the new owner just took the horse to a sale, said it hadn't got a passport and they issued a new one there and then and put it through the sale
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It's easy to apply for a new passport from one of the issuing agency, even though the horse may have an existing one.

I think I'd try to go through word of mouth as much as possible, letting all the horsey people you know near by. The closer you rehome him, the easier it will be to visit him to see if he's still doing ok.
 
Is the pony a companion because of a soundness issue? If so, then you could consider having a loss of use freezemark put on. In fact a normal freezemark would also be a wise precaution, making the pony more easy to identify.
 
if you are dubious about the horse being sold on, it may be useful to first put a loan with view to buy, or just put the pony out on longterm loan, as then you could agree to visit as and when, and agree with a contract, which should hopefully discourage scammers
 
a friend of mine bought a horse last year, she felt sorry for it, it was so skinny. it didn't cost much and had no passport. my freind got a vet to issue a new 1. no questions asked. turned out the mare was at least 10 years older than the dealer had said. both myself and her had been away from horses for years, before a horse had to be passported. so she never questioned about the no passport issue. and i had no idea about it either. thankfully the mare was checked over by a vet and found to be fine for riding. so least she hadn't been mislead all the way! we do wonder if the dealer had a passport and just kept it from her so she could lie about her age. now we both know we'll never buy a horse without a passport, and the dealer should be expecting a lawyers letter very soon regarding being sued over unlawfully selling a horse without a passport.
 
She was one that I bought out of sympathy as she was in such poor condition etc. At her age I felt she didnt deserve to be treated like that so I have fed her up and got a decent amount of condition on her so my job is now done - I would love to keep her forever but my job is done and my grazing is seriously stretched - plus she would make a fab granny/companion.
 
That lady would be me with Bailey.

I sold him in November 2004 as a companion and his mircochip and passport were endorsed by the vet to state that he had an unstable fetlock/sesamoid as a result of a bone chip fracture. In the two years I owned him he had been sound for only a couple of weeks...after months of box rest. As soon as the work was picked up, he went lame again.

I found out through this forum some weeks later that he was for sale with a dealer for £2,500 - way above what I'd sold him for. Pictures of him jumping, hacking and flat work schooling. I was horrified. On calling the dealer who had him I was told that he'd never been lame in the few weeks she'd had him and wasn't on bute. I can't see that personally as he'd never really been sound in the whole time I'd owned him, apart from a week or so after extensive box rest (4 months) and only been ridden out at walk for ten minutes.

It turned out his name had been changed and he'd been issued a new passport at the ringside at Beeston. (As you say, a practise which has now ceased). The people I had sold him to took him to the auctions the very next day! No one scanned him for his microchip. I called Trading Standards as I was genuinely concerned, not only for Bailey (now Fizz) but for the potential new owners safety and disappointment when his injury became apparent to them. They turned up the next morning to be told by this dealer that she'd sold him the day before and she didn't know who to! Obviously a lie. I've often wondered if she ever sold him on or whether she took him to the meat man to un-hinder herself of the burden of him.

Horse's do have to already have a passport when they get to the auction, but Farmkey still issues them to people's private addresses.

If he was mine, I'd loan him out as a companion. I'd check out their home for him and I'd let them know you expect to be able to pop in to see him. Get a contract drawn up too. Plenty of people are keen to loan horses. If possible I'd also deliver him so you can satisfy yourself that he is going to the home you've vetted for him.

If I could have my time over again, I'd have had Bailey PTS. I know it sounds harsh as he wasn't that lame. However, it was the only way of protecting him and other potentional purchasers of him being ridden and them being injured. Problem with a horse like Bailey is that he's handsome (a lovely dun) and someone is always willing to take the chance on a horse like him coming sound. Shame.
 
I got Woodgreen animal shelter to help me find a home from people they had on their waiting lists.

Some of the other larger charities were not helpful at all.

Possibly a loan with a view to buy would work and a good agreement with visit rights and an agreed high value if the horse is not returned or goes missing.
 
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