BUYING AND SELLING HORSES

[Frazer]

Hello! I would like to buy a horse, probably a pony! To buy and then improve in some way, and then sell on again. I know, with livery charges, shoes, vets, transport etc.. etc.. its very hard to keep all this in a budget. I was wondering if anyone has done this? Can you still make money on it. Say I brought a pony for £400 a little 12.2hh welsh x 2 year old, not done much etc.. etc... Then I take it on, give it a little start to education, tidy up etc.. and then sell for £900 in a couple of months, would this work. Livery would obviously have to be grass livery, and below £15 a week. Does anyone know land in kent or livery for anything up to £15 a week? Many Thanks

 

[henryhorn]

To be honest it all depends on what you buy and how skilled you are at it.
I dealt for years in ponies and although most I made money on, a few I lost, such as the totally uncatchable pony, the epileptic one, the bolter, and the one with a weak heart. You need a lightweight good rider (not a child a light teenager), and an eye for what is trainable. My groom and I shared the profits between us on the ponies, and by the time we had checked every pony in a sale there were usually only around three we would have considered.
We used to bring them home, lunge them in side reins, pull and trim their manes and tails, then ride them if necessary with artificial gadgets for a quick turnaround. It took three to six weeks to transform them and we made a decent profit on almost every one by selling them privately.
I was lucky, Nicky was a cracking little rider and I used to long rein them on the lunge from the centre which taught them manners and brakes.
Unless you have money to lose, or risk being stuck with something totally untrainable or ill though don't do it!
We had the facilities and between us the skills, without these you won't succeed.

 

[Oaksflight]

I'd love to do it, but always thought the only way to make real profit is if you have your own land.

 

[Puppy]

I'm quite sure its do-able, but I do agree with Sophandhal, its only likely to be profitable if you have your own grazing and aren't paying livery per week, per horse. Also, this time of year is rather poor for seeling ponies, so I wouldn't expect to sell them too quickly. I know it can be done, as I've a friend who does a lot of it, but he has his own land.

 

[Vey]

Two is awfully young for intensive education. what is more, most mothers are going to know that at two, it is not a child's pony, and moreover, at rising three should not be doing the kind of work a keen child rider would want to do.

 

[Blizzard]

I agree with Vey, 2 isnt the age for a childs pony, I woudl nt do it unless you know exactly what you are going to do and what result you want.
also its easier if you have your own land of course, what if he or she isnt selling, you are still paying for their upkeep.

 

[gemma1992]

I would buy and sell a pony

 

[vicijp]

With buying ponies there isnt really much room for manouvre in improving their worth. Unless you are going to keep them for a year, take them to shows etc.
When buying and selling you need to take everything into account. Time is of the essence and unless you move them on quickly there isnt much room for profit. After feed etc you need to account for your time. If you were paying someone to ride it you would pay them £5 - £10 a day and it soon adds up. 2/3 months is also 2 sets of shoes, couple of wormers etc.
You would be better off buying around the £1000 mark. Something that looks a bit ropey, but with a nice enough shape to improve quickly. Something sensible with no issues that just needs slightly more fine tuning/experience to make it anyones ride. It is possible to quickly improve something like that to be worth £2500 - £3000 in a few weeks.

 

[spike123]

I agree with Vicijp here.I keep my horse on a dealers yard and that is basically what they do.You do occassionally get horses at silly money like £400 but more often than not they have major problems or are unbroken and need alot of work before they are ready to sell on. £1000 can buy something reasonable and be sellable within weeks rather than many months.

 

[Vey]

If I was going to do it at all, I would look for a middle of the road youngster, say about 15.2, not started, not backed and done nothing. It is still cheaper to buy in Wales, or far away from the home counties, so I'd go there - I would than aim to turn it into a totally bomproof riding club type. So few really ARE bomb proof, and will hack out alone, or in company, load with no problems, stand stock still to be mounted, not worry if the rider climbs up like a sack of coals, face a very modest round of jumps with no issues, etc etc. Since it is pretty easy to teach a hore to drive, I'd do that as well, as it ups the value, while most of the work for driving will improve the horse as well. But I think that paying home counties livery costs would scupper the whole thing, to be frank.

 

[dieseldog]

Think of it this way would you pay £900 for a 2 year 12.2 unbroken pony?

 

[Puppy]

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Think of it this way would you pay £900 for a 2 year 12.2 unbroken pony?

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At my local sale a pony of that description would make about £90!

 

[dieseldog]

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Think of it this way would you pay £900 for a 2 year 12.2 unbroken pony?

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At my local sale a pony of that description would make about £90!

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Exactly

 

[Frazer]

Yes, I know realise I would probably need to by around the 1k mark! And then do as vicijp suggested. Thanks, I wouldn't do it this year, I would probably buy around spring, and sell in spring/summer when the horse market is a bit better, hopefully.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

This is the time of year to buy horses/ponies. People want to sell before getting bills for keeping them through the winter. The problem with your idea is the size of pony you are wanting to buy & bring on. Someone mentioned that you need a small lightweight adult skilled rider to sort them out. These are difficult to find. If you do find one it will cost you.

If you really want to bring on ponies/horses go for 14h2", the market is bigger for them & basically go for good sound bombproof animals. They will never set the world on fire but you can sell them easily. There is always a market for them. Additionally 2 year olds are a bit young, aim for 3.5 - 4 year olds as by the time you've sorted them they are old enough to go to shows (4yrs).

To make money doing this, without your own land/stables & without a mamoth amount of knowledge is very difficult. Be sure before you try this. Good Luck

 

[Emma123]

My auntie does this but buys them for arounf a £1000 unbroken and keeps for 6months to a year and sells them on for £4000+ depending on ability! I think this kind of buying and selling is only really a profit making thing if you have your own land so a lot of money is saved on livery, and you have the correct skills for ponies/horses to be trained correctly!

Also luck is needed because if you buy unbroken theres no certainty in how they are going to turn out!