Children asking for horses free or cheap....Rant!

[lindsay1993]

Time & time again I keep seeing posts on these horsey sales facebook pages. They are all the same.....

Horse wanted- free or as cheap as possible as I have very little budget. Don't mind stallion/colt filly. Very experienced rider, have ridden for years so don't mind a difficult horse. Will be coming to a 5* home, must be free or less than £200. Must be able to deliver and come with full tack.

It drives me insane!! I have looked on a few of these posters pages and they are all about 12-13 years old and appear to keep horses in gardens. I don't understand how they can possibly afford or care for a horse correctly. Surely, if they can't afford to buy one, they certainly can't afford to own one, rent land and keep it in a good healthy condition, pay for vaccinations, feet, teeth etc. They seem to think that having once sat on a friends pony bareback in a field means they are an experienced rider and can handle a 2 year old colt or frisky stallion!! What annoys me more is that people actually post back with adverts for their horses. One girl in particular posted a similar post to above and someone offered her a 2 year old unbroken, colt cob. She asked back whether it could jump up to 1m as she wanted to jump him when he arrived!!! The seller said 'Yes of course he can'. I was horrified. There seems to be a huge trend for people practically giving away totally unsuitable horses to totally unsuitable potential owners.

Growing up, I had no say in any potential pony that might be bought for me. They were sourced from reputable yards/owners. Vets and other horsey pro's came along. Pony was trialled and vetted and then a decision made. I can't imagine having a stallion to look after at the age of 12!
I didn't own any of my ponies, they were bought for me by a family friend and she took complete control for all the financial side of things, so I guess I was very, very lucky. I just feel so bad for these poor horses that really need more knowledgeable homes, the kids could seriously hurt themselves! I guess it's all about money for the sellers though and they don't seem to care where or who their horses go to.
Am I mad to think this or has the world gone mad??
Sorry, just a rant really!

 

[Pebble101]

Sadly social media has a lot to answer for. In days gone by they would have had to put adverts up in tack shops (and probably pay to do it) and very few would have even thought about doing it.

 

[Orca]

Sadly social media has a lot to answer for. In days gone by they would have had to put adverts up in tack shops (and probably pay to do it) and very few would have even thought about doing it.

I was thinking the same, along with the fact that equestrianism used to be a specialised hobby and horses weren't considered general 'pets' in the way cats and dogs are. Why are they now? I know none of my children would dream of trying to blag themselves a pony online for a few quid, social media or not! The sellers responding to these ads are creating a market though and while there's a market, there will be takers/ while there are takers, there will be a market. I wonder how many of these children actually succeed in attaining horses - and how many are just playing out a fantasy, because they can?

 

[lindsay1993]

I was thinking the same, along with the fact that equestrianism used to be a specialised hobby and horses weren't considered general 'pets' in the way cats and dogs are. Why are they now? I know none of my children would dream of trying to blag themselves a pony online for a few quid, social media or not! The sellers responding to these ads are creating a market though and while there's a market, there will be takers/ while there are takers, there will be a market. I wonder how many of these children actually succeed in attaining horses - and how many are just playing out a fantasy, because they can?

Hopefully none of them! It upsets me as knowing how much they cost in day-to-day care, not including illness or injury. Clearly these poor horses won't ever be getting quality care or vet treatment. I doubt these kids could pay for colic surgery or some such emergency. They definitely won't have insurance. They probably don't even have a properly fitted saddle. Horses shouldn't be such a disposable item, no animal should.

 

[Cocorules]

It frustrates me that there are also many monied families who buy a pony put it on its own in their back garden, find the pony too much and then leave it in their garden and do nothing with it. The pony spends its life alone and ignored. It is not just about no money but no idea generally.

 

[rowan666]

It is extremely worrying, I saw one about 2 days ago where a 13 year old was asking for a free or under £200 anything over 14.2, also claiming she was experienced and had worked with difficult horses for 3 years, when questioned by people she said her mum knew she was posting and she had been riding for years but had been doing paid work with horses for 3!? but there were quite a few a few people saying they have something and would pm her! I would really hope that these kids are just living in a fantasy land although I guess it must be hard for genuine horsey kids when they don't have horsey family and there are some genuinely very responsible kids out there, so glad my mum had horses and I never had to worry about any of that lol

 

[atropa]

This does my head in! There was a nice ex-racer advertised on one of the FB groups I frequent recently, up for sale for £700 as a project who required an experienced rider to bring her into normal ridden work. One kid tagged a second in it, second kid to her credit pointed out 'needs experienced rider', and first replied back 'oh didn't see that, just saw £700 LOL!'

Whilst not exactly at the point of wanting them for free, this is very much along the same lines..clueless kids and parents wanting to buy horses but not spend the money to get the horse that they actually need.

 

[muckypony]

I got jumped on a few weeks ago for asking how someone had the budget to keep a horse when they had advertised they only had a £300 budget! Asked how they could afford to insure and look after a horse if they didn't have any kind of a 'budget' to buy. Was told I was being unfair and that people shouldn't be denied the opportunity to own a horse just because of their finances... That's funny because I thought owning a horse was a luxury, not a given right!? Infuriates me.

 

[lindsay1993]

I got jumped on a few weeks ago for asking how someone had the budget to keep a horse when they had advertised they only had a £300 budget! Asked how they could afford to insure and look after a horse if they didn't have any kind of a 'budget' to buy. Was told I was being unfair and that people shouldn't be denied the opportunity to own a horse just because of their finances... That's funny because I thought owning a horse was a luxury, not a given right!? Infuriates me.

Exactly! That's what riding schools are for. Even a part-loan would be more sensible. I have to bite my tongue sometimes. Yes, you should be denied the opportunity to own a horse because of finances! I am! I borrow my bosses horses. She can't ride due to time/work etc, so it was a great opportunity to ride without the costs involved. It suits me perfectly. Boss gets horses back into work for free and I get free horses to ride! Yes, it is very restricting with them not belonging to me and they live about 15 miles away, but I could never afford my own. My partner & I have discussed it. He was happy to pay towards some of the care for my own horse. My reply to him was, yes I can afford to buy a horse, but I can't afford to keep a horse to acceptable standards. No money- No horse!

 

[Charmel]

I have to say though it is also the fault of the parents not monitoring what their children put on social media and the fault of the adults who answer the kids requests....lets not forget these are children who probably dream of having their own pony and of course they don't understand the full cost of having one as they are only children....my girls have had horses all their life but if asked at 12/13 how much one costs a month they could have a best guess but still would probably underestimate it. Which is right as because they were children it wasn't up to them to know exactly as the purchases and the upkeep were my concern not theirs...

 

[gothdolly]

I think these children are just playing out a fantasy, possibly fuelled by pony books etc. adults who respond to their posts should be kind but responsible and suggest that they ask their riding instructor to help them look for a suitable pony etc. No one needs to be mean, but no one should be offering colts to 12 year olds either!

 

[NZJenny]

Starting to happen in NZ too, but it's not children, it's young adults, which I think is almost worse.

They are generally people on benefits, with some very airy-fairy ideas about keeping horses in general. One posted about a particular problem, when it was suggested she go to a clinic, oh no - she had her own method of happy horse training where she suggested to the horse what she wanted it to do, and it could do it if it was happy to.

Posted a week later looking for someone to "free-lease" said horse, as she could no longer keep it.

Another one a few weeks ago looking for a "free or cheap" cover. Couldn't afford to pay $30 for delivery, could the giver please drop it off? Never mind it as a 100 km round trip. When I suggested that if she couldn't afford that, then she had no business owning a horse, I got shouted down. But guess what, a month later big sob story about losing job, has a kid ...... needs someone to "train" horse - for free of course.

I get being 12 and having a fantasy, I was no different - the world was going to magically going to provide me a pony, like in Jill's Gymkhana (I had tough parents!). But when they are in their late teens, early 20's, I have no problem dealing out a dose of reality and comments like "no nasty comments please", are not going to stop me. At the end of the day, there is a animal involved that has no say in the competency of the owner.

 

[WelshD]

what never ceases to amaze me is that often you'll see things going in cycles with a child:

Buys cheap pony
rags it round a load of jumps
posts lots of pics of matchy matchy
gets in to an arguement on the yard
moves pony
advertises pony for sale through lack of time/grazing, usually they are 'devastated' by the sale
sometimes gets as far as selling the pony
sometimes gets 'persuaded' out of it by friends 'awwwwww no you cant give up hun'
either keeps pony and rags it around some more before posting about problems with bolting/bitting/napping
or buys another
either way the cycle moves round depressingly often

 

[Crackerz]

what never ceases to amaze me is that often you'll see things going in cycles with a child:

Buys cheap pony
rags it round a load of jumps
posts lots of pics of matchy matchy
gets in to an arguement on the yard
moves pony
advertises pony for sale through lack of time/grazing, usually they are 'devastated' by the sale
sometimes gets as far as selling the pony
sometimes gets 'persuaded' out of it by friends 'awwwwww no you cant give up hun'
either keeps pony and rags it around some more before posting about problems with bolting/bitting/napping
or buys another
either way the cycle moves round depressingly often

Is this a new thing though? Perhaps fueled by social media?

When i was young, this didn't seem to happen. I had tricky ponies - but i had a horsey mum to help work throguh it all and ended up with great talented ponies. No one sold their first ponies on when i was young and there were very few friends (actually can't recall any!) that had ponies but never had hose parents...

 

[Charmel]

what never ceases to amaze me is that often you'll see things going in cycles with a child:

Buys cheap pony
rags it round a load of jumps
posts lots of pics of matchy matchy
gets in to an arguement on the yard
moves pony
advertises pony for sale through lack of time/grazing, usually they are 'devastated' by the sale
sometimes gets as far as selling the pony
sometimes gets 'persuaded' out of it by friends 'awwwwww no you cant give up hun'
either keeps pony and rags it around some more before posting about problems with bolting/bitting/napping
or buys another
either way the cycle moves round depressingly often

I can't count the number of people I see doing this, it does seem more prevalent now. Never seemed to happen when I was a child. You just had a pony and kept trying until you got it right.

 

[gothdolly]

I don't get this either. I had a naughty pony when I was small and the attitude of all the adults involved was that learning to ride her would make me a better rider. Its perhaps the throwaway culture. Easy come easy go

 

[gothdolly]

Just thought though, maybe these children just don't have any sensible horsey adults to back them up? Even though we had land/stables at home I had to keep my first pony on working livery at the riding school, till I was 13. My instructor organised the pony's feed and workload/turnout and even tack. I was scared of my instructor so did as I was told.

 

[Charmel]

I don't get this either. I had a naughty pony when I was small and the attitude of all the adults involved was that learning to ride her would make me a better rider. Its perhaps the throwaway culture. Easy come easy go

My Eldest daughter pony was a little monster when we first had him but she is a better rider for having him. We still have him and he is now 25 but for many years people have said what a wonderful safe childs pony he is..but if only they knew. We made him that way through many lessons for him and my daughter and consistent hard work. of course there were times when we wanted to give up in the beginning but we weren't brought up that way. We all soldiered on and he ended up envy of all and an absolute rosette collecting angel and still is. Definitely turning into a throwaway society now. if at first they don't succeed they buy a new one...!! Makes me angry and sad.

 

[gothdolly]

It is the same with adults, Charmed. People seem change horses very frequently and give up very quickly if things don't go the way they want.

 

[lrw0250]

God yes! There is one girl on my local horsey facebook pages who has been through numerous horses and accompanying dramas. The last one was a thoroughbred mare she sold on to a riding centre who then posted pictures of the poor horse with a condition score of 1 and bad rainscald. She has messed people about so much, for example took a horse on loan and returned it a week later as she had dropped out of school to work on a racing yard at the other end of the country, but guess what, that fell through. The latest is that she is going to work in Magaluf for 6 months in 2 weeks time and has posted her mums car for sale to fund her flights!!

what never ceases to amaze me is that often you'll see things going in cycles with a child:

Buys cheap pony
rags it round a load of jumps
posts lots of pics of matchy matchy
gets in to an arguement on the yard
moves pony
advertises pony for sale through lack of time/grazing, usually they are 'devastated' by the sale
sometimes gets as far as selling the pony
sometimes gets 'persuaded' out of it by friends 'awwwwww no you cant give up hun'
either keeps pony and rags it around some more before posting about problems with bolting/bitting/napping
or buys another
either way the cycle moves round depressingly often

 

[criso]

I wonder if now there are less outlets if you don't have much money and want to ride. Kids who are desperate to ride but can't afford, unrealistic about the reality of owning a horse and limited options to channel this and learn the reality.

When I was a kid (1980s Devon) the kids who couldn't afford ponies would hang around the local riding stables where I kept my pony(it just did hacks no lessons) helping out for the hope of a free ride. As all the ponies lived out, at catching in/turning out times you could guarantee a ride as the fields were a mile away as long as you didn't mind riding bareback and leading one on each side. Most turned up every weekend and all day, every day in the school holidays and stayed all day, grooming, tacking up and untacking, feeding. No formal assessment or training or teaching you to ride though the woman who ran it would tell you how to hold your hands and put your heels down if she saw you. None of these had horsey parents, they couldn't afford lessons at one of the scruffy riding schools never mind a smart one.

They didn't get something for nothing and worked hard and learned how much effort horses need and the stables couldn't have operated without them, it was a way that kids with no money for formal lessons and no idea could get involved and I'm not sure this exists in the same way today.

Many moved on to getting their own pony, some had working livery some not . Everything from the owners smart horses to hairy ponies lived out all summer and only a few came in at night in winter so you could actually keep a pony very cheaply with little input, no one went up every day and very little adult supervision. Lack of time was less of an issue.

I'm not sure kids with ponies have changed, there were lots on unsuitable ponies and some rode them ragged, some couldn't get them to move in the first place and some were usually to be seen disappearing over the horizon at speed. If anything there was more turnover then as now I see a lot of kids who have outgrown their pony and bought a small horse but haven't sold their pony. We seemed to have a policy of one in, one out. You outgrew a 13.2 but no one was getting you a bigger one till you sold that for both space and financial reasons. There were a few who kept changing but they were the rich kids whose ambitions exceeded their ability and their parents just bought a new one in the hope that their child would start winning. but mostly people hung on to their ponies as they couldn't afford to upgrade.

They may not have been posting on fb but there was plenty of bolting, napping, rearing, bucking etc

 

[EQUIDAE]

What gets me though is when you see ads from these kids when they have part loaned one of your own and been so unreliable that you could never trust them to turn up, never mind on time (last straw was loaner sending a text at 11am, which I didn't get until 2pm, saying they weren't going to the yard. Horse was in (at their request as they struggle to catch her) and stood for all that time without hay. I had to grovel with work to let me nip out and hay and water them - a 24 mile round trip. I ended the loan and 2 weeks later she had been given a 3yo unback mare.

 

[gothdolly]

Do riding schools not have "little helpers" anymore then? That's what I spent my childhood doing, looking back the riding instructor/yard owner was a Saint to put up with that many pony mad kids hanging round to brush/muck out.

 

[criso]

Do riding schools not have "little helpers" anymore then? That's what I spent my childhood doing, looking back the riding instructor/yard owner was a Saint to put up with that many pony mad kids hanging round to brush/muck out.

It may vary from area to area but the ones I know now not in the same way I described. It is very formalised and limited, there are age restrictions and constant supervision and very little riding.

You wouldn't get insurance for unsupervised children riding bareback and leading other ponies on a public road but that was what gave them their twice daily ride which was the thank you for the help.

 

[booandellie]

I'm very new to facebook and have been horrified by some of the posts from these kids/young adults. They are utterly clueless ( one girl was asking who could geld her pony?!) The blame can only lie with the people who give these idiots the ponies in the 1st place but it's a vicious cycle of ignorant idiots supplying ignorant idiots and it's the poor little coloured cobs tied to tethers or kept in gardens that are suffering. Quite amazing when i have been looking for a cob to loan since december- a 40yr old knowledgeable person with my own stables at home and i can't find one !

 

[gothdolly]

I signed up to the fb "sales" pages when I was looking for a cob youngster last summer and was so depressed by all the posts, such a lack of knowledge and such young, unsuitable would be owners i only joined FB last year for that purpose, and it certainly was an eye opener.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Please do not limit this to children. There is a lady I know personally from Surrey, who I would not trust to look after a Tamagotchi (a computerised 'pet' for those born pre-1990's ). Must be about 35, children so should know better, but has a different horse every 5 months, and all this whilst on the dole so can't imagine how she can keep affording it. They have been mis-sold to her apparently, she has lost grazing, had one keep bolting, given up because she isn't good enough, family commitments.. all the excuses you could think of, and then buys another about two weeks later, completely unsuitable yet it is suddenly her reason for living. That is, until the sorry cycle starts up again. Shameful.

 

[Crackerz]

Do riding schools not have "little helpers" anymore then? That's what I spent my childhood doing, looking back the riding instructor/yard owner was a Saint to put up with that many pony mad kids hanging round to brush/muck out.

There are far less riding schools now compared to when i was young. Around here, there's probably at least 4 that have closed. Those that are still open, are quite expensive. They seem to favour paid for 'pony days' rather than free helpers now - probably solely due to insurance.

 

[wills_91]

H & S has pretty much put an end to helping at riding schools like it used to be.

We have 2 shetlands that were pity purchase from fb. Somebody bought them for the kids - to keep in the garden non the less - they had been left in a field unhandled so in no way shape or form suitable for kids. They had only had them a few days when they decided they couldn't cope. Poor wee fellas. Took 2 years to sort them, they are now away to a fabulous loan home.

 

[rachk89]

I think that it seems worse now because of social media. You maybe just didn't hear of it as much before because we weren't on computers as much.

That being said all the riding schools closing hasn't helped. Kids can't help out as much now so get no hands on experience.

I can only think of one girl up here who is a bit odd with horses and is trying to over horse herself again.