Doing the best for quirky pony - loan, sell, LWVTB?

tobiano1984

tobiano1984

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I've made the decision to rehome my ex-SJ pony, who I've posted about a fair bit on here! We've come to the conclusion that he really doesn't enjoy schooling, and I originally got him as an overcooked SJ pony to retrain for dressage or eventing, but he just isn't consistent and despite all the checks just gets so het up about cantering in the school, and certainly not going to jump again properly. He loves hacking and would be great for distance rides/sponsored rides and possibly Le trec or similar. I'm not in a rush to get rid of him so can afford to take time to find him a new home, but nor can I keep him indefinitely - he was bought as a project. He's also far too small for me so is exercised by my groom, and I'm not going to keep paying her to ride him.
I've had him for over a year and he's changed loads, really lovely to handle now and will go out on his own happily. Will canter and pop jumps out hacking. I am very fond of him, but at the moment he's one of many and I'd love him to go somewhere and be someone's friend.

I've listed him on Horses4Homes, and so far only had people enquiring about whether he would suit their 11yo daughter as a first pony..! Despite saying that I'd like him to go to an adult for hacking only. I listed him on Horsemart and had one great lady come to see him who was perfect but she changed her mind. Otherwise had the usual teenagers and people who say they'd like to go to shows etc and is he 100% all ways and does he come with a full wardrobe all for free. Maddening! If he was 100% all ways I would be selling him for thousands!

So just wondering if anyone can advise on places to advertise him (maybe specialist sites?!), and also whether I should be looking to loan/sell etc. At the moment H4H is for permanent rehoming, or have listed him on Horsemart as LWVTB. I've not advertised him as free to a good home for obvious reasons, and although I will lose lots of money on him I won't be giving away his tack and rugs - someone can either buy them from me or get there own. I don't want to just loan as I don't want to get him back at some random point in the future or when he's 30 or something..! I'd rather someone had him on trial and then took ownership for a nominal sum (or nothing) if all are happy.
I also didn't want to just list him for sale for £500 or similar, only to attract the wrong sort who either can't afford a horse or are a dealer etc. I would feel awful if he fell back into the cycle of dealers/showjumping having got him to a point now where he's a really happy chap.

Any constructive thoughts appreciated!
 
tobiano1984 said:
Not really - he likes to get to know one rider and is definitely not suitable for novices - needs someone with light hands and balance :-)
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In that case I'd either break him to drive and sell him as a driving pony, or put together a brutally honest advert for LWVTB, and give myself a time limit on how long I'd keep advertising/paying the groom to work him etc. After that, I'd probably turn him away and retire him as a companion.
 
Sounds like the sort of pony I would buy for hacking and fun rides. When I was last looking for one I had most joy with preloved for the happy hacker market. I did have to do a fair amount of sifting but it did get results and I now have two lovely ponies. Are there any places that do intro to trec near you? Might be worth taking him to one and telling them he is for sale. Or advertising with your local bridleways association. I always see a fair few adverts looking for nice ponies suitable to take on fun rides from Easter time onwards.
 
SuperH said:
Sounds like the sort of pony I would buy for hacking and fun rides. When I was last looking for one I had most joy with preloved for the happy hacker market. I did have to do a fair amount of sifting but it did get results and I now have two lovely ponies. Are there any places that do intro to trec near you? Might be worth taking him to one and telling them he is for sale. Or advertising with your local bridleways association. I always see a fair few adverts looking for nice ponies suitable to take on fun rides from Easter time onwards.
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I've just adjusted his Preloved advert to try and attract more suitable folk! I wouldn't mind him going out of county (we're in Kent). I'll do some research on le trec and fun rides etc. thanks!
 
I would definitely go with LWVTB, that way you can check that he is happy and that they are suitable for him, before he goes permanently out of your care. I've done this several times myself, and it has worked - I think I've once had one back, but the rest of the time they've stayed. I outright sold one project type, only for her to bounce back to me and I had to refund anyway, due to the new owner being a total numpty - that was a real lesson for me, as I then had to undo the harm she had done to the pony. Thankfully the next home worked a treat, and the pony is with them still.

You ask about what specialist websites there are - is she on the Project Horses website?
 
I have sold quirky types, you need to be very clear in the advert what they are good at, without really putting in any negatives, so something like excellent fun hacking, potential endurance pony for small adult rider, then list his good points such as traffic, shoe, box and leave out the no schooling or jumping, offer him on LWVTB on a decent site and you should get a response, you can then weed out the unsuitable ones, the people who matter will read between the lines if you word it well and will make contact if he sounds right for them.

There are more adults out there looking for a really good fun hack than you might expect, keep an eye on the wanted section on Horsequest as there is often someone looking for just that and they are surprisingly hard to find, a client of mine is tiny but more than capable of riding a forward going pony, she does not want to school or jump and really struggled last year to find something despite a decent budget, yours would have suited from what you say about him.

NFED is a bit out of your area but is a good site which I have used to sell 14.2's you don't get loads of calls but the last 2 I put on there sold within days, 1 to the only viewers the other to the second, they were mid range prices and I am also just outside of the area but people will travel for the right one.
 
be positive said:
I have sold quirky types, you need to be very clear in the advert what they are good at, without really putting in any negatives, so something like excellent fun hacking, potential endurance pony for small adult rider, then list his good points such as traffic, shoe, box and leave out the no schooling or jumping, offer him on LWVTB on a decent site and you should get a response, you can then weed out the unsuitable ones, the people who matter will read between the lines if you word it well and will make contact if he sounds right for them.

There are more adults out there looking for a really good fun hack than you might expect, keep an eye on the wanted section on Horsequest as there is often someone looking for just that and they are surprisingly hard to find, a client of mine is tiny but more than capable of riding a forward going pony, she does not want to school or jump and really struggled last year to find something despite a decent budget, yours would have suited from what you say about him.

NFED is a bit out of your area but is a good site which I have used to sell 14.2's you don't get loads of calls but the last 2 I put on there sold within days, 1 to the only viewers the other to the second, they were mid range prices and I am also just outside of the area but people will travel for the right one.
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Thanks for this, I will give it a go - I'd like to think I'm a good judge of character so might list him on sale sites and just see what sort of response I get.
I just thought that usually people who want to just hack want something steady - he's very safe in traffic etc but matches along like he's late for something!!
 
tobiano1984 said:
Thanks for this, I will give it a go - I'd like to think I'm a good judge of character so might list him on sale sites and just see what sort of response I get.
I just thought that usually people who want to just hack want something steady - he's very safe in traffic etc but matches along like he's late for something!!
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Not every happy hacker is nervous or a novice, I sold a very forward going cob last year to an experienced lady who has evented in the past but no longer wanted anything challenging as her riding is down time, she was looking for something that marched out so she was not working hard and would not have been fazed by a few spooks, similar to my livery owner who hates having to kick but just has no interest in doing anything other than hacking, I think he is saleable and if he goes to an adult he should have a home for life unlike most kids ponies that get moved on every few years.
Go with your instincts regarding the people that phone, thinking about it I have sold more ponies to adults over the last few years than to children and they were mainly forward going types, or had a quirk or two.
 
Thanks be positive, this is encouraging. I'm definitely looking for an adult not a kid for the reason you mention above. Not really sure how much to sell a safe but forward and slightly quirky hack-only type but will look around to see what others are going for! I don't want to overprice him but also I think if they're up for £200 you attract completely the wrong crowd..
 
tobiano1984 said:
Thanks for this, I will give it a go - I'd like to think I'm a good judge of character so might list him on sale sites and just see what sort of response I get.
I just thought that usually people who want to just hack want something steady - he's very safe in traffic etc but matches along like he's late for something!!
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This. My thing is driving small ponies but I can ride to an adequate standard and enjoy hacking daughter's very forward going Connie who also really doesn't do schooling.
 
He sounds completely awesome and I reckon if you advertise him in the right places, you'll have your hand bitten off and probably receive more money than you're expecting for him. I agree with be positive - really highlight his good points, get some good photos and advertise him as a forward going, fun hack with potential to do fun rides, endurance, Le Trec, etc.

If you can, it would be worth getting him out to some fun rides or similar and have a for sale advert in the window of the car/lorry for people to see.

He sounds like a bigger version of my pony - Kai's only 13hh and I'm an adult who loves hacking, but mostly going fast! We tend to go everywhere in trot, canter and gallop (walking for walk up and cool down and the odd marching stretch), jump natural obstacles and have a whale of a time. Your pony would be perfect for someone like me so don't give up!
 
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I really don't think you'll have a problem selling him. He's the exact type of thing I buy and if I was looking for another I'd definitely be interested.

I sold one like him not so long ago - bombproof in traffic, but could buck for England and was always bouncing along.
 
I don't think he'd get on hunting - he will canter out in groups but sometimes decides he can't and bounces around having a tantrum - not ideal when the rest of the field is disappearing rapidly...!
Cantering is an issue - he wouldn't be suited to someone who wants to bomb around all the time. Likewise cantering the same tracks over and over, if he learns where he is going to canter he tends to be worse.
 
Would he do a Trec competition? Maybe try and take him to one, and then you could sell him with experience. I think that size would be a very attractive Trec pony.

There may be an adult rider who is getting older and is a good, experienced rider but doesn't want to jump and gallop much anymore but wants to go hacking only and is looking for something smaller after riding large horses all their lives as they are easier to get on and off and do gates.
 
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I find the training for Trec very interesting, it gives a real focus to the training session. Like trotting through narrow pararell poles, rein-back through poles (tricky), bending, leading round a S bend, a maypole, under branches. Many times you have to give quite a lot of thought of how you are going to train the pony as it is vital that they learn progressively and not get frightened. I couldn't get mine under the "branches for ages" as to start with he thought he was being asked to jump the bamboo pole on top of the jump standards, and then when I convinced him that wasn't the idea, he thought that he couldn't possibly go underneath the pole as he was too big. We got there in the end with lots of treats and praise.

A talk given by one of the early competitors said that to start with some of the horses were complete lunatics, with loose horses everywhere, but the riders went away and trained and practiced and ended up with some really well behaved mounts, which is the purpose of Trec after all!
 
If you want a possible endurance home to consider him, soundness is a big consideration. If he's got good ground manners, is rarely lame and is forward-going when hacked by himself, he might well be attractive.

Is there a reason why he finds cantering stressful?
 
spookypony said:
If you want a possible endurance home to consider him, soundness is a big consideration. If he's got good ground manners, is rarely lame and is forward-going when hacked by himself, he might well be attractive.

Is there a reason why he finds cantering stressful?
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He's got lovely ground manners - the sort who never pulls and will run next to you like a well trained dog! Never been unsound, very forward going on his own.
I think he associates canter with jumping. He's been out cantering on the stubble with a group of TBs just fine, can just be temperamental!
 
tobiano1984 said:
He's got lovely ground manners - the sort who never pulls and will run next to you like a well trained dog! Never been unsound, very forward going on his own.
I think he associates canter with jumping. He's been out cantering on the stubble with a group of TBs just fine, can just be temperamental!
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He sounds like a really nice pony for someone that prefers to be out and about! There are lots of people doing Endurance, especially at low to mid-levels, that ride non-Arabs, and being half-Standardbred might be very attractive.
 
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