Find me a pony please HHOers...

I think you guys would be really disappointed with the greys movement. He’s very much like Boggle, a real pony trot. Boggles canter is his strong point and grey pony didn’t really have an ideal canter either.

Of course perhaps I’m expected what is a native pony to not look like a native pony, and maybe if I want a Connie with flashy movement I need to be seriously upping the budget even unbacked.

Thing is even though technically I could, I simply do not want to spend more than 3.5/4k plus on a horse.
 
tristar said:
i am typing this about 30 seconds from gloria nolan`s in carlow, at my son`s house, so i am close at hand at the mo , also we have a breeder of connies at the stud in kildare using empty fields, his son was an international judge of connies , but he sadly died, so could get phone number he could be a good one to recommend genuine ponies.

next month i might be over for goresbridge, if you get stuck i could pick you up from the station in carlow, fly to dub, train from dub heuston to carlow, 1 hour
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I had a smashing gelding from Henry, was so sad him dying so young.

Is the family still breeding then? I’ll be looking for foals again this year.
 
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Clodagh said:
Also what is the point of a bay connie? They should be grey or dun (buckskin). Everyone knows that! If you want a bay save yourself a fortune and get a newfie, just as nice and much cheaper. Bogs is bay but he doesn't look like a native pony, he is the souped up sports model.
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This is wrong. No horse should ever be grey, this is a serious wardrobe malfunction for an animal that enjoys mud so much ?????
 
Michen said:
I think you guys would be really disappointed with the greys movement. He’s very much like Boggle, a real pony trot. Boggles canter is his strong point and grey pony didn’t really have an ideal canter either.

Of course perhaps I’m expected what is a native pony to not look like a native pony, and maybe if I want a Connie with flashy movement I need to be seriously upping the budget even unbacked.

Thing is even though technically I could, I simply do not want to spend more than 3.5/4k plus on a horse.
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This is where you have to really evaluate what you want.
If you want a sports pony/small horse then you will need to pay the market rate. You will probably also need to invest more in the production to have it really saleable.

The beauty with the less athletic movers is that most Tom, dick & Harry’s can ride them when you need to sell.

If you buy flash & athletic then is will need to do the job for a decent jockey in the competition arena otherwise there is limited market.

If maximising the chance of resale is low on your agenda and buying something you love riding and looking at is high on it then you either need to spend more or be far more patient in your search ?
 
ihatework said:
This is where you have to really evaluate what you want.
If you want a sports pony/small horse then you will need to pay the market rate. You will probably also need to invest more in the production to have it really saleable.

The beauty with the less athletic movers is that most Tom, dick & Harry’s can ride them when you need to sell.

If you buy flash & athletic then is will need to do the job for a decent jockey in the competition arena otherwise there is limited market.

If maximising the chance of resale is low on your agenda and buying something you love riding and looking at is high on it then you either need to spend more or be far more patient in your search ?
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It doesn’t need to be flashy as such. Bog is not a flashy mover whatsoever. He’s flashy in temperament, is pretty when stood still and has a decent pop.

I guess I just thought that wouldn’t be that hard to find again!

Your post is bang on.
 
ihatework said:
This is where you have to really evaluate what you want.
If you want a sports pony/small horse then you will need to pay the market rate. You will probably also need to invest more in the production to have it really saleable.

The beauty with the less athletic movers is that most Tom, dick & Harry’s can ride them when you need to sell.

If you buy flash & athletic then is will need to do the job for a decent jockey in the competition arena otherwise there is limited market.

If maximising the chance of resale is low on your agenda and buying something you love riding and looking at is high on it then you either need to spend more or be far more patient in your search ?
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This. Like you, I'm a sucker for athletic, elastic movement. At some point when I have to horse hunt again, this could be an issue, because I love Highlands but I fear I will be chronically disappointed wth their movement, unless I can buy one like JFTD's Fergus. I digress -- when I bought my project, I had to cast movement out of my mind, up to a point. The horse needed to move sound and straight, but I didn't need to love the way it moved. I wasn't buying a horse for myself. If he was bit shuffley with no suspension, who cares? Especially if he had the temperament to be a rock-solid trail horse in a place like Colorado, which he did, and was athletic enough to do a bit of lower level dressage and pop over jumps, which he was. That's all most people want. Sitting a big mover is work, and to widely generalise, often the people who want huge, bouncy, elastic movement are usually not looking at natives, or draft-crosses in my case. They're looking at warmbloods and ISH-types.

Edited in light of Michen's cross-post: Boggle seems hot and forward, which obviously you like. If you're buying a project to sell, you'll find slightly more phlegmatic horses a wee bit more saleable, at least in my experience.

So... are you buying a horse for yourself? Or are you more serious about buying one to sell on once Boggle comes back to work? Those are probably different horses. Or are you trying to walk the thin line between those things and buy one that you wouldn't be too heartbroken to sell, but could keep if you wanted?
 
I think you might have missed all the woe I can’t find a horse to buy posts :p

Obv with bog he had a fair amount of pro input which was feasible as he was then going to be for you. Do you want a project that you will poss then sell needing pro input? If not that might change the type a bit.

Fwiw I don’t think show connives ever seem to move much, they disappoint me.

Also I do know a recent gelded highland 5yo will DM ;)
 
Caol Ila said:
This. Like you, I'm a sucker for athletic, elastic movement. At some point when I have to horse hunt again, this could be an issue, because I love Highlands but I fear I will be chronically disappointed wth their movement, unless I can buy one like JFTD's Fergus. I digress -- when I bought my project, I had to cast movement out of my mind, up to a point. The horse needed to move sound and straight, but I didn't need to love the way it moved. I wasn't buying a horse for myself. If he was bit a shuffley with no suspension, who cares? Especially if he had the temperament to be a rock-solid trail horse in a place like Colorado, which he did, and was athletic enough to do a bit of lower level dressage and pop over jumps, which he was. That's all most people want. Sitting a big mover is work, and to widely generalise, often the people who want huge, bouncy, elastic movement are usually not looking at natives, or draft-crosses in my case. They're looking at warmbloods and ISH-types.

So... are you buying a horse for yourself? Or are you more serious about buying one to sell on once Boggle comes back to work? Those are probably different horses. Or are you trying to walk the thin line between those things and buy one that you wouldn't be too heartbroken to sell, but could keep if you wanted?
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I honestly don’t know. I want to buy something that may make me want to keep it, I don’t want to buy something that’s never going to have a chance at staying.

I’m not ruling out the idea of having two horses even when Boggle is back, though I would likely full loan the new one out even if I did do that. The way I see it is it makes sense to have a “spare” if you end up with a good one.

So I don’t want to buy something I know I would NEVER keep (which is why I’m not looking a any of the full loans that have been sent my way either), but equally Im not looking to find my perfect horse. Or at least trying not to.

Not sure if that even makes sense.
 
ester said:
I think you might have missed all the woe I can’t find a horse to buy posts :p

Obv with bog he had a fair amount of pro input which was feasible as he was then going to be for you. Do you want a project that you will poss then sell needing pro input? If not that might change the type a bit.

Fwiw I don’t think show connives ever seem to move much, they disappoint me.

Also I do know a recent gelded highland 5yo will DM ;)
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Yep I don’t mind investing in a bit of help if I got stuck, not an issue, if I knew there was no chance I was keeping it I probably wouldn’t invest as much as I did with Boggle. I’d have needed to if I bought unbacked even if I did it myself it’s a two person job at times really.
 
Buy for temperament and soundness. To be honest, as my wee project developed, I grew to like him more. I'd bought something that I thought was a boring mover, so I could sell him with no regrets. Alas, he improved with strength and training. Had something terrible happened to Gypsum before I left the country, I would have had no qualms about taking Dante to the UK. If money were no object, I would have kept both!
 
I like the little grey he is the sort you will sell easily but is good on the eye if you want to keep. Lots of natives have stuffy movement when young as they have to be taught to move from the shoulder. Easier with a good slope but can be done with most as long as genetically they are not trying to knock their teeth out with their knees
 
I'm not sure that if you ended up with a horse that you really liked, but didn't have time for, that loaning would necessarily be that great?
I'm just thinking of how much care and attention you have given to boggle to keep him sound and well. You'd have to choose really carefully to get someone who would look after the "spare" with the same level of care, because the risk is that the loaner might not do and you could end up with the project coming back detrained or broken :(

Not trying to be a party pooper obv but it just seems a bit like it could end up causing more issues?
 
windand rain said:
I like the little grey he is the sort you will sell easily but is good on the eye if you want to keep. Lots of natives have stuffy movement when young as they have to be taught to move from the shoulder. Easier with a good slope but can be done with most as long as genetically they are not trying to knock their teeth out with their knees
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This, they can be taught to lengthen. Flash doesn't use his hinds at all, to my eye. However, I love a grey so am biased.
All my hunters were grey , plait their tail up the night before, rug them well and you only have to wash their face.
 
milliepops said:
I'm not sure that if you ended up with a horse that you really liked, but didn't have time for, that loaning would necessarily be that great?
I'm just thinking of how much care and attention you have given to boggle to keep him sound and well. You'd have to choose really carefully to get someone who would look after the "spare" with the same level of care, because the risk is that the loaner might not do and you could end up with the project coming back detrained or broken :(

Not trying to be a party pooper obv but it just seems a bit like it could end up causing more issues?
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Oh I know, agree, I have one in mind though, she used to share Boggle before she had a baby ;). I’d only loan to someone known.

ETA- I’m not ruling out having two in work etc as well if I wanted to keep both with ridden help, I’m not sure I would risk Boggle hunting again so...

I’m making no decisions as to keeping or not keeping or loaning or not, it’s just options that’s all.
 
milliepops said:
I'm not sure that if you ended up with a horse that you really liked, but didn't have time for, that loaning would necessarily be that great?
I'm just thinking of how much care and attention you have given to boggle to keep him sound and well. You'd have to choose really carefully to get someone who would look after the "spare" with the same level of care, because the risk is that the loaner might not do and you could end up with the project coming back detrained or broken :(

Not trying to be a party pooper obv but it just seems a bit like it could end up causing more issues?
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This is a good point too.
I’m at some point this year needing to remove the running costs of my big eventer so I can channel them into the production of my homebred. Obviously selling is my priority BUT I love the idea of leading/loaning him so that I can retain ownership and have some interest in him.
Im very pro loaning, have done so on either side successfully, but that has generally been with older or compromised horses who had limited value. It’s a very different ballgame when you are handing over a horse you have invested heavily in and is on top of their game.
 
ihatework said:
This is a good point too.
I’m at some point this year needing to remove the running costs of my big eventer so I can channel them into the production of my homebred. Obviously selling is my priority BUT I love the idea of leading/loaning him so that I can retain ownership and have some interest in him.
Im very pro loaning, have done so on either side successfully, but that has generally been with older or compromised horses who had limited value. It’s a very different ballgame when you are handing over a horse you have invested heavily in and is on top of their game.
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I know it can work, because I loaned Basil and treated him no differently to Boggle. If anything I was more careful as he wasn’t mine.

I’m pretty sure I know enough horsey people to be able to full loan out a nice enough horse to someone whose a known entity even if indirectly.

Anyway, that’s a problem for another year!

With your boy he’d obviously be going somewhere pretty professional at his level, so a little different. Whatever I loan at is not going to be anything other than a pleasant low level all rounder!
 
If you can spend just a bit more why don’t you get something 6-9 that’s not competed much, ready to enjoy this season. You won’t have the is it too young to be doing this much worries and something already ridden away is a safer bet. A 5-6k horse that’s done a little is much better value than these unbroken or just backed but still pretty ‘normal’ horses. A summer of competing and winter of hunting would make most horses pretty useful if the temperament is right.
 
rara007 said:
If you can spend just a bit more why don’t you get something 6-9 that’s not competed much, ready to enjoy this season. You won’t have the is it too young to be doing this much worries and something already ridden away is a safer bet. A 5-6k horse that’s done a little is much better value than these unbroken or just backed but still pretty ‘normal’ horses. A summer of competing and winter of hunting would make most horses pretty useful if the temperament is right.
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The competing just doesn’t really interest me if I’m honest, I totally get your point though. I also just don’t want to spend that sort of capital on a horse as I see the money as literally written off the moment you spend it when horses can and do so easily get injured and lame.

3/4K written off I can say yeh, ok, painful but hey ho. More than that I’d just rather not, it would be different if I was buying to keep for sure but I have a very nice horse who I’m hopeful will come right, so I just don’t really see the need to be spending too much on one.

If competing was my main intention then yes, but it’s definitely not.
 
Clodagh said:
This, they can be taught to lengthen. Flash doesn't use his hinds at all, to my eye. However, I love a grey so am biased.
All my hunters were grey , plait their tail up the night before, rug them well and you only have to wash their face.
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Haha this has made me laugh out loud. You've obviously never met Archie. Even fully rugged, with a snuggy hood and a tail bag I have to allow two hours for bathing before taking him anywhere public. He's the only horse I know who can get mud inside both a rug and a hood. A backside plastered in mud under his rug is the norm rather an anomally! The smokey eye look is his absolute favourite but he's not too adept at applying the eye shadow.
 
Just doing some searching whilst night shift is quiet.

Horsequest reference 226152, grey mare but up to height. Only issue is age? She's 3, has a video and not too far away? (according to google maps!).
 
As I said, Flash was out for me after the lane video, and this last Flash video is worse still, despite the fact that he looks a fun type.

I have a grey, even though I did not really want one, because I was just so delighted to find one that was basically sane and sound, with nice (not silly) movement. Grey is a LOT harder!

I am another who would add a bit to the budget. Better base material makes for a nicer project, if the extra £ is on nice in the mind and body, nice training so far, as opposed to fancy.
 
Michen, are you in hurry or can you keep looking? Since you have a gut feeling about Flash why not go view him. I liked him at first glance but looking at that movement, for me, no way in hell. BTW, I'm in enjoying this horse hunt. It is taking my mind off of the politics over here.
 
GSD Woman said:
Michen, are you in hurry or can you keep looking? Since you have a gut feeling about Flash why not go view him. I liked him at first glance but looking at that movement, for me, no way in hell. BTW, I'm in enjoying this horse hunt. It is taking my mind off of the politics over here.
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Nah not in a hurry, would be better to not have anything for at least another 6 weeks really.

I’ve decided no to the grey Connie guys, sorry, know you all liked him but not feeling it. I also think I could really get him for a grand less direct from Ireland even with the transport. Don’t know why and may well end up with something like him or go back in a few weeks if he’s still there which I expect not.

I may well hold out until the end of May and go to the clifden sales..
 
Couldn't scroll through all 15 pages but has anyone mentioned the Facebook page called Connemara Ponies. Loads on there and not all from Ireland. Probably telling you what you already know but we have a Connie, overheight and by Currachmore Cashel (multiple prizewinner) and technically he is a bit 10 to 2 at the back, very slightly in at the front and other nit picky faults BUT - the most wonderful termperment and competition pony you could want. Real mother and daughter share, jumpped BS on a ticket, gone BD and in one month done 8 classes and won them all, all RC teams. So don't look for the confirmation perfect all the time it may not be necessary.
 
Double_choc_lab said:
Couldn't scroll through all 15 pages but has anyone mentioned the Facebook page called Connemara Ponies. Loads on there and not all from Ireland. Probably telling you what you already know but we have a Connie, overheight and by Currachmore Cashel (multiple prizewinner) and technically he is a bit 10 to 2 at the back, very slightly in at the front and other nit picky faults BUT - the most wonderful termperment and competition pony you could want. Real mother and daughter share, jumpped BS on a ticket, gone BD and in one month done 8 classes and won them all, all RC teams. So don't look for the confirmation perfect all the time it may not be necessary.
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Thanks, yes am on it :)
 
windand rain said:
I like the little grey he is the sort you will sell easily but is good on the eye if you want to keep. Lots of natives have stuffy movement when young as they have to be taught to move from the shoulder. Easier with a good slope but can be done with most as long as genetically they are not trying to knock their teeth out with their knees
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This!! So many times over :) Natives have so much to offer and can be incredibly versatile but there is a reason that the tb and sports horses carry on being so popular. It may be easier to find a native x to get the kind of athleticism you like though there are so many natives competing at reasonable levels in all disciplines that you may just need to readjust what you think looks good now. Also, many, many youngsters have pretty ropey movement - they have to learn to move, balance etc etc and it isn't necessarily a bad thing that they still have to develop. Many a young, flashy moving horse is either pushed or loses its star quality as it matures. Temperament, straightness, soundness and something you like about a horse are the best ways to assess I reckon.
 
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