Help! My pony is never going to sell!

[Minxie]

As the Original owner of this horse, i am absolutely GUTTED to read about this behaviour!

First of all, I didnt want to show this horse to the people as straight away no way would I have deemed him suitable for a child. However, at the buyers insistance i got him out of the stable as they turned their nose up at the smaller, older and more suitable ponies i had prepared for them to try. He was shown by one of my girls, then ridden by the OP before the 7 yr old child got on, and i have to say i was GOBSMACKED at how well she rode him and how he went for her.......AS i was led to believe the mother was going to ride the horse with a view to the child riding him inbetween times and eventually going on to him, I asked they come back and try him again (which they did) and indeed as many times as they wished to make sure they were happy they would cope with him.

I was MORTIFIED to hear of the accident in the field, but when i saw pictures of two small children stood next to him loose in a field with another horse next to a pile of hay just a few days after he had arrived in his new home the alarm bells started to sound! He is a big enough horse to be loose next to tiny children without taking into account food and another horse also loose!

I thought he was getting on well back over here......especially after being asked if one of my girls would ride him in a yard dressage comp coming up!

Also, He may well have been worth £6000, but this is no where near what he was sold for. And he was not cut because his foals all came out a "funny poo colour"......His foals are fantastic in colour, temperament and movement - I actually regretted cutting him, but as we are ultimately a riding school keeping a Stallion was no longer practical, and i also didnt want him to live a life of confinement as when he was entire we were very limited to who we could turn him out with.

PLEASE PLEASE dont sell him to a dealer - I will have him back and turn him out until i have room rather than that......It broke my heart deciding to sell him in the first place - i cried buckets when he left and if I had a use for him (he is too small for me, too slow for my pony racing son and far too good (and young) for the riding school) he would never have been sold and I would have him back in a heartbeat. If it comes to that PLEASE let me know first. I've had this horse since he was 2 and while he has obviously learned some pretty bad behaviour, he is only clever - not nasty or malicious.

OP - I'm sorry you have been saddled with the problem, and if it will make things easier for you I will make space for him to come back here on schooling/selling livery - I just wish you'd told me how bad he's got rather than tell me everything was fine!

What a fantastic offer. Full marks. I noted you'd just joined the forum and I hope that once this mess is settled you stick around.

 

[Whoopit]

Hmmm. See if it was me i'd just tell her how it is if she was my sister-in-law! And probably call her a lot of unpleasant names! And then yell at my brother for marrying such a stupid woman!

Why can't she sell it over in Holland? I'm presuming because there's not a market for it? Sorry if you put that in and i skipped past it!

On the topic of selling him on, I agree with others - just be honest. If people call to view him explain that he's been spoilt by rough handling & they'll either follow it up or not. How much are looking to get for him or are you floundering there? I guess it's like buying houses - if it needs work, people offer a lot less money to "take it off your hands"!!

 

[Chestnuttymare]

Hats off to TB1 for making such a kind offer. Nice to see that some people have morals and the best interests of the horse at heart.
At least he is young enough to be sorted out and won't be labelled a problem.
I really hope this can be sorted soon. I think if I were the op, I would be having strong words with my brother about the attitude of his wife and hope that they cough up the money due. SiL sounds like a selfish brat.
TB1 Hope you stick around, people like you are good to have around

 

[Booboos]

OP I hope you are busy accepting TB1's offer because you are not going to get a better solution to this sad, sad situation.

I had a look at the YouTube video and to be honest I can't see what the responsible adults were thinking in buying this large, young horse for two small children - pretty shocking really.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

well starrzan if you are in the business of selling horses surely you would never sell a 15.2 for a 7 year old child no matter how capable the child. if you can be blunt with a client you can be blunter with family. yes your brother and sister in law should be billed for sales livery but as their agent and finder surely you have some responsibility as not fit for purpose. never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. and your arguments just dont hold up. you found it and thought suitable. now not suitable. family or not you are still partially liable with the vendor of the horse. and if you are in the game you well know this.

 

[Sarah Sum1]

To be able to send the horse back to it's original owner is the best way to deal with this. How lucky to be made such a kind offer.

Now i'm sorry but after watching the you tube video i can't see how anyone thought it to be a suitable horse for such a small child?? A small pony would have been the wise choice but hind sight is a bugger so....
But i feel sorry for the horse in all this too, shipped across the seas is stressful for any animal.

Also bet you regret putting about his foals coming out a 'funny poo colour' LOL funny Meant light heartedly of course, Good luck and hopefully the weight will be lifted from your shoulders soon!

 

[thoroughlybred1]

The decision re this horse coming back to me ultimately lies with the SIL, but having corresponded with the OP we're hopeful a desirable solution will be found!

Also, can i just clear one thing up - smaller older ponies were prepared for showing these buyers - the horse in question was not even in the equation until the SIL insisted on seeing him out (as said previously - she turned her nose up at the others - didnt even go as far as tacking them up) It was definately the SIL that was very keen on this horse - and it was made quite clear that he was not suitable for a child, (correct me if I'm wrong OP) So keen was SIL, that the goal posts were moved, and certainly I was led to believe that while the child would ride in a school under tuition, it was the SIL that would be riding the horse in the main, and also had someone at the yard that would help with him too. I was adamant that i didnt want to sell the horse to only be ridden in a school (and i'm sure even the mother wouldnt send her child out hacking on him! Well......at the time i was sure but after this who knows!?) The OP very definately did NOT line this horse up for children, hence we had prepared 2 or 3 others for their viewing.

 

[scally]

What a super caring seller, who obviously has her horses welfare at the utmost concern above profit.

Reading between the lines of both the Ops and sellers story, I think the seller was actually dupt into selling this pony to an adult that the kid may ride occasionally and is now trying to rectify the situation, OP was wrong to recommend they buy the pony, but she is seriously being taken the mickey out of now, hopefully it is all coming to an amicable resolution for all parties, not least of the poor pony caught in the middle of this, as he is a cracker.

 

[NeilM]

This looks like a clear case of 'ooohhh loook' syndrome. I have seen it countless times in the short while I've been involved in horses.

A buyer goes to look at a horse, it is quite clear given 30 seconds thought that the horse is unsuitable, but the person buys it anyway usually because the horse looks superb or has showing potential (seems to happen a lot with Sec D's) and the results are always the same. A buyer who blames everyone but herself for ending up with the wrong horse and a horse who a best is confused by what the new owner is asking him to do and at worst is left in a field or passed into the market as a 'problem horse'.

I'm glad on this occasion it appear that the horse will end up back where he should be.

 

[brightmount]

It's encouraging that such a messy situation can potentially be resolved and I really hope it works out, for the good of the horse who didn't deserve this.

 

[black_horse]

Thank you for the support people, nice to know there are people sending us good vibes!

And to all those of you who are not helping and telling me that he was entirely wrong for the girls, please don't say anything at all if you can't be helpful! Although a brat, my older niece rides incredibly well for her age (youtube "Bluey the pony" to see her trying him), my younger niece just likes sitting on and being led about occasionally, and I would absolutely not have let them even think about buying him if I thought he was the wrong horse for them. The reason they wanted him was so that my older niece could stop stealing her mother's 16.3hh ex racer to do local children's dressage competitions on.
Please don't be nasty, I've asked for HELP not rudeness, and I knew what I was doing when I tried him - I've had horses all my life and have competed regularly for my country in polocrosse, so am not a total div when it comes to horses! I know that in theory it sounds crazy, but when if you haven't got anything constructive to say, kindly bugger off!

I thinkthat horse is far too big (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWHgU948txI) and your neice looks very over horsed on him :S

 

[Starzaan]

Firstly, TB1 thank you and was lovely to chat the other day - hope you had a good week racing! Will pop in tomorrow to give my poor pony a lighter rug which has FINALLY come back from the very slow repair man, and give you some money and a lot more wine for putting up with her!
Secondly, thank you to all those of you who offered support and advice, and who understood that the problem was my SIL, NOT the beautiful spotty person! Although he has been messed around, he is getting there - it's going to take time, and there are still some mountains to climb, but he has already made major progress.
To those of you who insist on being rude, as TB1 said, my SIL insisted on seeing him, and did indeed turn her nose up at a sweet little bay and a coloured cob, both of whom would have been much more suitable. After trying him, I had a serious talk with my SIL, and said that I thought he would ONLY be a good buy if she was prepared to handle him in exactly the way TB1 explained, and was completely honest about what she was going to do with him. At the time, her horse was on full livery, and the plan was that this horse would be too, and I too was led to believe that he was for the girls to ride in the school and for my SIL to hack out and do a bit more on, as her horse was suffering with a serious skin condition and couldn't carry out any hard work.
I think that this boy's colour worked against him, which is so sad - it was a case of "I want the spotty one!", and although I was advising my SIL, I had no power to prevent her from buying this horse, I could only offer my opinion (which I did, rather loudly!). He was not returned because he was "unsuitable", he was returned because, unreasonable and irritating though she is, my SIL agreed that it was unfair to just throw him in a field and forget about him whilst my niece is recovering from a severe brain injury which will prevent her from going near a horse for the next year or so, and she finally threw up her hands and admitted that she should never have moved him onto DIY livery and she couldn't cope with him.
TB1, he flew past one of the hunters out hacking this morning, I wonder if a good dose of oats a lyposuction would turn him into a super duper spotty racehorse for J?! we already know he's sports mad after having to remove him from the tennis court!

 

[Starzaan]

Firstly, TB1 thank you and was lovely to chat the other day - hope you had a good week racing! Will pop in tomorrow to give my poor pony a lighter rug which has FINALLY come back from the very slow repair man, and give you some money and a lot more wine for putting up with her!
Secondly, thank you to all those of you who offered support and advice, and who understood that the problem was my SIL, NOT the beautiful spotty person! Although he has been messed around, he is getting there - it's going to take time, and there are still some mountains to climb, but he has already made major progress.
To those of you who insist on being rude, as TB1 said, my SIL insisted on seeing him, and did indeed turn her nose up at a sweet little bay and a coloured cob, both of whom would have been much more suitable. After trying him, I had a serious talk with my SIL, and said that I thought he would ONLY be a good buy if she was prepared to handle him in exactly the way TB1 explained, and was completely honest about what she was going to do with him. At the time, her horse was on full livery, and the plan was that this horse would be too, and I too was led to believe that he was for the girls to ride in the school and for my SIL to hack out and do a bit more on, as her horse was suffering with a serious skin condition and couldn't carry out any hard work.
I think that this boy's colour worked against him, which is so sad - it was a case of "I want the spotty one!", and although I was advising my SIL, I had no power to prevent her from buying this horse, I could only offer my opinion (which I did, rather loudly!). He was not returned because he was "unsuitable", he was returned because, unreasonable and irritating though she is, my SIL agreed that it was unfair to just throw him in a field and forget about him whilst my niece is recovering from a severe brain injury which will prevent her from going near a horse for the next year or so, and she finally threw up her hands and admitted that she should never have moved him onto DIY livery and she couldn't cope with him.
TB1, he flew past one of the hunters out hacking this morning, I wonder if a good dose of oats a lyposuction would turn him into a super duper spotty racehorse for J?! we already know he's sports mad after having to remove him from the tennis court!
(oh! and to the person who made a rather sarcastic comment about ponies now going up to 15.2hh, I have always used the word "pony" as a term of affection, my 17.2hh Hanoverian is my pony, and TB1 is lucky enough to have to put up with my mad 15.2hh TB pony and her never ending supply of pus!)

 

[jensheff26]

if i had the money and space i would have him hes a stunner that just need to be in a stable home not passed about, good luck with sorting him hope he goes back to the original owner