How come New Forest pony youngstock are so cheap?

dorsetladette

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How funny this should come up. I have recently bought a youngster (welsh C) but I was looking locally at the new forest ponies and was surprised by the prices TBH. In previous years I've seen foals and yearlings go for £250-£500 which is the ball park figure I was expecting to see. But locally (Dorset/Hampshire) advertised ponies seem to be between £800 to £1200 which would suggest to me that the breed is up and coming.

There are a few good New Forest ponies doing well in dressage circles local to me and a 26yr old stallion still winning in the show ring at county level (M&M workers) so I think people are starting to take the breed more seriously now.
 

Widgeon

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I learned to ride at a riding school in Hampshire and most of the school ponies were NFs, bought from the local sales. They were all healthy fun ponies with sensible heads on them. They thrived on work and are the primary reason why I have always preferred ponies to horses! When I was looking for a horse a couple of years ago, I did look for a suitable NF. However I couldn't find anything over 14hh (I'm 5'7" and NFs don't have a big barrel like Highlands, I need somewhere to put my legs) and most of what was for sale was barely backed, which wasn't what I needed. I would be very happy to see people breeding up to the height limit because I think it would open up the adult market - and maybe next time I'm looking, I'd be able to find one for me!
 

scruffyponies

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A much undervalued breed IMO.
Beyond belief. A few years ago eve the good colt foals (and a few of the poorer fillies) were selling for 10 guineas (£10.50) a head.
That's around a third of the meat price, and implies all the meat mens' lorries were already full.
I bought two that year, including the one in my avatar. Both were intelligent, bold, loving and kind, as well as sound and well put-together.

I don't understand why more aren't being exported at huge prices TBH. I'm certain they'd sell very well in the US.
 

ester

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Re. the showing comment, they often share a class at county with connies and get overlooked in favour of said connies. All the ones I know were forest bred and epic genuine triers.
 

J&S

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The chap I bought my NF from in the early 80's had previously been exporting quite a few to Sweden. I was able to choose from a few youngsters as that market dried up. My just 4 yr old cost me £250.00, best money ever spent. I had been prepared to give £200 for a two yrs old so my registered pony was a very good deal. She had been handled but never sat on, i did some ground work and then she went to Ron Ings for a week where his daughter rode her and then we picked her up and I rode her home, even had a canter near Setley Pond!
 

Orangehorse

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I have had welsh, connemara and one New Forest,and for a children's pony I would go for a NF again. I know it was only one pony which maybe wasn't a representative of the breed, but Welsh can be little devils and the Connie is great for an active life with a teenage who wants to go jumping and hunting, but they need the work!
 

onlytheponely

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Very good NF foals were going for 4-600 guineas in the pony sales in the early 90's. I bought the reserve champion colt at the breed show around then for £480 privately, from my godmother. They have been an 'up and coming' breed for a very long time ;-)

My pretty grey NF stallion was constantly assumed to be a Connemara in the classes when the 2 breeds were in together. When I politely corrected the judges that he was a NF he would be demoted, when I didn't he did very well.

I've had well over 100 NF's through my hands, I'm a ex commoner from a commoning family but now breed them in France. I find them to be wonderful ponies when they are kept busy but can have have a tendency to be bargy and take the mick when they're left to make decisions for themselves too often. I prefer the smaller ponies and always forest bred because they've been exposed to all terrains and understand traffic. I've had old bloodline NF ponies with 10 inches of bone and some feather at 13.2hh, they're not the prettiest I'll admit but I do love them. Some lines are sharper than others and if you want a racing pony you'll need a double dose of 'Slipper' because that's where the crazy speed is in the breed.

I've ridden all sizes from 12hh to 14.2hh, still do, but only used under 13.2hh ponies for colt hunting and drifts because you can go literally anywhere on them at full pelt. I've ridden them in the Boxing Day point to point across open forest, hunting and escorted the Golden Horseshoe competitors when it was held on the Forest in the 70's, my little 12.1hh stallion did the full distance but was too small to qualify. I also grew up watching them humiliate people annually in the August bank holiday rodeo (yes that really happened every year) until they couldn't get insurance for it after the mid 90's. Wild ponies were drifted into pens that morning, put on lorries and then used in the rodeo in the afternoon, turned back out on the Forest after. I know people will think this was cruel and I understand that opinion but the ponies appeared to love getting the better of the humans, normally within about 10 yards of being released from the crush.

Super breed and probably deserve a bit more respect really but after half a century of loving the underdog dearly I'm not too bothered what other people think nowadays ;-)
 

J&S

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Some lines are sharper than others and if you want a racing pony you'll need a double dose of 'Slipper' because that's where the crazy speed is in the breed.
My Sunbeam was a slipper line pony! The day I took her for her first set of shoes the farrier looked casually up from his present job and said "Slipper line then!" I asked him how he knew and he said "The ears", lovely little turned in Arab type ears.
 

SO1

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Not a fashionable breed as they don't do so well in the show ring against the connies. They are just not so well known or seen so much outside the NF so people are not familiar with the breed.

I have a 18 year old NF I have had for 13 years. I got him as I could not afford a Connie. He is a bit quirky but considering I had never had a youngster before and do not have natural riding ability we have manged to do loads of stuff together including going to royal Windsor horse show. I don't have my own transport so only go to a few shows a year but he seems to take it all in his stride. He is amazing at big shows considering he goes so infrequently.

However he has never really got brave about rubbish despite having seen lots of plastic bags and fly tipping he still finds it frightening and being a clever pony will squash your leg against things if he is scared as he knows you can't move your leg and get him going.

He is also very greedy and will escape from the field if the grass is greener on the other side as he has no respect for relectric fence. He is prone to weight gain on soaked hay, wears a muzzle when grass plentiful and needs a lot of exercise to keep slim.

However I adore him. He is not a bland pony full of character and intelligent, very gentle loves children.

He is 13.3
 

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SWE

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We bought our wild NF pony for £7 directly off the Dorset about 15 years ago... Have they increased since then? ?
 

honetpot

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My pretty grey NF stallion was constantly assumed to be a Connemara in the classes when the 2 breeds were in together. When I politely corrected the judges that he was a NF he would be demoted, when I didn't he did very well.
I once stewarded at affiliated show where the NF and Connies were in together, I knew the pony the judge really liked was a NF, and it went through to win the Championship. In giving out the rosettes the judge asked its breeding, she didn't know the prefix, but of course she couldn't let on she didn't know what it was.
 

Fools Motto

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New Forest ponies are fab. I've never had a connie - or even looked after one, so can't compare the two, but my personal experience of NF have been faultless. Would have another any day of the week!
 

ester

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It's interesting because some of the NF bred on the continent also look like miniature competition horses, like some of the connies do here. I do think it would be a shame to loose their type though.
 

millikins

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I once stewarded at affiliated show where the NF and Connies were in together, I knew the pony the judge really liked was a NF, and it went through to win the Championship. In giving out the rosettes the judge asked its breeding, she didn't know the prefix, but of course she couldn't let on she didn't know what it was.
Judges always assume our Connie is a NF because he's bay.
 

[139672]

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The riding/livery yard I went to as a child used to buy foals from the beaulieu road sales. I bought an unregistered new forest foal for 42 Guineas. This was in about 1992. Bought him as a project and to then loan out but he died in an accident when 2yrs old ?. My friend bought a black colt TB x NF and he was beautiful. The yard used lots of unregistered NFS and they were lovely ponies
 

windand rain

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judges often mix up breeds one thought my highland was a poor example of a Welsh section B because she openly admitted she had never seen one before Friends Connie is a real old fashioned one loads of bone and seal brown they never know what he is either often taken for a forester or welsh. Trouble is they will almost always be down the line if judges don't know what they are
 

SO1

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My new forest mistaken for a "nice example of a connie at a county show. Often gets mistaken for Welsh. People not used to seeing NF around.

He was not cheap either 13 years ago I paid £3000 for him at a 5 year old. A Connie of the same age was around £5,000 back then.
 

J&S

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I was once told that a perfect NF pony should look like a miniature hunter. Trouble is, there are so many different types of forester that people get confused. The smaller ponies can be very fine, one like my own was "middleweight" and I have also known some pretty chunky, hefty geldings who could be mistaken for cobs. They introduced a weight carrying class at the breed show a while ago. I know when I was showing at county levels it was the connies who were our main competitor for M & M WHP, at the breed show however it was more a level playing field with just Reg. NFs, no confusion as to breed there!!
 

tristar

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NF turn their hooves to anything. They can match & beat horses at dressage, compete at grassroots at Badminton, SJ at HOYS, etc.......

maybe a part bred stud book for bigger sport ponies, don`t know if they have one,? retain the main book for type and originality, then a book for crossbred sport orientated ponies rather than just bigger purebreds, make it about about tracing lines and performance and creating bigger almost small horse size for adults, ie 3/4 forest, 1/4 tb ,

can you tell i`m into cross breeding? i just love foresters, and this is what the continentals are doing, and i do agree 100 percent with showcasing the purebreds abilities, seen more super foresters competing that i really liked than connies actually
 

onlytheponely

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There is a part bred section of the stud book.

I just wish that the Forest bred stock and smaller examples of the breed were more appreciated. J&S mentioned the weight carrying class at the breed show, they had to carry 13st for that class! You would regularly see the smaller old fashioned type ponies with lots of bone, some at only 13hh , bombing around the ring carrying that weight in that class. These tough little ponies are still out there but that wonderful ruggedness is lost in most of the bigger ponies.
 

WelshD

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I looked at a a few on my recent pony search. two of them were not the size promised and neither had a passport that matched its description - it put me off if I'm honest, I felt like better quality breeding had been allocated to inferior ponies.
Only one matched its description, lovely honest seller but alas the pony needed more handling than I was experienced to do.
 

SO1

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So are you saying two had passport fraud as the passports were for different ponies. That is quite alarming.

The height thing is difficult as people often estimate height. I bought my pony as 14.1 but he was much smaller than my friends 14h Connie. She thought my pony was more like 13.2 or 13.1.Vet said he is 13.3 but could probably measure in as 138. Doesn't really matter as he is plenty big enough for me.

I looked at a a few on my recent pony search. two of them were not the size promised and neither had a passport that matched its description - it put me off if I'm honest, I felt like better quality breeding had been allocated to inferior ponies.
Only one matched its description, lovely honest seller but alas the pony needed more handling than I was experienced to do.
 

Carlosmum

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I had a forester who was almost 15hh. He was pure bred by a little stallion of not much more than 13,2. His dam was a forest bred mare, who though fully registered was rumoured to have had a doubtful ancestry. TBH he wasn't really show potential, but as an adult on a 'pony' I found there was very little I could do with him in the show ring. Couldn't do workers as I was too old, couldn't do M & Ms cos he was registered as a partbred as he was 'over height'. I know a lot of people are keen to find themselves an 'over height forester' as they make fabulous competition ponies, but I am concerned that eventually this trend will at some time in the future put pressure on the breed society to adjust the permitted height upwards. IMO that would be a terrible shame.
 

Fraggle2

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There are quite a few over height foresters about. Nf in general are really versatile loyal ponies.
Have a look at new forest pony people on Facebook.
 

Kizzy2004

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[QUOTE="onlytheponely, post: 14464169, member:
Some lines are sharper than others and if you want a racing pony you'll need a double dose of 'Slipper' because that's where the crazy speed is in the breed.
[/QUOTE]

My forester has a double dose of Slipper and he certainly lives up to the speed side
 

SO1

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I don't think they will change the height restriction I think the trend will be towards breeding mini warmbloods which is what the Dutch new forests are like. Although if they want to continue breeding forest bred ponies then they need to continue to have hardy stock that can winter out so I think that is what is preserving the breed as true M&M pony.

I had a forester who was almost 15hh. He was pure bred by a little stallion of not much more than 13,2. His dam was a forest bred mare, who though fully registered was rumoured to have had a doubtful ancestry. TBH he wasn't really show potential, but as an adult on a 'pony' I found there was very little I could do with him in the show ring. Couldn't do workers as I was too old, couldn't do M & Ms cos he was registered as a partbred as he was 'over height'. I know a lot of people are keen to find themselves an 'over height forester' as they make fabulous competition ponies, but I am concerned that eventually this trend will at some time in the future put pressure on the breed society to adjust the permitted height upwards. IMO that would be a terrible shame.
 
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