How do I sell this horse?

[fatponee]

So....my mum and I have finally decided to sell her horse due to lack of time and the fact that he needs a more experienced home.

He's a 16hh 7 year old dutch warmblood, really handsome and very friendly. We've had him for 2 1/2 years and done local shows with him and hacking. He's good to load, catch, with farrier etc. Sound good so far?!

Ok, well here's the bad bit...the lady who had him before us had a bad fall with him jumping so he is now scared of coloured poles. If you can manage to get him near enough to go over them, if he touches them he shoots off for a few metres. He will jump a little log in the forest though. I think maybe he got tangled in poles in his fall?
Also he can be nappy. Not all the time (which is the most frustrating part), but when he does he plants his feet and then does little (not crazy leg waving) rears to turn himself around. If you bide your time these little tantrums last between 30 sec to a few minutes, when he realises that he can't get away with it and then you can continue having a lovely ride.

He does well in local shows and is fine for a judge to ride etc. How do I sell him? Would anyone even want him?

Box of chocolate truffles and champagne for anyone who's read this far!

 

[patchandloopy]

What is his dressage like? Maybe you can point him in that direction and get some really good lessons under his belt before you advertise him,

 

[Fairy Dust]

He doesn't that bad at all.... I think there would be loads of people that would be interested. BUT, if you genuinely care about him then you need to be very careful about who you let him go to, make sure they are a good enough rider to deal with his insecurities other wise he will end up going from pillar to post. You just need someone that will be understanding and patient and will have to be realistic about the price etc. He sounds like a genuine boy though..... like you said, he has reasons for his issues. Good luck!

 

[ladyt25]

Doesn't sound a huge issue to be honest. At 7 yo he has age on his side anyway. I woud maybe try sell him as a hacking/dressage/RC horse though. Have you actually jumped him or is it poles on the ground he doesn't like? I bought a jumping pony who was/is terrified of poles on the ground and his jumping was erratic and unreliable to be honest. i tried for years to get him to walk over poles on the ground and 17 years later he will still freak out and! lol. When i got him, after a couple of years of struggling to jump i gave up, he obviously found it too stressful. I attempted to sell him but conscience got the better of me so he stayed (he's 24 now and still a neurotic fool! lol).

Yours does not sound as bad as mine at all and I REALLY don't think you will have a problem. Just do not sell him as a jumping horse. If anyone asks about jumping i would maybe just say he's not done any with you. In some ways I wouldn't go in to detail about previous owner incidents as this puts the thought in peoples heads and can make people ride a horse in a different way as they expect a certain behaviour. if you catch my drift!

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

I deffo think you can sell this horse - what you say wouldn't have put me off when I was looking. I just wanted a horse to mostly hack on (have ridden 2 previous nappers, one much worse than yours sounds and got him over it!), do xc, fun rides and maybe hunting. I think a kind of step up from a happy hacker horse might suit him well - someone who is a competant rider but doesn't enjoy school work.

 

[Booboos]

He doesn't sound that bad at all, as long as you are honest with potential buyers and realistic about price it should be fine.

Regarding the poles have you tried to de-sensitize him to them, i.e. starting from scratch, with ground work, allowing him to take his time to approach the pole on his own terms and rewarding for every step? He may surprise you, with regular work (little and often) he may be a completely different horse in a few weeks.

 

[rubysmum]

the world is full of people [ like me] who have No interest in jumping - so his jumping issues would cause me no problems at all - but clearly would effect his selling price as many people want an all-rounder - he may sell better via RC & word of mouth than the more usual routes though

 

[Louby]

I think if your honest about him and are realistic about his price then you should have little problems selling him. I wouldnt sell him too cheap as he could end up in the wrong hands and passed from pillar to post. My horse has quirks that I would consider worse than your boys and Ive often wondered if I were to sell him, who would buy him. Realistically though another rider may do much better with my horse than I ever have, so the same may apply to your boy, not that Im saying or meaning anything detrimental to you of course .

 

[ncarter]

I agree with the other people on here - my old pony was the same with jumps and poles. I did not mention it in her advert but I was up front about the fact she was not a jumping pony when I spoke to people about her. There are plenty of people around who do not want to jump, so I am sure there is a perfect home out there for him. Good luck!

 

[McNally]

My old horse had issues with poles until i dotted several around his paddock (it was fairly small) within a few days he was grazing stood over them and we never had a problem again!
getting him over them ridden before was impossible and verged on scary at times! but he rode over perfectly after.

I dont think he sounds bad at all, i see lots of adverts stating prefers company and not a jumper or words to that effect.

good luck x

 

[fatponee]

Thank you soooooo much for your votes of confidence I have found a lady who re-schools horses and does sales livery over in Lewes and have been thinking about sending him there? It's called Oaktree Farm if anyone knows of it?

Your comments have made me think maybe I could sell him myself so I'm going to have a serious think about that.

As for poles on the ground/jumps etc. it depends on what mood he's in I can get him over poles on the ground some days and he can knock them and be fine. Other days he won't go near them or just slightly touches them and panics. Gargh, heavy sigh!

Anyway, I really appreciate your comments. If anyone has anymore ideas let me know!

 

[Brandy]

I have to agree he doesn't sound too bad at all. I would be clear in the advert that he is not a jumping horse. Also not novice ride, i know people take no notice of this but even so. His napping doesn;t sound bad but if the rider hasn;t the experience or confidence to handle it properly he will deteriorate badly, whereas in the right hands he sounds like he will be fine.

 

[charlie76]

Does he jump natural fences?? He could be a good hunter if so?

 

[Sarah Sum1]

He may get over his fear of coloured poles.

I bought a pony who would bolt at the sight of a coloured pole/jump. Rustic poles/jumps were fine. But coloured and god forbid fillers were a huge no no. It took months and months of hard work. But in the end he ended up an affiliated jumping pony with no issues whatsoever. Patience is the key. So someone may be prepared to work with him through his issues.

Or someone may be happy doing something other than jumping, he sounds like a lovely horse.

 

[GLEEK]

Does he jump natural fences?? He could be a good hunter if so?

I think this ^ is a good point. I also dont like jumping i have no intrest so there are plenty of riders that dont jump

 

[TallyHo123]

I don't think you will have that much of a problem selling, sure there would still be many people interested.

 

[fatponee]

Yes he will jump a log out hacking - unfortunately that's all the rustic jumps we have available! He has been xc schooling before and I think he would be a great ladies hunter once he's got the idea.

Feeling a lot more positve about the whole selling thing now. I agree with everyone who's said that he just needs the right kind of rider who can spend the time with him.

Thanks everyone

 

[D66]

He sounds really nice horse. Many people put up with a lot more "quirks". Good luck with selling him.

 

[boxcarhorse]

I'd definitely focus on dressage. Most dressage riders don't care about jumping anyway. Out of interest what is his breeding? I might be able to tell you if he's go dressage lines - which would help when selling him.