How do things go so wrong so quickly!

[Ample Prosecco]

A pony from our yard was sold recently.

She came 2 years ago to be the first pony for a slight, fairly nervous and very novice child. The perfect first pony! More whoa than go. Never put a hoof wrong in 2 years. Went to 2 Somerford camps, the beach, multiple pony club rallies, lots of mini comps like Trailblazers up to 60cm and PC dressage. Went on 2 hacking camps and was hacked regularly. Never any issue. If any pony was going to be problem free, it was her.

Anyway she’s back within 4 weeks deemed ‘unsuitable for a child’ and ‘dangerous’. How? Why? Apparently she reared on a hack, the child is ‘terrified of her’ and she was missold. They want her to be sold on ‘for adults only’ as ‘unsuitable for a child’.

I honestly can’t imagine her rearing or even napping, but I don’t doubt it happened. Equally you can’t get a pony much safer than her. Does make me a bit more wary of all those ‘horse has been missold ‘ posts. She just wasn’t at all.

I think people sometimes forget they are buying a living being not a robot.

 

[horsesense]

I would suggest that the people who bought her were ignorant and/or incompetent and have generated the problems in a perfectly good pony

 

[[153312]]

Poor pony. 4 weeks is no way long enough to settle.

 

[splashgirl45]

Who knows if the child didn’t yank her in the mouth or they were rough with her And 4 weeks is not really long enough for the pony to settle and relax with new people..

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

4 weeks is nothing and maybe she just didn't like where she was it happens I've seen it.

My friend sent her Arab on loan and he just lost the plot from the minute he got there he constantly fence walked in the field, and in the stable he just box walked and reared the whole time this went on for 5 days my friend had to go and get him.

She gave up his stable at her yard so she ended up bringing him to my yard and I remember he walked off the lorry we put him in the field with Arabi and he was absolutely fine just wandered off like he had been there all his life.

Weird he just obviously hated where he went.

 

[Kaylum]

Mine was the same went on loan to a lady who had ridden him every week at ours. She knew everything about him. Went to hers he reared up with her napped everytime on the road. Came back to ours as soon as his hooves hit the yard off the lorry back to his old dependable self. She loaned him at ours instead. Horses are not machines.

 

[Annagain]

A friend sold her kids' pony. He definitely wasn't a first pony simply because he was quite forwards but he was totally safe. He was advertised as a second pony. A family came to try him - they ended up trying him 3 times (my friend was far more patient with them than I would have been and put other people off for them) in the school, out hacking and with their instructor. They bought him and 10 days later, the first my friend knew there was an issue was when she got a letter threatening legal action for him being missold. Considering this was a recorded delivery letter they must have written it within a week of him arriving without even talking to her. They said he was bucking, kicking, bolting and a nightmare to catch (this was a pony who would follow you round like a puppy). My friend made a 6 hour round trip to collect him that night.

When she got there at 9pm, the people were really aggressive - luckily she had taken her husband. The pony was shaking and was really wired. He literally ran onto the trailer. She stopped 1/2 a mile down the road to check he was the right pony as it was dark and he was behaving so differently. She got back to the yard at 1 am and by the time he was home, he was totally normal. He went straight back out into the field and settled straight back in as if he'd never been away. God knows what those people did to him but the poor thing was terrified.

In his next home he went on to do 1.20m courses with the older sibling (he was 128cm) while being a lead rein pony for her younger brother - he wasn't suitable for him to come off the lead rein on him but he'd lost interest by that point. That's how reliable he was normally.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

What a huge shame. It only takes ONE ride with a bad rider to thoroughly spoil a horse (or pony).

 

[gallopingby]

I have one exactly the same, came back after a month, looked so relieved to be back, walked off the lorry and you could almost see him grinning. Buyer wasn’t as experienced as had us believe even though there had been several visits and had been allowed an extended trial. It seems to be happening more and more these days, down to lack of experience and too many ‘experts’ without a clue.

 

[Lexi 123]

Unfortunately I think the problem is people are buying pony for kids who have never ridden or only been in lessons for a few weeks. kid could have been pulling on the bit hard and pony reacted. I wouldn’t make the pony adult only as chance are these people caused by being inexperienced horse owners.

 

[J&S]

Ponies like routine, consistent handling, regular exercise Not sporadic turns around an indoor/outdoor school. Too many stories like this, ponies landing with inexperienced new owners and nervous children who should still really be riding in a RS.
EDit: I sold my daughters old pony to a girl just down the road from us and he ran away from them to get back to us!!

 

[Ceriann]

If you are inexperience owners though it’s very hard to make a balanced judgment if your child’s pony has reared. Many owners come from a long line of ownership and know one bad experience can be worked through, to persevere, let the pony settle, look at management etc. if you haven’t got that (and many won’t) you rely on your own instinct or get advice, that may or may not be right. The fact the pony is back doesn’t mean it’s dangerous but also doesn’t mean the family that sent him back are crazy and don’t deserve to have a pony. In the same way this pony may find the next perfect home they may find the pony that is perfect for them.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Old owners went to get her. They won’t sell to adults - she’s the perfect first pony for a child. But it’s very stressful to have the ‘missold’ word being bandied about by stroppy buyers, who either created the problem, or at the very least aren’t able to recognise pony needs time to settle. Luckily there are a dozen credible people who can provide pony a reference if needs be.

I bought a horse who wouldn’t settle. It was stressful but I never blamed the seller. Or the horse. I ended up moving yards to keep her happy! By then she had ulcers. But they were my responsibility to manage. Getting to know a new horse can be hard work!

 

[ihatework]

I’ve seen horses behave very differently, almost unrecognisably, in different yards. One I owned myself was virtually transformed overnight with a yard move.

Also seen horses who are ‘difficult’ become normal very quickly

It might be she was sold to numpties. But equally it might not!

 

[Ample Prosecco]

True. I don’t have an issue with them deciding she is not the right fit for them. But the ‘she’s dangerous/unsuitable for a child and has been missold’ stuff and telling old owner they need to ‘advertise her for an adult’ is annoying.

 

[Ceriann]

That I agree with. Move on quietly!

 

[SEL]

I had a hot seat as a kid and could turn the loveliest dobbin into a fire breathing dragon - it was never blamed on the pony though!

 

[Jenko109]

In the buyers defence, I would expect a first pony with the experience record you have provided, to settle relatively quickly and I certainly wouldnt expect it to rear.

A first pony would generally forgive a bit of sloppy riding. That's why they are first ponies, because beginners make mistakes.

If I purchased a 'perfect first pony', who then subsequently reared up with my child, I would also be sending it back.

That said, if they took the pony back without quibble, then I wouldnt be ranting about them.

 

[Michen]

I would do exactly what the buyers did! A child’s pony should not rear under any situation.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

The original child was novice. Pony was very forgiving. She was a quiet rider though. I’ve seen novices shriek and hang on to the pony’s mouth. Maybe that happened. I’ve also seen people claim a pony ‘reared’ when it just lifted front feet a few inches on a hack waiting their turn to canter. I have no idea what happened but that pony was ridden 3-4 times a week for 2 years without ever doing anything remotely questionable. With a novice nervous child on board. But clearly it’s good she’s come back.

 

[SEL]

I also wondered if it was actually a rear or just some sort of little bounce that frightened the kid.

Either way once a kid has lost their confidence on a pony its incredibly hard to get it back

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Having escorted someone only last week who started squeaking "she's bucking, she's bucking" I get this.
Rider was hanging onto the mouth and mount was very slightly humping, literally feet were hardly leaving the floor behind. It most definitely was not bucking.
I talked her down....
Then she screamed "she's bolting".
They were behind me and I had gone into canter and completed 3 strides... ffs, I pulled up immediately and pony bumped B's bottom lightly as I hadn't said I was stopping... poor bloody creature, it didn't know if it was coming or going!
Rider had an even more tight hold. I walked her back and dropped her at her yard,suggested she got lessons and looked for a mechanical horse to ride as she needs to get an independent seat.
Apparently I'm an idiot who knows nothing....
Pony is now up for sale as 'miss sold'. No, it's a terrified rider in early 50s, that's bought a lovely quality, pretty, light mouthed cracking 14.2
I'd give it house space but not at the 5 figure sum she paid!

AE, I used to sell children's ponies, occasionally the odd one didn't work out.
I'd hazard a guess that this wasn't managed well by new owners, glad old owner was in a position to collect.

 

[palo1]

It's really frustrating. We sold a pony to a novice adult who brought along her expert friend. Pony had been our daughter's first pony and had done fun rides, jumpies etc etc. Completely handled and ridden by a small, shy child who had no inclination to boss her friend about. We sold relatively cheaply as no competition history but viewer was given oceans of time, saw pony in the field, caught her, led her up, tacked up, hacked out alone and in company, our daughter demonstrated jumpies, bareback happiness blah blah blah. Novice buyer was able to try loading pony in our trailer (no problems) and just about everything you could think of. I suggested a vetting but no, that wasn't required. I said we would be very happy for a 2nd visit/trial but no novice buyer fell in love and wanted pony delivered asap. We agreed on the sale and subsequently delivered to what seemed a lovely yard. Next day reports on how brilliantly pony had hacked out, how settled and how lovely all was. 2 weeks later we were sent a letter telling us that pony was dangerous, reared in the stable and when being led, that a behaviourist had diagnosed pony as being too bonded to us to settle in a new home (!!). Pony had been missold and a welfare organisation was going to be involved/informed etc as pony clearly traumatised/badly treated. Anyway, we would have to collect it. I rang to say we would certainly come out to collect pony but that we would not repay full money as pony described was not as we sold her! I asked many questions about welfare; saddle being used/saddle fitter consulted, feed, feet, vet and name etc of the behaviourist involved. (I suspect there never was one...)etc. No reply and the next thing we knew our poor, sweet pony had been passed to a dealer and sold on as a jumping pony. That pony was incredibly green over jumps!! We subsequently had someone else ring to say the pony was fantastic, jumping 1m10 but rearing and hard to handle. I explained the history and volunteered to have pony back home but the new owner said they were happy to work through problems. It was rather a soul destroying process for us; that pony was so sweet, gentle and honest. I have no idea why things went so wrong other than poor handling and aggressipon from a nervous handler perhaps but we had trusted that little mare with our daughter for several years and in so many different situations. Never again!!

 

[Glitter's fun]

Not horses but my friend who's a vet. nurse told me about a nice, polite family who went into her work to have a dog pts because it was biting them. Real bites- she saw the scars on his hands. The people were very distressed. Dog was about a year old & their 1st dog but they seemed to have done all the right things- vaccines, puppy classes etc. They bought a new puppy from a different source. Doubly careful with training, socialising, advice. That one was also pts for biting them. Neither were of breeds with any aggressive reputation.
No one ever found out what they did.

 

[maya2008]

Ponies aren’t robots.

In their shoes I would get an MOT for pony asap. Was there a poorly fitting saddle, one with a broken tree? Did a slip on the field cause pain somewhere? How are teeth and mouth? What changed?

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I would suggest that the people who bought her were ignorant and/or incompetent and have generated the problems in a perfectly good pony

This^

known it before

Most likely they said the kid was a better rider than it is. i see it often with sharer's kids.

Is there a really confident, capable rider at your yard who can get on and ride her in school or hack so you can witness this so called bad behaviour.

 

[Irish Sally]

Every time you ride a horse or pony you're either improving them or making them worse. I've seen plenty of horses ruined by bad riders. 99% of them can be fixed though.If I was your friend i would school her for a few weeks. Try her with multiple riders as well. Then just put her up for sale again. Ignore the previous owners. They just sound like trouble.

 

[w1bbler]

It happened to me years ago. When I told my fellow liveries my mare was coming back as she was dangerous they fell about laughing. I gave the buyers most of their money back.
In a matter of weeks the new owners had taught said pony to plant at the yard entrance & rear. She was cured with 1 tap of the crop when she tried it with me.
Luckily my yard owner liked the mare & allowed me to keep her for free, in exchange for her being the spare pony for anyone to borrow ( I'd sold her as she was boring & already bought the replacement). She taught numerous people to ride, any livery with a novice friend would use her.
I didn't feel I could sell her again due to the dangerous label, but she never reared again.

 

[honetpot]

Unfortunately I think the problem is people are buying pony for kids who have never ridden or only been in lessons for a few weeks. kid could have been pulling on the bit hard and pony reacted. I wouldn’t make the pony adult only as chance are these people caused by being inexperienced horse owners.

This, and they have found out its hard work, or they need to money back. I am a cynic.

 

[SilverLinings]

Horses can take some time to settle in, particularly when there is a change of owner, routine and home. I have had experience with two different horses who both absolutely hated one place I moved them to, to the point they became bad tempered and then withdrawn until they were moved. They didn't start doing anything dangerous like rearing though. And I have had similar experiences to other posters who have found novice riders reports of 'rears' and 'bolting' on occasion to not reflect reality.

On the other hand, a small percentage of adults are also very happy to lie to suit their purposes. A few years ago I was on a small yard where one of the other liveries decided to buy a pony for her 3yo daughter. I was sceptical as she never bothered to ride her own horse and appeared to have very little interest in it, but she was adamant her daughter 'loved' ponies.

After turning down several very suitable plain older ponies she bought a flashy 13.2 4yo palomino (for her novice toddler). After about three weeks the child was bored and refused to ride, the mother was fed up with the extra work (and it was winter) and realising that as the pony was only 4 it needed consistent work and handling to be suitable for the job.

The pony disappeared from the yard one day; despite the pony never actually doing anything wrong the mother was quite happy to tell everyone how clever she was because she had got the old owners to take the pony back (with a full refund) by telling them the pony was dangerous, and threatening to plaster complaints about them/the pony all over SM if they didn't collect her ASAP. It sounds as though she laid the claims of dangerous behaviour on with a trowel, even though the pony hadn't done any of it. The mother didn't get another pony as over the three weeks she had that one she had decided it wasn't for her (daughter had never shown any interest anyway). The romantic dream of owning a pony for a child too young to do any of the work clearly wasn't matched by the reality.

I hope that the pony ends up finding a good home @Ambers Echo, and that the owner doesn't hear any more from the unsuitable purchasers as even if the pony did start rearing their problem has now been resolved.