How much of a market is there for young ponies?

Fools Motto

Fools Motto

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Most families want 'been there, done it' type ponies for their children - my general opinion.
So, those young ponies, who makes them wanted allrounders? Are there people who would choose to purchase these sorts of ponies? Clearly someone has to, but surely it is a harder market?

Just thinking out loud.
 
Well I'm not sure how common it is, but I like ponies rather than horses and would buy a youngster to bring on. My 6yo is turning out great and at 8/9 yrs he will probably/hopefully be a been there done that type. I shall be keeping him for my own enjoyment after all this hard work though! :D
 
We bought an unbacked new forest 3year old. My son was only 10 but we fell in love with him and him with my son and that was done deal. 5 years later he is worth his weight in gold and will never be sold as he is part of the family . We are currently looking for a youngster for my 15 year old daughter. We have looked at loads of ponies most are not worth taking the risk on for us. There seems to be so many with either problems or price tag that is not worth us taking a risk on sadly
 
I have bought and produced ponies but it takes time to get them to the stage where they are ready to sell on, if they have come here as slightly older but uneducated it can be quicker but I still allow at least 12 months to bring them on giving them a fairly extensive education, they will be hacking alone and in company, be safe cantering in the open, have competed in SJ, possibly a few ODEs with hopefully a collection of rosettes along the way, they will not be sold until they are sensible to take out and good working in a group or warm up situation, it takes as long as required and is certainly not going to bring in a huge profit.
I enjoy the satisfaction of getting a green, sometimes slightly messed up pony going confidently ready to really do a job, one 13 hander I sold that was purchased for under £1k went on to be a PC star going to the champs 3 years running then sold on for around £7k he really had his life turned round, it is great to see them out with the young riders having fun.
It can be hard to find the right type, if you can buy 3 year olds and have time to keep them until they are 6 it is easier but higher risk, finding unspoilt 5 or 6 year olds that just require a year of finishing is more difficult as they are usually already too expensive or have issues that need more time or possibly never get ironed out if they are deep rooted.
 
There little or no market for young ponies, even when the market was better I used to think where do they think all these schoolmasters come from. A pony that has been taught well, given a well rounded education, is safe to handle, loads and perhaps have some competition experience and people want that for less than a £1000, but they will pay £300 for something cheap which comes with grief.
The common excuse is the children will out grow them in a couple of years so they do not want to pay much money, but a child only get those years once and they go by so quickly, an adult may have 10+ years to get it right with a horse that is difficult. I have been to enough PC rallies with children struggling to control a pony who has no wish to cooperate.
When my children were young I bought newly backed ponies simply because I had little money, I rode and schooled them, walked them round the village like dogs and they were worked at least four days a week and not in a school, its rewarding but hard work.
 
I think it is a harder market unless they are show quality - some people enjoy taking youngsters to in hand shows, producing them and then selling them on.

With kids ponies the parents understandably often do not want to take a risk so prefer a pony that they know is going to be as safe as possible and with a good history of being easy to handle/ride. As they often say a novice rider and a novice horse/pony is not always a good combination so for a child learning to ride a young pony who is also in the learning stages may not be suitable.

I bought a youngish pony he was just turned 5 and had not been backed that long but I am an adult and was originally looking for a 7/8 year old but even with a budget of £3k nearly 7 years ago it was not enough to buy the sort of pony I wanted so I ended up getting a nice youngster instead.
 
The kids who are put on a horse the day they walk out the vagina. A girl i know is big into horses, always been a dealer (in the way of she takes them young, rides them for a few months in all the places you can ride a horse then sells them) and her kid went to the top riding school here since legal at 5, but she already knew how to ride. She is a FAB we rider, is only about 8 or 9 now and she rides really properly, xc, sj, fast paced hacks all alone. She makes the ponies the way they are. Last time i seen her was on a new pony she just got, had no issue at all with the cart going by and was happy to lead the group and trotted on happy as a clam.
 
As far as I can tell there are two types of people who buy youngsters - those who are after a project to turn into a dream horse and those who buy them simply because they want a horse and youngsters are cheap, but have no idea how to turn them into a decent riding horse. We have one of the latter at our yard - she's teaching herself from youtube, lunging a two yr old on circles tighter than a penny, wont listen to advice, can't afford to send it away to be broken, can't afford an instructor to teach her - this particular horse will be ruined before it's even started, poor little thing. Although she reckons she can sell it for 800 pounds no problem! Cloud cuckoo land.
 
I decided to buy a pony, as having decided that my last horse ( who grew and grew, and ended up too high and powerful for me to feel safe riding) was just that. I wanted a nice sort, who would take up my leg and who I would bring on to be a good reliable all rounder, and have lots of fun on the way. My reasoning is that she is much more likely to get a good home if she is well schooled and can be ridden by small adults as well as children. At some point in the future, I may have to give up due to age, poverty or both. I bought her (Exmoor x ?, 13.3hh, very nice, pretty pony, now just 5.) she is great to ride and reminds me of my first pony, a very naughty pure bred Exmoor. 64 years ago!
 
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I think it is easier to sell a young 14.2 than it is a young 12.2! Quite a few children old enough for a 14.2 will be capable of bringing on a youngster, and this size will also appeal to small adults. However, there is a much more limited market for the smaller ponies just because there are fewer capable riders of the right size to bring them on.

As for who produces the schoolmaster ponies, I've seen quite a few Pony Club families that produce them - often mum is a riding instructor herself, and quite petite and lightweight so can school the ponies if necessary. Often the kids have an older schoolmaster as their main mount, but also bring on younger ponies as projects, taking them to PC rallies, camps etc., and often end up selling them within the branch.
 
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