How much of a problem might this be?

In my experience, a big one. Finding a yard to keep him will be your first problem as he is basically a stallion.
 
Depend on the yard tbh, where I keep my horse's we have a few rather amorous geldings (not rigs but they will fight over the loose ladies) and they are kept in a field at on end of the yard well away from even the sight of those pesky girls. Works absoltuely fine but not all yards have the facilities to do this, it would restrict where you could keep him but it wouldn't be impossible by any means.
 
if it's a true rig it needs an operation - about £2k has excellent results if it is a true rig. You need to know exactly what sort of rig, has it been diagnosed by a vet - or is it a behavioural rig.

A full rig can be operated on to remove the remaining testicle and it has fantastic results. one rig I knew had a testicle the size of a grapefruit retained high up in his abdomen. He went in to teh vets roaring like a stallion and came out squeaking like a girl. He went from a skinny stressed up horse to a laid back good doer.

So if you are prepared to chance it yo could buy him for £500, get him operated on for about £2k and for £2.5k you could have a fantastic little horse. Connies are well regarded versitil ponies.

Weigh that up with the dangers associated with abdominal surgery and its up to you financially and emotionally.

eta without the op I would not touch him with a barge pole, rigs can be far more dangerous that stallions as the testicle is up inside the body so is kept hot continuously, the rig is sexually frustrated all the time. Handlers can be at risk, you should treat as a stallion and some rigs can be fertile. So never in contact with mares. They can become seriously agressive with both humans and other geldings. I cannot imagine any decent yards allowing you to keep a rig - and the yards that will allow you to would probably not be the best ones capable of managing him.
 
I used to ride a horse who was a rig and he was a lot of trouble. You need to be able to work with the horse every day, be constant and consistent, not only are they mad about mares, they tend to be very unpredictable and prone to mad half hours (funny in the field, not out a hack). Of course, there is always the exception and he might be really nice.
 
Mmm there are 4 mares on our yard, we have individual paddocks, but nowhere to put a horse so that it can't see/hear/smell mares.

I don't have £2k to risk on an operation, so I think I will leave this one. I'm looking for something for me to hack out, daughter to hunt and OH to learn to ride on!
 
I knew a horse like that. Coincidentally we initially kept him in a yard with only geldings and he was bombproof, no problems at all. We then loaned him, in all good faith, to a lady who kept him in a mixed yard and within six months he was unhandleable. I have never seen anything like it, he wasn't just 'lively', he was downright dangerous. I wouldn't go anywhere near this horse.
 
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