How to sell a difficult pony without it ending up in the wrong hands.

R2R

R2R

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I have a really nice 13.2hh gelding at my yard. Trouble is he is really quirky and unconfident – have tried all the desensitisation etc – what I really think he needs is a friend who will spend time with him and love him.
To ride he is great, but a bit random..for instance he will happily ride out down the same path one day, and spook the next. Same with jumping – he will jump about 4” easily, but has a dirty spooky stop. His one saving grace is he will hunt all day, jump anything, and keep up with the big boys.
He is also difficult to catch – I can catch him, because I feed him, but no one else can.
I have tried project horses but I am worried about him going into the wrong hands. He needs someone who will love him and be his mate and make friends with him whilst keeping him fit and ridden. He is not my pony, he was put on grass livery at the start of the summer and left and his owners have now asked me to sell him. Trouble is, how?
 
How desperate are the owners to sell?
Could he be offered for short term loan with view to buy? That way the purchaser could get to know the pony good points and bad points whilst its still at your yard?
 
I think you just need to be very honest. If he is good to hunt then a hunting home may be the best bet. Try contacting your local hunt they may know someone intrested.
Vet all prospective buyers very carefully ask them as many questions as they ask you. Get a feel for who they are and how expereanced they are. Project horses is a good place to start advertising but do be aware alot of in expereanced people do look on there for a bargin. But if you vet potentiol homes carefuly you can even ask for refrances you will hopefully find this little chap a smashing home.
I just wish i had the room :( :(
 
Yep I would be happy for them to do that livery free...I just want to get it off of the yard before winter, horrible as it sounds, he is no good for me as goddaughter is not confident enough (she is only ten) and noone else small enough!
 
Hunt him and let everyone know he is for sale, perhaps go out with a few different hunts as well. And above all be very honest about him :)
 
R2R said:
I have a really nice 13.2hh gelding at my yard. Trouble is he is really quirky and unconfident – have tried all the desensitisation etc – what I really think he needs is a friend who will spend time with him and love him.
To ride he is great, but a bit random..for instance he will happily ride out down the same path one day, and spook the next. Same with jumping – he will jump about 4” easily, but has a dirty spooky stop. His one saving grace is he will hunt all day, jump anything, and keep up with the big boys.
He is also difficult to catch – I can catch him, because I feed him, but no one else can.
I have tried project horses but I am worried about him going into the wrong hands. He needs someone who will love him and be his mate and make friends with him whilst keeping him fit and ridden. He is not my pony, he was put on grass livery at the start of the summer and left and his owners have now asked me to sell him. Trouble is, how?
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Put him on Pony Club website with the proviso that any potential buyer must have the support of their DC (ie must give you the phone number, and allow you to talk to the DC about the pony and the potential buyer)?
There are kids in our pony club who would fit that bill, (and kids who wouldn't!!!) and I'm sure our DC would tell you straight, yes that kid could do it and no that kid couldn't.
 
Sounds lie a perfect kids pony to me - quirky - that's what kids like isn't it? Plus a good hunter. Does he go xc or does he prefer being with the other horses? May be that he's make a good littel event or even a games pony.

I have to say 16 years ago we bought my 14.2hh pony as a jumping pony. However, it soon became apparent he was too unpredictable to ever be a consistent jumper and it was all 100 miles an hour or not at all. He too is ok to hack out but is scared of large vehicles and also had a tendency to plunge etc when a canter was coming up. I did try to sell him once but although his jumping was amazing when he was in the mood my conscience got the better of me and we ended up stuck with him. He is a very sensitive soul and I also suspected he was a rig. However, he is actually a lovely pony to handle etc - he's still quirky though now aged 24!

I would certainly think of different careers for this pony - I took mine to do polocrosse one day just to see how he'd take to it. He seemed to love it, was brilliant. I wish I'd tried it sooner.

I think people can cope with quirky ponies if, in general they are nice tempered. The catching thing wouldn't worry me too much, I think it can be quite common in ponies as they're little s*ds a lot of the time and i am sure if he built trust with someone he'd improve. My sister's 13.2hh was a pain to be caught yet he actually loved people and was a great sort he just was a bit of a character.

I think do what others say - approach the PC, maybe try him at different activities. Not everyone wants a showjumper and not every horse/pony enjoys showjumping so maybe a change of career could help him. As for the hacking well, spooking just makes it more interesting surely?! Lol
 
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