I don't believe this..

Tomorrow at Brecon foal fair and auction there will be ponies who don't even raise a bid, some will go through for £2 soem might make a heady fiver.. not just section A's but D's too and shetlands and a mixed bunch of other sizes and ages.. equine values are on the floor. We all know what should be done but few are brave enough to do it.
 
I bought daughters pony as a yearling for £10 because it was an impulse buy & I didn't have any change. Her dam had been given free to the owner when in foal with her. And when I bought yearling, a few low end dealers had said they wouldn't take her for free, the diesel to a sale was more costly than our ponies meat value.
 
Just to update, i've received an email from the lady who owns the shetland it says:

Hi, No it's not a typo, I have priced to sell. I have 3 foals this year (1 more to wean in 3 weeks time). I can't keep this year and they currently have no passports. It costs about £120 to passport and register when the shetland society. I was simply making him affordable to rehome.

So yes.. £25!
 
Just to update, i've received an email from the lady who owns the shetland it says:

Hi, No it's not a typo, I have priced to sell. I have 3 foals this year (1 more to wean in 3 weeks time). I can't keep this year and they currently have no passports. It costs about £120 to passport and register when the shetland society. I was simply making him affordable to rehome.

So yes.. £25!

So should she be selling them unpassported?!
 
Some foals were selling for about £40/50 at the Welsh Cob sale a couple of weeks ago - they would have been passported and microchipped so by the time you have added in the sale entry fee and diesel to get there their breeders were making a loss.
 
What to say, what do to do........?
Beware of being too judgemental - Think about market values in this age of recession. Think about a glut of breeding - think about horse ownership being accessible to all......
And now where are we re, what is right and what is wrong?
Ponies are now cheaper than Barbie dolls - that is because some princess's could be given a pony for Xmas a pony....(Have any of you ever read Follyfoot - product of the 1970's recession?)
When I was growing up ponies cost circa £100 - in todays money £1,000. I lived in a Council house, so was never going to get a pony. I lived for the local riding school that was pretty ropey - though I did not notice it at the time - I went to the local market, and fed carrots to ponies who were off on a boat to Belguim the next morning - guess where they ended up?
So now you can get a pony for £20......You can only get a pony for £20 now, because 5 years ago that pony might have made £200+ The market developed for the market that there was then, now it has collapsed - and there is fall out. 5 years ago, any horse from Ireland was making big money - now they are giving the brutes away.
The market has to stabalise again - if you have homes for these poor nags - then take advantage of the direly cheap prices, and also recognise that your own lovely horses have pretty low values at the moment as well.
I am currently riding a stunning 5 year old, that I have been given for the winter - because the breeder knows that this in the pink bred horse currently has no value stood in its field, but if I am riding it and adding value - and will probabaly buy in the Spring - it is worth his while letting me have (but the risk of it injuring itself is with him, not me) 5 years ago - this horse would more and likely been sold from the field as a foal for £3K.........
I do find Forum Members a bit precious from time to time, there is a bit of a need to get with the times, I think!
 
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