I want a free horse. ;)

Sparkles

Sparkles

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Looking for for first time horse.
Completely safe, suitable for novice rider.
Nothing too old, or green.
Want to jump 3ft+
Must be well schooled.
Safe to hack out.
Can't offer any money so must be free to good home or very cheap (£100 max], but can guarantee a 5* home instead. NO loans.



Soooooooooooo.....any offers?



I'm being dryly sarcastic obviously. Having a browse through adverts and I must have actually come across at least 10 so far which are pretty much word for word the above.

I promise I'm really not a miserable cow as I may seem lol, but, come on...people must actually be on something if they think they're actually going to find that type they're advertising for, for free?!?!?

I mean, I've never felt the need to go 'Oh ok, well for a good home, I'll give away my £?000+ bombproof schoolmaster I've bred/had for years/selling.'

People save up for years buying that type, or even save just for a £?00 project!

Rant over.

;)
 
Lol - believe me - these people are out there. We are currently trying to sell the most wonderful 14hh pony that has been there done that - we have reduced the price which means to some people that she must be free! True, it is a buyer's market at the moment but really...!
 
Look on all things horsey on facebook you wont believe the amount of people that reply with your requirements makes interesting reading ;)
 
Yes, I often see them too and what makes me laugh is how particular their requirements are. They tend to want the sort of horse we all want - and pay several thousand pounds for, after a long and expensive search.

Still waiting to read the ad that says;

' Wanted for free; Horse with a leg at each corner, which need not all be working but ability to eat grass and enjoy kisses on nose would be an advantage. 5* home with knowledgeable owner and access to vet and farrier as required.'

And pigs will fly.
 
horserider said:
.

Still waiting to read the ad that says;

' Wanted for free; Horse with a leg at each corner, which need not all be working but ability to eat grass and enjoy kisses on nose would be an advantage. 5* home with knowledgeable owner and access to vet and farrier as required.'

And pigs will fly.
Click to expand...

I've seen that advert but from the owners side - but you have to pay,

Are you unable to ride, don't enjoy riding or just like to look after horses without riding? I'm looking for a 'sharer' for my mare who cannot be ridden any more due to injury. She is a very quiet girl who loves attention and will stand for hours while you fuss over her. Completly flexible in the arrangement but i do ask for a small contribution towards her keep.
 
horserider said:
Yes, I often see them too and what makes me laugh is how particular their requirements are. They tend to want the sort of horse we all want - and pay several thousand pounds for, after a long and expensive search.

Still waiting to read the ad that says;

' Wanted for free; Horse with a leg at each corner, which need not all be working but ability to eat grass and enjoy kisses on nose would be an advantage. 5* home with knowledgeable owner and access to vet and farrier as required.'

And pigs will fly.
Click to expand...

im potentially putting this add up later this year lol
 
Oh god! I'm not looking but even the type I would want (permenantly half asleep cob who doesn't spook/rear/buck) would probably be thousands and that's without being able to jump 3ft and be well schooled! :eek: hence why I don't have that yet! My freebie companion pony is a total nightmare and it's a good job I love her!! :p
 
And it also seems that a lot of these "wanted" ads are from 10 year old girls who havent informed their parents of their lovely ad and who they live with in a semi detached on an estate in the city
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
Looking for for first time horse.
Completely safe, suitable for novice rider.
Nothing too old, or green.
Want to jump 3ft+
Must be well schooled.
Safe to hack out.
Can't offer any money so must be free to good home or very cheap (£100 max], but can guarantee a 5* home instead. NO loans.



Soooooooooooo.....any offers?



I'm being dryly sarcastic obviously. Having a browse through adverts and I must have actually come across at least 10 so far which are pretty much word for word the above.

I promise I'm really not a miserable cow as I may seem lol, but, come on...people must actually be on something if they think they're actually going to find that type they're advertising for, for free?!?!?

I mean, I've never felt the need to go 'Oh ok, well for a good home, I'll give away my £?000+ bombproof schoolmaster I've bred/had for years/selling.'

People save up for years buying that type, or even save just for a £?00 project!

Rant over.

;)
Click to expand...

One thing you forgot. The horse must already reside within your postcode or a 10 mile radius and the owner must be prepared to deliver and give you all their expensive tack and rugs!
 
You know what ive got a big horrible nasty ginger minger, He eats other horses and gets really stressy about any form of change to his routine. He is 100 % bomb proof sometimes and other times is a total arse. He can t jump ... not since he discovered he can plough straight through and is not far off 20. Hes free to any home but really deserves a bad one. .. should I ring some of these advertisers?
Again Im only joking.. I have bad taste in horses so will be keeping him!"
 
luckyoldme said:
You know what ive got a big horrible nasty ginger minger, He eats other horses and gets really stressy about any form of change to his routine. He is 100 % bomb proof sometimes and other times is a total arse. He can t jump ... not since he discovered he can plough straight through and is not far off 20. Hes free to any home but really deserves a bad one. .. should I ring some of these advertisers?
Again Im only joking.. I have bad taste in horses so will be keeping him!"
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you should add suitable for under tens and novice:D
 
Lol at these. I actually have a saintly sort, who's never been loaned out but I've lent her to loads of older kids & teens, sometimes just to hop on & do their first clear round, some have rode her for a longer period, & I've had countless offers from parents over the years to buy her. But on one occasion, I'd said a young girl could take her out & about to gain a bit of confidence jumping. A cheeky cow who kept her horse on the yard, approached me & said she would be prepared to let her teenage daughter ride her for me, provided I had the pony tacked up as & when required & paid all entry fees etc. What made it worse was the fact the teen in question was very much a yank, kick, hit & scream sort of rider & the mother tried convincing me this was of more benefit to me, & if all went well they'd consider letting me sign pony over for a token sum to make it legal, like they were doing me a favour!
 
There was a memorable "Wanted" ad on here once which requested the above, but the horse had to be bay or chestnut, and between 15.3 and 16.1, and if I remember rightly, aged 7 - 11 years...
 
There is a wanted ad on my local horsey FB for a girl looking for a perfect, safe, sensible all rounder - but can only afford to pay in installments! Is this normal in horse buying circles?!! Can't believe anyone would part with their perfect horse with the promise of "i'll pay you £100 now and the rest when I can find the money"!!!
 
I'm afraid it's people like me who give these kids false hope, as I have the holy grail of a free horse - sound schoolmaster, enough oomph to be fun but safe as houses, kept at a private yard with floodlit school and access to totally off road hacking...I loan him from owner who owns yard (it's at their house) and they cover all his expenses bar any fancy presents I want to get him :D

That said, when I was looking for a sharer some of the adverts are ridiculous - particularly like the 'not fussed on age colour or gender (wtf?!) but pony must be between 13.3 and 15.2 and must jump.' accompanied by a couple of photos of said (fat, usually) tween lumbering over a cross pole on a long suffering RS pony who is used to supporting the riders full bodyweight with just their mouth...
 
littlelegs said:
Lol at these. I actually have a saintly sort, who's never been loaned out but I've lent her to loads of older kids & teens, sometimes just to hop on & do their first clear round, some have rode her for a longer period, & I've had countless offers from parents over the years to buy her. But on one occasion, I'd said a young girl could take her out & about to gain a bit of confidence jumping. A cheeky cow who kept her horse on the yard, approached me & said she would be prepared to let her teenage daughter ride her for me, provided I had the pony tacked up as & when required & paid all entry fees etc. What made it worse was the fact the teen in question was very much a yank, kick, hit & scream sort of rider & the mother tried convincing me this was of more benefit to me, & if all went well they'd consider letting me sign pony over for a token sum to make it legal, like they were doing me a favour!
Click to expand...

Would love to know what your reply was :D
 
what you mean there are none to be found :D

i do jest of course ,

always wonder how they gonna pay for the vet bills, feed, bedding and the farrier and dentist , mmm what else lmao :)
 
AprilBlossom said:
I'm afraid it's people like me who give these kids false hope, as I have the holy grail of a free horse - sound schoolmaster, enough oomph to be fun but safe as houses, kept at a private yard with floodlit school and access to totally off road hacking...I loan him from owner who owns yard (it's at their house) and they cover all his expenses bar any fancy presents I want to get him :D

That said, when I was looking for a sharer some of the adverts are ridiculous - particularly like the 'not fussed on age colour or gender (wtf?!) but pony must be between 13.3 and 15.2 and must jump.' accompanied by a couple of photos of said (fat, usually) tween lumbering over a cross pole on a long suffering RS pony who is used to supporting the riders full bodyweight with just their mouth...
Click to expand...

Yep, I've seen those too, there's many, and while it's tempting to give a pony mad youngster a chance, as I remember well being pony mad and ponyless, it's just not worth the trouble.

I would happily share mine for no financial contribution as I don't have time to exercise him as much as I would like, but the sharer would have to be a quite, experienced, confident, competant and trustworthy person who treated my horse and my gear with respect and could get to and from the yard under their own steam. If I had time to supervise a youngster straight out of a riding school, I would have time to exercise my horse myself!
 
littlelegs said:
Lol at these. I actually have a saintly sort, who's never been loaned out but I've lent her to loads of older kids & teens, sometimes just to hop on & do their first clear round, some have rode her for a longer period, & I've had countless offers from parents over the years to buy her. But on one occasion, I'd said a young girl could take her out & about to gain a bit of confidence jumping. A cheeky cow who kept her horse on the yard, approached me & said she would be prepared to let her teenage daughter ride her for me, provided I had the pony tacked up as & when required & paid all entry fees etc. What made it worse was the fact the teen in question was very much a yank, kick, hit & scream sort of rider & the mother tried convincing me this was of more benefit to me, & if all went well they'd consider letting me sign pony over for a token sum to make it legal, like they were doing me a favour!
Click to expand...

I was once asked by a friend if I could do her a favour, and let another friend's daughter come and 'have a sit on **********'...

I didn't mind that, I remember being a kid with no pony and jumped at any chance to sit on a horse!

Soooooooo the kid arrived, actually about 14 years old-ish....and had a lovely time playing in the field on the boy.....

NEXT thing I know, mother of the child informs me what days they will be over to ride, she is fine to ride out on her own so key to field please....AND 'I've listed all the dates of the local shows, for you to bring him there so she can compete'..

My friend's face was a picture, and once I'd picked up my jaw off the floor and said this wasn't the intention, I was asked if a kid could have a sit on the horse and that was it, this horse actually belonged to my husband, and no way would there be anyone coming to regularly ride him thankyou very much, least of all be allowed out on the roads, and expecting me to take to shows as well??

Well, you can imagine, my name was mud, I'd destroyed a little girl's (~snort!) dream and practically ruined her life...

Did I care? No. But I was most upset someone had attempted to steam-roller me into agreeing to such a notion. I DO still let the odd nice child have a sit on the Ginger Beast, I just throughly vet the parents first! :p
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
Looking for for first time horse.
Completely safe, suitable for novice rider.
Nothing too old, or green.
Want to jump 3ft+
Must be well schooled.
Safe to hack out.
Can't offer any money so must be free to good home or very cheap (£100 max], but can guarantee a 5* home instead. NO loans.
Click to expand...

Oh, but you missed out must be between 15.2hh and 15.2hh 1/2 , completely sound without a blemish, aged 9-10 and able to deliver (for free, naturally).

dieseldog said:
Are you unable to ride, don't enjoy riding or just like to look after horses without riding? I'm looking for a 'sharer' for my mare who cannot be ridden any more due to injury. She is a very quiet girl who loves attention and will stand for hours while you fuss over her. Completly flexible in the arrangement but i do ask for a small contribution towards her keep.
Click to expand...

No no no, it's:

Are you unable to ride, don't enjoy riding or just like to look after dangerous horses without riding? I'm looking for a 'sharer' for my quiet as a lamb, absolute nutter who cannot be ridden any more due to injury (mine, from falling off and him attacking me). He is usually okay but you must be very experienced, and I want you to school him on the ground for me. You need to be a natural horsemanship guru, cos I don't want him to be told off, ever. You will be needed to be very committed and to turnout, muck out, and fix destroyed fencing/stable on a regular basis. Completly flexible but I do ask for a small (cough, not so) contribution towards his keep.

;)

PS I actually replied to a similar ad asking for someone to look after her 3 horses for a month while she went on holiday. How naieve of me to expect to be paid for such a phenomenon, she couldn't afford to pay someone to do it - she had spent all her money on the holiday. Duh!
 
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Dragonslayer- that's the thing, its the parents that are the problem, not the pony mad kids. I've happily taken my daughters non horsey friends to the yard to play ponies & a ride on a leadrope. But I've had the odd parent who thinks I'm a free riding school & I should take them weekly. What really narks me is that its always the ones with enough cash to fund lessons. Did tell one mum from school I'd gladly let her poor pony mad child come to the yard regularly with daughter in return for mine going to Disneyland, lapland & regular expensive trips to amusement parks & weekly cinema & bowling which is what her child gets instead. Happy to lend my pony to kids with none, or not very good ones for the chance of a rosette, or even for some confidence. But not in a taken for granted charity sense.
 
You forgot to add what gender you wanted and what colour.

I saw one recently for a specific height, age and ability and it must be palomino!

As long as the horse can do what I want it to and is of my ideal height/age, I couldn't care less about the colour. Obviously I have preferences, but the colour would not stop me buying a suitable horse.
 
Dragonslayer- that's the thing, its the parents that are the problem, not the pony mad kids.
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Oh reaaaaaaaly? ;)

I was informed a few months ago that when my grey was backed that I was giving the ride to a local girl. Right. Her parents are lovely and thought that it sounded 'wrong' but the super-pushy (that's an understatement BTW) daughter honestly thought that I would let her ride and compete as if the grey was hers.
 
I told colleagues in the office I had had a (horse) driving lesson. The next day one woman asked if I would drive her friend's daughter to the church for her wedding! That would be with the ex race horse, not broken to harness, and I would be really happy to wash and groom it for most of a day beforehand, and transport it 10 miles - but, oh, I don't have a carriage.:confused::eek:
 
Fair enough faracat, usually the parents. Reading this thread has got me thinking. I'd previously planned that when daughter outgrows her pony, I'd move her on to mine, so in a few years she'll be 9 & on a 14.2. Slightly too big but otherwise perfect, & much better than any 13.2 I can afford. But plan on an ad instead.
How about- wanted, 13.2 pony, steel grey, aged 12. Pc star, must be safe for 9 yr old to hack & hunt, but also capable of introducing her to bs, odes & elem bd. Must also be capable of Olympic standard showjumping, dressage & badminton for when she's older.100% all ways & happy to trundle round on a lr with dolls on, & attend garden based bday parties. Must include full wardrobe. Consider dappled grey for right horse. Will pay up to £50 including delivery at end of 2yr trial.
 
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