Problem selling a horse! THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT!!!

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jen1

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A girl at my yard has been trying to sell her horse since well before Christmas. Here's the story!

Her mum bought the mare as an impulse buy (don't ask!), lost interest and the DAUGHTER has ended up having to look after it, normally the other way round I know!. The daughter is too heavy for the horse and is interested in hacking and showing, also she has a 2 year old daughter of her own and her own young horse she wants to concentrate on for in-hand classes later this year so just doesn't have the time to look after the mare. Is this making sense so far??

Anyway,

As there's no one to ride the mare and the daughter hasn't enough time to do her she put an ad on Horsemart. The problem seems to be that the horse is in a difficult category she is 14.3 and has BSJA winnings, it seems that being an inch too tall is the problem. She is 12 years old. (the horse not the daughter!)

I can't understand why she won't just sell as a good riding club/teenagers or light adults horse? Does having winnings mean that she can't compete at local shows? She really is a very sweet horse and good in all ways, catch, clip, shoe, hack etc etc etc. If I didn't have my own I would certainly buy her. She hasn't put very good photos of her on the advert and none of her jumping so should she do that? This really really is a genuine sale, there's nothing wrong with the horse at all and considering she isn't being ridden at the moment, she was tried out 2 weeks ago by a young girl and jumped everything she put in front of her, they didn't buy her as it turned out they had read the ad wrong and thought she was 14.2 and wanted to do affiliated shows. One teenager who was interested said that other girls at her yard would be annoyed if she got the horse as she would beat them at everything in local shows!!

Do you think she should re word the ad, I can put the link on if anyone wants, any suggestions? Is she asking too much? £3500 she is open to offers though. Any help would be most appreciated as she really is struggling to look after the mare, her own horse and a young child.
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One teenager who was interested said that other girls at her yard would be annoyed if she got the horse as she would beat them at everything in local shows!!


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Sounds like a nice way of saying 'thanks, but he's not for me' to be honest.
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Has she actually asked you for advice? If so, has she taken any notice of you re: putting her down as RC/teenagers horse?

Stick a link to the ad up and then people will be able to give a better idea as to why he is not selling.
 
is it Wella? imho the pics are not very good, particularly the lunging one. So has she got winnings for adult bsja? I know she is horse size but you see bigger than that at junior shows.
that is just my v quick opinion...
xx
 
Well not really asked for advice as such, we were just talking about it yesterday mainly as her youngster is now on box rest after injuring himself in the field so she now has more work on her hands and is getting really fed up with it all, and having to look after a mare she didn't want in the first place!

I thought maybe we could re word the ad somehow and print off some copies and try local tack shops and yards? I haven't had to sell a horse before so not really sure what's the best way of getting all the facts in an ad without waffling, which I do a lot of if you read my posts!! DOH! She was talking about getting a dealer in to just take the horse away but she is such a sweet mare she really does deserve a good home, with a dealer you never know where she will end up.
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I wouldn't say she is over price at all, very resenable price as it includes tack. I think to be fair this time of year isn't the best time to be selling. Looking at the ad the only photo that looks like you can see the pony is the last one, hanging over the stable door.
 
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I can't get the link to work.....
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Neither would I, but you can access it by sticking the ref: in the search bit on the main page - HM748857B
 
She sounds super.

Wouldn't give her a second look without a decent photo though - she's not advertising her well at all.

Why don't people just put up a good confirmation photo???
 
i would say the main problem is the pics you are advertising her a s a great jumping pony however there are no pictures of her jumping just of head shots and the one lunging isn't very clear for the amount of money i would like to see what i was getting if that makes sense
 
Just goto horsemart and paste in the ad ref HM748857B and you will find it.

Right, the photos are rubbish, at 3.5k I would expect to see the horse at it's best and looking it's value.

The write up rightly has it's winning and success, but I don't think well written and no reason for sale.

Hope this helps
 
Echo everyone else really, dreadful pics and when there are so many other horses on the market, if an ad doesn't catch the eye, people won't call it. She looks very nice though and I think would sell fine with better photos!
 
Yeah ditto this. The pictures are awful. If I was looking I would prob glance at the pictures and move on because they just don't advertise her at all. I don't understand why people don't do proper pictures! How hard is it to take a camera [or friend with camera] down to the yard, get one nice schooling picture, a conformation shot and a picture of her jumping a decent fence?
 
OK will see if I can get her to take some better pics, she did say she took them on her phone as she doesn't have a camera so maybe she can borrow one off someone. I agree a nice one of her standing and jumping would be good. Maybe she can get someone lighter at the yard to take her over a jump at the weekend, lets hope the weather is dry!! What about wording though? and is the fact that she has done BSJA a problem???
 
Terrible photos and dreadfully written advert won't help. I'd get decent photos to include her jumping, riding on the flat and / or a decent confirmation shot. I really don't understand why people pay for an advert yet put the worst possible phots and wording in.

Also rewrite the advert so it's easier to read and has some sort of punctuation in it!

I don't know much about juniors but if my understanding is correct, she's too big for ponies but not many adults will want a 14.3 for seniors. She may be OK in the smaller classes but might struggle with distances when it gets bigger.

And with those winnings she's out of British Novice. I know there are now loads of open classes but a lot of people want something to jump and try and qualify in the novice classes.
 
My advice would be to get her properly measured just in case and to pay someone to come and do a session over jumps so she can get some decent photos.

TBH she looks like an over overpriced horse with a hidden problem with that sort of advertising.

Its a bad time of year to sell and your friend has done her no favours. Be more specific about the reason for sale, get some decent pics including a conformation and a jumping one and drop the price....she will soon go.
 
Are you sure she is 14.3? FEI event ponies can be 151cm with shoes, can she squeeze in there.

148cm (modern junior height) is bigger that 14.2 so you may just shrink her.

She sounds lovely but dreadful photos and a badly written advert.
 
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I really don't understand why people pay for an advert yet put the worst possible phots and wording in.

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It would almost be better to have no photo. The horse I ended up buying was advertised with no photo, but a beautifully written advertisment - which is why I rang about him........
 
Also agree about getting her remeasured - I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't make with 148cm or alternatively 15hh - either of which might appeal to more people!
 
In regards to photos, as most allow you 3, I'll never understand why people don't do 1 jumping, 1 flatwork & 1 standing. Makes it much easier for a potential buyer.

I also find (as a person looking for a horse) that bad grammar & spelling puts me off a bit. Put some paragraphs in to make it easier to read as well as some commas & full stops.

I just feel that as money has been paid for advertising, why not try to ensure the advert reads well? But then I abhor bad spelling & grammar!!
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ETS: I think she is really cute and if I was 5 inches shorter I would have her!!
 
i'll second getting the horse measured if possible, mine is measured as 15hh but all the 148cm showjumpers at my yard are at least his size!

Definitely change the pictures, they don't sell her well and TBH I would probably glance at them and move on. Improving the punctuation in the ad may help too. She sounds like a lovely sort, maybe it's just a bad time for selling
 
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