project pony...

only_me

only_me

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was thinking this summer that i would get a project pony,. what sort do you best reccommend?
I was thinking 14hh to 15.2hh, and around ages 4/5, hopefully under £1200 - it will be me paying it so does it matter that i am under 18? (17
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also my dad was saying that lots of people could have the same idea and that come september there will be lots of ponies for sale. what do you think?

am i looking for the impossible?
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Having just had a quick look on project horses (OMG cannot believe the prices of half the horses on their, so much for cheap with problems
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) and on horsemart and I couldn't really see anything that you might be that interested in...
 
I think that you would be able to buy something cheap from sales, but saying that at this time of year, even sales can become expensive (friend bought at Cambridge last June and paid over 2k for her project). You really need to pick something up February time, to sell for June/July. Come September, the market is flooded with outgrown ponies, kids going back to school, people going to university, those without stabling for winter etc.

I really don't think you would find anything that you could add much value to for your budget via private ads though.
 
Round here the favourite thing to do is people buying foals/yearlings and selling them on after a season of handling and inhand showing. The YO of the neighbouring yard does it - she pays about £100 - £500 per foal and sells them for £1000 plus. After vets bills etc the profit margin isn't as big as people think though...
 

I think you'd be better going to the sales or NF foal sales, getting something cheap, bringing it on over a year & then selling as a future childs pony etc etc.

I don't know. Never really thought of it but there seems to be such slow movement of the market at the moment that I don't think I'd bother.
 
Well we go to sales to buy as i might have said previously...we look for the skinny, lean, dull young younsgters just mouthed and preferably backed..then we bring them on slowly...compete and then sell. Look for the ones with obviously good confo, so look at his shoulders, make sure he has well set lins, a good length of rein, a high set dock, and check that he is sound and clean limbed, these might be hard to spot on an unhealthy younsgter but this is when you have to be keen..because this is what many people tend to forget is good confo, many people look at their current state, and if bad then they leave it, and this is where you come in, if you get the right horse thats looking a bit lean you've got a bargain, so dont worry about the skinny bones exetra just loook for the perminant confo that you cn show off in later days when you will be selling him..sales down here in wales are reasonably good, we cn get good horses looking awfull for about 700 3 yo just broken..give or take a few pounds...its good to buy something early before you start it seriously because then when you're turning one away for the summer to mature or fill out, you always have one at the yard to work on...!
hope i could help...although im still only 16, but im 5ft 9 we tend to go for the 16hh-15.2hh...and the occasional 15hh if worth it, if the price is good, or we see some really fab hidden potential.
good luck
 
I bought my 14.2hh 5 year old for 1k.
Shes turned out to be a bit special
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So yes you can do it, it took a while to find her and she was advertised for more than £1000, but when we went to see her she reared up when I tried to get on her and had a broncing session every time we rode into a corner... luckily we saw past the naughtyness.. so we managed to knock a bit off her asking price
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I have just bought a project 4 year old who is 15.2 - no problems just green as the hills. He was £2.5k and I thought he was a real bargain. I think you will be lucky to get something around £1.5k that is worth the time unless you go for something younger.
 
Ive bought a few "project ponies" in the past, more to have fun with than make money (although I do make a decent enough profit to make it worth it!). My range is 13.2hh-15hh though and my max budget is always £500. So far Ive had one 5yo 13.2hh and two 14.2hh's (a 6yo and 4yo). And the current one I have is another 13.2hh (well actually its slightly smaller which isnt ideal as Im huge!) who has just turned 4. All of them bar one was unbacked and pretty much untouched having only had a headcollar on and nothing else. Because of the £500 I pay for these I do give way a little on other things like the one I have now was a 3yo (normally I prefer them as 4/5yos). By choice the perfect ones are the pretty ones (kids love 'em!) or super-safe 14.2hh's which adults also like.

I got all my ponies through Wanted ads I put out in the local freebie newspaper and online free ads. You just have to see through the scruff because for cheap, they WILL be pretty scrawny/obese/hairy/filthy!

These are the past 3 of mine (semi-finished versions):

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thanks! i think my best bet would be a local paper to keep costs down? i find ponies easier to bring on, as i am based at a part dealer/livery owners yard.

i was thinking of a typical pc pony? lol saw a nice 4 year old connie but out of my price range by about 3000!
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would love it but the main thing is to finance a car by the end
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and to create some surplus dosh
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i dont mind a pony who is as green as grass - all mine have been that way so far
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dont like an unbroken one as i would be too afraid to ruin it!
 
[ QUOTE ]
thanks! i think my best bet would be a local paper to keep costs down? i find ponies easier to bring on, as i am based at a part dealer/livery owners yard.

i was thinking of a typical pc pony? lol saw a nice 4 year old connie but out of my price range by about 3000!
tongue.gif
would love it but the main thing is to finance a car by the end
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and to create some surplus dosh
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i dont mind a pony who is as green as grass - all mine have been that way so far
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dont like an unbroken one as i would be too afraid to ruin it!

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also you would have to spend extra money breaking it in and getting it shod, so its half the battle to have a just backed younsgter
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omg 2 more peeps from lil' ole Norn Iron!!
lol, have had the same dilemma recently, as I also like to pick up cheap ponies and reschool them over the summer (although being 5ft8 never helps
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Farm week is great, but word of mouth is better, we got a 12hh stunner for free because he was difficult to handle, and is already coming around and by the end of the summer should be cracking childs pony. got it because a friend of ours overheard a conversation in the shop in crossgar! lol.
Good luck!
 
Chuck your area and your maximum price into horsemart and you will find one eventually! I did it every day for about a month, went to see a few, and ended up with a 12yr old TB mare with tack and rugs for less than a grand! She was in poor condition but is improving really easily, this was a couple of months ago though, don't know what the market is like now.
 
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