Running out of ideas - please help! (long, sorry)

Foxy girl

Foxy girl

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I have been trying to sell my 12.1hh (approx.) section A gelding for nearly 8 months now and am running out of hope/ideas and money!!!

I have advertised in H&H, on about 7 or 8 other horsey websites including Project Horse (even though he isn't really a project), I've had lots of viewings but everyone expects him to have done loads of Pony Club etc and unfortunately as my children are only 5 and 2, he hasn't done anything other than lead rein for the past 2 years. We bought him as an 11.2 but he's grown so much so that he's too big for my two to learn on without denting their confidence as he's quite forward going too. He is a genuine pony, really good with traffic etc etc, no ailments and I have reduced the price til I'm almost giving him away. I have offered loan, loan with view to buy, trial, I've contacted riding schools locally and have offered to swap him for a shetland someone may have outgrown. Nothing is working and my next stop is a sale which I REALLY don't want to do but the older he gets (he's 7 now) the harder it's going to be to sell him if he isn't being ridden and I just don't have the time or money to pay for someone to come and ride him - he needs to be sold or out on loan so I can get something smaller for my children to learn on.

Help!!! ANY ideas gratefully received - I'm at my wits end... Thank you all : )
 
Have you contacted your local pony club as they often have wanted lists (sale and loan)? Do you know anyone that could do a little bit with him for you?
 
I don't know anyone who can ride him for me - I've been lungeing him but he needs riding really. I posted his ad for months on the Pony Club site and have taken the ad to all the local shows and stuck it in the judges tent etc etc! Another show coming up end of the month locally which I might take him too with a big For Sale sign round his neck... In fact that's a great idea for the Fancy Dress class!!!! : )
 
Feel for you Foxy, I was disheartened after only about two months of my recently sold pony being advertised.

She was 12.2, 5 rising 6yo, and like you, had not been to pony club. She was ridden regularly at home by a small adult, safest childs pony out, just really easy. She had been to local shows on the lead-rein with tots, but as we had no one to ride her around the ring, we couldn't take her. She did SJ, XC, good flatwork, generally a little superstar, but with no record, it puts people off, I think her age was an issue for some too.

A family came to view her from the ads I had up in local equestrian shops, but the girl wanted a ready made ponyclub pony, which she wasn't, they said how lovely she was, and if she had done a bit more they would have had her.

Then I had nothing, for weeks and weeks, no emails, no phonecalls. Then out of the blue a lady rang up on behalf of a family, a long way away actually.

The mother and father not horsey at all, but girls mad on it, and the friend that rang was on hand to supervise as she lived just down the road, plus the girls had lessons weekly. They came, and I wasn't expecting much tbh as I felt so bad that no one else had rung, but when I saw them with her I knew instantly that they were the ones for her haha. They decided there and then that the wanted her as a first pony and would take her home asap, they two days after they came and picked her up!

The thing with these people was, they didn't want to do pony club until next year, so the girl and the pony were going to have time to grow together, which sealed the deal for me.

I had paid a shed load advertising on Horse and Hound & PC website, and thy phoned off the free add on Preloved (I cannot rate that site highly enough either!).

Don't give up hope! There will be someone out there!

Why not advertise for someone to come and ride him for free? Then he will be getting the work done so he isn't so green.

Also, send adverts out to all the local livery yards/riding schools, perhaps by WOM he might find a home that way. Or even if he doesn't find a home, you might find someone that would like to ride him for free, so that you can say he is getting regular work?

Do you know any yards/people that do breaking/schooling, why not see if they would buy him, school him, and then sell him on (obviously a reputable one, so you know in the end he will end up going to a good home), the pony mentioned above I bought from a client of mine who was desperate to sell her. Or even reputable dealers that only sell to the private market (I bring on and sell one horse at a time and only sell on to good homes, that's why I'm still stuck with the first horse I ever bought lol). I know you can't guarantee his future this way, but you couldn't even if you sold him privately either. If he is a nice pony, then I don't see any reason why he should find a nice home either way!

Can I ask how much you are selling him for?
 
Thank you SophieLouBee - some fantastic advice there. I have been advertising him on Preloved but think I need to reword my advert as on paper he sounds fab (and he is!) but the children coming to ride him are expecting a ready made Pony Club pony and he needs work to get to that point but he's got the potential.

I did wonder about a good, local, reputable dealer and will ask around. I bought him for £950 as a 5 year old and was trying to get the same back for him but have reduced him to £650 and open to offers... Maybe I need to reduce the price even more but it's such a shame as he is worth more. But then, house prices and all that and winter coming ...

Thanks again, you've given me hope that there's someone out there!
 
Have a look on dragon driving, etc and look at the prices being asked for other section A ponies. That might explain why he hasn't sold, they are going very cheaply on there, infact everywhere. If you aren't bothered about the money then drop the price a fair bit and vet the people who then ring.
 
No problem :D I just think, because of how terrible the market is, you need to literally shove it in everyones face! It's hard to be proactive when you're worrying about money, and feel down because he hasn't sold, but you need to be.

Honestly, I do think £650 is too much if he's not being ridden. I bought the pony that I just sold for £200 pounds inc tack and rugs (that was stupidly cheap though, so don't use that as an example!). I'd say around the £450-500 mark is what you'll get for him as he is, if you want £650, you'll need to get a rider on him quick smart.

If you really can't rope in a child who is desperate to ride but parents can't afford a pony, why not find a small teenager and pay them £10 for riding 2/3 times a week for three weeks? I'm sure there is plenty of them out there. Or, wait until he has sold and offer them a small % of what you make if you can't afford to pay them right now?

There most certainly are ways that you could improve your situation, you've just gotta be a bit savvy :)

Oh and if you want to send me your advert, go right ahead, I'm happy to look over it for you :)
 
Do you know any local instructors who work at riding schools? They might know if any of the kids they teach would be suitable to come and ride him and take him to pony club etc?

This happened to me when I was 12, riding at a local riding school and spending every spare minute there helping out, when one of the instructors asked if I'd like to exercise a pony she'd just broken in for a friend. He was too green and big (12.3) for the owner's 4 year old who was just starting, and she wouldn't have got back what she'd paid to have him broken in if she'd sold him straight away. I jumped at the chance. I paid for his shoes and any lessons / competitions I did but as she had land I didn't have to pay anything else. He had only been broken in 3 weeks when I started and would buck me off as soon as look at me but I was so pleased to have one of my own (sort of) that I didn't care. Yours sounds a lot more civilised so that wouldn't be a problem! I would never have responded to an advert though as I was riding 14-15 handers at the riding school and only said yes when my instructor assured me I wasn't too big.

After a year though I had outgrown him and started riding her Sec D - and had him for 14 years until he died aged 27. Her daughter was bridesmaid at my wedding - she never really got into riding so when I outgrew the little one he went out on loan to a younger girl and then got sold to a riding school as a beginners' pony - he's still there aged 25 so I think that year did us all a world of good!
 
Agree with sophieloubee, I have had numerous ponies "given" to me to sell and I get to to keep whatever is made over what the owner wants (predetermined price), so you could say want £500 at the end of the day, if they got him out and about and managed to sell for 800 then 300 is theirs. I'm a bad child and have often ended up buying myself those given to me in that way....woops ;)
Good luck!
 
if you put him in a sale you wouldnt get £500 for him. He sounds great - could you put him out on loan? could you advertise for a rider? xx
 
Thank you all so much for those tips and ideas. I agree he's now overpriced - when I started this process he probably wasn't but if I want to sell him I've got to price him accordingly.

Thanks again, action stations tomorrow - operation 'sell pony'!!
 
I think some your prblem may be where you live not the pony. Yes in this market everyone is looking for the made perfect pony but they are selling in the south. I would not go too cheap as you may attract the wrong sort of person.
 
If he is a nice pony then why not keep him, he won't be too big for your children for long. Advertise for a little sharer instead.

The other thing would be to put word out with pony club that he is looking for a rider, there may be kids between ponies, or with their pony out of action who would take him to some rallies. Even kids who share their pony with a brother or sister might be glad of a free or cheap ride.
 
take him to a show even if its in hand then a ridden class, even if it costs money, thing is with a pony that size and the market your aiming at people want to know it is ok. he may be a star at home but taken to show is a pratt, people dont want to be the first to find out. Especially when darling offspring are involved!

Take all adverts down, go and do a show. get some pics of him going over tiny jumps with kids on then re word advert, with fresh pics.. (at a comp) and popping a jump. aswell as normal pics then re advertise.
 
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