Selling a companion pony at the sales. This could be long.

lialls

lialls

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Sorry this is going to be long..
I bought a pony back in the summer which was misdiscribed (yes i know i can't spell, sorry), today i have been in court trying to get my money back and them to have the pony back, we lost as i couldn't PROVE what they said to me, i could only dispute it.

So now i have a pony that can't be ridden due to a serious napping/bucking problem, i don't have the money to send him away to be sorted out (which who knows might not even fix him!) and he is now costing me money which i dont have.

So the time has come for him to go.. but where dos he go? He is only really suitable as a companion unless someone wants to sort him out themselves but he is still worthless as he is. I dont think advertising him privately will get any interest and i don't want to take up a place at a rescuse home, he is in perfect health, there is nothing wrong with him other than sometimes he can buck. a lot.

I could take him to the sales but im wondering wether he will actually sell there? How much is a companion worth? Im not looking to make any money out of this i just want the pony out of my field asap, i can't afford to keep him any longer. I dont want to give him away due to this problem he has, someone could end up taking me to court over him. I have to be totally honest and tell them everything, if its done through the sales atlest it is all above board. But i doubt he will sell.

So what do i do? I could try and fix him but theres nothing to say that the next people who have him he wont go back to napping and bucking - and then they could take me the court. I highly doubt even after being reschooled he will ever be able to be a childs pony again and at 13.2 he isn't excatly an adults horse either. Is anyone going to want to pay for a companion pony? Im slightly worried he might falls in to the wrong hands and it could all come back on me again.

God this is such a mess. I wish people were just bl00dy honest!! Anyone got any ideas what i could do? Im comming to the end of my teather here :(
 
There is a website called 'Project horses' which is specially for ones like yours, you should definately have a look on there. You can be completely honest about all his problems. If you think someone else would be able to sort him out then it would be worth a shot.

I would worry about taking a pony like him to the sales as he may just end up with the meat man :(
 
I would take responsibility & have him PTS instead of passing the problem on to someone else, as has been done to you, & risking the poor pony being shunted from home to home & ending up in the sale ring & finally with the meat man.
 
Sounds to me that you do have choices, what you choose obviously depends on funds and conscious decision,
1. If he really is that bad and a danger to anyone, put him down, healthy or not he is basically useless and it costs as much to keep a good one as a bad one. At least he will not be abused by anyone else.
2. Could he be broken to drive? expensive maybe but a possible option
3. Be honest, sign a disclaimer and give him away, project or companion
4. Could someone else come in to help, parelli or something?
5. Take him right back to basics, check your saddle, teeth, back etc and start him again
6. Try the rescue homes, explaining why, that he is healthy, has issues but does not deserve to die, sometimes they may take him
Personally I feel this is offloading a problem onto someone else when option 1 would be the practicle thing to do in this economic climate, there are hundreds, probably thousands of horses in this country in the same boat for one reason or another, many already within rescue homes which IMO should be put to sleep because of health issues that cost the charity thousands of pounds on an animal that will never get any better. Sorry if it sounds hard but times are tough and would rather they spent the money on the healthy ones that have a chance.
 
I would advertise him on Project horses but failing that, PTS, as a 13.2 that isnt safe to do a job is not going to end up anywhere good. Im sorry you were done by the seller, poor you having been left with the nightmare. Try your best for him then deal with him best way and put it behind you, it wasnt your fault or his.
 
I agree with the other posters, PTS, but maybe instead of vet, you can contact your local Hunt Kennels, then you know, that it will be done properly, and it will also not cost you money, such a shame that someone obviously had not got the guts to do this, and instead landed you with the problem. Hope you get it sorted out, but once again do try your local Hunt.
 
Personally I wouldn't send him to a sales... From the experience of the ones I have been too the catalogue won't let you describe all his issues and someone may well buy him as a riding pony for their child.

A client of mine had a pony within severe ridden issues which turned out to be bone spavins. She advertised her as a brood mare and she still got mothers calling wanting a 1st pony for their child... I expect because she was cheap.

If I were you I would put him on the "project horses" website. Or if you're down south www.nfed.co.uk has a project horses section. On the ad you can put exactly what you have said there then no one has any come back on you.

If you truely want what's best for the pony and the potential new owner I would put him on the project horses website for next to nothing. An unrideable gelding isn't worth a lot, and if you wanted to sell as a companion then really he isn't worth about £1.

Sorry, I hope you find a solution.
 
I did think about having him PTS. In court to day it was said that he is dangerous(!) yet the judge didnt pick up on this, as its illegal to sell something thats dangerous...

I agree its not fair to have him passed round from piller to post.

He may very well be able to be ridden again but i am injured and there is no one i know who can help me with him, i can not afford to send him somewhere to be sorted out. I have thought about having him broken to drive but im not sure if his problems will still hassel him? it would be worth wile if it fixed him as i would like a driving pony - due to my injury i can't ride but i would be able to drive.

Im going to speak to a few people tomorrow who might be able to help me, i don't think i can take the risk of selling him on even if i tell them of his problems. It will either have to be a rescue home or PTS i think.
 
How old is he and does he always buck or are there certain things that trigger it? What is he like with other horses, being handled and in the stable?
 
Yep, Project Horses. Because one person's unrideable nightmare may turn out to be someone else's dream pony. Is he a fine 13.2? Because I'm an adult and I ride my 13.2 pony.
 
He is 12 years old. He will buck at anytime when riding him, there isn't anything that sets him off really, its all just nappiness.

He is very good with other horses, he dosnt kick or bite, he will be left in the field/stable alone and isn't bothered. He is good at food time too as i feed out in the field. He is good to be handled although he has been spoilt in the past so can have a strop if you have been giving him attention and then stop, he is getting better with this now though. He is good in the stable, he dosnt barge and moves over when told to, he likes to be groomed and hes good to have his feet picked out.
 
I have had a look on project horse but i can't work out how much it costs? Hes not overly fine, but i just dont think that an adult would want to take on this amount of work. But then i may very well be proved wrong:) i just dont want someone buying him for their child thinking they can sort him out and then not being able to =/
 
Not sure what breed, his pasport dosn't say anything. Think hes got some welsh in him. Heres a few pics of him back in the summer

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Sorry if these are huge!
 
Cute boy... how badly does he actually buck - does he have many people off or is it lots of smaler bucks which although annoying are sittable?

As a kid I used to ride a pony that bucked all the time and it didn't bother me, was still a great little jumper, I reckon project horses or capable kid cold be an option depending on how bad he is
 
I'm looking for a companion for my mare during the holidays.. the companion might have to live alone during term time though. Not sure if my parents would want to look after a pony when I'm not there, I'll ask!
 
2daviej he is very easy to look after, my mummy who is scared of horses will go in the field with him. But we are quite far from you.
 
Has he had all checks done - teeth, back, vet etc? if this boy is in pain it'd be better to know.
 
As far as we know he is not in pain. Before i move him anywhere i think i will get it all checked again. He had his teeth done 8 months ago so i know they are ok. There have been a few people assess him and all have put it down to nappiness, he has been aloud to get away with it first time and its just got worse as he knows he can just get people off. Once you are off he wont let you get back on either, he will start bucking as you are trying to mount.

Abit of background history - he was used as a lead rein pony - never had a problem with him they sent him away to be schooled to be sold after and he came back with this bucking problem. I think that they upset him somehow and he learnt to just chuck them off.
 
I had a 13.2 pony that would behave at first, and then buck later and it was a lot worse buck than on the video -,headstands more like. For instance at PC she won best PC pony in the morning and did nothing but buck in the afternoon.

I took her to Tex Gamble, who told me exactly what she did, before I told him. He did what he usually does. By that time my daughter didn't want to ride her, and had grown too big, so I advertised her on loan and said that if she bucked she was to come straight back (and she would have gone straight to the kennels). The new owners had her on loan for 2 months and then bought her, she had never shown any sign of bucking.
So Tex had cured her.

So what I am saying is that there probably IS a cause, but I can fully understand if you can't get to the bottom of it. Since the pony is very good in other ways, then it might well be worth putting her on project horse. Or alternatively ask around as a companion.
I have a companion pony and he is a gem, as he is so easy to look after. The only thing we can't do is ride him! There should be a home for him somewhere.
 
Ok, I could be way off. But, to me that isn't bucking bad enough to justify pts. It sounds like he has learnt this way of getting people off and getting out of working. In your position I would try sticking him on project horses, be completely utterly honest, show potential buyers the video, and sell him off very cheaply, but be careful about where he goes.
 
I'm sorry but i would agree- nowhere near bad enough to PTS. He looks like he is taking the pee... if i had the time etc. i would take him on as my mare does much worse spinning/bucking/rearing episodes....
I would go with project horse, he just looks like as soon as you ask him to do any sort of work hes like- erm as if, and bucks to get you off.
I hope you sort something out...
 
I have to disagree I'm afraid. while there maybe plenty of people that have ridden worse the fact is that this is a pony who'll need to have a job as a kid's pony and I honestly dont believe ponies/horses behave like this simply because they can. seen too many animals with behavioural problems that have later been found out to have physical problems. he may come right but runs a higher risk of being passed about and ending up god knows where.
Have you tried the Blue Cross?They will at least assess his suitability, work with him a bit and decide whether he's to be a non-ridden companion.
 
to me from that video seeing how tense the pony is looking just before he is bucking I would think there is almost certainly pain there somewhere. It doesn't look like nappy naughtiness to me as the pony is going forwards albeit with alot of tension
I think having him checked over thoroughly is a good idea before trying to sell him on.Project horses is a great website to sell honestly on and with any luck he can be sorted out by someone who has the money and time to put into trying to get him right.
 
Sure he looks like a naughty pony (VERY naughty!), but dangerous? Not on that showing...and he's plenty big enough for an adult to ride.
 
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