Selling a foal in a hurry due to owners' illness

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*hic*

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I hope this isn't seen as advertising, I need advice for a friend, it's not my foal.

How can one sell a foal in a hurry? It was a BOGOF and things have gone very wrong for its owner and she needs to sell. Where would be a good place? I have absolutely no experience of selling youngstock to be able to advise her. If it's free to advertise, so much the better:(
 
1. Is she looking to sell, or give away?
2. Is the foal well bred, or a common or garden sort?
3. Is the owner's illness terminal?
4. How well connected are you?

There is very little market for common foals at the moment, but if the foal is well bred and very nicely put together then someone may be interested- I would ask around locally (much easier to sell through networking- hence question 4!).

If the owner's illness is not terminal then can't the foal be turned away for a time? Or kept a grass livery and get someone to work with it/ groom it/ teach handling. It's not ideal but there is normally some teenager back from uni who would love the experiance of playing with a pony for the summer!
 
Tinsel Trouble said:
1. Is she looking to sell, or give away?
2. Is the foal well bred, or a common or garden sort?
3. Is the owner's illness terminal?
4. How well connected are you?

There is very little market for common foals at the moment, but if the foal is well bred and very nicely put together then someone may be interested- I would ask around locally (much easier to sell through networking- hence question 4!).

If the owner's illness is not terminal then can't the foal be turned away for a time? Or kept a grass livery and get someone to work with it/ groom it/ teach handling. It's not ideal but there is normally some teenager back from uni who would love the experiance of playing with a pony for the summer!
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1. She needs some money.
2. That's tricky, it's PBA (Crabbet lines) but unlicensed PBA x Appaloosa father so that name doesn't appear on passport. Very smart, nice movement.
3. Illness, one partner yes:( Foal has been turned away at home with her other ponies and is on mud and needs to move on. Mum needs to go as well but foal cannot be contained away from Mum and finances are an issue.
4. I'm not:(
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
1. She needs some money.
Personally I would look at saving money in this market, and not making any! If the foal can be removed then that will release funds

2. That's tricky, it's PBA (Crabbet lines) but unlicensed PBA x Appaloosa father so that name doesn't appear on passport. Very smart, nice movement.
If you can get a flashy photograph then H&H Magazine will be the place for it. I think there is an offer on at the moment but the foal's sale price will be very low as she can not be shown in some classes due to being unregistered

3. Illness, one partner yes:( Foal has been turned away at home with her other ponies and is on mud and needs to move on. Mum needs to go as well but foal cannot be contained away from Mum and finances are an issue.
How old is the foal? The mare is another issue, but if the foal is too young to be weaned, then you can't sell it now!

4. I'm not:(
Put it on facebook that you're looking for a new home for a foal be careful with who is interested and get an advert up in your local feed store/ tack shop
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I think the H&H magazine is the best bet- at a very reasonable price.
 
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That's what I suspected. Now the trick will be to get some pics of the thing. I've just separated it from Mum, but chances of getting video are minimal because we can't contain it without it's Mum.

I'm trying to borrow some clippers to tidy Mum up and my daughter will ride her this weekend to try to show her off a bit for some pics, it's just the foal that's a such a problem.
 
I second H and H. What do you think the foal will make- height an build wise, is it spotty? How old, and how much handling has it had? If not much, can you help her out so it can do the basics? People buying are much more likely to part with cash it it's not handled, as it means a couple of weeks work before you can put it out and have a hope of catching it again :)

Best of luck!
 
Sorry to hear about your friend. You've got the right idea imo. Ride the mother and video the foal trotting around with her. If you can have 2 people on the ground have one videoing and one taking stills. If it's a nice looking foal then I'd advertise in H&H, if it's a common looking foal then just a text ad in local papers or free-ads.
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
That's what I suspected. Now the trick will be to get some pics of the thing. I've just separated it from Mum, but chances of getting video are minimal because we can't contain it without it's Mum.

I'm trying to borrow some clippers to tidy Mum up and my daughter will ride her this weekend to try to show her off a bit for some pics, it's just the foal that's a such a problem.
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Clean the foal up, put a white halter, or inhand bridle on it, wear beige trousers, balck shiney shoes and a hacking jacket and take the camera up to a clean field and trot her round and get some pics.

I would like to say at this point- I am not a dealer, I do not condone dealers methods- but every once in a while, especially with a foal that is unlikely to have been abused by owners and had inherent behavioural issues- you can get away with a bit of showmanship. Just make sure that your advert is honnest and you do not claim to have done any shows with her! You just want to make the foal look its best, and sell an option to potential owners- and if the foal os trotting round in a different place to normal you should get some exagerated movements!
 
I can lend you my clippers if that is any help at all? You need a plug socket as they're not battery ones but you're more than welcome to them if useful :)
 
Tinsel Trouble said:
Clean the foal up, put a white halter, or inhand bridle on it, wear beige trousers, balck shiney shoes and a hacking jacket and take the camera up to a clean field and trot her round and get some pics.

I would like to say at this point- I am not a dealer, I do not condone dealers methods- but every once in a while, especially with a foal that is unlikely to have been abused by owners and had inherent behavioural issues- you can get away with a bit of showmanship. Just make sure that your advert is honnest and you do not claim to have done any shows with her! You just want to make the foal look its best, and sell an option to potential owners- and if the foal os trotting round in a different place to normal you should get some exagerated movements!
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The poor little mite's hardly been handled and certainly doesn't lead. She also came off her mother last weekend so I'm not sure I dare reunite them. I guess I'd better get round there and start it off thinking that actually people are nice. She has got amazing movement though. Thanks for your help. It's given me some good ideas.
 
You could perform a good deed for your friend and do the foal a valuable service; teach it to lead and be handled. That's the best gift you could give both of them. An unhandled foal can often face a very uncertain future and for the sake of a weeks work it could make all the difference to this foals life.
 
Spring Feather said:
You could perform a good deed for your friend and do the foal a valuable service; teach it to lead and be handled. That's the best gift you could give both of them. An unhandled foal can often face a very uncertain future and for the sake of a weeks work it could make all the difference to this foals life.
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^^^^

Very good advice, hope you can sort something out for your friend as well as find a good home for the foal. Please do tell her though that the price for the foal has to be realistic.
 
Spring Feather said:
You could perform a good deed for your friend and do the foal a valuable service; teach it to lead and be handled. That's the best gift you could give both of them. An unhandled foal can often face a very uncertain future and for the sake of a weeks work it could make all the difference to this foals life.
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Oh don't I know it. I contrast her with the colt who was born here a month later than than this filly. He will happily lead in and out to the field, into and out of a trailer, he'll be brushed, he'll stand and have his feet picked out, he is sensible for the farrier and although he's a bit inclined to nip unguarded bottoms he's very easy to deal with. Circumstances got on top of the filly's owners though and it just hasn't happened.

I will try and get over and help it a bit though. Bringing it in from the field was an experience:(
 
if there is an issue with the owners health then the welfare societies might take the foal. its worth ringing them. WHW RSPCA Redwings Blue Cross to name just a few.
 
It's a very sad situation and I hope you can resolve it well for the foal I hope you can sell her but in the present climate your friend may have to give her away to find a home for her .
Good luck.
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
The poor little mite's hardly been handled and certainly doesn't lead. She also came off her mother last weekend so I'm not sure I dare reunite them. I guess I'd better get round there and start it off thinking that actually people are nice. She has got amazing movement though. Thanks for your help. It's given me some good ideas.
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I'm sorry to hear about your friend's circumstances but I'm also sorry to say that having a foal and doing nothing whatsoever with it from day 1 is unforgivable. It is effectively a wild animal and now it is has been weaned and separated its stress levels will go off the scale and make it even worse to start. We had a couple of arab fillies at my yard - the owner had fancied having a cutsie little foaly-woaly but then the novelty wore off and they were just left to grow like weeds in the field. They had absolutely no manners around people and by this time were over 14hh, totally undisciplined and being fillies, bolshy to boot. One of them was sold to a teenager to break in, with no experience whatsoever apart from "watching a friend do it". The saddest thing was that they were pedigree animals so wouldn't have been cheap in the first place. I realise that this isn't the situation in your friend's case but she should still have taken owning a foal more seriously. I wish you the best of luck with it and hope it all works out.
 
fatpiggy said:
I'm sorry to hear about your friend's circumstances but I'm also sorry to say that having a foal and doing nothing whatsoever with it from day 1 is unforgivable. It is effectively a wild animal and now it is has been weaned and separated its stress levels will go off the scale and make it even worse to start. We had a couple of arab fillies at my yard - the owner had fancied having a cutsie little foaly-woaly but then the novelty wore off and they were just left to grow like weeds in the field. They had absolutely no manners around people and by this time were over 14hh, totally undisciplined and being fillies, bolshy to boot. One of them was sold to a teenager to break in, with no experience whatsoever apart from "watching a friend do it". The saddest thing was that they were pedigree animals so wouldn't have been cheap in the first place. I realise that this isn't the situation in your friend's case but she should still have taken owning a foal more seriously. I wish you the best of luck with it and hope it all works out.
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Whilst I see where you are coming from with this I would prefer a foal/youngster to be completely unhandled rather than having been badly handled. If the owner was not in a position to do the initial work properly then they have done less harm by not handling her at all than if they had bodged it because of lack of time/opportunity etc.
 
Well done for trying to support your friend but I think she might be lucky to just rehome rather than make some money. Loads of horses being given away at the moment, friend has three all ridden but not lately various breeds and ages and she cant even give the away.
 
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