Selling Advice 'Mother Daughter Share'

A

AshleighEmma

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 February 2016
Messages
55
Visit site
I'm going to be looking to sell my mare probably at the beginning of August sort of time.

Shes a 15.1 Tb Exracer. Shes 14, touching on 15 soon. Shes quite, calm and sensible but will wake up when asked which will suit many different abilities.

She schools nicely, will pop a course in the manage and on grass easily although only pushed her up to about 2ft9 at this time, will have time to play about more in the summer. No known health issues and not a mark on her which is unusual for an ex-racer of her age but she didn't race a huge amount.

I bought her as an older project and am slowly putting work into her - always bought her to sell.

What sort of money would you expect to pay for this - generalised of course without seeing her but all-round good doer, wants to please and with minimal faults.

One fault being she doesn't load easily but hoping to have overcome this by point of sale

What else would you expect her to have done to boost her repertoire?

Any advice helpful, just trying to get a head start. thanks

Shes hunted, trecked, been to shows, pony club, etc. Fairly bomb proof, gets excitable but not dangerous.

Perhaps competitive teenager pony?
 
If you want to add to her you really need some results at the shows, regular placings at SJ/ Dr and if possible a couple of ODE's will be required to sell to a competitive teen, otherwise she is probably best targeted as a hack/ hunter but either way I would not expect much for a 15 year old tb with limited competition experience.
I sold a livery a few years ago he was a year older but very well schooled, competed to elem, int eventing, hunted and was a schoolmaster for a competitive teen to go out at 1m, he had a couple of minor issues that showed up at vetting, not unexpected for a horse in it's teens, the owners took £2k for him to an excellent long term home, I think if you could get half that you may be lucky unless she has something that makes someone fall for her.
 
nato said:
If she has no record, then I'd be looking at £2,500-£3,000. :)
Click to expand...

For a 15 year old?? The owner of the 12 year old ex racehorse on my yard will be thrilled as he has now got started on his record, she is not yet sure whether to sell but was thinking around £1-2k once he has done a bit more.
 
be positive said:
For a 15 year old?? The owner of the 12 year old ex racehorse on my yard will be thrilled as he has now got started on his record, she is not yet sure whether to sell but was thinking around £1-2k once he has done a bit more.
Click to expand...

I am based in Ireland - so that's euros, sorry :) But they are making that here without a blink of an eye, people will pay good money for a been there, done that safe horse. And a horse without issues this late in life is rare.

£1-2k doesn't seem much for a 12 year old who easily has years left in him and has started a record? Seems to me she could be more ambitious.

ETA: Pricing it at that doesn't mean that's what you'd get. If I was selling a horse I would also price with enough room for negotiation.
 
I suppose it very much depends what I'm looking to sell her into. I thought because of her sane and quiet personality she'd be good as a mother/daughter share or a teenage competition/pony club pony. Yes I am hoping to get her out to some shows as the summer comes closer. I was hoping between 1500 - 2250. Somewhere around there, I know she's never going to make big money because of her age but her age doesn't show because she's done so little mileage.
Just bought her an easy project but just wondering what more desirable things would be to make an easy sale.
 
I thought they were cheaper in Ireland or do we just get the young ones sent over here so you are left with limited choice of proven ones, maybe we need to ship our older ones over and bring the box back with the youngsters.
 
AshleighEmma said:
I suppose it very much depends what I'm looking to sell her into. I thought because of her sane and quiet personality she'd be good as a mother/daughter share or a teenage competition/pony club pony. Yes I am hoping to get her out to some shows as the summer comes closer. I was hoping between 1500 - 2250. Somewhere around there, I know she's never going to make big money because of her age but her age doesn't show because she's done so little mileage.

Just bought her an easy project but just wondering what more desirable things would be to make an easy sale.
Click to expand...

You need to get the results I mentioned earlier otherwise people looking for a competitive horse will not be that interested, safe and sane is good and may be the best route if she will be suitable as a safe hack/ hunter they are fairly difficult to find, whereas a not really proven competition horse can be found anywhere, her age will count against her even if she is low mileage as it reduces the time someone has to get her up the levels before she needs to slow down or starts to feel her age.
 
I think £500 is a little silly, shes 14 not 24. She is easy, sound and she does have talent its just a shame she's been left this long to work on it because it all takes longer to teach her - old dog new trick type of scenario.

BP - Yes I definitely get what you mean, valid points - thank you.

I'll see where we get to in the coming months, I hope she'll have come on a bit more throughout the spring/ beginning of summer then i'll sell her on. Need to think carefully about timing too, not as many people are looking going towards winter. That extra bed to muck out etc
 
Last edited:
Having just read the napping thread then she is not a safe sensible ride, certainly at the moment anyway, if she does stop behaving badly out hacking then you may be able to sell her but until then she is still very much a cheap project with her age against her.
 
Not the same horse - shes another problem altogether!
'cheap project with age against her' little harsh don't you think!

I'm only looking for advice and desirable traits. not for my horses to be slammed.

Thanks
 
IME 15/16 is when a lot of soundness problems start to rear their head- and a project older horse is not what most people will spend their money on. but good luck with getting 2k for her...
 
I think she sounds cute. The loading Would put me off, I have had a bad loader and it was a nightmare although a natural horsemanship rep helped enormously.
She sounds small and fun (which I like as small!) I'd advertise at 1,995 with aim to get 1,500. You may get 2 if she is good looking, well conformed and has some show record by then.Try and get her round some ODE'S at 80 and 90 with good marks and that would help hugely, you may get closer to 2.5k then.
 
As others have said it would help greatly if you could get her out to some shows and get proven results (and some decent photos!).

If she has been properly hunted and is proven to be good then you would probably find it would be easier to sell her to a hunting home a bit before the start of the next season.

A safe, sane horse is what a lot of people are after although the fact she is an ex-racer will probably put a lot off - not me as I've had a few ex-racers and always found them great to hack.

Price wise without a competition record I would guess advertise at £1,500 and see if you had any interest.
 
You can sort the loading very easily if you know what you are doing.

The rest of it is harder because BP is right, she is a project with age. At her age it doesn't matter what you do with her, she hasn't got 5-10 years of experience under her belt. I'm afraid low mileage doesn't really make a difference. Teeth start failing in the next few years whatever else might be completely fine.

Personally I wouldn't pigeon hole her as anything particularly not a MD share.

Get her out and get good photos showing what she can do. A vid of her hacking safely in traffic. If she is very safe to hack that's your big selling point.

It's unlikely anyone will want to buy a 15yr old horse and start competing it. There's no point. Your market is a happy hacker who might want to do the odd little course of jumps and a dressage rest so work towards those aims and get the loading sorted. Make sure her manners are impeccable on the ground.
 
be positive said:
I thought they were cheaper in Ireland or do we just get the young ones sent over here so you are left with limited choice of proven ones, maybe we need to ship our older ones over and bring the box back with the youngsters.
Click to expand...

I think if you stack them up side by side, they definitely cost less in Ireland including the conversion rate. I just know that horses with a good bit of experience under their belt, jumping 2ft9 happily, safe, sound with no vices or ailments at that age are worth their weight in gold, and they're priced at around that here at home - or at least they are priced at that in the ad and as ever the seller will come down ;) There are always exceptions to the rule of course.

My original price was meant to be in euros so that would be about £2-2.3k stg.

I just spotted that there's been issues with napping; also I missed that she was an older project OP. How many years experience has she under her belt? I'd probably adjust my original price to around the £1-2k mark (in sterling!) if you could sort the napping.
 
Last edited:
AshleighEmma said:
Not the same horse - shes another problem altogether!
'cheap project with age against her' little harsh don't you think!

I'm only looking for advice and desirable traits. not for my horses to be slammed.

Thanks
Click to expand...

My cheap project comment was if it was the same horse, if it is not then fair enough but it did sound as if it was the same one. i haven't slammed her otherwise just been realistic about her prospects as a teenagers competition horse, which she is unlikely to be with little or no experience, if you can get some good results then you may be lucky and sell well.
 
The 14yr old ex racer who was dead to the leg and had no basic schooling in mid February, is a whole different kettle of fish to the one you describe above. Even with lots and lots of work shes still going to be very limited in experience. Shes also a TB which puts a lot of people off, then shes a mare, mid teens and 15.1hh which puts more people off, so its a very limited market. Your market is if shes a bombproof safe hack who is forgiving of someone who might be a bit rusty, and will be generally very easy for the pet horse owner.

If I was you I'd be working on that aspect. Lots and lots of fun rides with her so you can say shes good in that sort of situation, maybe the odd local show and I'd hack her anywhere and everywhere so shes seen a lot of life. If she can tootle round a fun ride on a loose rein, not hot up cantering in company, hack alone safely, be pretty easy to handle etc then thats your market. If shes nicely put together with a pretty head and nice temperament then you might get your 2k. If shes not all of those things then her value reduces dramatically.
 
I don't want to be rude, but 2ft9 is no height at all to be jumping, so I do think you are going to be marketing a horse with no proven experience at a decent level and I always think a mother daughter share is for the daughter to be quite competitive on and for the mother to feel safe enough to hack/keep ticking over/compete at a more modest level. A bombproof safe hack is a desirable commodity, but not one I have ever found it necessary to pay lots of money for.
 
TB 15 years old small jumps tiny fences honestly I would be thinking £ 1500 to £1000 .
15 year olds with good records can fetch good money but with no record behind it I think you will struggle .
 
This is a major generalisation of course, but it seems to me that people who go shopping for 15 year old horses are doing so either because they want a schoolmaster with an established competition record a good couple of levels above where they're riding at the moment, or because they want a confidence-building safe conveyance for a bit of hacking, schooling, lessons, maybe a bit of low-level unaffiliated DR/SJ type stuff, and perhaps the odd sponsored ride, pleasure ride etc.

This horse certainly doesn't sound like the first of those, and an ex-racer, or just a TB, isn't a breed that would appeal to most of the people looking for the latter.

So although I'm sure she'll be someone's dream horse, I think your market will be quite limited. May well appeal to a teenager, but many parents would prefer something that is still likely to be young enough to sell on if the child goes to uni, loses interest etc. Possibly a small lady with a small budget, who would prefer something younger but would be prepared to compromise on age for affordability.

I agree with those saying get evidence of her being safe and sane doing as many different activities as possible. I am not the best judge of prices, but a friend of mine recently bought something similar (although that was a 16.1 weight-carrying gentleman of a quality cob with a competition past, so actually not that similar at all) for well under £1k.
 
Is she pretty?

If she is, I think your market is actually the older lady wanting a horse she can fuss over and occasionally ride without having to worry about it. Emphasise that she can be ridden only every so often and be perfectly sane (if she can be!) though is happy to be ridden every day too. Pictures of her being ridden by someone who looks like your target audience (happy hacker for older lady being ridden in sales pics by young person always looks a bit off). Mention lack of health problems and don't mention she's a TB in the ad (obviously tell people if they ask, but there's no need to put in on the advert IYSWIM?). A well written advert and good pictures of her hacking, on a fun ride, meeting traffic etc. should see you get about £1500.
 
Thank you for all your comments and different angles. I'm really enjoying the work I'm doing with her so am in no rush to sell her however, I did buy her as a project so it's always been my intentions to improve her and then move her on into whatever market I deem appropriate and what she will work best with. I'm not stupid, I obviously understand she's not going to be a 'big money horse' with limited experience and her age being over the hill. I just wanted some ideas, and marketing tips as this particular horse has been more of a business venture, anything you want to sell on you have to look upon in a different light, although she is like a child to me at the moment (I'm terrible with my fur babies).

All of your comments both positive and negative are useful whether it to spur me on or to adapt her schooling style and/or get her out to more competitions towards the summer!

Thanks for your comments - much appreciated! x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top