Should I sell my daughters outgrown pony?

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BuzzyBee13

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Hi, My 14 years old daughter completly outgrew her 12.2hh (she is 5ft 5"!) and now has a 14.2hh pony. So her little 12.2hh is left in a field and although she is only lightweight (8.5 stone) she can only hack him out so he is completly wasted and ideally I would like to sell him however my daughter has a fantastic bond with him and would be completly heartbroken if I sold him, whenever I mention it she bursts into tears. I wanted to wait until she had bonded with her new pony but she is still very attached to her little one, he follows her everywhere and whinnys whenever he see's her. I considered loaning him out but my daughter says its pratically the same as selling him. He's 13 years old and very talented so if I sold him I woul get about £2500 for him. We could really do with the money with the economic downturn but my daughter says sell my new pony then. Sorry its so long but what do you think? thanks in advance x
 
Could you get a sharer for the pony? They could contribute to the financial and/or care side of the pony and ride him... That way he stays with you... but you get help with the costs/care/exercising....
 
I am the last person to give you advice here - I still have the 11.2, 12.2, 13.2, and 14.1!!

I couldn't bear to sell any of them, and I did as Katy has suggested - I had sharers over the years so that I had help with the work and the exercising and something towards the costs, but we always kept control over what could be done with them and it largely worked very well.

It was a good compromise - daughter wasn't happy at first, but I explained that it was better for the ponies to be ridden so they didn't get lami/bored/fat and also that some other child could have a fabulous experience. She had to grit her teeth a few times, but I don't regret keeping them, we have had fun watching other kids ride and do shows/sponsored rides etc on them over the years.
 
Agree with Llewelyn, if the pony is as talanted as he sounds there will be children falling over themselves to share him. Also if parents want their children to have a pony without all the responsibility this is the ideal way for them to start, it also means that he won't be passed on again when the next child grows too tall for him. Good luck hope it all works out for you all.
 
aw your post is heartbreaking. can i share my experience from both sides of the argument? we have kept the first pony who is now 23, roley did a wonderful job for us and although he dumped her about a million times will always be tasha's favorite. he is allowed to be "free range" on the yard which makes him feel good about himself and we take him to local showing shows for veterans - the judges love him - and he always wins pony with the prettiest face! and he is an absolute star for pony rides at the school fete, which he loves doing, it makes him feel proud. tasha now has two second ponies to compete and we absolutely adore them. i know we will never part with them - they are good ponies and i will be able to find lovely loan homes for them when she cant ride them any more. i will never sell either of them. however, both these ponies came from lovely families who would have loved to have kept them, but realistically said you cant retire a pony at 7 or 10!! if they hadnt sold them we wouldnt have them to love! i keep in touch with the old owners, send copies of pix from shows and email regularly to keep them up to date - we have become good friends this way. tasha speaks to the daughters on facebook. i do believe that good ponies from good people can go to good homes. hope this helps xx
 
I loaned out my old pony to a very close family friend (we couldn't sell him because he was left to me in someones will!)

I was really upset at the thought of letting someone else ride him and I suppose even love him at first but then I realised that where as he was once my 'world' now he wasn't being given as much attention as I had another one to see to ride etc. I thought how I'd like him to be someones 'whole world' again and to be honest as soon as he went on loan he looked younger again for being ridden more often.

I'd try to explain to your daughter this fact and maybe put him on loan with a view to buy, then if it really still upsets her when hes been gone a while you can have him back but hopefully you'll find that when hes 'out of sight out of mind' she may feel better. Especially when she sees him having fun and being loved.

good luck x
 
i don't think you should sell him,a bond between horse and owner is something way more important than money, i once told my dad that if we lost everything blue would be the thing we kept even if we were left standing at the side of the road with her!! i have thought about selling her but i know that i could never do it!! so yes maybe try to find someone that would come and ride the pony 2-3 times a week for a small fee? good luck :)
 
I can't tell you what you and your daughter should do, but if Rosie's original family had not sold her she wouldn't be with us today and I would have missed out on a fabulous horse.

She's only 14.2/14.3 so her original owner probably grew out of her too. She is perfect for me and we love her dearly.

One day I hope to find her original family so that they can know that she is still having a happy life with a new family. As I am 46 I won't be growing out of her :)
 
I had my 12.2 for 6 years and she taught me everything. She was also a bit of a nightmare and when I got my new horse (who I still have, 12 years on) she only got worse. They also both got mud fever and were in 24 hours and frankly it was awful. She got pretty nasty with the lack of work and attention and although I was sad to see her go, I knew she'd be a million times happier with her new (unsuspecting) owner! In fact, my Mum and sister had a good cry when she went, but I knew it was for the best.

I was sent photos and updates so I knew we'd made the right decision. That said - you'd have to pries the current horse from my cold dead fingers and I have often burst into tears should anyone dare mention selling her.

It sounds like getting the pony out on loan might be a good solution? Or, do what she says and sell the new one! You have to be realistic about what you can afford - it's only now I realise the money my parents ploughed into this hobby and kind of wish I'd had to take more responsibility for that sooner.

Tough decision. Maybe try to make her realise it would be best for the pony to move on too?
 
My mum and I regret selling my first pony, she was an absolute legend, and I'd love to have been able to trace her, but to no avail :(
I would try and find a nice loan home, but vet it very carefully, as sometimes all is not as it seems! Good Luck with whatever you decide :)
 
Oh my, I can relate to this, my daughter is exactly the same and said many of the same things! She's 5ft7, 8.5 stone and still rides her 13.1 pony andstill lightly competes with him. He has no trouble carrying her but she does get a lot of comment and they can't jump as high as they did when she was shorter.

The bond with her new horse has strengthened quite a lot in the last year, and the horse is at a different yard so she tends to the horse and I look after the pony most of the time but she faithfully visits him 3/4 times a week to groom and ride him and make sure that mum is keeping him up to her very exacting standards. :D

There have been a few half-hearted attempts to get a share rider for him but he's quite strong and forward and he lives on an old farm with one other horse and no facilities so not very attractive to many young riders, but eventually I think we'll try a bit harder.
 
We usually had to sell to finance the next step up....but if you don't and the pony is really nice then do consider putting it on loan - it will give some child a lovely time and you will be happy that the pony is still useful.
 
Hii, thanks for everyones reply's and kind words. We advertised him for share/loan and have had a few replies, and some came to try him, first two families wern't suitable but one family who came him were perfect and have taken him on loan, my daughter is devasted but he's only been gone a couple of weeks and we have been to see him twice and he is settleing in really well. Now onto my question the lady rang today to say that he is a fabolous pony and made me an offer for £3200 (which is probs more than he is worth) and I couldnt ask for a better home for him but my daughter is begging me not to sell him but I think this home is absolutly perfect so what do you guys think? thanks in advance xx
 
awwwh that is great that he has found a new home if it was me i would take the offer it was done to me when i was young had my 13.2 sold was devestated but got over it! now got my 14.3 (im 18) and well i have lernt that you have to move 4 ward and well its a hard decission it is one that has to be made £3200 is alot off money in the current climate an more than you where exespecting so if it was me i would make the desision soon rather than later good luck :)
 
Definitely take up the offer... You know it's a good home :)
Your daughter will be upset at first... but she'll get over it... she has to learn that it is often part of horse ownership... few people can keep every horse/pony they ever own... I had to sell my 13.2 last year... it was so sad but he's gone to a lovely family and you get over it pretty quickly :) I can just have fun on the new pony now :)
Good luck with whatever you decide :)
 
i think what you have at the moment is a good compromise, if you really need the money and your daughter would rather keep her old 12.2hh then i would let it go that way..
 
I feel for you. My daughter has out grown her 14hh superstar. She too has a real bond with this pony and every time we talk about selling him she cries. We have to sell him as I can't keep up the cost of two liveries for ever. I still haven't been able to bring myself to advertise him. If offering him for share is a viable option then I would go with that. I wish I could.
 
Gosh, that's a hard one :). I think it depends on how you think your daughter will 'cope' with no longer having any connections with him. My mum sold my first pony (I had no say) and I still think of her 26 years later and hope that life was kind to her but I am a soppy sort.

If you do sell could you ask for first refusal if they ever do decide to sell him on? Even though it isn't binding, they may be nice enough to do so.

Basically, loaning you have a say in his life, selling you don't.

I don't envy you your position having a teenage daughter myself who still has her pony :)
 
Maybe give it a bit longer before finally selling, assure the loaners that you do not plan to end the loan to them and they will have first refusal when it comes to selling. If you're not certain then give yourselves some time, they'll wait if they're serious about the pony. You don't want any resentment from your Daughter.

My Daughters pony came to us this way, we had her on loan. She was the girls 1st pony and she'd broken her and brought her on. No one ever thought she'd part with her but she was really happy to see her out with a new little rider and having fun again. We still keep in touch and give her update about how the pony is and what she's done. She's always welcome to visit too.

Hopefully your Daughter will see it's better for the pony to be out doing what she's good at - and that is a lot of money :-)
 
I don't think I would sell yet unless you really need the money now, and cant risk not having the same offer in the future. It will probably be really upsetting for your daugher, and after only a couple of weeks I dont think you can guarantee that they are as good a home as you would like to think they are.

I would make it clear to your daugher that selling is an option if the home really like him, then explain to the loaners that you have no reason to ask for him back as long as he is happy and useful, so his position with them is really secure. If you have visited a couple of times in the few weeks he has been away, you also might want to cut back on that so they feel like they arent being constantly watched and can enjoy him in peace.

If possible I would try to get your daughter involved in the timing of the decision to sell him, as she will probably come around when she is enjoying the new one and can see the old one in a really good home.
 
I'm currently selling my first pony (13.2hh 9 year old, had him for five years :() and yes, it is heartbreaking! I'm taking him to his new owners tomorrow....I just spent all of today crying. However heartbreaking it is though, I do think it had to be done. Like yours, he is very talented, and he can't just be stuck in a field doing only hacking, as he really likes getting out and competing!

I've changed my mind so many times over it, and should really have sold him years ago (I'm 16 now - far too old to compete on him!) but I'm kind of glad I made that decision, even though it hurts so much. He's got a lovely 9 year old to bring through the Pony Club now, and I'm sure he'll be really happy with them.

I think, if he gets bored just stuck in the field, for his sake I think you should. She'll get over it eventually, and then she'll be able to form a special bond with her new pony :)
 
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