Solutions or Suggestions Sincerely Sought

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Worried1

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Can you tell it's almost the end of term? :p

I have a good friend who has been trying to sell her horse for the last four months. I won't post any details or links to the ad for fear of breaching T&C ;)

It is a tricky one, she was ill advised when she bought him and he is not the right horse for her, he is however a lovely chap but in the nicest possible way he is a nothing horse, does a sweet test, pops a fence, easy to do, cute and mannerly but... he is a twit to hack, either in company or alone.

He is not spooky and is perfect in traffic but will stop and try to spin. Mr Worried hacked him regularly when he was with us and he got no better but got no worse, that's just him.

He left us to go to go to a professional sales yard to be sold as we felt he was more suited as an allrounder and we would not do him justice, so she sourced a sales yard who had XC fences, showjumps, as well as regular outings to local centres for BS etc and I encouraged her feeling he would be best advertised as an allrounder with the opportunities for him to get a solid competition record and facilities to try him as such.

He has been advertised with no success, personally I feel the price is way to high for what he is. So at the weekend we had a long chat and went through some options.

I think he would be ideal for a riding school or college, he is well-schooled and safe and is solid elementary/medium, and also honest round 1m.

Ideally she wants to sell him as she has been paying a fair whack in sales livery and now simply wants to find him the right home. I suggested he come back to us while we found him the right home but we are more expensive than the sales livery (not by much I might add!!!!) and having said goodbye once she doesn't want the upheaval of bringing him back and getting attached again which I do understand.

So the questions are...

What would you pay for a horse like this? She would happily let him go cheaply to the right home but where to you find someone with a limited budget without attracting people looking to make a fast buck?

Do Riding schools buy horses or do they prefer to loan?

What is Hadlow College like for loaning? They are local to us, others we could try are Plumpton and Writtle...

Alternative suggestions welcome and thank you.
 
Mmmmm my first thought was that something is not really an 'allrounder' if it doesn't hack - or perhaps that is just my perception of what an allrounder is - but I would certainly expect to be able to do sponsored rides etc with the horse. However, not everyone wants to hack so it's not necessarily a deal breaker.....

During my time at Plumpton at least - no horses were purchased by the College. We had Staff/student liveries, working liveries and long term loans. A lot of the horses went home over the summer break as there were no students on campus to assist with the yard and we had limited turnout. The real long term 'loans' were turned out for the summer if for whatever reason they couldn't go back to their owner, but this was only a handful. The only horses owned by the College at the time were youngstock bred there. Of course - things may have changed, but with funding cuts in the FE sector I suspect that loaning is still their preferred option.

Is it worth contacting your local RC's. Sounds as though he could be a good competitive horse for someone that doesn't mind about hacking?
 
Meant to say - I guess you are fairly local to Ditchling Common Stud then? Wonder if it is worth contacting them? Back in the day they were very good for schoolmaster lessons and had some nice Medium/AM horses there for clients to ride......
 
I am also in the gang that says - it's not an allrounder if it doesn't hack - alone OR in company. I would think you will find him a hard horse to place, because no riding school will want him if they cannot send him out on a group hack. Competition only horses have to be really good at dressage to find a dressage home where they do not occasionally hack.

In order to find the right home, you will need to make it really clear that he does not hack sensibly and price him accordingly. If you say he is a solid elementary/medium horse - does he have points at that level ? if so, it will make a lot of difference. If he has only done unaffiliated stuff, you are back to square 1.
 
He is sweet but not really a 'schoolmaster' as he is a little modest so would not offer real feel for movements, so I think he is not really suited to a dressage yard but it is probably worth a call.

I was at Warwickshire College and remember the vast majority were privately owned but they did have a few. If he was succesfully loaned to a college she would not want him back over the holidays, I know we used to keep a few over the summer so am guessing they might make an exception for a useful school horse. I also seem to remeber having a few that didn't hack.

I agree totally, for some people hacking is a key aspect of choosing a horse so do you think he would be better marketed on Project Horses or similar?
 
I think of project horses as a place for delinquents. You say he can safely jump and do a medium test - he just isn't sensible out hacking. Put a comprehensive advert in somewhere like HorseQuest, with some good photo's. Make it clear how good he is to handle etc. Just also make it clear he is not a hack. I have a friend who likes to compete her dressage horse and she never hacks. She is not a pro - she just knows the horse will spook and whip round. She accepts it doesn't hack. Just make sure the price reflects his "problem".
 
He has a solid record BD of 66% EVERYTIME, but is in Novice points, hence him being nice but not a wroldbeater, he has been jumping in the sales yard so has a record (not sure if it is BS or unaffiliated) but there is videos etc.

Maybe it is a reflection of the roads around us but very few riding schools offer hacking unless they have direct access to off road riding.

He is fine off road so maybe I could persuade Mr Worried to whizz him round a sponsored ride to see how he goes....
 
He has a lot of plus points but hacking is an issue, so do you have any ideas on price?

We are primarily a dressage yard and have nothing that we would happily hack on it's own, most go out in company and we have one that we would never hack on its own. We expect to have the odd hysterics over the usual like, lone bags, cow in hedge, etc. He is no worse than this but at some point on a hack he will attempt to turnaround and bizzarely usually for no reason.

However he is sweet and obedient in the school and very safe, but he is not good enough to be marketed as a 'dressage' horse with potential but could give someone a lot of fun having a play.
 
Not currently its on sales livery, but the owner is in Kent so if they opt for a long term loan I think she would prefer it to stay in the sout-east.
 
Have a look on Horsequest, there are often "wanted" adverts, and if he remotely fits the bill she should give them a ring. I know three people who have sold horses this way. Not everyone wants to hack.
 
Doesn't sound like an impossible horse to sell, more likely one that should be marketed at the right price. Provided he is no older than 12 I would expect him to sell for about 4k but this may be nowhere near what your friend wants for him given what she has paid out for schooling livery. Unfortunately she may have to accept a loss on him.
 
Thanks Booboos, I don't think he an imppossible horse to sell just not sure his current asking price is an accurate reflection of his current worth.
 
Does it hunt?

The reason I ask is I have just sold a horse I was really worried about selling but wrote a very honest advert and I had really suitable people come forwards. This horse is a good allrounder but never going to be a world beater but he hunts like a dream. This horse was fairly cheap but that was for other reasons as has hock spavins. He sold to the first person to come and view.
 
You would be surprised what people will put up with for a good and safe reliable hunter. My horse is no saint and not suitable for novices but everyone who rang wanted a nice reliable horse who would do the job especially for hunting.
 
Plenty of riders out there who don't hack.
I know on he's on sales livery but can she advsertise him as well? If so bung an advert up on horesequest etc, stress he's well behaved at shows with good comp record he just doesn't hack and I'm sure she'll sell him.
 
LEC said:
You would be surprised what people will put up with for a good and safe reliable hunter. My horse is no saint and not suitable for novices but everyone who rang wanted a nice reliable horse who would do the job especially for hunting.
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Yep I second this, a proper hunter will be double the price of an 'average' competition horse, I don't think his bad points sound bad enough for project horse, and FWIW most of mine are 95 - 99% perfect to hack out but its the 5% that means they aren't everyones cup of tea. I would expect a rider capable of riding him at his current level to be able to cope with his 'moments' on a hack?
 
Baggybreeches said:
Yep I second this, a proper hunter will be double the price of an 'average' competition horse, I don't think his bad points sound bad enough for project horse, and FWIW most of mine are 95 - 99% perfect to hack out but its the 5% that means they aren't everyones cup of tea. I would expect a rider capable of riding him at his current level to be able to cope with his 'moments' on a hack?
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This.
I wouldn't say any of the horses at my yard from scatty ponies to young comp horses to high level dressage horses are perfect to hack. They all have their moments every now and again and some of the horses are pretty sharp. I think you will be surprised at what people will put up with so they can have a nice days hunting and the next weekend go and win a rossie at BD.
 
I don't think the not hacking thing is a deal breaker.

I'm the target market for an all rounder - do a bit of Unaff dressage and SJ - probably would BD if it was my mares thing and I hack maybe a handful of times a year? It doesn't interest me, pony is perfectly safe to hack - jogs home and gets a bit spooky at times - but it just isnt my thing.
 
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