Williampony
New User
So recently I've been to see a few ponies to replace my boy who I bought at 16 last year and has a ruptured ligament that will never fully heal. I've been looking for about a 6 weeks and have spent the last 5 weekends going to see various different types of ponies. I'm quite picky so it took me a while to find some candidates on the internet websites/through word of mouth before I even went to see any. The first one I saw was a really sweet pony that had done a bit of everything - PC, eventing, SJ, Dressage etc. It didn't put a hoof wrong but I just didn't seem to 'click' with it which was a shame.The next one I saw was not cheap, and seemed really sweet again. I went to see this one twice and discovered he got a little excited when jumping, which I quite liked. I was told that he was never silly and always came back to you. Things seemed to be going really well until I was contacted by someone I knew saying they'd seen this pony buck so much at a show that its rider came off. I was alarmed and contacted the owner to see if the person had made a mistake. Instead of denying that it was the same pony, the owner replied saying that the rider had 'lost her balance'. I found this hard to believe and swiftly started my search again.
Last weekend we went to see some ponies at a dealers. I was a bit cautious as I know dealers can sometimes get a pony in, do literally no work on it, and then sell it for three times as much. I went anyway because a mutual friend knew the person who was selling the ponies. We were told on the phone that the dun pony was better and was more of a pc pony, but when we arrived we were soon told that that was not the case and the dun had been bought back by the dealer and they had discovered it had started to buck. This put me off as we had traveled a fairly long way to get to the place to see this dun pony. Anyway, we were told some odd story about the dun pony which didn't really ring true so I rode the grey pony first. The pony had apparently been jumping 1m25 in Ireland and would be brilliant to affiliate in eventing. After seeing its flatwork, I was skeptical to say the least. Its head was everywhere and it seemed in pain to be honest. When I mounted the pony, it seemed calm and very relaxed and I let it on a loose reign. However, as soon as I gathered my reigns, its head perked up and started swinging around again. The first trot was very relaxed and I felt confident even though I hadn't ridden for a while, the second trot was much more energetic and not relaxed at all. I asked her to canter and she obliged, thrusting into a very 'forward' canter. I had to check my breathing to stay relaxed as the pony got faster and faster whilst she stood in the middle of the arena on her phone completely ignoring the situation. The lady spent the next ten minutes helping me to ask for trot after canter. If you gave a half halt to the pony, it just pulled more and went faster, so all you could do was stay relaxed and hope that it would decide to slow down. She told me to go on a circle which I did, but then she told me to stop pulling on my inside reign. I was not pulling on my inside reign, I was opening my hand to guide the pony. I did as she said and the pony carried on going large as I expected. Of course this was my fault! Next was jumping, which I could only trot because I was scared the pony would take off down the arena again. After that ordeal, I dismounted and she walked out the dun pony.
It was looking everywhere and spooking at everything. The lady didn't do ANY warming up and just took off at a canter and attempted to jump a cross pole. The pony refused. She carried on down the arena 'hopping' with its back legs (not exactly 'bucking' as she described it). To be fair the next jump was a decent size spread which the pony did jump, after a sore beating in the ribs. She new the pony had performed badly but still had the nerve to tell me to get on the pony. I replied saying 'I'm not sure I really want to ride her in case she bucks'. I was trying to avoid saying the real reason which was 'that pony looks like an arse'. The lady replied saying that she asked me whether I wanted to ride the pony before in case it bucked and I had replied that I did. The thing was, she hadn't asked me anything. I was fairly miffed by this comment as it wasn't my fault that the pony was rubbish!
We left fairly swiftly after this - it was a terrible experience which I wish never happens again.
A warning to anyone trying to sell a horse:
Don't put lies in the advert and then forget what you put in it when someone comes to look at the pony.
Don't tell someone a rubbish fairytale story about the pony that no one will believe.
Don't stand in the middle of the arena on the phone whilst your horse/pony tanks off with the rider.
And lastly, as a dealer it always has a good effect on a potential buyer if you act professional. Have everything sorted before they come and don't spend an hour showing pictures of the pony- it's not just your own time your wasting!
I want to ask everyone on this forum their bad experiences when going to look at a horse/pony. It would be nice to know that I'm not the only one that people try to do one over on!
Last weekend we went to see some ponies at a dealers. I was a bit cautious as I know dealers can sometimes get a pony in, do literally no work on it, and then sell it for three times as much. I went anyway because a mutual friend knew the person who was selling the ponies. We were told on the phone that the dun pony was better and was more of a pc pony, but when we arrived we were soon told that that was not the case and the dun had been bought back by the dealer and they had discovered it had started to buck. This put me off as we had traveled a fairly long way to get to the place to see this dun pony. Anyway, we were told some odd story about the dun pony which didn't really ring true so I rode the grey pony first. The pony had apparently been jumping 1m25 in Ireland and would be brilliant to affiliate in eventing. After seeing its flatwork, I was skeptical to say the least. Its head was everywhere and it seemed in pain to be honest. When I mounted the pony, it seemed calm and very relaxed and I let it on a loose reign. However, as soon as I gathered my reigns, its head perked up and started swinging around again. The first trot was very relaxed and I felt confident even though I hadn't ridden for a while, the second trot was much more energetic and not relaxed at all. I asked her to canter and she obliged, thrusting into a very 'forward' canter. I had to check my breathing to stay relaxed as the pony got faster and faster whilst she stood in the middle of the arena on her phone completely ignoring the situation. The lady spent the next ten minutes helping me to ask for trot after canter. If you gave a half halt to the pony, it just pulled more and went faster, so all you could do was stay relaxed and hope that it would decide to slow down. She told me to go on a circle which I did, but then she told me to stop pulling on my inside reign. I was not pulling on my inside reign, I was opening my hand to guide the pony. I did as she said and the pony carried on going large as I expected. Of course this was my fault! Next was jumping, which I could only trot because I was scared the pony would take off down the arena again. After that ordeal, I dismounted and she walked out the dun pony.
It was looking everywhere and spooking at everything. The lady didn't do ANY warming up and just took off at a canter and attempted to jump a cross pole. The pony refused. She carried on down the arena 'hopping' with its back legs (not exactly 'bucking' as she described it). To be fair the next jump was a decent size spread which the pony did jump, after a sore beating in the ribs. She new the pony had performed badly but still had the nerve to tell me to get on the pony. I replied saying 'I'm not sure I really want to ride her in case she bucks'. I was trying to avoid saying the real reason which was 'that pony looks like an arse'. The lady replied saying that she asked me whether I wanted to ride the pony before in case it bucked and I had replied that I did. The thing was, she hadn't asked me anything. I was fairly miffed by this comment as it wasn't my fault that the pony was rubbish!
We left fairly swiftly after this - it was a terrible experience which I wish never happens again.
A warning to anyone trying to sell a horse:
Don't put lies in the advert and then forget what you put in it when someone comes to look at the pony.
Don't tell someone a rubbish fairytale story about the pony that no one will believe.
Don't stand in the middle of the arena on the phone whilst your horse/pony tanks off with the rider.
And lastly, as a dealer it always has a good effect on a potential buyer if you act professional. Have everything sorted before they come and don't spend an hour showing pictures of the pony- it's not just your own time your wasting!
I want to ask everyone on this forum their bad experiences when going to look at a horse/pony. It would be nice to know that I'm not the only one that people try to do one over on!
