What to sell?

[pistolpete]

I’ve had to retire my lovely Highland at 13 years old due to a stifle injury. I’ve found a nice flat field for him to retire in but my question is what of his extensive tack and wardrobe to I keep and what do I sell? May have another horse in the future but won’t have two again so it might be a while. I’ve got some really good quality tack and rugs which will be hard to replace.

 

[Spotherisk]

Don’t rush, just hang on to it for a bit...

 

[Northern Hare]

Really sorry to hear about the injury to your lovely horse which has forced his retirement. ?

I lost my lovely old retired horse last year. I'm still undecided as to whether I'll ever get another horse, so got everything cleaned and bagged up and stored up in the loft.

Then I got an email from eBay telling me of their special "Max £1 Selling Fees" weekend coming up. I thought I'd have a look and list a couple of saddle pads.... Then I got carried away and in the end I had about 50 listings over about three weekends, all really good quality stuff, and I got fantastic prices for it all - I was amazed tbh. But I'm so pleased it's all gone to good homes, much better than staying in trunks in the loft!

I took a bit of a gamble and listed everything as auction listings, starting at £0.01 but I think that got people's notice and I had people contacting me asking me what else I was going to be listing!

I contacted every buyer about shipping timescales etc and it was really lovely hearing where all the things were going. I got great feedback and even photos of the items in use at their new homes. The items went to the UK, US and Australia!

I figured that with online shopping i could quickly get everything I needed should I ever get another horse. It was actually a very positive exercise, kind of moving on. ?

 

[Sail_away]

If you think you’ll use it in the future it’s worth keeping hold of. If you need to free up some space/cash then saddle pads, bits, lunging equipment, boots and rugs are easy to sell on. I’d personally keep quality leather tack that you feel would be hard to replace. Perhaps worth putting a few items you’re not too keen on up for sale and then see how you feel about the rest?

 

[Ceifer]

Don’t rush, just hang on to it for a bit...

This. I lost my big WB and sold pretty much everything when I then purchased a smaller horse. Sold her as we didn’t gel then ended up with a big horse again ?‍ I kicked myself as I’d sold some really nice rugs that would have lasted years.
luckily I hadn’t managed to sell my saddle and that fitted the new horse perfectly

 

[fredflop]

You don’t have to sell it all in one go. Sort through your stuff and put the cheaper stuff in a pile. For example, that spare cheapo girth you bought, or the plain snaffle that’s been lurking in the tack box.

Rugs... sort through what you have. If the horse is going on grass livery it’s certainly worth keeping some. I’d keep any expensive cooler/show rugs, and list the rest.

saddlepads... unless they are the matchy matchy ones, they probably won’t sell. However worth keeping a couple and listing the rest.

if you have the space I’d keep the saddle and decent bridle.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

If you think you might be able to use your stuff, just put it away safely. You won't get anywhere near what you paid for it or what it will cost to replace it, if you sell it.

 

[criso]

If you have really good quality rugs in very good condition then I would at least keep one of each type. When I went from 2 horses to 1, I downsized the rugs a bit. They had 1 each plus a spare. They were expensive but realistically I don't need 3 of each weight.

I would keep any decent bridles you have as they are more likely to fit another horse and don't take space. I never get rid of bits as again they don't take up space and it's useful to have different ones to try.

Saddles are tricky, unless you end up with the same type of horse, they may not fit. And in my experience even within the same type, they didn't fit. But the market for 2nd hand saddles is very much that certain types sell, people are really keen on adjustable these days.

Everything else, I might keep one of each just in case and get rid of duplicates. But only if they are good quality. I wouldn't bother to hang on to things like cheap tendon boots, head collars etc.