What would you pay??

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EbonyJayne

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Just a general question, trying not to go into too much. What would you pay for a 4year old dalesxcob gelding 14.2 been used in a riding school for around 6month for beginners, total kick along type.
 
equi said:
I wouldn't buy a 4yo riding school pony for beginners. So nothing.
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I have sold 5 and 6 year old RS ponies very successfully for beginner riders - it very much depends on the temperament of the pony and how well they've been started off. However, four I would think slightly too young, even with a cracking personality.
 
If is is quiet enough for beginners in the riding school I would guess it would develop quite a personality once in a private home It also approaching the kevins age of 5 so may well need a lot of work to keep it settled. I also think it may well be in need of lots of sensitive schooling to make it a private horse as so much changes for young horses between 4 and 8. As to worth it is worth what someone will pay but I would consider it a project and price it accordingly so between 1 and 1.5 grand at the most
 
If a four year old has already been used for beginners in a RS I wouldn't pay anything for it! I wouldn't want any 4 year old that had had the work load of an adult horse andcertainly not one that had had unbalanced riders on board.
 
Presumably it was broken at 3 and a half, then if that is the case it has been thrown straight into daily lessons (sorry but what riding school puts people on a 3 and half year old pony?!) then I wouldnt go near it with a barge pole. Will have done too much too young, with total novices on its back teaching it some very bad habits. Will most likely only respond to people flapping around on its back, pony club style kicks to get it moving forwards and its mouth will be on the way to being ruined by novices jabbing it in the mouth each time they ask it to move forwards.

If you are looking for a horse for a beginner, then find something a bit older (definitely over 10, preferably over 12), if you are willing to go even older then you can pick up some fabulous, well schooled, gentle types that are 15 or 16 that are very well priced because of their age. The older the horse gets the lower the price, and quite often if you find one that has been well-looked after it will be a perfect schoolmaster that is well trained to the *correct* aids and will teach a beginner the right way.

Dont waste time with something that clearly has been put in the hands of a poor riding school, no riding school I have been to or know of would put a horse that young straight into riding lessons with its students. It wont respond to any 'normal' aids, wont have been schooled properly by anyone that knows what they are doing, and if this is how they approach their horses at this particular riding school I wouldnt be surprised if there are some health issues - if it doesnt have any now, it most certainly will in the future.

Stay well away!
 
kc100 said:
Dont waste time with something that clearly has been put in the hands of a poor riding school, no riding school I have been to or know of would put a horse that young straight into riding lessons with its students. It wont respond to any 'normal' aids, wont have been schooled properly by anyone that knows what they are doing, and if this is how they approach their horses at this particular riding school I wouldnt be surprised if there are some health issues - if it doesnt have any now, it most certainly will in the future.

Stay well away!
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Sorry, but I find this a bit offensive. You absolutely do not know what kind of workload a young horse in a riding school has. At the RS I worked at, we regularly used the quiet 4/5/6 year olds in the lessons, but it didn't mean any of the results you describe above.

They were used in the very small kiddy lessons, where they are on a lead rein and no jabbing, and we purposefully used kids with light seat and reasonably good balance for the youngsters. I would also use older, capable riders (not all RS riders are bumpy novices!), and would use the very quiet hacking work for fitness in between schooling them myself so they learned how to go properly.

What we ended up with was beautifully schooled ponies who were then ready for pony club if the riding school life did not suit them, and knew how to be generous with their rider as well as pick up and school well. They certainly did not have the same workload as an older, experienced horse, doing only a few lessons a week max, and we very carefully watched them and chose their riders and workload. And despite some of the ponies we had as babies in the RS now in their 20's there was never any reason to suspect the way we brought them on did them any harm.

It does depend on the RS, and anyone selling a 4 yo as a genuine well schooled beginner horse I do doubt, but what you have claimed is full of assumptions and offensive to the way some of us bring on our horses.
 
khalswitz said:
Sorry, but I find this a bit offensive. You absolutely do not know what kind of workload a young horse in a riding school has. At the RS I worked at, we regularly used the quiet 4/5/6 year olds in the lessons, but it didn't mean any of the results you describe above.

They were used in the very small kiddy lessons, where they are on a lead rein and no jabbing, and we purposefully used kids with light seat and reasonably good balance for the youngsters. I would also use older, capable riders (not all RS riders are bumpy novices!), and would use the very quiet hacking work for fitness in between schooling them myself so they learned how to go properly.

What we ended up with was beautifully schooled ponies who were then ready for pony club if the riding school life did not suit them, and knew how to be generous with their rider as well as pick up and school well. They certainly did not have the same workload as an older, experienced horse, doing only a few lessons a week max, and we very carefully watched them and chose their riders and workload. And despite some of the ponies we had as babies in the RS now in their 20's there was never any reason to suspect the way we brought them on did them any harm.

It does depend on the RS, and anyone selling a 4 yo as a genuine well schooled beginner horse I do doubt, but what you have claimed is full of assumptions and offensive to the way some of us bring on our horses.
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It was never meant to be offensive - but even you said there you used 4/5/6 year olds, which I'd expect from a RS (after all I have ridden at various RS throughout my life and even watching my husband learn to ride at one currently), whereas OP has stated horse has been ridden for 6 months already in this riding school, meaning it is very likely to have been used in lessons at the age of 3. Which I personally feel is wrong, this is too young for a horse to be used in lessons. Ok at 4 if its proving to be quiet and gentle, to be occasionally used in the manner you have described, fine, but no 3 year old horse should have a beginner/novice on its back, regardless of whether it is on a lead rein or not. It is simply too dangerous for the person on board to be on something so green.

I am not saying all RS riders are bumpy, unbalanced novices - of course there are more experienced children and adults, I remember back when I was a teenager I was always put on the young ones because I had been riding for 5 or 6 years at that point so was deemed more experienced. But RS riders, inevitably, will not be as balanced or experienced as a private rider (whether they have their own, part loan, share etc) - simply because they tend to have lessons once or twice a week, whereas a private rider is quite likely to be riding 3-6 times per week and therefore improves faster through sheer amount of riding experience. That is no fault of their own, or meant to be insulting, and I'm sure there are some RS riders who ride better than a private rider - but I'm generalising somewhat talking about a 'majority' here.

I stand by what I said, of course this is personal opinion and the OP does not have to listen, but I would not want a pony that has been ridden in riding school lessons from the age of 3. Especially when she says it is 'kick along' already, that to me indicates it is the sort that is only responsive to pony club style kicks i.e. has had the beginners riding it. Perhaps I am wrong and the OP did not mean it that way, but when I see 'kick along' that generally means pretty dead to the leg and needs some serious 'kicks' to get it moving. Which personally I feel is a shame for a pony so young, in 6 months of its life to already be kick along and used by beginners in a riding school - if they had used more experienced riders like you do at your RS that would be great but the OP clearly mentions beginners riding it in her post.
 
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