when going to see a pony what sort of things can you ask..

naza

naza

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Hopefully got some ponies to go see this weekend (thanks guys for the searching)

But i don't really know what to ask and i was really rubbish on the phone too i think asking things :?

also i wasn't sure if it would be cheeky to ask who their vets are to contact them to see if the horse has had any major health issues in the past?
 
naza said:
also i wasn't sure if it would be cheeky to ask who their vets are to contact them to see if the horse has had any major health issues in the past?
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You can ask them who their vets are, but unless they specifically instruct the vet to do so, the vet won't disclose any information on the horse to you - he is bound by client confidentiality.
 
You can ask anything you want, and it would be wise to ask everything you can think of!!
Ask about temperament, handling, ridden work, competing, travelling, hacking, previous history, illnesses/injuries, vices and behavioural problems, etc.
 
My advice is to ask everything at least twice, in different ways and preferably of two different people. Listen carefully and make sure that the stories match. Any discrepancies should make your antennae waggle. And you should probably leave the pony where it is.
 
its easy to get flustered of forget to ask stuff so i would always bring a sheet of paper with a set of questions, and take down notes.

if i was selling my horse i would have no problem with someone interogating me. id prefer that to someone coming back to me down the line with a problem they hadn't asked about.
 
Anything you want!

Be prepared to answer questions yourself about your level of experience, expectations for pony and where he will be living, if the people are selling a much loved ponio they may want to question you!!

I would also list the few most important things so you remember to ask them. If you relax it should flow fairly naturally and you will think of new things while you are there.
 
i find it useful looking at other adverts and see what people say their pony can do ie- dressage, loading, clipping etc. different people include different things in their ads so if you make a decent list of everything someone might say and ask them if the pony is good for each thing.

sorry that was a little rambley lol
 
Make a list of what you will need pony to be able to do- for us, it included:
-handled by smaller children (ie the child who'll be riding it!)
-hack alone/ in company
-all PC activities safely (including camp)
-ride and lead (because when we were at school during the week, mum would ride one pony, and lead the other. If a pony wasn't amenable to this, it'd have to have been amazing in all other areas to compensate!)
-travel with other horses in a trailer

Those were the main ones, but we knew what we could and couldn't compromise on for our situation- your list will be different.

Once you have your list, stick it in a notebook or something and take the notebook along. Ask the questions straight from it and if you want take notes. We also did this when we phoned about ponies- had a list of essential questions which must be fulfilled before we'd consider going to see said pony...
 
Also make sure you are videoing the horse whilst asking the questions, so that you have the answers recorded and can listen again later (also people are less likely to lie when they know they are being recorded!).

Also ask specifics i.e rather than is he good to hack? ask, what would he do if you cantered in an open space/if a jcb came past etc.

Good luck :)
 
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