When To Sell Stella

[GTs]

So Stella is coming along really nicely and becoming a fantastic horse. When I first got her, I wanted her to be a polo pony, however in Denver there is very little polo, which would make it tough for her to play enough to learn how to play well, but also she would not necessarily have the skills to always be able to find a new home – there are only 30 players here.

Right now we are walking and trotting building up fitness, we are doing plenty of turns, circles, changing direction all seems to be coming very easily. She is forward moving, soft, very brave, never spooks, really trusts and gains confidence from the rider.

My ideal would be to sell in Spring when she is fit, has mastered the three gaits, great transitions, lead changes, awesome circles, etc. I can do that no problem. Some people have suggested I should take her over some fences, start framing her up, etc, my concern with that is those are skills I have never taught a horse. My thought is someone bringing on a young horse for a certain discipline would rather do that themselves from step 1 and do it properly. The opposition’s argument is they will not know any different, and if she is going over fences more people will be interested in buying her.

 

[Patches]

Awwww you and the lovely Stella will be parting company!

 

[GTs]

That was always kind of the plan - - I like her, want to give her a good foundation, so she will always be loved, but I never intended keeping her.

 

[seabiscuit]

Here in the UK 'polo pony allrounders' are making pretty good money. Recently there was a 9 yr old low goal pony that did medium dressage (?!), jumped 4 foot showjumping&xc courses, that sold for £13,000. It went to a pony club family with boys that wanted a horse to do everything with.You know what pony club boys are like- they want to jump, hunt, and play polo.

People like versitality...the more skills/abilities a horse has, the more value it has. So definately teach Stella to jump! As I said earlier people just love a polo pony (even if its only half trained in polo) that jumps. It will also develope her gymanstic and athletic ability a huge amount, which would help her on her way to becoming a good polo pony!& it doesnt matter who/how many people that are involved in the training processes.....

 

[Bess]

Since you know about polo why not do some basic polo schooling with stick and ball with her so she has that extra string to her bow?

 

[Super_Kat]

deffinatly teach her to jump. a horse that does a bit of everything is worth quite a lot!
do teach her as much polo as u can, the better she is the more u can sell her for

 

[GTs]

It is very different out here, no one I know who plays polo hunts – people just do not ride more then one discipline. I intend to sell her this Spring/Summer so she will not have mastered anything just have a good foundation and be learning a discipline, I just want to know would it be better to sell her as a clean slate as far as jumping so someone who has a better understanding of the fundamentals can get her going properly right from the get go, or should I get her jumping just little stuff so it proves she jumps?

 

[seabiscuit]

Yes get her jumping, just on grids though- if you have good balance, a strong lower leg. Grids are fine for someone who is not experienced with jumping, as the horse has to do it all by himself. The rider doesnt have to do anything, except stay in balance.
But if you were to start jumping actual courses etc and you havent done much jumping training, that might be a bad idea because you do have to be very experienced to teach a young horse successfully around a course of jumps and it would be a shame to ruin her confidence, but grids are always confidence building.

 

[S_N]

So no foalie then???

 

[JoBo]

No don't sell her! I just wrote a post in your other thread saying how good she sounds!

Why would you want to sell her, she just sounds such a nice horse!!
JoElla
P.S If I was over there I would definately be interested!!!!

 

[GTs]

Here is a deal - you can have her for free just pay for shipping (I think that is about 4,000 GBP).

 

[JoBo]

That's very nice of you, but I just don't think it would be fair to bring her all this way. Saying that if I had the money, (Jo's goes off into Dream World again!).

Sorry about the other post and calling you a bloke, I feel really bad!
JoElla

 

[JoBo]

Right now I'm really confused as just looked at your profile and there is a picture of a bloke! What's going on?

 

[Tia]

LOL!! He is a bloke!!

GTs you have to weigh up the cost of keeping her over the winter against her sale cost. If you won't make any more money in the spring than you would now, then sell her now.

A little bit of gridwork will do no harm so long as you are careful and don't overdo it, which I am sure you wouldn't. Good luck.

 

[Snowberry]

but GTs is a bloke!!
A blokey bloke!!!

GTs can you not bring Stella over with you when you visit us?? She'd be ideal for Becci??! lol

 

[JoBo]

Oh I think he was trying to be funny with me in another post. I put he was a great Dad, and he put 'a great Mum'.

That's why I was confused, please forgive me I'm having a blonde day!
JoElla

 

[GTs]

Horses fly really well - she would enjoy living in England!!!!!

Mummy Zoe - I will see if I can fit her in my hand luggage. My offer is extended to you too!!

Mummy Tia - I have thought about that, I will make a bit more money in the Spring, but saying that if the right person came by now - I would happily sell her.

Me being mum is a joke, not sure how it started, but I think it is funny!!

 

[viola]

What about some free jumping...if you take pictures/videos and she shows she has a scope than it's a great bonus. And like you said, sometimes people like to bring their horses in their own discipline (as long as you can convince them a horse is suitable).

 

[EllieBeast]

Psst, s_g - this post was made a year ago. no longer relevant. Gts sold stella months back.

 

[viola]

Lol too late at night and too much browsing! Thanks

 

[GTs]

HA HA HA HA!!!! Stella was sold 11 months ago - she was bought 2 days after going on the market, and they took my other mare Clarita too!

So Stella's update - as you guys know my good friend Pablo is bringing her on - he is a FABULOUS rider and I could not be happier with the hands she fell in. Since Pablo took her over she just continued to get better and better - she is playing polo and doing GREAT! At this point she just needs more experience before he will classify her as made.

There is nothing better than selling your horses, and 3 weeks later the best horseman has accepted a job with their new owners.

Here is a picture of us taken over the summer - I think she looks great!