Where have all the nice, safe novice rides gone!?

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Charem

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Evening all.

My dad's OH bought a very nice but completely unsutiable horse for herself a couple years ago-long story short she lost her confidence and hasn't ridden him since last summer.

When she had her accident I suggested to her that she finds herself a nice easy going first horse/big pony that she will be able to enjoy and have fun with. At this time there were lots of suitiable candidates on the usual horse selling websites but now that she has finally accepted that this would be a good idea, dispite tralling through masses of adverts I can't find a single one that would be suitiable!!!

So, are there any about or am I just being blind? 14.2-16hh, cobby type (can be cross), easy going novice rides for sale/loan? Oh and it needs to be a gelding as Dad is very anti mare for some reason!:confused:
 
from what I have observed round here these golden horses and ponies tend to be sold by word of mouth without ever being advertised
 
word of mouth and wanted ads are the way forward for horses like this.

When looking for horses took us 9 months! in the end we put a wanted ad up and Pickle's owner contacted me, he wasn't even advertised! He is a lovely allrounder confidence giver type so can be done :)
 
I have one :) I would describe him as novice, but not complete novice ride. He has a couple of silly habbits (like foot stamping, which can be a little off balancing) but is very safe and sensible 99% of the time.
I found him through a wanted advert I posted, he wasn't advertised anywhere. Owner didn't want to sell him, but had to due to financial reasons. I've heard lots of good things about wanted adverts so they might well be worth a go!
 
They've never been commonly for sale! And if they do come up they go for big bucks and sell within days. After all, if you've got a horse that good, why sell it?!
 
Charem said:
Evening all.

Oh and it needs to be a gelding as Dad is very anti mare for some reason!:confused:
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My loan filly is being collected today (owner wants to put her in foal... with a stallion, not himself!) and I can completely empathise with your Dad! She's the only mare we're have and she's a horrible drama queen who takes great joy in turning to bite/kick if she's not fed first!
 
Kallibear said:
They've never been commonly for sale! And if they do come up they go for big bucks and sell within days. After all, if you've got a horse that good, why sell it?!
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Because your stupid!! I did and I have always regretted it, but just take solice in the fact that he has gone to the most amazing lady, shes retired and spends a lot of her time down the stables with him, hes her only horse and to be fair he was only a 14.3/15hh at a push cob (im 5ft10 but he carried me fine and we didnt look too stupid!!). Also I had well outgrown him in size and ability and didnt just do it as a selfish act, I could have kept him for my sister but she wasnt interested in horses at the time and I didnt want him to just stand in a field being "wasted (sorry)", I knew that he could give to someone else what he gave to me in confidence, pleasure and companionship - I still go and visit and am in regular contact and this was a year and a 1/2 ago!! But yes it was big bucks for a hairy cob with no real comp record (although he could easily jump 1.20 and was evenly marked so did very well at local shows :p!) which went towards my next horse :)
 
Im looking for a nice safe horse, not for a novice rider but must be safe and I cant find one. Ive put a wanted ad up and had lots of enquiries for horses well above my price range and the ones I may have been tempted with were very mareish which is a no no or werent happy with their horse living out. So back to the drawing board for me. Im kind of thinking this is never meant to happen. Ive been away from horses for 5 months and it feels like years coz I dont have any day to day contact with any horses.
 
Would it be worth contacting some riding stables to see if they have something looking for a quieter life? Going for hacks, a bit of schooling wont be anywhere near as demanding as the hours they put in at a school. May be worth asking.

Know that's not what you're after Silverstar, if I hear of any, will pm you immediately!
 
Here :) lol. All ours are furntiture though unfortunately and will be here god knows how long.

All ours were found either from people contacting us, or just random adverts on the most oddest websites!
 
I have one :D he was a really lucky find, great allrounder and ultrasafe too. I picked up up very cheaply as he had a terrible past and isn't the easiest on the floor sometimes.

I am the most nervous person ever and he always looks after me, I've ridden in the school with roadworks going on just outside the fence and yesterday he was over taken by a bolting horse with his rider screaming her head off and the horse he was with bolted too throwing her rider, mine just lept around a bit and pranced. He's jsut come off of box rest and is on limited turnout so I think his behaviour is rather saintly although I might be biased :D

Horses like this are a rare find and are usually around the £4000 price mark. You may be better off looking for an older schoolmaster type looking for a quieter life.

Good luck with finding one.
 
Have you looked in the back of this months Horse and Rider? There seemed to be some in there when I looked last night. Although what the adverts say and what the horse actually is can differ!
 
Alibear- no I havn't, do they have a website that have the adverts?

I would say their budget is up to £6000, which I think is a fairly big budget for what they're after. It really only need's to be safe to hack, maybe once in a while go in the arena and do very basic schooling and pop a tiny fence!

We are happy getting an older horse providing the price reflects this!
 
Well other than being a mare Fany is what you are describing. Whilst we were viewing her the lady selling her had loads of calls about her. It was a case of a quick make your mind up time. Never regretted it.

They are out there you just have to be persistent and quick when you spy a possible one. Or if you are prepared to pay quite bit more then have an excellent rep.
www.safecobs.com

FDC
 
I'm having the opposite problem - I have a steady young gelding for sale and no one to buy him! The buyers that I have met all want a handsome, sound and safe horse but want him for buttons!
 
Charem said:
When she had her accident I suggested to her that she finds herself a nice easy going first horse/big pony that she will be able to enjoy and have fun with. At this time there were lots of suitiable candidates on the usual horse selling websites but now that she has finally accepted that this would be a good idea, dispite tralling through masses of adverts I can't find a single one that would be suitiable!!!

So, are there any about or am I just being blind? 14.2-16hh, cobby type (can be cross), easy going novice rides for sale/loan? Oh and it needs to be a gelding as Dad is very anti mare for some reason!:confused:
Click to expand...

They're worth their weight in gold, these types. Most people never sell, or if they have to, they get sold by word of mouth. I've got one, but he's not for sale I'm afraid! :)

If your Dads OH lives in the Surrey/Hants area and is interested in sharing for a while, PM me. I'm vaguely thinking about getting a sharer at some point. Not for the money, just to keep him interested!

My paragon is a lovely Welsh partbred, great forward going hack with brakes, confidence giving jumper, can do a reasonable low level dressage test, easiest horse ever to handle on the ground, total rock at the mounting block etc etc. I really lucked out with him, and even though I now want to do more competitively than he's capable of, I ended up with two horses rather than sell! :D

If I ever did want to sell or loan him (unlikely!), I'd sell/loan by word of mouth. I've had two people in two months ask if I'd consider loaning him. Ask around - your local riding clubs and pony clubs are usually a good bet.
 
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