Who buys all these young cobs?

Leo Walker

Leo Walker

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I've got a horse coming on loan but I've been idly perusing the horse for sale ads, and it seems every second ad is for a young cob. Quite often a colt, very rarely a smart useful looking youngster, more often put together by a committee and either with no real handling or bought by someone with not much of a clue and then moved along quickly. They are advertised for a few hundred quid at most and do seem to sell as the ads go down, whereas older, more established and therefore expensive horses dont seem to be selling.

Admittedly I looked mainly at preloved and FB groups, so typically lower end of the market which may have skewed my perspective! But where do they all go? If theres no real meat market any more they must be going to new homes?
 
theres still a pretty big meat market, just ask anyone who frequents Derby or Beeston sales! plenty end up there and either go for meat or are 'rescued' by clueless well doers who stick them in a field for a few months and then realise they haven't a clue what to do with it and put it up for sale all over again
 
Maybe with the current economic climate people can't afford the more established, nicer horses so go for a cob colt and pay peanuts in the hope of bringing it on.
 
Hes going out on loan :) Hes having a couple of weeks of professional schooling to get him riding away a little bit more than ambling about in walk, then a lovely young lady who is home from uni for the summer is going to take him on. She works at the yard so will be involved with the schooling and then will hopefully have a lovely summer with him hacking about and doing all the fun stuff nice 4yr olds should be doing. If she wants to keep him, then brilliant, if not then he will come back to me the end of September and I can take it from there. Shes always loved him so hopefully its win win for everyone :)
 
Spring Feather said:
Gawd knows, but cobs do seem to be the most popular horse in the UK if this forum is anything to go by.
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With good reason!

I haven't noticed any posts along the lines of, I have been riding a cob and lost my nerve, thinking of getting a TB as a confidence giver.

For those of us who are not particularly brave,skilled or ambitious, a cob can be perfect
 
Mine is not Mr Steady! Frightened the life out of me on Sunday when he spooked at a car and went backwards into my husband for no good reason. He can be a total idiot!
 
Dunno, but got to be honest there have been a couple of very cheap ones have caught my eye recently. There are wee gems in amongst the garbage.

Edit to add, my little LW cob wasn't exactly a plod or straight forward, that's why I ended up with him, he wasn't in any shape manner of form suitable as a riding school plod :)
 
This lovely lad came to my sister and i just before xmas as an unbacked, bargy, rude 3 year old. Least he'd been gelded.

This is him on sunday with his 14 year old sharer. Hes a little star and is so much fun. Some of them end up doing alright. :-)

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Me! Bought a poor bedraggled alleged 4 yr old Exmoor x ? Maybe Cob. 14hh, mare alledgedly backed and ridden away. This was demonstrated by the son of the owner cantering her smartly up the busy road outside their gate in a hailstorm, and galloping her back, whilst massive artics splashed her all over in dirty brown slush!

As well as producing the loveliest tall and elegant foal four weeks ago, who is already sold to an experienced kind lady on our yard, post weaning. Previous owner 'swore down she'd never run with no colts in the past year" , she's a real gem. Very pretty, good conformation, friendly and good to catch, good for farrier and dentist - not that she had any experience of them before - and perfect to load.
There have been blips in the past four and a half months, but nothing that reasonable consistent boundary setting and a lot of patience hasn't sorted. Doubtless that will all have to be repeated at some time in the future - but I would expect that in any youngster.
She's a star, even tho' advertised on Dr....n Dr.....g by some well known dealers from a particular sector of society as "smart Exmoor mare x cob, suitable for a granny/grand daughter share, lovely condition, will ride/drive, whatever you want" when, at the time I viewed her, she really wasn't !
 
cauda equina said:
With good reason!

I haven't noticed any posts along the lines of, I have been riding a cob and lost my nerve, thinking of getting a TB as a confidence giver.
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That said, my TB mare has totally restored my confidence following a baby break - she is so reliable and probably quite forgiving too!
 
Ibblebibble said:
theres still a pretty big meat market, just ask anyone who frequents Derby or Beeston sales! plenty end up there and either go for meat or are 'rescued' by clueless well doers who stick them in a field for a few months and then realise they haven't a clue what to do with it and put it up for sale all over again
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How do they go for meat, though? The passport laws now mean that any passport application received after the horse is 6 months old, will result in that animal being automatically signed out of the foodchain. I can't imagine many will even have a passport, so how does it work?
 
hayinamanger said:
How do they go for meat, though? The passport laws now mean that any passport application received after the horse is 6 months old, will result in that animal being automatically signed out of the foodchain. I can't imagine many will even have a passport, so how does it work?
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Signed out of human food chain still allows sale for pet food, which is most of the (legal) uk market. Value is up to £1/kilo, so quite a profit to be made for someone.
Even more if you can back them and sell on as 'novice plods'. I'd be interested in how they get them gelded for this, as the vet costs of doing it properly must be prohibitive.
 
In my experience, cobs are generally cheaper to keep than finer horses and that was one of the reasons I went for one. They don't break easily (alright mine did, but it was minor), don't need hundreds of rugs or much food and can be fun and feisty rides!
We will never go round Badminton but there is no reason we can't have a lot of fun at low level and I really can't afford to compete at the higher levels anyway.
In a nutshell, cheap to buy, cheap to keep and usually fairly entertaining. Mine is forward going, becoming much better in the school and has started lateral work and, now we have had some rain, will be testing his jumping talents, which so far seem OK - and all for under £2k.
 
moleskinsmum said:
In my experience, cobs are generally cheaper to keep than finer horses and that was one of the reasons I went for one. They don't break easily (alright mine did, but it was minor), don't need hundreds of rugs or much food and can be fun and feisty rides!
We will never go round Badminton but there is no reason we can't have a lot of fun at low level and I really can't afford to compete at the higher levels anyway.
In a nutshell, cheap to buy, cheap to keep and usually fairly entertaining. Mine is forward going, becoming much better in the school and has started lateral work and, now we have had some rain, will be testing his jumping talents, which so far seem OK - and all for under £2k.
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That's half the problem.

Cheap to buy. Cheap to keep. Resulting in an equine crisis with far too many of them being bred left right and centre, sold to any Tom, Dick and Harry, or dumped. It's ridiculous the amount of people you see on FB alone who post pics of their newborn coloured cob foal, when they were only saying the other week how they can't afford a vet. :-(
 
Moomin1 said:
That's half the problem.

Cheap to buy. Cheap to keep. Resulting in an equine crisis with far too many of them being bred left right and centre, sold to any Tom, Dick and Harry, or dumped. It's ridiculous the amount of people you see on FB alone who post pics of their newborn coloured cob foal, when they were only saying the other week how they can't afford a vet. :-(
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couldnt agree more! most often are poorly bred with awful conformation. worries me that in years to come it will be twice as difficult to buy a decently put together cob
 
Moomin1 said:
That's half the problem.

Cheap to buy. Cheap to keep. Resulting in an equine crisis with far too many of them being bred left right and centre, sold to any Tom, Dick and Harry, or dumped. It's ridiculous the amount of people you see on FB alone who post pics of their newborn coloured cob foal, when they were only saying the other week how they can't afford a vet. :-(
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I totally agree that is the problem Moomin - there is part of me that feels guilty for fuelling the market. The vast majority of neglected, badly put-together horses in the UK are coloured cobs and I do think there needs to be some form of control to prevent the over-breeding.
When I was looking for a new horse, my only criteria was that I wanted something 15hh - 15.2hh (because I'm old and short), capable of carrying my weight and up to doing a bit of everything. I went to see around 10 horses, of which only one wasn't a coloured cob. I couldn't find anything else of the right "stamp". Mine is Irish but there are exactly the same issues there as here. I actually ended up buying the cheapest horse I saw but that was nothing to do with money.
 
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Moomin1 said:
That's half the problem.

Cheap to buy. Cheap to keep. Resulting in an equine crisis with far too many of them being bred left right and centre, sold to any Tom, Dick and Harry, or dumped. It's ridiculous the amount of people you see on FB alone who post pics of their newborn coloured cob foal, when they were only saying the other week how they can't afford a vet. :-(
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*Sigh* I have been able to give my children a wonderful horsey upbringing, in no small part to the collapse of the horse market, and the availability of natives for the price of a bag of crisps (OK, usually FTGH). You're right in what you're saying, but in an ideal world it is the education that is the problem, not the money. When the owner's a numpty it's a problem whether they're rich or poor, and I feel very bad about making a link between means and capability.

Some of the happiest horses I know have very little spent on them. (mine included).
 
pennyturner said:
*Sigh* I have been able to give my children a wonderful horsey upbringing, in no small part to the collapse of the horse market, and the availability of natives for the price of a bag of crisps (OK, usually FTGH). You're right in what you're saying, but in an ideal world it is the education that is the problem, not the money. When the owner's a numpty it's a problem whether they're rich or poor, and I feel very bad about making a link between means and capability.

Some of the happiest horses I know have very little spent on them. (mine included).
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My mums neighbours have all the money in the world but the horses are neglected, they ut shoes on the old chap cows it looks nice, he doesn't get ridden any more but used to be an amazing pony, they got a mini Shetland cos they are cute and funny.....

I barely have a penny to scratch my ass at the end of each month but my girl has the best I can afford, is worked most days and is happy
 
pennyturner said:
*Sigh* I have been able to give my children a wonderful horsey upbringing, in no small part to the collapse of the horse market, and the availability of natives for the price of a bag of crisps (OK, usually FTGH). You're right in what you're saying, but in an ideal world it is the education that is the problem, not the money. When the owner's a numpty it's a problem whether they're rich or poor, and I feel very bad about making a link between means and capability.

Some of the happiest horses I know have very little spent on them. (mine included).
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Nobody is saying that ALL cob owners are numpties. What I am saying is that the vast availability and cheap prices of cobs now means that a large amount ARE sold and passed on to people who barely have a clue about horses and have very little money in the bank to support one.
 
The conformation and appearance of many of these cobs may not be 100% but there temperament is normally excellent. I think it is a great shame that more horse riders are not more honest about their ability and buy a laid back cob rather than a sports horse etc. as at the very least they would be able to ride the horse without feeling terrified. I appreciate that cobs may not be the fashion accessory that they want but at least they can handle and ride the horse safely.
 
I have also noticed lots of young colts mainly cobs or welsh going really cheap like a few hundred quid, why do people breed horses if they just cant be bothered to get the colts gelded before selling, one reason why we have a big welfare issue in this country, idiot people just breeding rubbish and selling on colts for peanuts, sorry for the rant but its true.
 
They are everywhere unfortunately. Always the same people with the same "have lost my grazing and need to downsize my herd"

EVERY year.

So begs the qu are they actually mentally unstable or just full of horse explicit.
 
OWLIE185 said:
The conformation and appearance of many of these cobs may not be 100% but there temperament is normally excellent. I think it is a great shame that more horse riders are not more honest about their ability and buy a laid back cob rather than a sports horse etc. as at the very least they would be able to ride the horse without feeling terrified. I appreciate that cobs may not be the fashion accessory that they want but at least they can handle and ride the horse safely.
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I actually do think that coloured cobs ARE very much a fashion accessory now, hence the amount of them being bred.
 
Moomin1 said:
That's half the problem.

Cheap to buy. Cheap to keep. Resulting in an equine crisis with far too many of them being bred left right and centre, sold to any Tom, Dick and Harry, or dumped. It's ridiculous the amount of people you see on FB alone who post pics of their newborn coloured cob foal, when they were only saying the other week how they can't afford a vet. :-(
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Absolutely. And so many colts being sold on again because new owner wont pay out to have it gelded
 
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