Help me to feel better about the pony I sold!

[Sarkyharky]

Silly really but it's playing on my mind.

It's always hard when you sell a much loved pony - we'd had him for years, he taught two dds to ride. Saw him with his new owners and he looked terrible, no clip, long, muddy matted mane and tail, a muddy tummy I was really shocked - they were at a show jumping competition as well so not exactly out hacking. They seem very happy with him, they are very experienced horse people (they have about 6 horses and hunt a lot). There's nothing I can do except hope and pray that the pony club instructors say something to them. Muddy tummies can give terrible girth galls, and he's very woolly which will make him lose condition.

We work really hard to keep our horses look good and it's not easy for us, we have two muddy fields and no facilities, no grooms etc. I feel stupidly resentful. I know there's nothing I can do, we've sold him and that's that.

Also the mum told me that the boy they bought him for is starting weekly boarding this term so he's basically not going to get ridden during the week at all!

Any calming words??

[fridaybloodyfriday]

Maybe they are the kind of people who just groom the saddle and girth area?

Did the pony look happy and a good weight?

[maxelly]

Completely understand, I have lost touch with the horse I sold as a teenager to go off to uni, and I still think about him regularly and hope he is being looked after well, even though it was definitely the right decision for him and me to move him on.

No real words of advice, not being clipped and being a bit muddy aren't the worst things in the world (though understand your concern about girth galls) - I'd be more concerned if they had a hairy kids pony being ridden once a week clipped out and rugged TBH, as I was always taught to keep them as au naturelle as possible. It is normal, even healthy, for native or cob-type ponies to drop a bit of condition over the winter so that they don't get too fat when the lovely rich spring grass comes through! It sounds like they are more of the old-school of horse care but if they are hunting and attending pony club regularly you can be reassured that if there was anything seriously wrong with the pony it will be noticed and they'll be spoken to (pony club DCs, and indeed parents, are not shy about speaking up IMO!).

Can you keep in touch via the pony club or local hunt so that you get to see him on the odd occasion and hear about it if he comes up for sale again (sounds like a possibility if the little boy is off to school and may lose interest?) so that you can be assured of his future?

[FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast]

oh so hard...
our pony got lamed by some idiot putting the rug on wrong...
i see her on FB with all her muscle gone being ridden in a gag.
It's fucking tragic.

[tootsietoo]

I sold a beautiful 12.2 pony club pony last summer to a seriously loaded family. I saw them at Christmas and asked how their daughter was getting on with the pony. Answer - "oh great, she's ridden her twice" . I am gutted. Basically they are never there, always jetting off to New York or LA or Barbados. The pony lives in complete luxury and is never ridden . So hard to find homes where the pony will be treated as you want it to be treated, I really feel for you!

My calming words are that an unclipped coat and a bit of mud are not necessarily indicative of how well he is fed, exercised and cared for. If he was relaxed and jumping well, he is probably happy and fine.

[DiplomaticDecorum]

Unclipped ponies here, and muddy. We clean the tack areas before riding, but child is a learner, walks and a bit of trot for a couple of times at the weekend. No shampooing or washing and no mud fever. No rugs now as it's warmed up. Judge away. I really judge the clipped ponies under in heavy rugs, brought in if it's spitting and shampooed every weekend to look pretty.

[Sarkyharky]

Thanks all. I'm not quite as fancy as all that decorum but I was brought up to groom ponies before they were ridden and after. So mud is brushed off, particularly in areas where tack goes. I don't think I've shampooed my horses for months - they were partially clipped in October and shampooed the to get the bits off. I shampoo tails though!

She texted me today to say he's been bucking. He bucked once in five years with us when dd smacked him on the bum for not jumping something. Apparently he's been bucking during rallies. I've said get his back checked but I am not sure this partnership is going to work.

[Sarkyharky]

And ours are clipped because we compete during the winter and they'd sweat profusely if they were left hairy

[britnay]

It sounds as if the pony doesn't have a heavy workload, and this will likely decrease when he goes to boarding school, so the pony doesn't need to be clipped.

If they have lots of horses, then maybe sometimes they just have time to do a quick brush and go? I imagine that if they hunt then they probably spend a lot of time making sure that those horses are spotless. Perhaps they see it as less important for the child's pony? Perhaps they were simply in a rush and didn't have time?

My native is out naked all winter and looks rather rough! I've had to chop the bottom half of his tail off as it has a tendency towards dragging in the mud and getting stood on. Its much less mucky now and when he gets a good thorough spring grooming to remove the tonnes of fluff that encase him I'm sure he'll go back to looking like a princess pony.

If the pony's workload has changed then it may be less fit and changed shape. Perhaps its saddle needs checking?
Perhaps they are just expecting too much work of an unfit pony? How much do they ride him between rallies?