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The tack room
How do you decide what offer to make on a pony/horse?
TheWindowDonkey · 29/01/2015 23:15
Hi all,
We are on the verge of putting an offer in on a pony known to us. My child has ridden it often, we know it to be of lovely temprament, caught easily, stands beautiflly when being tacked/groomed etc but with enough pep to keep dc interetsed. We cant afford trailer so will just be schooling/Pony club use.
Pony is welsh section c , over 13 years and has done some Hunting/shows, but nothing for the last couple of years. It is 12hh or therabouts and dd is 10 (just) so should last her for at least a couple of years?
I have no idea of pony values, this would be our first owned and not loaned pony, so any advice would be gratefully recieved. We have been given a figure by owners, but thought i would ask here first what someone would pay for a pony as described above.
Kept dc and dpony sex out of it as i'm worried enough that my post is identifiable. :)
Butkin · 31/01/2015 21:03
Well done. Price seemed fair for age and experience of pony. I imagine that he's over 12 hands though - that is more the size for a Section A or small Section B. Sec Cs tend to be 13 hands to 13.2. If that is the case then ideal. I hope you have lots of fun with him!
lemonhope · 02/02/2015 09:43
Sorry I have just seen you've bought him :-D
He looks lovely and I expect if she does well on him you'll be able to sell him on fairly easily if she does grow out of him.
(FWIW i paid the asking price for dds horse - really dithered because it seemed like a lot of money for something relatively unproven - 4 months on and he's been worth every penny - sometimes you need to go with your gut!)
backinthebox · 03/02/2015 23:17
I have an adult friend (I admit she is quite petite) who prefers to hunt her 12.2hh pony instead of any of her larger horses. She has photos of him jumping huge hedges and even the bonnet of a car (not something I would do, but there is definitely no disguising just how big the pony is jumping!) I am constantly baffled when people state that their child 'needs something bigger' to do what they want to do. What are they doing - Badminton? My 15 hander has been dismissed as being a bit small by some people but he is happy to give them a lead when their 16.2hh eventers are struggling! My 7yo DC is perfectly happy on 11.1hh. She has a 12.3hh as well but finds the littler pony easier to manage out hunting and competing.
OP, hope you have fun with your new pony. If it is a good one, and you can afford the price, you will not look back in a year's time and still be hung up on the price. Initial cost is only a fraction of the cost of a pony. I've paid the asking price for the last 3 ponies I've bought. All of them quite a bit more than people have told me I should have paid, yet they are all fabulous and all have a fan club. Their original cost has been long forgotten.
Butkin · 04/02/2015 11:08
The other thing to remember with children's ponies is that they usually keep their value if they are youngish quality animals with good temperaments so the initial higher cost can often be recouped when you sell them on.
Yes size is a showing obsession. You'll see our ponies photos by clicking on my name. DD has now outgrown the 12.2 but was absolutely fine on her last year when she was 11. 12.2 will be for sale by the end of this month.
However children can still ride in 12.2 Show Pony classes until they are not 13 on the 1st Jan so DD could ride her in the class this year and next! Parents/producers are never keen to pitch children against much older, more experienced jockeys so keep them in class as long as we can get away with the "picture" still looking pleasing.
Children up to 17 can ride 14.2 show ponies and would generally outride most 12yos..
backinthebox · 04/02/2015 12:32
Size is not everything. I'm extremely happy on my 15 hander now, but my last horse, who I owned for 7 years, was a hair's breadth short of 18hh. I thought I needed roller skates for the first few months on the new one after coming down off the old horse, but now I have had him a few years I cannot get over the power, ability and HEART in my little horse.
There are lots of examples of little horses doing well:
Here's Mathew Lawrence who I know is over 6ft tall looking just fine on his 14.2hh Olympia winning pony.
I am fairly sure that had an overenthusiastic Pony Club mum had her child on 14.1hh Theodore O'Connor he would have been sold off as outgrown when her daughter was 13 with the conviction her daughter 'needs a proper horse to event.' Luckily he was owned by a member of the US eventing team who saw his ability for what it was.
Phoebe Buckley's 4* eventer 14.3hh Little Tiger WAS sold because she was too small, before going on to complete Badminton and Burghley.
I could go on - I am a big fan of the pocket rocket - cheap and easy to keep, fabulous to ride, and less likely to scare people than a bigger animal! I see a lot of children over horsed and scared. Far better to keep them on something a little bit too small but manageable and get them a good instructor who will help your child get the best from their pony than to get them something a bit too much for them to grow into. Confidence is a precious thing, so easily lost and so difficult to find again. As with Butkin, I would think that a child could easily ride a 12hh pony up to the age of 10. The very top 128cm show jumping riders are all 11 and 12 years old. If you really want to reach the top with your child, I am a firm believer in making sure your child has the best opportunities and you aren't pitching them against older, more experienced riders on bigger ponies before they are ready.
lemonhope · 04/02/2015 13:01
There's no need to be sniffy about it. We love our tiny ponies but my 14 year old is 5 foot 8 and looks absurd on a 14.2 and her balance is all wrong for jumping.
My 8 year old looks just right on a 13.2 and yes of course sometimes she's outjumped by 12hh ponies with tiny riders.
Its not a matter of wanting them to jump bigger its a matter of what fits in terms of balance and size.
TheWindowDonkey · 04/02/2015 18:58
Just popped back and seen this thread hasnt died as i thought it would. :) thanks for all the latest comments and opinion, i value all the outlooks. :)
Well, we've told the kids who were both ecstatic. Dd LOVES her, and DS, who didnt really pay much attention to dpony when we were loaning her, has overcome his shyness and spend a good half hour in her stable feeding her whisps of hay and gently stroking her nose and whispering to her with a serene look on his face. She was so patient and gentle with him and i can already see they'll bond beautifully (though he's four so shes too much of a pocket rocket for him to ride off the lead rein, which dd seems very relieved about :) )
Shes already increased dd's confidence and skill measurably in loan and I cant wait to see what they'll do together.
Thanks again for all the advice, it has been very valuable! :)
TheWindowDonkey · 04/02/2015 20:16
To be honest we just wanted to give dd a pony with a little more oomph than the riding school choice, that she could ride regularly and therfore build a good strong bond with and to teach her about responsibility, love of and care for animals (which actually she already has). i love that the added bonus will be the importance of patience empathy and understanding to get the best results from one particular pony. She already does PC and with no trailer shows are a very occasional possibility. It will give a new dimension to DS's new love of riding too.
If we overpaid then we did, but we got a pony who's temprement is beautiful, and thats worth loads to me! :) will put on some pics next week when she is officially ours!
TheWindowDonkey · 06/02/2015 19:24
Ok. So pony was vetted today and is perfect....but, she's not 14 she is actually 15, 16 in June...and she's a section b not C as we were originally told. Is there any reason why an owner would lie about which section a pony was? And does her being 18 months older than we thought make her a mistake to buy bearing in mind we will need to sell her in 2 years? i'm torn between not wanting to be a mug and knwoing that if we dont take her we could spend the next year findding a pony with equal temperament and character.
Hate to think we are being played, but we are so ignorant we easily could be. :(
icclemunchy · 06/02/2015 19:44
I'd maybe offer less based on pony being older. In terms of getting the "breed" wrong I'd not be concerned as a lot of people don't really know the difference between each section and if she's a stocky type of B rather than the spindly show type they may of thought she was a C
A pony with the temperament to let your DD ride confidently will be worth its weight in gold. I hope she has lots of fun with her!!
) she may be happy riding her much longer than you expectTo comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.