Can't sell Problem Pony

[childrensjewelleryco]

We recently bought our daughter a "Mothers dream" bombproof first pony with no vices.
To cut a long story short, it turns out she is the total opposite.

She is fine on the lead rein, but off the lead rein she will buck when asked to trot, and is super sensitive to leg aids. She spooks easily too.

We tracked down an old owner of hers using her passport, who says this is a very long standing behavioral problem with her (she's 13) and her back, teeth, saddle have been checked. They couldn't cope with her and put her out on loan many times.
We have also discovered she has sweet itch. We have been totally done over. The seller doesn't want to know and won't answer our calls or letters.
From doing a bit of digging around it seems we are her 5th home since November 2014!!
I have been trying to sell her as a lead rein only pony or a companion as my conscience won;t allow me to put another child at risk (she's only 12hh). But I have not even had one inquiry. I have contacted several different rescue shelters, and riding schools and nobody wants to know.
I'm really at a loss, to know what to do with her now. We can't afford to keep her as a pet or get her re-schooled.

Any ideas would be appreciated

I do believe that the OP has been truthful Betrand. But meant that the OP wouldn't 100% know what has been done unless she tries everything herself.

People don't always want to admit what they have and haven't tried before selling on. And small ponies are more vulnerable to small people changing their mind/losing confidence once on a private pony rather than a riding school pony etc etc. And I have known a very, very sweet lr pony be in 3 homes in 12 months through absolutely no fault of her own. No dodges or vices and never put a foot wrong.

Family that bought her from us seemed perfect. Little girl lost interest in 3 months. Sold onto another family who wanted a lr/1st pony. She was a perfect lr but had never been schooled off lead. She just took kids to the gate and waited for an adult to rescue them. So sold on again as 'nappy'.

Luckily a hunting family saw her potential and bought her to be a ride and lead pony out hunting. And when the little one was ready to go solo the older daughter got her going off lead with the mum. We were contacted by the hunting mum before they bought her to see what her background was and luckily for the pony mum believed us and took a chance on her.

So even very kind,very genuine ponies can end up with a bad reputation.

PTS is an option obviously. It's a better option than selling her on as things stand.

But when we buy an animal I personally think we owe it a duty of care and that care might mean it has the best opportunity to end up in a good home if we can no longer keep it. This pony might not be right for the op and her dd but she might come right with the right schooling and the right investigations. So if it were me I would exhaust all possibilities before pts.

Just my opinion fwiw. But I do agree not enough people have the guts to do the right thing when necessary.

Absolutely agree with you Frouby.

I agree with frouby.

I know euthanasia is sometimes the least bad option. I know people don't want their children at risk.

However, as a child I didn't have my own pony. I scrounged whatever riding I could wherever I could. In the process I learned that "difficult" ponies had generally been let down by humans. They had inappropiate tack, lacked schooling and were poorly handled. Pretty much any horse or pony will seem "difficult" if the circumstances push it. It was incredibly rewarding working with animals others had written off and finding that many of them were cracking ponies.

Plus there's the guilt. IME if you have to euthanase, it's better if you've fully considered all the options.

Thanks everyone, I am trying every avenue at the moment. I have approached all the rescues local to me and I am on their waiting list, although have been warned that could take up to 9 months for a place.
I have also approached professional schooling stables to see if they would be interested in her for free, but none are.
I think the problem we would have, even if we were able to get her retrained in to the perfect pony, is that I would never trust her again with my DD.
We have discussed PTS, and are holding off for the moment, as I'm not sure yet how I could explain it to my DD, after all she looks like a healthy pony from the outside. We have given a deadline to ourselves to try and find her a more suitable, experienced companion type home or rescue place. If we have no joy by that deadline we will PTS.
Thanks again you have all been really helpful and supportive.

So you aren't going to pay to have her reschooled? Or move her to a different yard to get some help? Or pay for an instructor to come and help you with the groundwork? Or try anything suggested like medication for any hormonal treatment? Or anything else really?

You want to either pass her on so you don't have to deal with her problems or have her pts?

Sorry OP but in the nicest possible way you are letting your dd and the pony down. Ponies are living animals not a faulty bike. They don't always do what they are supposed to do or behave in the way we want them to. You are more fortunate than most as your DH is a vet.

If you aren't prepared to deal with issues as they occur and sometimes throw money at them then I would perhaps hold off buying a replacement pony for your dd. It's not fair on your dd or the pony. Or if you must have a pony then forget the field you have and pay for decent livery somewhere. You don't sound competent enough to have a pony on your own and ponies should never be kept alone either.

With all due respect Froubylou you are making a huge amount of assumptions there.
At what point did I say medical treatments hadn't already been tried? That she lives on her own? That we were getting another pony? Etc etc.
The pony is not suitable or safe for my daughter so I am trying to find her a more suitable experienced home. It's as simple as that. I assume that you have kept every single horse you ever bought, and not ever sold them on?
I am not trying to pass her problems on, I am giving full disclosure to her problems - hence the original title of the post - nobody wants to buy her or even take her on for free.
We paid a lot of money for the pony and equipment, thinking she was as described in the advert "a mothers dream" She was not. I now do not have the finances or the experience to keep her.
We will not be getting another pony, because we cannot afford it. This whole experience has cost us around £3,000 so far which will be totally lost money whether I can find her a suitable home or worse comes to the worse have her PTS.

I assume she is kept alone because you had been asked if she was kept alone and you didn't answer. And yes every pony I have ever owned I have kept. I have a 12h pet on livery. Currently on daily meds for cushings. Hasn't been ridden for 4 years. Had 5ks worth of operations when I first bought her.

Another 12h pony is currently being schooled as a lr pony for ds. Once ds has finished with him he will be another pet.

My 2 horses before dcs. 1 was pts due to old age. The other I had pts as he was 17, an ex eventer, on and off lameness and sharp as they come. Needed more exercise than I could give (working ft 12 hour days, 5 days a week) and would never have found a home suitable to his needs.

The other pony we have is only 3. Hopefully she will be a family pony in years to come for me and the dcs to ride and share. If we can't keep her for whatever reason i would make sure she was in the best possible place to find a suitable home.

If we couldn't have ponies anymore the pet would be pts. The other little pony would be sent to be completely schooled as a lr and first ridden so he could also find a good home.

It's not about selling them. That's not the problem. It's selling or giving away a problem in the hope someone else will sort it. She is your pony right now. And if you can't or won't solve her problems then have her pts. Don't pass on her issues.

It might have been done to you (
and £1400 isn't that much for a 1st pony btw) but it doesn't make it ok to pass it on.

Sometimes people need help and advice, not pontification and judgement. Sometimes life isn't perfect. OP is doing her honest best in an unpleasant situation.

The OP had lots of help and advice. She doesn't have to take it. Obviously. But asked for advice on how to sell/rehome this pony. That's what she has been given.

But she is sticking to her original plan of either a rescue place or pts. Neither of which helps the pony. It's not pontification to call someone on not making the best decision for an animals welfare. And the OP asked me if I had ever sold my ponies on which I answered honestly.

I am off this thread now. I have given my advice and opinion and my support. That's all anyone can do. Whether the advice is taken on board is another matter and nothing anyone on the interweb can do about this pony apart from its current owner.

Where are you OP?

After five homes in two years I imagine at least one or two thought they could school this pony and so sort her out. No doubt the vendor who sold her to the op had done some sort of job and the pony, whilst amongst experienced people behaved, but once with novices she reverts back. I cannot see what good more schooling will do, or major vetinary investigations, bearing in mind the op's dh is a vet and must have some idea of how horses work.

I'm all for keeping old, much loved ponies to the end of their days, and did so with all our first ponies (and do so with our broodmares) , though if a pony loves work and is just outgrown I'm sure it is kinder to let them go to another child. But this pony is not that, she turns her bottom on people and is not safe for novice owners. We hunt, we breed horses, we often have a stallion in residence, we are experienced but we would never ever have a pony like this for our children. I feel so sorry for the op, she's been conned and does not deserve such condemnation.

I agree with frouby, I have been following this thread and am very much of the same opinion with regards to 'difficult' ponies.

Well I'm not sure what you should do with the horse but I'd consider naming and shaming whoever sold you it on FB. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. Clearly they were aware that the pony was no good.

Personally I would advertise for an experienced small adult/teen/very competent child to come and ride and see what they can do with her. Be brutally honest in your advert and state what issues you are having and that the pony needs restarting and a lot of time put in. You may find the perfect home/person to come to you or take her on (they do exist!). You will absolutely not be able to sell her for anywhere near what you paid, that's a given. I do think she deserves a final chance and some investment from somebody before being PTS though.

The problem with selling her on (especially free/cheap) is that you cannot guarantee her future. Low-end dealers are drawn to such animals and will think nothing of drugging her up and selling her on (at a good profit) to some unsuspecting family. What if she injures someone else's child?

Buying and owning a first horse/pony is such a huge step. I've seen so many friends buy horses who have within a couple of weeks taken control on the ground.

The new owners don't enforce manners, let the horses get in their space, become bargy. Horse becomes difficult with back hooves, so owner gets scared to touch feet (although the farrier usually has no issue). Then the new owners try treats so manners slip even more and the horse becomes a mugger. Sometimes with a yard and owner move the horse will develop ulcers, and or, if it's a mare, will come into the mother of all seasons. Horse will have trouble establishing its place in the herd, or over bond with another horse on the yard.

Ridden will reflect what's happening on the ground - horse has no leader so will take control.

If the new owner is on a livery with experienced and helpful horse owners on hand these problems can be ironed out. If the owner is a first time owner alone at home the issues can compound. I'm not suggesting that this is what has happened in this case - this little mare clearly wasn't what was advertised and I do hope someone will take her as a companion (I've recently bought an unrideable companion to keep my pony company). I'm just highlighting the things that I've seen regularly go wrong with a first horse.

I think we expect an awful lot of ponies. Often they're quick, intelligent and enjoy working but aren't given much to do. Even if a small child is a good rider they don't necessarily have the strength to deal with the pony and in some cases parents don't have the skills or knowledge to help. So ponies get labelled as bad or difficult when they do something that would be considered pretty much normal for a horse under similar circumstances.

There are some small ponies at the yard where I keep my horse. The yard owner is experienced and keeps them in line on the ground and lunges them. I or another lightweight rider will school them from time to time and I often drag them out with my 16.2 IDxTB. This kills two birds with one stone as he's happier in company and the ponies get a longer hack, have to keep up with the horse but can also let off a bit of steam. It keeps them suitably interested and a little bit squashed. Managed in that way they're good l/rein and first ponies. I can well imagine that with a first-time owner they would quickly resort to shying, showing their heels and chucking in a few bucks.

Years ago when I was teaching at a 3 day PC camp I had a pony that at the end of the first day refused to jump a small fence. On the 2nd day the child turned up and said to me, very loudly and confidently "don't worry about him not jumping, mummy says she will buy me one that does jump". Well by the end of the 2nd day he was jumping, it just took a bit of work. This pony may well be problematic, but in some of the previous homes she may just have encountered people like that, who just had the attitude of "if it doesn't work like a bike, we'll bin it and buy another". I think the OP is in a very difficult position, but it would be great if someone with experience could at least give the pony a final chance.

I feel sorry for this pony. Sounds like she's been passed from pillar to post with no one really taking the time to do anything with her.

If she was mine, I'd be tempted to do a bute trial for a couple of weeks to rule out pain. (Though she might still muck about if the response is deeply learned.)

When is your deadline OP? Where are you in the country?

I've not read all the replies but project horses used to be a good site a you just write a brutally honest advert and let people make their own minds up. You may find someone who will buy cheaply and turn them around but you don't have the worry of selling on a pony that you know is dangerous.

Have you actually costed up reschooling? Am quite appalled that people think they can afford to keep a horse/pony with all the expense inherent (vet/jabs/wormers/feed/farriers/tack etc etc ad infinitum) but then "can't afford" a few weeks' reschooling. Which, if you find the right person, will probably work wonders - and if it doesn't turn the pony round at least you will have some answers from a professional who is used to "problem" horses.

1400 for a first pony is very little.

I would try regumate and or ulcer treatment first.

With the best will in the world you don't sound ready for a pony.

We have just sold a 12.2 saint for 3500. He is a darling and so easy. He's 13 also.

Have you tried riding schools? If she needs firm handling and regular work and definitely isn't in pain, as long as you're very honest with them about her issues then it could be a good place for her. Confident firm handling from adults and lots of work to keep her busy.

Lots of people with tons more experience than me have already answered but I just wanted to say that re-schooling might not cost as much as you think - here in sunny north essex it might only be a couple of hundred for a week or two, and hopefully will give you some good feedback on routine / handling.

I sympathise though, i have a shetland mare who is a character :-) and i have got some useful tips off this thread.

Well, OP, whatever you do with this pony (and I incline towards PTS) going forward, get a pony on "loan with a view to buy". Plenty out there on that basis.
My YO got an initial Shetland for her 4YO DD on that basis, but he was too strong, then found a 17 YO Section A who is perfect. Both loans. Good ponies get passed around this way; original owners don't really want to sell as they want to ensure ponies welfare, and most ponies only suitable for a child for a couple of years. I am a little suspicious when someone wants to sell a pony. Loan is best.

Sounds a lot like my old pony - how would you describe her?