New home needed for pony- is there anything we haven’t thought of?

[BertrandRussell]

We have a 6 year old Dales gelding that we rescued 3 years ago. No papers, but obvious just by looking what he is. He’s got a lovely nature, easy to lead and box. He’s been backed but no more. We don’t have anyone small enough to ride him- he’s 14 hh. Dd was riding him, but she’s away at university, and realistically can’t do anything with him. He desperately needs to be with people who can bring him on- he’s just in our field being a companion to our very elderly retired mare. It’s such a waste! How can we find him a home? No one local wants him- horses are two a penny round here! We won’t put him on Gumtree or anything- like that, of course.

Do you have a local horse riding Facebook page? Our has loads of horse for sale / horses wanted ads.

Or advertise on Horse and Hound? Ok, he's green and inexperienced, but sounds lovely. I'm sure it can't be that difficult to find him a home. Older horses, horses with vices etc, yes, but he sounds great.
Plus, I thought Dales were supposed to be really good weight carriers, so surely height doesn't matter all that much?

We’ve tried our local Facebook- no luck. Because we’re not expecting any money for him i’m a bit wary of advertising him to,people we can’t check out.

And yes, he is a weight bearing breed, but i’d rather he wasn’t ridden too much by heavier people while he’s so green. Precious? Moi?

Pony club? Hunt?

Have you asked around the local riding yards? They would know of people looking for horses and would have a good idea of suitability etc.

Yep- tried Pony Club and riding schools....

Trouble is, round here there are loads of lovely ponies going for peanuts...

Do you think he’s bored? Could you long rein, lunge and free school him to keep him ticking over?

Maybe you could put him in some kind of schooling/sales livery for a year - they could find out what he has an aptitude for, take him out to some shows or whatever and increase his chances of appealing to someone somewhere?

I would get the fround work really well established. Get your dd to ride him o er the easter holidays and readvertise in april. It really is a shitty time to be selling. Winter seems to be forever, lots of mud and filth and a project ends up beinh stood for another 2 months as you just about cipe with the basics.

Plus as the owner of 2 natives they look like bog monsters at this time of year. Getting him looking nice and fit with his summer coat coming in and he will look completely different.

Quite frankly there are worse things for a horse than being ‘wasted’ in a field. I would hope you are getting his feet trimmed/shod, fed properly, wormed etc. Horses like this have little value and he has been rescued once.

These sorts often end up in the hands of people who want a horse because it is ‘posh’ but do not have the money and knowledge to look after them properly.

Is there a reputable riding school/college near you who could lease him off you. Have you spoken to the local riding club and pony club?

I would keep him - too many horrible people out there...

Yes, he is well looked after and he is lunged and long reined whenever we can.

He’s just such a lovely pony, and I would far rather he was giving somebody pleasure and having an interesting life. I’m also aware that our old mare won’t last forever, and when she goes he’ll be alone. And I can’t guarantee to be able to have a field for another 20 years! But we won’t let him go unless we’re absolutely sure of the people he’s going to.

If he went to schooling livery would your mare be lonely? Freelance groom to school and help you bring him on?

What was The Plan when you rescued him?

How about a full loan? You could then keep an eye on him and sell him if it's a good match.

-I honestly don’t want to pay for a schooling livery- I hope that doesn’t sound tight fisted of me

Yes, I know this isn’ a good time of the year for offering natives- he does look pretty dreadfully the moment!

To be honest, there wasn’t really A Plan. It was a crisis rescue. I think we thought (if we thought at all) that dd would have time to bring him on properly, then we would offer him for long term loan. But she didn’t, and nice ponies for loan are 10 a penny round here. It would need to be someone who really wanted a project.

homesforhorses.org ?

Or whatever UK equivalent is, sorry, that’s not the right link but there’s something similar.

If you really want a home for him you might have to put a little time and money in. Someone from here helped me write a killer ad for a problem pony a few years ago, he’s been happily settled with the new people ever since.

I don’t want to add him to a charity’s work load really. He’s safe and happy where he is. I would just love to see him reaching his potential. I think he would make a smart little driving pony too.

I think you'd be far better to put him on schooling livery and then actually sell him to cover the cost of the schooling. He is then not a project which often end up going to people to turn them over or who don't have the money to give them a really good home (obviously there are exceptions before anyone jumps on me)

Could you just advertise him for sale and set a sensible price for him? I appreciate you're not expecting money for him, but that's only more likely to end up with him going to the wrong sort of home

People will question why a horse is free. Sell him for the going rate, and I think you're more likely to find a nice, genuine home. You can always not charge them at the last minute, if that sits better with you, but at least you know you've got someone who was prepared to pay for him.

You could try gifting him to riding for the disabled if you think he has the potential?

That's an interesting idea-but surely Riding for the Disabled would want a "finished" pony rather than one that needs work?

I think it depends on the RDA branch. Some will take a chance on an unfinished pony if it has the right temperament. I suppose the job they do is different from a riding school so being broke to accept the usual aids might not necessarily be a good thing. I presume they are trained more to go off a leaders voice similar to a tiny tots lead rein pony.

Why not try ringing around local reputable riding schools to see if he would be of interest? For me personally if I was going to pay to keep a dales pony I would rather pay for one that was registered. Given his size he will more than likely be most useful to an older child or small adult and lots of folk these days want to compete. Even at local level they want the pony to be registered.

Would he change type with a haircut? Lots of cob classes around these days so maybe present him as a cob. You could hog him, strip his feathers, bang his tail. Or pull his mane and tail and present him as a whp type if you think he would jump?

Have a look at the different show societies and lots of photos of classes to see what else he could be. Rather than a dales type.

My little section A can do his breed classes as he is atm. But would also do show hunter pony classes with a different turn out.

It's worth a thought especially as lots of folk go cob shopping rather than native pony type shopping.