Pony Prices

[Fudgeball123]

Any signs of pony prices coming down yet?

Sellers still seem to be advertising high starting prices but in most cases accept some haggling.

We've looked at 8 ponies now 🙄 and pricing has gone as follows (all ponies around 14hh with the exception of pony (7) who is for a different child and is 12hh):

1. £9k didn't get to the haggling stage - apparently someone paid this for it in cash!
2. £6k didn't get to the haggling stage as we didn't want the pony after we had tried it (it has been for sale for 6 months so would suggest over priced / not advertised correctly)
3. £5.5k really liked the pony, agreed £5.3k, pony failed vetting.. If anything a bit cheap for the pony..
4. £5k didn't get to the haggling stage as we didn't want the pony after we had tried it
5. £4k didn't get to the haggling stage as we didn't want the pony after we had tried it. Very reasonable price.
6. £7.5k. I felt this pony was well over priced. I got them down to £6k but then we decided the pony wasn't for us. It's now advertised at £6.5k
7. Initially £6k and agreed £3.5k. £3.5k seems fair. £6k was wildly over priced.
8. £8k. We like this pony but haven't got onto the haggling stage yet...

Just wondered how others are finding the current market? I can imagine if we wait til the autumn prices will come down but then we will have missed the summer holidays! (We're looking for 2 ponies..)

The post referenced a "rant above" and then went on to discuss dressage, which were the points I raised. That's why I asked. So yes, if it was aimed at me it was rude. And if the comments about sellers' experiences are relevant, so are mine trying to buy. Dismissing them on the basis that I am "just off rocking horses" (on no basis whatsoever) wasn't helpful or relevant.

@Ariela Sorry! I'm sure it is awful both ways. I literally went through an interview process to get my kids' pony last year (though he is amazing and I totally got it from their perspective). Not sure what the answer is! Good luck to all seeking ponies and new owners for their much loved equines.

Yes, I hope everyone here can manage to find their new one! Maybe we can keep updated with our successes (hopefully!).
I was one of the sellers literally making people go through an interview 😂. I'm glad I did though, because I sold to the very best person for less rather than someone who offered 2 grand more but I was a bit dubious about. Sounds like you must have been decent as you passed! 😉

I am looking at buying at the moment too, and I don't recall it ever being so bad out there. Both for high prices, and for sellers being less than truthful.

Until I saw this thread, I thought maybe we were being unreasonable. But guess it's not just us struggling.

We have a reasonable budget, but I am aware we're looking for something quite specific. But goodness, the horses we've seen, and the unmentioned things wrong with them! Lamenesses, vices, behavioural issues, we've seen it all. Not one of those we've seen hasn't had something big wrong, that should have been in the ad either. We're not looking at bargain basement prices either.

It's pretty discouraging.

I can recommend a breeder if you're anywhere near Lancashire

It's bonkers.... I've had a field ornament pottering about for the last 10 years, as I took him in when, he was literally homeless and about to be PTS - as 13.2hh bog standard children's ponies, safe enough but a bit nappy but not done much, so needing work, could literally not be given away ! He would have made some kid a lovely low level all round pony club pony to knock about and have fun with, but everyone wanted a foot perfect 12.2 LR/FR then a 14.2 + ready to go out and win novice dressage and jump 1m tracks. He was the sort of pony me and most of my friends properly learnt to ride on after leaving riding schools so when we were ready for more sporty models we knew how to ride one side of them and sort out problems that arose.

@MsOllie we're not - but yes please! It's way closer than the Netherlands!
@Didiplanthis yes - the sort of pony I learnt on to. They were the best! I think it's a shame if kids don't get that (our current is 10 hh of Welsh section A and perfect for teenies but had me run after him to the field when he got past me in the stable while I was 8 months pregnant and has had to be removed from the mares' field more than once. He's impeccable with the kids). It's the quirky ones that get you (and I don't mean the deathly terrifying ones, I mean the ones who aren't perfect but teach you and now I' getting a tiny bit tearful thinking about them all)

My boy is 13.2 Welsh A x coloured cob. Sturdy leg at each corner type and short coupled and arsey enough to teach them to sit a buck when he doesn't want to do something, nothing nasty at all just 'pony' 🤣 and yet I could drag him out the field after doing nothing for a year , plait him up, chuck him in a lorry and take my 3 yr old in local lead rein classes . Then dress him up in ridiculous outfits for fancy dress and he didn't bat an eyelid...yet NOBODY wanted him. The world is mad...

Gah I can't log in to send a DM but anyway, here

https://www.facebook.com/100055372732948/posts/498433035345783/?d=n

Our first was an absolute genius bastard shetland who enjoyed rolling us off into mud/nettles followed up by a 4 year old Welsh B who enjoyed bucking us off but both were absolutely adored and taught us so much. The Welsh turned into an superstar who won everything. He cost my mum £250. You can't beat a pony with "personality".

The market is bonkers. I struggled to find a quality 16:2 -17h mother / daughter share (DD likes them big) for a sensible price in the UK and ended up buying a very sweet but gangly WB x ID x TB 4yo direct from Ireland. She is still growing and needs to strengthen / muscle up so its going to take a year before DD can get out and about on her, but we are enjoying the process.

I wonder if the prices will come down near autumn and winter when people see how much the cost of keeping a horse has gone up. It's nice weather, 24/7 turnout so I doubt many will be selling.

The ones I've seen were 9k upwards!

WildFlowerBees this is what I am wondering. Will the increase in cost of living change anything or are horse owners generally pretty wealthy and 'above' any cost increase?
I'm exhausted of the whole thing.. we have been looking for 2 months only.. seen a total of 11 ponies now.. the two we liked most and vetted failed the vettings... We are not looking for anything amazing. Just ponies to love and take to pony club. We have literally covered 4 counties.. There are plenty of ponies under 13.2hh and plenty of ex-racehorses but very little 14hh+ for a novice..

I'm in the same boat @Fudgeball123 looking for a 15.1 cob type for a novice. Saw one but the video showed he was lame, how they couldn't see that is beyond me. So many rogue sellers around I'm hoping for something local. Feels like I'm looking for a unicorn!

I'm wondering how they managed to disguise that conformation fault with boots?

WildFlowerBees we are giving it one last go and then giving up til the autumn. Three horsey friends have said ponies should come available in the autumn as kids head back to school and the recession kicks in and people's cost of living goes up..
Our problem is in the meantime our 12 yo is on a 12.2hh which is really too small now and would have to use it for pony camp etc. Seems a shame to miss the summer!

Wow - this all makes sense... I need to sell my daughter's 14hh pony with (managed) sweet itch in August; - her instructor told me 6k should be a good starter, which seemed bonkers as he's 15 and I bought him for just less than half that. I thought she was mad, but seems not.

I'm wondering how they managed to disguise that conformation fault with boots?

big dressage bandages and overreach boots! I can’t really describe how but you couldn’t see it. I should say I don’t think they were necessarily trying to hide it, just that you couldn’t see it until you took the bandages and overreaches off.

That's gutting! I've got a youngster for sale at the moment and I take 4 conformation photos from each side, plus feet photos and then walk, trot and canter videos (including a trot up). For me it saves so much time and it's not luck that usually first to see buys the few I sell each year. It works the other way though as I request the same level of information before I go and look also.

The market is funny right now, I'm selling a really smart 3 year old that's very mature and been backed by a GP trainer etc. He is absolutely as described and I've had about 15 contacts about him but I think the general consensus is he's expensive at £13k. He's only been on a day and only on FB so he will be going on HorseQuest over the weekend. I keep having a fleeting thought about his price and if necessary he will come down to find the right home, but then I see him move and remember he's bloody lovely. We sent his field mate with him for backing and had already decided that he needed another year as he isn't as mature as the other but then he sold today just by word of mouth ... subject to vet. Whilst I have no worries about the vet I don't like to tempt fate. My youngster btw is no good for you, he moves beautifully for a ISH but you need a Warmblood and he doesn't have a drop in him.

That's a good idea and I might do that in future re confirmation photos - then you don't get all the way to see something and find it's not right for a fundamental reason (though tbf we hadn't actually gone to look at that one). If they had been asking a sensible price I might have had a punt and bought it.

It's a shame you and your horses sound lovely, but you're right we're looking for a warmblood. Good luck - hope you find a great home for him

Safe and suitable for a novice has always been expensive, and always will be. Projects, quality young stock, unhandled natives, tbs straight from the track etc go up and down and price, but safe all rounders only go up.
Dsd has a reasonably talented, if green, ex racer, he’s reasonably reliable if you know what you’re doing, competes low level and will go further with experience.

By comparison we have a now outgrown connie, will never win at anything beyond unaffiliated/ low level pc or rc. But if you want to stick granny and the dog on for a hack down the motorway, a beginner with a neck strap and point them at 90cm unaffiliated, a talented teenager wanting to improve their flat work or a toddler that wants to help on the ground you can’t find anything better. It’s probably worth at least 5x the ex racer, despite having 10% of the talent.
And that sort of reliability took years and years of work, not the months it takes to get a green youngster to be reasonably safe with a half decent rider. And if ever intended to sell, I would expect the price to reflect the work it took.
With the increase of novice adults looking to own, and the lack of opportunity for dc from non horsey backgrounds to ride anything quirky, the larger safe sorts will only continue rising in price.

really well said

Thank you @Lastqueenofscotland2

We haven't started looking yet, but I wanted to gage from posters here what our budget should be. I'm looking for my 12-year-old.

We already have a pony (a 14.2 cob) who is lovely in every way and currently my daughter competes on her in various shows. Not sure how she will fare in Trailblazers and Sunshine this year, so we will see, but she has been placing in various u/a SJ shows. We are looking to keep our current pony, but also buy another one. We are looking for a 15hh+ horse with SJ potential. But as we can't afford to buy any fancy show jumper, the (theoretical) plan is to buy a very young project horse with potential and bring it on with the help of a SJ trainer (we have a good one).

Realistically, what price should I be budgeting for? I haven't yet approached our yard, as I'm afraid they will find something in the tens of thousands. But is that the realistic price for a young project with "potential"? My daughter can still continue riding her cob whilst the (theoretical) project horse is being trained.

My friend bought a smart ISH, unbacked but lovely mover and attitude to die for for £7k last summer.