Where to advertise pony for share/loan?

[XelaM]

We have a lovely 14.2 piebold cob mare that was my 12-year-old's first pony and she used to do Pony Club and pretty much everything on her. But my daughter has now got a competition pony as she's into show jumping and we are looking for someone to loan/share her cob.

She is a lovely pony who is very safe to hack and lovely on the ground. One can do everything on her, except jumping, as she doesn't like to jump and also has the beginning of arthritis (but not acute and vet says she needs to be in work). So she can't be jumped anymore. Ideally, it would either be a beginner child/preteen/teen who wants to take lessons on her or a small adult who wants a happy hacker type pony. She can do a dressage test, but is obviously cob-looking so not a pretty dressage pony. 😄 But if anyone wanted to do unaffiliated dressage shows on her, that would also be possible.

The problem is that we're at a jumping yard that isn't a riding school as such, so they only give lessons to liveries/sharers who either own or share horses on the yard. So most people who contact the yard and make enquiries about ponies are into show jumping. The yard owner says to wait until the New Year when she expects a lot more new enquiries, but I'm the one who is paying two sets of livery fees (😬) and would love to advertise her for a share or loan arrangement. The only conditions would be that she's kept at the current yard and can't be jumped.

Does anyone know where best to advertise for a potential sharer?

I know you said you want to keep her on your yard, but if her arthritis isn't too bad, would you consider an RDA group? Many of the larger ones have qualified and experienced staff, often full time on site. Her temperament sounds lovely. Hope you find someone soon.

I wouldn’t recommend the RDA for an arthritic pony. Even if it’s mainly in walk it can be really hard work and a lot of the volunteers unintentionally aren’t the best horse people so there is a bit of them being hauled about that I don’t like.

I’ve always found Facebook good but be prepared to wade through billions of stupid enquiries. I have sharers and common responses are
”would you sell” no or I’d be advertising them for sale.
”Would you move yards 490 miles away” no it’s a part loan for 3 days a week.
”Would they carry 25 stone” No
And all kinds of bizarre nonsense about what colour Le Miuex they’d look best in (seriously, from actual adults), and people who clearly haven’t read the advert, or open with “how high do they jump.”
I always at the top of the advert that anyone who clearly hasn’t read it won’t be responded to, and while I wouldn’t share mine to children/teenagers people I know do often put anyone interested under 18 to get the parents to get in touch first, that way you know they aren’t just dreaming and the person who will have to pay for it is actually aware!

Facebook groups are where it's at for share/loan ads these days. Like LastQueen says you'll get a lot of nonsense/chancer replies but there are good people out there too.

I'd advertise as for a lightweight (relatively) experienced adult for hacking and schooling, I can't see a beginner taking enough lessons to make a share worthwhile especially at a yard not geared up for teaching novices and you def don't want someone that doesn't know what they're doing riding unsupervised... If you happen to get say a trustworthy horsey parent that wants something quiet for their child to ride under their supervision then great but if you put on Facebook that novices are welcome you'll get 1000 13 year olds that have had a couple of lessons thinking they can have her for bombing around on...

Thank you so much everyone! Any suggestions for particular Facebook groups?

The yard we're at has loads of kids of all ages but they all compete on various levels and are generally all into jumping, except the tiny tot kids of of some adults who ride there. So they definitely do loads of lessons for kids, but only those who either share or own ponies there. My daughter is always around (every day after school and all day on weekends) so she will keep an eye on what's being done on the pony. We actually have a temporary 14-year-old novice sharer for 1 day a week at the moment who just wanted to get back into riding after a long break and get her confidence back. She takes one lesson a week on her and is never unsupervised with the instructors and my daughter keeping an eye on her. But that's only a very temporary arrangement (for a month) and only 1 day a week.

These enquiries made me laugh out loud 😂

Facebook - the one I’ve used most is Surrey Horse & Pony but I’m sure there’ll be something more local to you. The other route to try is the local Pony Club - the DC may well know of someone who’s looking for a share.

Where are abouts are you?

We have this FB group up here - there used to be a London group but I can't find it. Have you thought about putting the word about at TP?

Ah here you go - but not specifically for loan/share

One more - but uk wide

Preloved always has loans and shares near me (SW). The replies on the local FB loan pages are often quite mad (teenagers that can't canter wanting to loan ex-racehorses etc).

North London/Herts

Thanks again everyone! Very helpful. I will try the recommended Facebook groups as well as pre-loved.

@DrHildegardeLanstrom I didn't ask TP as they would want her to stay with them at TP and would probably want to use her for their riding school, where they work horses so much. I don't think they would want to help us find a sharer if we stay at our yard.