Pony shopping

[Wrapunzel]

Although I own three already, I haven't bought one from someone I didn't know/a youngster from a breeder since the 90s.
Going to view a second pony for my DD this week and having a mind blank about questions to ask! The sellers seem decent but I've heard horror stories from friends so would like to cover off as much as possible on first viewing.
Any suggestions welcome, please!

Take a neutral person with you ie instructor who can give an impartial point of view. I sometimes take my physio as she is excellent at looking at the bio mechanics of the horse whilst I'm riding it/busy asking questions about it.
Watch the horse being ridden in every situation your child will want to ride in eg fields, hacked out etc.
Is it a dealer? If so I would check for signs of horse being drugged, too many horror stories about this!
This year has been bad for laminitis so pay close attention to the hooves eg rings/stress lines + angle and trimming of each hoof.
Get a list of your non-negotiables eg loading etc and to see the horse being loaded, handled by a child etc.

I think you need a realistic list Of non negotiables, I say realistic as a lot of wanted adds I see the non negotiables seem to be the horse should be actually brain dead.

I think also a realistic appraisal of how good your daughter is, and in the same vein I’d take an instructor. Second pony is a pretty broad brush term from, absolute angel but just doesn’t take a very wobbly child and won’t tolerate a sock in the gob, to really quite sharp games/jumping ponies.
I’d also have a really good chat with the owner about what the pony has done vs what you want to do. If your daughter wants to hunt and the pony has form for getting a bit stupid cantering in company, we have a problem.

A good chat about routine, if pony lives out full time but during winter you only have turnout for 2/3 hours a day, that could be an issue, vet history, what are they like with the farrier. A good warts and all picture, what’s the worst thing they’ve ever done…

Ah you stars, thank you. She's almost 7 and has had an angelic first pony who's retiring a year sooner than I needed unfortunately. She likes forward with brakes (don't they all?! Me too!) but not planning on hunting.

We actually have 24/7/365 turnout but that's been problematic with the current pony so need to check for lami tendencies for sure