Buying a Pony….

[Notenoughdollarbucks]

… in this crazy market

I’m feeling so dispondant. Trying to get my very small 11 year old off her 12hh pony. Completely outridden her and stayed on for an extra 12 months too much really.

I dont have a mega budget, but it’s all I have (£5k) and people are just buying unseen. I’m starting to feel a bit miffed at all the pony club people who have land and older experienced siblings or family, who are buying up all the lower end ponies, schooling them over summer and selling on for £10k

I can’t take a risk because I have to pay livery and don’t have anyone who can sort a really problem pony. But I enquire, book a viewing and then get a message to say it’s sold before I get there! This has happened the last three times I’ve booked a viewing. And no one will entertain a second viewing. There is always queue so if you don’t decide then and there, someone else buys it 😕

Don’t know what I’m asking really. Just a general moan about a first world problem 😂😩

Have you joined Pony Club? I suggest join up and ask the DC if there are any ponies a little bit bigger coming up that are looking for new homes. Many very good ponies never go on the market, they just get passed from one home to another within a pony club branch. Many are just very good but ordinary ponies that are older and know their job, and are not expensive. We had a cheap 19 year old (£600 including tack), worth his weight in gold he was so easy to ride, he went on loan through pony club for a further 4-5 years.
Your daughter will enjoy and make friends and may well get earmarked for inheriting the next size pony.
www.pcuk.org.

I am in pony club. However there is a LOT of competition for the hand me down ponies. And we are not really competitive (we just like the rallies and camp etc. not interested in SJ teams or tet.) and these kids seem to get all the good ponies 🤷🏼‍♀️
Also lots of the mums volunteer and pony club is their social life. I have other non horsey children , so I am not as involved, so again naturally would be over looked.

Thank you for the suggestion though. I am working my contacts hard

I'm seeing 22 year old ponies go for £4K here. Plain old ponies, but safe and know their job. Worth every penny to teach the kids, if you have land and can afford to be end of line…

We sold my daughter's safe 14.2 PC cob to another Pony Club kid through facebook for £4.5K. She is a lovely pony that can do anything (at a lower level) and the girl we sold her to is still happily riding her. We probably sold too cheap, but we were looking for a good home and needed to sell as we had another pony on livery also. Hopefully you find someone like us 🤞🏻

I don't know what the answer is but maybe try widening your search radius a bit? It may also be worth putting a wanted ad on Facebook and really selling yourselves?

5k ought to be able to get a reasonable 13.2 type pony with no recorded breeding but probably not a been there/done that sort with a competition record, or else there will be some compromises. Have a serious think about issues you could manage eg sweetitch, laminitis etc?

Would you consider a mini cob/cross? They can be towards the cheaper end of the market.

Try Becci grand in Norfolk…she’s very honest and usually has some lovely ponies. She has a Facebook page Honest Horses. There’s also a pony club ponies Facebook page. Good luck…it took me ages to find my pony and the market is a bit bonkers!

Sympathies! It's really hard right now and the market just doesn't seem to have settled since COVID and the cost of living crisis. Sounds like you're doing all the right things so it's just a case of keeping at it, the idea of a wanted post on all your local horsey Facebook groups is a good one. You'd have to do an awful lot of filtering but preloved and dragon driving are sites where people sometimes advertise cheaper ponies, I assume you're checking there too?

An out of the box idea to consider particularly if you're ok taking on a younger or greener pony would potentially be a trip to Ireland, this always used to be the way to pick up a cheaper Connie or ISH type (appreciate these would be bigger than what you're after but if you could find someone in the know they might be able to point you towards someone breeding smaller/cob crosses?). Obviously there would be the cost of shipping which is a lot more since brexit but I still get the impression it's significantly cheaper to buy out there than here?

Thank you everyone.
Lots of good ideas.

I'm writing off anything green, because DD isn’t experienced or brave enough. And I firmly believe that young ponies need a good start in experiences hands.
In have a few to look at in wales this weekend so that’s hopeful.

or a few months with no pony or livery will boost by budget I guess.

Thank you for the moral support. I keep thinking it will quiet down, but the bonkers Covid market keepa holding.

I've got a lovely Dales I can't sell! Wish we could swap problems...,

Keep an eye on the riding schools aswell. Me and a friend bought some fab ponies from one that was closing down. Both older girls mines a lead rein but my friend got a great Connie mare for her 11 year old. Been there done it type is teaching her tons. Both cost us a grand each. Some riding schools sell their ponies on after a few years aswell so might be worth trawling thru some of them aswell

Thank you both!

@CurlewKate how big is your Dales pony and what has it done ? 😁

I would agree with a wanted post on your local FB selling page, I was looking for months for my daughters pony, felt just like you do. I didn’t want to put a wanted post on as I see so many with no responses, but when I eventually put one on I got lots of private messages and ended up buying one which was 2.5 hours away (longer than I wanted to travel) and a little younger than we had been looking for, but she hadn’t even been advertised yet and so far is a great little pony. We viewed 7 in total so do look at a few. With your budget you will have to compromise with something, it may be distance, size, age, vices, have a think about what you would be willing to compromise. Good luck, the right one will come along.

I put a detailed Wanted post in a Facebook group. Described exactly what we wanted and our budget and described how the pony would be kept/stabled.

I was really specific.

So specific that only one person contacted me. But it was the absolutely the right person.

Got my pony for 5k. A bit greener than what I wanted but I asked my kids' teachers to do some work with him the first few months (rode him once a week) and he's now the best 5k I ever spent.

I’m in the same boat as you! Looks like we need to travel hours and I’m reluctant as last time we were buying we’d arrive to find lame or completely unsuitable ponies. We’re on livery too and already have one retired so don’t really want to go too old this time.

Where have you advertised him @CurlewKate ? I’ve got my eye on all the selling sites and there aren’t many dales ponies about!

@OneReformedCharacter He's currently not up anywhere- he's in an informal kind of loan arrangement. He's earning his keep-and learning a lot, so we'll take it seriously again in the spring.