Horse / pony prices

[MrPickles73]

Where do people feel horse / pony prices are heading?

We have a lovely pony for sale but needs a reasonable competent rider. We've had 4 children trying her in 4 months but none were established enough. She is a forward second pony as stated in the ad.. some of these kids have allegedly been riding since toddlers and now aged 6-8 but barely able to hold the reins right etc even though parents insist they are bored of their kick along and want to know if our pony can jump 80..

Any how I love the pony very much but sadly my jockey has outgrown her and I rather she have a new jockey than be a glorified lawn mower.

We have received an offer which sounds like a good home but for only half the asking price.. so we are a bit gutted but is it better to let her go and forget about the money and not have to look after her over the winter?..

Talk to local riding schools

the three nearest to us have closed since COVID..

what would I ask them? For advice on price or if they wanted to buy her?

Well contact further field

as for why… I’d have thought that was abundantly obvious

1. they may wish to purchase
2. they will very likely have a child on their books wanting to buy

It seems like prices are through the roof to me, although I just browse out of interest (we loan DD’s lovely mare). An offer of half the asking price seems cheeky, but on the other hand you haven’t had much interest in 4 months. If you’re able to share a few more details people might be able to advise.

I think it is a difficult market with the summer we have had people are concerned about the hay situation and feeding through the winter. Have you tried contacting the local pony clubs to advertise her?

Prices are a bit weird at the minute. The unicorn market remains strong (doesn’t spook/granny can hack it down the m65 types/cba be ridden by literally any old idiot), and they go for a fortune regardless of age or confirmation, the not super talented but not novice ride market is a bit weak… how much is the pony on for and what was the offer.

I'd have thought it'd be obvious neither of those types of kids are suitable from the op!!

I think prices are going down a bit as above due to hay prices and kids going back to school. Difficult as the decent riders at that age tend to know people & have contacts so they might not look on open market as much.

Was just coming on to say basically this! Feels a bit odd in that some parts of the market that have always been strong i.e. the 14.2 mother/daughter schoolmaster type or the saintly first ridden are if anything stronger than they ever were, but as soon as you start to add even a quite trivial quirk or something that won't pass a 5 stage vetting the bottom appears to drop out and it can be hard to sell at all, never mind for a price that reflects the pony's 'issues' (I put that in inverted commas because often it's nothing that can't be worked through with some patience, experience and/or sensible management). How big is your pony and what's your asking price?

And sadly despite having been a riding school client myself, there's no way I'd sell any of mine on to a riding school unless I was absolutely desperate and had exhausted all other avenues - it's a very tough life and only suits a very particular type of horse. And I'm not sure a slightly sharp, not for a novice, 2nd pony type is what a fresh out of the school, probably non horsey parent kid needs either. I'd be exploring pony club and/or Facebook groups first. Or perhaps take the offer you've been made or come back with a counter-offer if it's a good home?

We have tried FB ads, local pony clubs, NSEA teams, hunt WhatsApp group etc etc. Pony is small (under 13hh), good as gold but quick. Can jump 70cm round and a rosette machine at 50-60.

Problem is many kids who look at ponies that age are not that well established and nervous. They think they want a second pony but in fact they are not ready.

Two friends of ours have taken well over a year to sell ponies.

As said unicorns and point and shoot are holding their prices well but anything outside of that seems very slow. I was just checking that was the general consensus..

I think annoyingly you’re a bit between markets, probably not scopy enough for a true 128 competitive home, but not quite the mothers dream type!
it’s annoying and the buyers seem to get more and more novice, I sold a 14hh 20 years ago (where does the time go!!!!) as suitable for a confident novice as she was very straightforward, would take a wobble, the best I’ve ever seen in traffic BUT would pop an excited buck hacking in company/jumping etc. now that pony would have to be marketed as quirky.

Selling if you don’t have the can be ridden by literally anyone type is a nightmare and I feel your pain!!!

Yes sadly she's a small 128 so not quite right for BS. I've even tried our local BS coach!

When I was a child you were grateful for any pony but now it has to be able to read the jump numbers itself 😆

As a previous poster said, it's difficult as your pony falls within types/categories. Unless you can find a small competent rider to do a few weeks intensive schooling to sharpen her up into more of a competition pony (or dumb her down into something a bit more child proof) you might have to take a lower offer.

I've just paid an obscene amount of money for a 4 year old 14.2 cob, but he's what people want - forward but safe, good size for a 2nd pony or a small adult, bombproof in traffic (touch wood!!), with scope to be competitive.

What about sales livery? Or a good dealer? One that specialises in ponies? There's some decent ones about. Depends how desperate you are to sell I suppose

We tried sales livery - an expensive mistake which only yielded one viewing..

My daughter occasionally has a horse/pony in to sell. The last one was a 9 year old connie, 14.2, he was very low mileage and a lot greener than expected for his age as his previous owner had been too nervous of him to do much with him. He was here for 3 months, in which time he got confident with hacking, arena hires, started jumping and lateral work but he wasn’t yet ready to compete. He was advertised on horsequest at what I thought was a very optimistic price but with very clear videos showing all his paces, transitions, good conformation shots, trotting up and a completely honest description and my daughter’s phone didn’t stop ringing. He was sold for the asking price the day after his ad went live to the first family who saw him and my daughter had a waiting list of people who wanted to view - she even had someone try to buy him unseen just off the description. I think for desirable types, safe and sane with well crafted ads and videos which show what a potential buyer needs to see, then the market is pretty buoyant. The pony’s old owner had tried to sell him herself with no joy a few months before he came here.

I don’t think either of these options are suitable for a pony like the Ops. Riding schools rarely produce ‘riders’ who could manage a 2nd pony. No fault of schools but it’s very different from when I attended years ago and you actually learnt to ride (and fall off). Due to H&S now most of not all schools want easy ponies for kids to learn on.

I think 14.2 Connies sell like hotcakes. Connie's are very fashionable and 14.2 is a good size for child / teenager / small woman. Ours is 11.2 so definitely child sized..

Your issue is her size as frankly most children small enough to ride an 11.2 will be novice and the ones that are really competent will mostly be kids from horsey families who likely already have one that size and are looking to move up to 12.2 or bigger . I’d drop the price for the people you’ve found .

@MrPickles73I'm not sure how to send you a pm. What area are you in? I know a family looking for a 12.2-13hh pony. The girl currently loans a sharp, super whizzy 11.2hh from the riding school because she's too sharp for any other riders to use in lessons. They're looking to buy smiliar type, but a bit bigger for jumping.

She sounds a fab rider shittybobbins and thankyou for the thought but she's 11.2