Quick horse sale

[MrPickles73]

We've had our horse 2.5years. She's 17 16hh warmblood. lovely horse, easy to hack alone or with others, can lead off her. Great at fun rides and goes hunting. She has dressage talent we don't use. She's done PC and RC camps.

She's a careful jumper and has done NSEA (70/80/90) and PC and usually goes clear but can run out. She's not keen on xc. Easy to handle on the ground. Loads and travels well.

DD would like to go 90/1m SJ and XC and we don't feel it's this horse's forte so sadly need to sell her.

What kind of price? She has no health issues / bumps / vices. Loves living outside.

We tried selling a pony through a sales livery but that proved fruitless and expensive. We'd like to her to go to a good home. Any suggestions?

You could offer her for loan with a view to buy. I did this with one of mine and it worked well. Think about insurance and vet bills in advance though. Bhs do a loan agreement precedent.

If I knew them or friend of a friend I'd be more than happy with a trial period but an extended lwvtb sounds a bit wearing tbh.
How long did they loan for? Did you agree the price up front and did they pay what you asked for or did they then start negotiating?
Thankyou for the suggestion.

I'd be inclined to advertise on Horsequest for around £8k as a mother-daughter share or riding club all rounder. 17 isn't old anymore and everyone values safety. Good luck 👍

I think that age for a bigger horse might go against you , not the same as an older pony.
market is definitely quieter with weather and hay prices.
if needing a quick sale maybe advertise at lower end market value but be ruthless in stalking potential purchaser to make sure not a dealer etc.

Hmm, not sure I completely agree that 17 is no age, for a little native pony maybe but for a big warmblood it's getting into dangerous territory. Not that I think she needs immediate retirement or anything, but (a) she almost certainly won't vet completely clean (b) new owners will pretty much need to be committing to a home for life or at the very least to not being able to sell her on for anything like what they bought her for e.g. if teenage child is off to uni in 3-5 years, very limited market for a big horse in their 20s even if totally sound by that age.

She's therefore in a slightly difficult price bracket and type I'd say, you don't want to price too low or you'll get dodgy dealers sniffing and put off genuine buyers, but her age and type will limit her from achieving what she'd be worth if she was a 14.2 connie. You only bought her relatively recently, where did she come from and what did you pay? I'd price her at a little bit less than what you originally paid for the advert and be prepared to take a little less than that again for a really good home. Perhaps start in £7k ISH range and be prepared to take as low as £5k depending on vetting? If you don't want to go for sales livery I'd agree with horsequest and local Facebook groups as advertising methods and target mother/daughter share market or through PC network definitely emphasise safe and easy keeper, if she's well known as a quiet, reliable type locally you'll presumably have interest?

I agree with some others 17yo warm blood is where I’d be starting to worry I might be doing a lot of maintenance.
Given everything you’ve said, esp no massively scopey and can run out I’d be looking around the £5k market

Do you need to sell her in order to buy another horse? Or is it the ongoing costs which would be impossible with 2? I don’t think you’re going to get that much for her tbh - she’s a big, 17 year old warmblood who’s not particularly scopy/easy to jump. If she’s good at dressage then could you get someone to take her out to a couple of dressage competitions so you have proof that she’s talented in that sphere and market her as suitable for a dressage/hacking home. If she’s were mine I’d rather loan her out as I’d want to be in control of her future. Effectively you’re asking someone to step up to be her final home and that’s a big ask ..

I agree with @Pleasedontdothat , it’s actually really sad seeing horses being passed from home to home when they are approaching the end of their useful working life . How much did you pay for her if it’s not too rude ?

I'm looking for a happy hacker/ very very light schooling/ companion horse about this size and age, and I have a space coming up for the stables track system, can you please send me details x