selling ponies...aggghhhh

[mummydoc]

i joined the takcroom gang a while back after purchasing a pny for my dd2, that pony is a cracker, really smart , true to type welshie, but not a novice ride, not naughty or bad just very responsive and needs to work IYKWIM. so not suitable for novice 4 year old and novice lead rein mummy. so he has gone off to a friend who is a schooling/producer. well have found and bought a new slightly more suitable ( i hope) pony. but old new pony is still at producers at £100/wk. i have had him on horsequest for 5 weeks and adhorse for 2 weeks, apparently load sof people have rung up but not found new owner, someone interested in loaning is draggin her feet, keeps asking for more footage. I really do not knwo what to do so options :

1. have pony back, turn out for winter and daily handle but probably only ridden once a week by someone and send back to producer in spring for 4 weeks or so and try to sell again

2. bankrupt myslef and keep him at yard over winter were they will show him on winter circuit and hope buyer comes forward

3. have pony home and put in local rag at cut price and hope for buyer

the friends who have him have a fantastic competant 7 yr old who absolutely loves the pony and is having a ball with him, i am beginning to wonder how hard they are really trying to sell him for me.

4. give her to me! I like the welshies a LOT

what colour is she?

difficult one. I would talk to friend. Say you cant afford to keep pony on livery and ask if they want to buy him. If not take hime back and turn him out until spring. It wont do him any harm not to be ridden and welsh live out happily all year. My driving pony does HOYs off the field and he is clipped out and rugged up and as happy as larry. If your friends really like the pony for their child perhaps they will buy it.
good luck!

mitchy nice offer , there is the rub , i am luckily not needing to recoup what i paid for him, so not particularly bothered about finding abuyer but just cannot keep up £100/wk for his keep and £75 week for livery for new new pony. am feeling very down in hte dumps about it all, as bought both ponies with all good thoughts of lovely rides with kids through crispy winter fields ,. and lovely long fun filled sunny days at summer pony club and shows.now i find i am bed ridden after major surgery and kids not riding at all for 1 month due to that and school commitments. i am having a real moan i know , guess still feeling very sorry for myself as in pain, cannot get out , not working etc etce etc.

elasta you are right, i know my friends would love the pony but they are up to ears in debt and have too many ponies . i have offered pony to them on long term loan but they argue that their time and expertise would turn pony into much more valuable pony as likely to do well on show circuit and they have plenty of ponies for their daughter to ride already. though interestingly she has never "bonded" with a pony quite the way she has with mine.

i think i will have him back turn him out ( i have no probs with him living out - they were bred to live on welshmountains after all) and in jan when i am up and about better actively look for a local girl to ride him for me . I can keep him at the same yard as other pony for an extra £25 quid a week so could afford to offer him as a free ride for someone locally. hopefully by time showing starts in ernest next yr we will be more competant and can show him a bit and get a cv for him and sell him next yr

Don't know why I thought he was a mare, sorry! Your plan sounds good, although can see your friends' point. That sort of schooling usually a lot more than £100 a week I think. But it's not small change is it?

I couldn't really take on a 3rd set of livery fees, it's already a bit YIKES and am thinking of appealing to my youngest's dad to pay all or some of her pony's upkeep. He's v good about forking out for her lessons and various bits of kit but doesn't know the half of it. Am quite badly smitten by yet another pony (a sec B, silver roan) and really really really need to pull myself together before I end up bankrupt!

silver DUN not roan

We've been in a bit of a similar situation with our palomino. We originaly priced him up on Horsequest and H&H (back in September) for 2,500. We've had 3/4 families come to look at him and one family has said yes to him at the reduced price of 1,950 but that was 4 weeks ago and no deposit or collection date. We're constantly chasing them up to know when they want to pay/collect him.

We've now roughed him off for the Winter (their loss as he has lost fitness) and is still turned out. If they fall through we will keep him and give him a bib clip in January. Then we'll start working him and take him to some BSPS Winter Champs qualifiers and put him back on the market - probably for 2,500 again if qualified, in March. He was just beginning to go nicely off the lead rein for DD back in Sept and was even jumping X poles.

We've still got the roan to work on as a FYFR/pony club pony and DD only has time to concentrate on one at this time of year.

I'd suggest that you will struggle to sell/loan now (why would anybody want to have him over the Winter?) and you'd be better off cutting your losses and keeping him at home until the market picks up in the Spring. Try to promote him before Easter though as lots of people are keen to have ponies for the school holidays, early shows etc.

I know how you feel. I have just about managed not to buy another after my old horse died in the summer. I keep looking at my livery bill and saying 'ONE HORSE IS PLENTY - STEP AWAY FROM HORSE AN HOUND!!!

where are you mummydoc ?

butkin sorry to hear your sale for palomino fell through - i was very tempted by him , gorgeous pony. time wasters are frustrating, the family who have looked at him for loan apparently have show ponies and the 8 yr old wants a fun pony to start doing whp on and ours fits the bill completely, they arenot hving to pay anything and yet they keep asking for mor ephotos etc etc.

we are on hereford/gloucestershire border.

i am going to have him back in 2weeks i think and not stress it too much ( not in my nature as stress over things a lot) hope by early spring have found someone to ride him regulalry for me or maybe my older daaughter will feel more confiddent then who knows...

thanks for all supportive posts

Too far from us im afraid i was just trying to think of a way of squeezing him onto my friends land without her noticing ,as im sure he wouldnt eat too much would he !

Mummudoc - what height is he? I'm looking for a pony for my dd at the moment.

seeker - how old is dd? I have a LR pony for sale......

Sorry, she's 13, cazboldy. A bit too big for your pony I suspect!

yep probably - he is only 12hh..... never mind.

saw your other thread.... poor dd

seeker he is only 11.3 so probably too small, thankyou anyway - were in hte country are you ? just in case i come across any other fabs ponies

been up to see newnew pony who is at livery yard today, discussed old new pony and livery yard owner ( who is one of my dearest friends) said have him back and he can live out here for free , they are turnign out a newly broken pony for the next 2 months so they be company together, they will bring him in each day and feed adn check him then chuck him back out , . In return i have offered my nanny to help with their school run ( her kids at school very close tomy dds school) . what a lovely friend , she has told me to stop worrying , recover from my surgery and now as pony not costing anything i can actively offer him as a free ride . Will spread word round ponyclub when i finally get to go ! joined the week before surgery so not been yet. seeker if you live in hereford your dd is welcome to ride for free

Mummydoc have you tried Hereford Equestrian - they cover Gloucs,Worcs and Shrops and have a fairly extensive for sale/loan section.....www.herefordequestrian.co.uk