Not certain where to put this, so I figured this may be the best place.
Through my younger years of being a junior, I would purchase young, green ponies and flip them. Almost all of the ponies I sold fairly quickly and was happy to get off my plate. The last pony I had, although, was with me for two years. I brought her from basically breaking her to doing the large greens. Lovely pony, had the look, movement, and jump anyone could want. Last year, when I was venturing out to work at a new facility, she was my last pony to sell. It was pretty much the moment she got sold, I would move and start working else where. Somebody contacted me, wanting to purchase said pony off of videos. I sent them everything and anything. We had nightly face times, they had the vet come out and perform an extensive vet check (every x-ray and test that could be performed was). They bought the pony and I was so thrilled. Seemed like a lovely situation, which is all I ever wanted.
A year down the road, the pony is back for sale. A few months after her purchase, I saw photos of the pony winning all of her classes at a show, which I was so excited for. Contacted the owners, letting them know that my friends wanted to know how she was, and got nasty messages back. Basically telling me that the horse was dead lame, had all of these horrible problems, and that I was a horrible person. A few weeks before they bought her, she was doing the larges and winning. To say I was shocked and in tears is an understatement. I had poured my soul and heart into this pony for so long, then came to peace of mind when she finally found her own kid, to then receive these messages. When she was at my place, I used to gallop her through the fields and have little kids get on her. She was the sweetest pony I had the pleasure of riding and training. Then again, as I was receiving these messages, I saw that pictures were being uploaded of her on social media of her being used in lessons. The pony is back up for sale again as of recently. I was a little saddened to see it, as I would have loved to have been contacted and not been reached out by another trainer, as I would have purchased her back if given the option. A friend reached out to me to inquire how the pony was with kids. I was very truthful, stating all the little quirks she had as a four year old and as she got older, and they sent me videos saying she was lovely. These were the same videos I had marketed her with. That surprised me a little bit as I would have thought there would be recent stuff. When my friend realized this, they quickly backed away. They put her price down from what they were originally asking to 10k negotiable for a quick sale.
This is where my question comes into play. I’ve never had a connection with any of the other ponies I’ve trained, except for one (which after seven years I finally own). With the purchase price lowered, and negotiable, I am tempted to reach out about inquiring to buy her (without a PPE and such), to just get her back. I would maybe pull a breeding soundness exam instead or not even. My situation is entirely different from when I sold her. I would have loved to have kept her and bred her, but I did not have the place to during that period of time, but I do now. Granted, I do not know what soundness issues she may have (she is still being used/showed so can’t think it’s much) and I cannot show ponies anymore, but I could maybe use her in the future for lessons or breed her. I do not know how to handle reaching out to her. My fear is to either be completely kicked from her medias and lose all track of the pony (I like to offer to new owners a chance to have the horse retire with me at the end of their careers, which is why I do or), or I will receive more nasty messages. I do not know if I should have a friend help me with the negotiating and purchasing, or what. I would hope things would be professional, but I can’t see it going that way. Thank you for any help or insight you all may have.
