11-13 year old (vet aged) grade QH mare my friend bought from a feedlot 6 months ago. Beautiful build, nice feet, tight legs. A few large scars consistent with the kind of life that ends you up at a feedlot. Sound and barefoot. Her trainer has been using her as a “turnout companion” for their more fractious jumpers. She’s now UTD on everything, microchipped, etc… Riding - wise: She is rock solid W/T, excellent on leadline for kids, pretty darn good on trails, but green cantering. She wants to only pick up the left lead (although the right is coming along) and sometimes doesn’t want to canter at all. She’ll suck back and once or twice has cow-kicked out at the leg but stayed trotting. Once you get her cantering she has a nice little hunter canter. Her plan is to teach her to jump some crossrails this week, and start to market her concurrently, as a greenish lesson type horse. What is she worth?
Has she been tested for all the hereditary things a QH can have?
I don’t know, I would presume not. She might not be a full QH (?) She’s a short stock type horse. 13.3- 14.0
I wouldn’t sell her until she will canter reliably. “Greenish and lesson type” horse is a category I am not familiar with.
To me it means the rider didn’t think they could fix the issues and is selling a horse who isn’t ready to be sold and not a horse I would put a person taking a lesson on.
Get her cantering reliably and then teach the jumping. You really want the horse to have the best possible outcome.
Not much ( IMO) if she bucks at the canter.
I meant the horse is green, and her level of potential is to end up a lesson type horse, and I think you know what I meant. I wanted to be clear that her end potential is not a pony finals pony, or even a show pony. She wouldn’t sell her to a beginner, she was hoping for a pro looking to increase their lesson string. I was under the impression many lesson barns DO buy green horses like this cheap, train them, and end up with a nice long term schoolie.
And I know she’s not worth MUCH, my friend didn’t get her as an investment. She just wanted to get one horse out of the slaughter pipeline. What should she ask- 1,000? More/ less?
After reading COTH for a long time I have to honestly say I try and never think I know what people mean but try to go off what I read.
That might be just what they do so I cannot comment on her potential as a trainers lesson horse but just what I think her worth would be as she is now because we all know the word potential means squat and given her age and canter issues I would say under $ 1,000 definitely.
If she can take a little more time and get her issue resolved , she could get a lot more since she is a nice size for a smaller rider.
I think doing the testing is important.
I know if I was buying a stock type horse with an unknown pedigree I would assume its pedigree is unknown for nefarious reasons and I would want proof that I am not going to have to deal with HYPP or such.
Her height is of CRITICAL importance.
If she actually measures under 14.2 (ie, can show as a large pony) that has a positive effect on her value.
If she’s a small large, 13.2 or .3, her value is less.
If she’s a hony, that is built like a pony but won’t measure as a pony, that has a negative effect on value.
You don’t mention manners on the ground, which is another critical point for a lesson horse.
As others have said, she will have to be much more solid at the canter, taking both leads easily, and be started over crossrails to have much of a chance of selling. She also needs to tolerate novice riders, which may be the toughest criterion of all.
She might be worth a little more to a smaller adult pleasure rider who just wants a nice little horse to mosey around on and doesn’t much care if the canter ever comes along rather than a lesson barn. If I was still riding she’d be exactly what I was looking for at this point. In fact, I had this mares twin about 20 years ago and I paid $900 for her back then. Boy, I really wish I could still ride, I’d go see her!
At the mare’s current stage of training I think she’s more of a rehome than a sale prospect. The unwillingness to canter suggests physical problems that not many people will be willing to take on, fixing that will increase her value quite a bit.
Has your friend talked to her trainer about this? If she wants to move the horse soon without waiting for additional training, I would be having my trainer work professional connections to find another pro willing to take a chance on a project like this as a potential lesson horse, probably for free. Offering a trial may sweeten the deal.
Lesson strings are becoming more and more rare - and even fewer have the riders or the time to train a greenie that isn’t “quality pony project” material. I wouldn’t count on that market as being a viable option - MAYBE someone out there needs a w/t pony, but most don’t.
Now, if she’s confirmed wtc and jumps some crossrails with a kid? Much more of a market (but still not expensive). Maybe low 4s unless she’s super cute and has a change started. The small adult trail rider might want something like her, if she’s safe safe safe and loads/ties/trail rides alone and in company.
At this juncture, without two confirmed canter leads and jumping under her belt, this sounds like a rehome to someone like a good 4H kid looking for a project (one that y’all know or know the trainer). Personally, I’d encourage her owner to do the genetic testing, get the canter confirmed, and get her doing crossrail courses. At that point she’s got a good chance of finding a great home because she has a valuable job.
I paid $1500 for a 13 year old grade pony (14.1) mare last year in July as a project. She was an infrequently ridden trail pony, would W/T but hadn’t really ever been cantered. Sound, barefoot. For my area, $1500 was a deal even for a grade, project-type pony. I would have paid more if she had been rock-solid at the walk and trot as you describe your friend’s mare to be.
Agree with this x10.
At this point - attempting to sell the mare at the low price she is worth will put her at a high chance of ending up back in the pipeline your friend tried to save her from.
She doesn’t “buck at the canter”. In six months of learning how to canter under saddle (she will canter at liberty) she has kicked out at the canter cue a few times (once or twice.) Once she is in the canter it is very cute, and she is getting less one-leaded. I’ve ridden her a bit myself (being a pony-sized human) and her canter is quite comfy. It seems to me she was never asked to canter under saddle, so her natural inclination is to trot faster.
To answer some other questions to the best of my ability:
She is lovely to deal with, really kid friendly to wash, lead, clip etc.
She is, I would guess, 14.0- she is DEFINITELY no bigger than 14.1, she’s about as wide as she is tall and has no withers to speak of.
She has about $2k into her.
I cannot stress this enough.
If you are marketing her as a hunter; put a frickin’ stick on her.
A real digital stick, on a level, poured concrete pad.
It makes thousands of dollars of difference.
Depending on the market in your area 2k wouldn’t be unreasonable at all. If she is kind and able to be ridden by kids at W/T that is often all that is required for awhile even in a lesson situation. In my area she would easily sell for the 2k and could probably start advertising at 3. If I could pick up a sturdy pony sized creature for sub 3k that my mom and nephews could ride I would be finding room at the boarding barn! Prices are still way too high in my area for that to really be possible so I am just watching and waiting. If the canter can be solidified and she can go around a cross rail course at local schooling show and play in other classes for 4H price would likely be closer to 7-9k in my area. Being older even if technically greener is selling better than young and schooled quite a bit right now. Most people don’t want anything under 7 for their kid even if they are very mellow and kind on and off property.
Will do!
Interesting. Thanks for your input!
I agree that 2-3k wouldn’t be an unreasonable price at all for my area. Like I said above, I picked up a project pony that would only W/T for $1500 and that was a deal. She also wasn’t as quiet/safe as what the OP’s pony sounds like either.
Six months of trying (unsuccessfully) to teach a pony how to canter under saddle seems to me like a long time. I would guess there are physical issues that might hamper her chances for any kind of career.
