Help me help my friend price this horse!

[fjordmom]

One thing that hasn’t been brought up is how balanced and consistent a rider the owner of this pony is. It could easily be contributing to the time it is taking and what, to me, appears to be a minor occasional buck.

When my, now grown, children started with their pony he would buck occasionally when they tried to get him to canter. Canter was actually his favorite gait (over trot). He knew how to canter but was still green in many ways as a 5 year old. If he felt like he was loosing his balance or the kid up top was not sitting balanced enough to suit him, he let out the occasional buck, but always kept himself underneath his rider. It was never a buck to unseat them, it appeared to be much more a buck to say “hey, let me toss you back where you belong.”

Like the OP’s pony, he was super round with NO withers to hold a saddle in place. You absolutely had to ride well balanced to keep the saddle from shifting to one side or the other no matter how tight the girth was. That may be the case with OP’s pony too.

Our initially green pony turned out to a saint with a great sense of humor, loves people, is basically bomb proof when it comes to all the handling - clipping, loading, vet, farrier-, and to this day still loves having a job. He took both my kids to many local low level show championships and even made it into the ribbons at the state level in 4-H. He taught my kids a ton about both riding and life.

I would not be so quick to write her off just because of an occasional buck. It may well not be pain related (although I would have it checked out to be sure). Much of the rest of what has been said would make me consider OP’s pony as a decent prospect for an ambitious 4-H kid with good supervision and guidance. Personally I might value her in the mid 4 figures+. I would not even rule out paying the 7K+ mentioned up thread if she is a bit more finished. At her age, she is mature and solid enough to be past the young horse antics stage, but could still have a decent number of useful years in her. You can always come down on the price if she is not selling. If you continue to work with her until she sells, she may surprise everyone with what she has to offer and what she is worth.

Our pony is coming up to 30 years old in a few weeks and now he and I still amble round now and then. His best fun is having my son and 2 year old grandson hop on for a pony ride together. Who would have know what a somewhat rough around the edges, green, 5 year old pony would turn into. Surely ours is not the only saint out here. This gal may be another. Best of luck with her.

[Equestrianette]

$1,000

[trubandloki]

@Alterrain

She has about $2k into her.

Please let her know that what she has into her has nothing to do with her value.

[dags]

While I’d usually agree that height makes all the difference in a pony’s price, if this one’s never going to see the inside of even the Children’s Pony ring (doesn’t sound like it will) then I don’t think being 14.1 vs 14h is going to make all that much of a difference.

Agree that 6 months to get a canter going seems a bit long and does not suggest the quick-fix timeline that a lesson program has. If it can be a cute crossbar pony then there may be some value, once it is a cute crossbar pony. As is, I don’t think national trends will help price this one. It’s destined for a local market, so price will depend on whether the “good home” you (hopefully) find has $800 or $2500 to spend.

[steelerino]

Slaughter bound plus sucking back unwilling to canter sounds like a underlying physical problem to me. Been there done that turns out it was kissing spine w/ stifle & suspensory issues. Rule out the physical if you want a decent price or else rehome.

[2DogsFarm]

@Alterrain

She has about $2k into her.

Pony (if indeed she sticks as a Large) won’t bring that much now in my part of the Midwest.
If she gets her going reliably W/T/C - or Jog/Lope (WPland here ) - she might get her money back. MIGHT make a small profit.

[Tha_Ridge]

I sold basically this exact thing (in gelding form) for $4,000 in February 2022. I’m in the Mid-Atlantic region. He went to a small barn with a lesson/pony club program.

[fivestrideline]

@dags

Agree that 6 months to get a canter going seems a bit long and does not suggest the quick-fix timeline that a lesson program has. If it can be a cute crossbar pony then there may be some value, once it is a cute crossbar pony . As is, I don’t think national trends will help price this one. It’s destined for a local market, so price will depend on whether the “good home” you (hopefully) find has $800 or $2500 to spend.

This x1000.

6 months of consistent riding by an average person is long enough to install a reliable canter (even if it comes with a bit of protest on occasion) or to know the pony needs a vet. Now if it’s 6 months of once a week riding with some longer breaks in there? Maybe not so much.

I think pricing will seriously depend. OP, your friend could list her at $2500 and see if there’s any interest, but you(g) can get older things with confirmed training and known maintenance for that around here (which is more the Lesson Barn speed IME).

Who knows - perhaps someone will come along that’s perfect! IME listing anything under $1500 tends to attract (more) crazies and kids with no clue. I hope the owner will vet any buyers extensively.

[Christa_P]

This is what I was thinking. If she is a nice trail pony that an adult can ride she can be marketed in that direction. There is a definite market for safe, sane, solid trail horses and many of them are never asked for more than a short trot.

[akhunterrider]

There is a market for this type of horse, though maybe not necessarily in the H/J world. I think you would be better off putting 6+ months into this horse and then marketing her for sale, especially since she is kicking out at the canter. I personally would want to rule out any pain issues before proceeding. If you must sell now, I’d list at 2 - 2.5k. You can’t really go by what she has in the horse. Frankly that’s irrelevant. Most of the time horses aren’t a 100% ROI, you might break even. I sold a horse 4 1/2 years ago who was 16 hands, green for his age and just needed more miles for 2k (I’m in the midwest for reference). I owned him for over 5 years and had minimal expenditures when it comes to horse ownership. I would have had to sell him for 10k plus and he just wasn’t worth that.

[173north]

I sold a similar pony for $4500 last year - super safe, going w/t/c, popping jumps, and great on trail. Buyer was an older lady who trail rides her and is teaching her grandkids to ride on her.

I’m in SoCal, I’d list your pony at $3k once she’s been jumping crossrails for a few weeks. That’s about what the pros in my area want to pay for a lesson pony type. Most would rather buy greener/cheaper and have their assistant finish them than spend $5k+ on one that’s farther along.

[Blueeyedroan]

Doesn’t sound like she’s “safe” as much as she just doesn’t want to move forward. “Safe” is a horse that has all the buttons, CAN move out and chooses not to with an unbalanced rider.
And there’s no good reason any horse shouldn’t be cantering forward and freely in 6 months. I wouldn’t expect her to get the correct lead every time or be particularly balanced. But in 6 months the transition should be CONCRETE. I add leg you respond to it. Period.

That’s an $800 project pony.

[Tini_Sea_Soldier1]

So, the kicking out at the canter can be snarky mare syndrome. Put her on Regumate and see if she’s still a bit more amenable to working after she’s been on it for a few weeks.
Project ponies can peak people’s interest since ponies that can make up to be solid citizens are still a gold mine in terms of rinse/repeat lease situations, and a large that can jump the childrens (2’6) can command a nice price and one that is saintly that will truck a kid around in the short stirrup is also always marketable.
However, your friend’s current one is far from that level and I would think if they’re looking to cut their losses, $4000 or less is where she is right now in the current market. She’s got no record and no solid experience that would command a higher price point and an adult or strong junior has a lot of work to do to get them to somewhere that would command 5 figures or above. Plus, we still don’t know if there’s a physical issue behind the pony’s rebuttal. The height will play into it. If it can get a medium card and pass as 13.2, you have a better shot, or if it’s closer to 14.2 and has some scope at jumping.

[candyappy]

@Alterrain

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.

No buck. I stand corrected.
If you can get her past doing that then she sounds like a good kid’s prospect and she may be able to get her money back out of the mare and make a small profit…

Heck even a average adult could easily back her with the build she has.

[lenapesadie]

In my area this is a ~2k pony if she’s cute.

As an aside, if pony was pulled from the slaughter pipeline then perhaps some months of the 6 that OP’s friend has had the horse were spent feeding horse up, getting her feet into decent shape etc. and not necessarily working on the canter departs for 6 months.

[fivestrideline]

I took it as 6 months of canter work, not six months of refeeding and training because

@Alterrain

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

6 months off the lot depending on condition she came in would be different. However, I stand by the idea that OP’s friend would do best by the pony to at least get her consistently WTC on both leads and pop her over a couple jumps. Both in ability to sell her as well as setting her up for a good future vs a return to the lot.

Pony projects can be popular with people so she may have no problem finding a home with a bit more time learning to be a riding horse. Especially if she’s cute and comfy (which it sounds like she is). I wish I was pony sized, they’re sturdier!

[lenapesadie]

@Alterrain

11-13 year old (vet aged) grade QH mare my friend bought from a feedlot 6 months ago

Ah I just saw the above in OP and missed the comment you pointed out

[Alterrain]

We just looked it up- she arrived exactly 5 months ago today. She has had probably total 60-70 rides a lot of those were just “have you been saddled before? do you steer”? . She actually didn’t come in terrible shape, just suuuuper long feet which took a few trims to get back to regular foot shape, and a big laceration over the hock which again, took a bit of time to heal. Luckily both of those things coincided with a 30 day quarantine since the place she came from is known for strangles. Today I rode her and we trotted some cavaletti ( literally trotted over, no “jump”, landed trotting) BUT I did get the right lead canter first try. She went about 20 strides and then made a flying change onto the counter lead

I have to go back to CA tomorrow anyway so my pony riding is on hold for a bit, but friend has a teen at the barn who can continue to ride her for now. She’s going to wait a month & list her at 5k.

Oh, and we sticked her, right at 14.0 on the dot, which is what I had estimated anyway.

[findeight]

Has she had any kind of a vet exam? Would not want friend and her rider to put hours into Pony only to discover shes not sound or, worse, have her sold but bust any kind of PPE. Need vet to watch Pony move both ways and flex before seriously trying to market her.

Can Pony lunge both ways at trot and canter soundly? Would not trust any background story coming with anything out of an auction.

Far as worth? Depending on area, maybe 1500-2500 IF she stays sound on a regular work schedule for a few months and smooths out any quirks.

Trainers I know looking for lesson mounts are seeing more adults then kids looking for lessons so the height is not necessarily a plus and if they do have a kid, it has to be proven dead safe, even just kicking up a little can scare a beginner. And they prefer geldings for lesson mounts. Think a project type
Pony would be a better way to market her and the more serious, regular work put into Pony, the more the price might move up…assuming she doesn’t break.

[2bayboys]

The swapping leads suggests that Pony has a physical issue that she’s protecting. I would not market this pony at any price without a vet workup.