You need to have a vet look at this pony to make sure she’s just green, not unsound. Do not sell her before a vet looks at her.
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- it’s not my pony, and 2) we are now on opposite coasts.
The pony is sound, I have been riding her myself these last few weeks. She’s green broke, weak and unbalanced. I was just asking for a ballpark figure for a green broke, weak and unbalanced pony in her current state, to help out a friend. My advice is she can ask 5k and if she ended up with 3k she’d be tickled pink. If anyone wanting to buy a 3-5k (bc it’s green broke, weak and unbalanced) pony wants to do a PPE, of course they’d be welcome, but I’m not going to encourage her to spend $$$ on a vet workup for a cheap, green, SOUND lesson pony type.
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I know three lesson programs on the East Coast with aging school horses who would love to have a look at a pony like this. Every one of these programs have older, more experienced kids to help school the greener ones. Equines with the potential to turn into a reliable schoolie are worth their weight in gold.
Sounds very similar to my guy. Had a vet check on him for physical issues first, but the conclusion was that he had been sitting in a field for a year and a half doing nothing, and between that and being started so late (he’s about 7) he just didn’t have the strength/balance yet to hold a canter. I’m not even going to try cantering under saddle (beyond the one time I asked for it to see how he’d do) until I feel he is stronger. Had him since end of Aug but only been able to ride/work consistently the last month. He also will occasionally kick out if he feels the aids are too strong asking him to do something (he has very strong opinions on being asked fairly).
If I was going to sell him (he’s a 15.2 irish draught cross), I don’t think I’d ask more than 2k. Probably not even that much. I’m NOT going to sell him, but if I had to put a value on him right now.
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This kind of shouts left hock or stifle issue to me. She really needs to be seen by a vet for lameness and for hereditary QH issues.
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Could be. Or could just be out-of-shape and switching to the other lead because the right one tired out.
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How long do you wait to find out? If it’s lameness, you’re doing the horse a great disservice by assuming it’s just because she’s tired. In the meantime, you’re asking a hurting horse to perform for you.
Until it’s fitter? & she’s hardly being asked to “perform” a great deal. This isn’t some GP horse being asked to jump 1.50 on a sore stifle. This is a PROJECT LESSON PONY. She’s being (gently) asked to canter 2 or 3 mins a few times a week while she gets stronger and fitter. TBH, she’s probably never been asked for a “lead” at all, so it’s all new to her. Again, I’m not going to recommend a vet workup on a cheap pony that is SOUND- the vet will cost more than the pony did!
Thank you to everyone that responded with price recommendations.
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I’ve had two project ponies that took 4 - 6 months to pick up both leads reliably and feel confident about cantering under saddle, and both sold with clean PPEs, so this pony’s story timeline doesn’t necessarily scream “huge vet issue” to me. Especially as she’s older and seems to have never been asked to canter under saddle, the physical problem is probably just that she’s not straight and strong enough yet. Horses aren’t born straight or even, we make them that way, and no one ever put the time into this pony to get her there until now.
Lots of these backyard pony types are started by a kid and barely educated, never ridden by an experienced rider, never worked enough to get fit, and have no concept of how to use their bodies properly. They toodle around with kids or hang out in a pasture for years, their natural one-sidedness is never corrected, and by the time they’re 6 or 8 or 10 they know very little, they’re weak, and they are CROOKED.
Teaching the canter depart is easy, but getting them fit and then correcting the years of unbalanced, one-sided movement just takes time. Plus it’s a pony, they aren’t dumb and won’t work harder than they have to, so they do have to be strong/straight enough for cantering to be easy for them to consistently agree to the idea.
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