What would make you decide to buy a long yearling? Bloodlines? Video? Training?
I’m selling a filly who is turning 2 at the end of the month. So far I have not had much interest in her. She’s sweet. She loads in the trailer easily. Lunges and has a good whoa. She’s a registered Appaloosa but is solid black with a star and snip.
She is small for her age and needs probably another year to grow. She looks like a yearling and I’m guessing she has at least another 4 inches of growth if not more.
I feel like appie people want color.
It’s an awkward age. They can be butt high. And you can’t do anything with them for a few more years. I’d buy a baby horse if I had acreage and time, and the price reflected that and it was the kind of horse I wanted.
If she’s a 2021, she’s a two year old, not a yearling, for sales/showing purposes. Make sure you’re advertising appropriately.
I breed - and purchase(d) babies - because I can obtain much nicer horses as youngsters than I would find for the same money as adults. Many young horse purchasers are in the same position. Others buy “deals” young to develop and resell for a profit.
At this age, most of her value is in her pedigree, followed closely by her conformation and movement/athleticism. Make sure your ads mention her parents’ performance records, as well as those of any full or half siblings and/or horses by the same stallion. Include very good photos and videos that show her in her best light. Target the specific market and buyers she fits best. Nothing makes me scroll past an ad faster than one claiming the youngster is suitable for everything from Grand Prix dressage to cutting. 
Can you get her off property to a show? Do halter or just hang out. Is she trained to do the basic halter moves?
If she is slow to mature and small that may be why you haven’t got much interest: she isn’t looking like a futurity prospect, but if she is quiet, she may interest an ammy or junior who wants to develop their own horse.
Pictures?
https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/dynamite+pistoleana
Here’s a picture of her and her sire. Yes she’s small for her age. She’s a rather picky eater. She wants only hay and grain. Turns her nose up at apples, carrots, horse cookies, alfalfa pellets and anything new feed wise. I tried mixing soaked alfalfa in with her grain and she acted like I was trying to poison her… But she cleans up her hay well and she will eat her grain as long as you don’t try to sneak a new food in with it. She just had her feet trimmed and her teeth floated.
She’s never been to a horse show. Her owner doesn’t have a trailer. I spent a few sessions teaching her to load and she’s a quick learner. Jumps right in. She’s at my house now until she sells.
You have a lot of things stacked against you with this little girl. The first is she’s a solid appy. Which means, even for breeding, she’s not ideal since she’s half QH and may not throw color. Appaloosas aren’t as “in” as they once were (there used to be two ApHC show associations in my state and now you’re hard-pressed to find any ApHC shows at all). If she were an AQHA she’d be worth more. If she were a solid APHA she’d be worth more. But as an ApHC, sad as it is to say, she’s just not going to have as much appeal to those who want a registered filly. Then add that she’s a solid ApHC and that decreases her value even more.
Honestly, she might as well be a grade horse. She’ll get used as a grade horse. Her bloodlines are fine, but they aren’t anything that sought after. She’s got cow horse on the AQHA bottom side and some notable ApHC names farther back on the top (Dreamfinder, Prince Plaudit), but she’s not a typical modern bred horse with specialized bloodlines for a particular event.
To get her sold, I would have her doing everything she can possibly do safely without risking her physical health and growth. Make sure she leads, ties, loads, bathes, clips, stands for farrier and vet. Do a lot of in-hand work with her. Expose her to anything and everything to get her 100% bombproof on the ground. Start lunging her for short periods on good footing to get her used to that. Keep her well-fed, well-groomed, and looking her absolute best.
I don’t know what you have her priced at, but for an unbroke, small, solid ApHC 2 year old filly, don’t expect to get much.
She’s cute as a button, by the way. I have an ApHC that I bought as a scrawny yearling (looked like a weanling). I gelded him, registered him, and fed him. He’s now 16 hands and build like a brick house. He’s out of an ApHC stallion and AQHA mare too, but he lucked out and got some color.
Good luck to you!
I agree with everything @RhythmNCruise said. Unfortunately, this filly doesn’t have much going for her from a value/marketability standpoint. I don’t see her being easy to move along until she’s going under saddle quietly enough to sell as a trail horse or to someone who shows at the fun show/saddle club type level.
She does look like a sweet girl, though. I would prioritize significantly improving her nutrition first, then get her “caught up” from a groundwork training perspective. Then, price and market her as an affordable project.
From someone outside of the western world the first thing that came to mind when I saw her photo was thrifty. For this time of year in a place that has that much greener I see a lot of coat, ribs, and an overall dull appearance. In a nylon halter turned towards the camera it makes her neck look weedy and makes her head look huge.
I’d pull a fecal, deworm as recommended, get her on a premium grain with flax or a modest amount of oil, body clip, teach her to stand up nicely, and take high quality photos in a well fitted leather halter. She looks like a cute girl but this photo is not doing her any service.
Other things that may be helpful
She could attract people outside of the western world if she is marketed as a nice mare with a good foundation that hasn’t been pushed. There is a lot of value for an AA to have a horse with a solid foundation but those things need to be highlighted in a package that screams premium rather than undersized solid app needing an alternative career.
All of the above. Deworming is critical as well as making sure that there are no other reasons (like ulcers) that are interfering with her appetite and or/her ability to properly digest/metabolize her feed. After addressing any veterinary cause like worms or ulcers, I would try a paste probiotic which you can give by tube and not mix in the feed. I always had good results with a prebiotic called Ration Plus as well.
She looks like a nice girl. Good luck!
What’s her HYPP status?
I hope you are not paying for her feed.
She’s HYPP negative. Both sire and dam are negative. She was dewormed with Equimax last week so she probably doesn’t have worms (anymore). I think her owner just didn’t realize how much feed a growing horse needs.
She looks cute and sweet. Her parents were listed at 14.2 and 14h so it is likely she will be small - at least for some disciplines. How big is she? She might have more value if she stays pony sized.
The picture of her sire is not enticing for most buyers. A different one of him younger and hopefully winning in competition would be much better.
We’ve always got our eyes open for good two year olds, and while I’m usually looking for something specific, this is my main criteria before I even send it to SO.
Bloodlines - the mare matters so much. How is she bred? Has she produced any money earners? Was she shown & whats her record? As for the stud - what is his PE & LTE? What’s are everyone’s five panels?
Incentives - what incentives are available with the stud? We mostly look for cow horse prospects because we are cow horse people, but we also know the money to be made right now is in rope horses. So if it isn’t going to work as a cow horse or work for us, is the colt Riata or GB eligible & can we sell it as a futurity rope horse?
Lastly, outside of the basic confo, feet & radiographs - What do the 2YRO feet look like? How are its parents feet? Anything jarring on x-rays? OCD’s?
These days, even on yearlings, if I’m paying over $3500, I’m getting x-rays. It’s not worth the risk to find something later after I’ve dumped money into training.
I looked at her stud and I don’t think the pictures are terrible. I’d be interested in his performance record. I’d also list her on the ranch riding, VRH, rope horse, and cow horse prospect facebook pages. While her lines don’t scream it in the first few gens… someone could see it and a lot of people go to the “CH Prospects” pages to actually look for rope & VRH prospects. People are hot after prospects and twos for those events.
The appy part is probably getting you some, but since she’s solid and can be double registered I don’t think its a total downfall. You will just have more people unfamiliar with lines, like I was before I started googling some of the names.
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