What do you do when you’ve bought a mistake?
What if you’ve dropped a fair bit of money on a kids’ horse or pony that is nothing like what you’d imagined? We’ve all done it, some of us, more than once…. This may be a hard topic but it’s time for some plain talk.
When you find yourself in such a hole, the best thing is to simply stop digging. Stop making excuses, imagining the ‘what ifs’ and the big side order of guilt.
Keep your kids and yourself safe. Give the seller a chance to take him back. Refunds or otherwise, money becomes secondary if the pony – and for simplicity’s sake, we’ll refer to any-sized animal as such – is truly troubled.
I, personally, will not auction off an animal that I no longer trust. The risk of a doting grandpa buying a Bad Beauty for his little princess is not worth any amount of profit, nor the risk to my good name. The moral implications of passing along a problem pony are huge! Don’t fool yourself. If he’s not safe for your children, he’s not safe for anyone else’s.
That said, a pony that needs more riding differs from a pony that lacks character. If he’s simply too young or not broke enough, you’ve learned a lesson. An education is never free,,, just consider the price of the pony to be the price of learning. Find someone knowledgeable who will take him on for training, at a cost. This person can eventually help market him to a more suitable home, once he’s had a decent start.
Never ask a professional to take on a pony that is lacking in morals. It will simply be a matter of time before someone is hurt. In this instance, it’s time to say goodbye.
What are your options?
While there are options for donating a pony to equine assisted learning facilities, or as companions to lonely horses, both of these are long shots.
Despite politically correct forces telling us ‘there are no bad animals, only bad people’, I have learned otherwise.
No matter where such dangerous behaviour stems from, if it’s in him, I am now responsible. Yes, I’ve sent morally bankrupt ponies to questionable endings in the past. No, it didn’t sit well and I’ll not do it again.
Instead, I now pay to have dangerous offenders humanely euthanized by our veterinarian, along with the cost of having the bodies ethically disposed. Do I lose money? Yes. Do I feel heartbreak? Of course. Some might call it arrogance but I call it responsible horsemanship. If a pony repeatedly puts me in danger, he doesn’t go back on the market. He doesn’t get another chance to hurt somebody else’s kids.
I believe wholeheartedly in restoring… retraining… rehabilitating… a pony to happy usefulness! But when he comes to me, he has been offered his second chance. Much as I might wish him to, I cannot force him to take it.
Whether we send a problem pony for training… or on to a more suitable home… or hardest of all, if we have to put him down as a dangerous offender… if we are lucky, we will be given a second chance. We now have some practical knowledge about what we’re needing and what to avoid. When it comes to buying ponies, this list, invariably, is what I fall back on.
My top ten rules for pony shopping…
1. Go for gentle, middle aged ponies, aged eight to the late teens. Any older, try leasing them. Any younger, they’re still ‘colts’ as far as kids are concerned. Be guided by our golden “Rule of Twenty” where the child’s and pony’s ages equal at least twenty years.
2. Don’t buy problems. Whether behavioural or physical, hard luck cases are seldom any fun.
3. Buy the best pony you can afford. Do the math: how much will he cost per ride? Even if he’s cheap, if nobody wants to ride him, you’ve spent too much. Over time, a $10,000 pony might cost $5 per ride; a $1000 pony might cost $1000 per ride. See what I mean?
4. Beware the hidden costs of training. Expect to pay a pro up to $1000 per month, for a minimum of three months. Put into a cheap pony, this adds up. He’ll not be cheap for much longer.
5. Vetting prospective purchases is never a waste of time, or money. In my area, $350 or so will buy me the peace of mind in knowing if a prospective purchase has clear eyesight, a strong heart, good feet and legs, no founder or heaves. If you can’t afford to lose an expensive pony, make sure you have him insured. By the way, have the teeth done straightaway upon purchase and annually, thereafter. Your child is too precious to risk a sore pony going over backwards.
6. Look for adult-trained ponies with kid miles. Such ponies tend to be well-schooled but forgiving. A ‘push’ ride indoors most often translates into a controllable ride in the country. Outside the arena, a pony with a big motor can be too much horse.
7. Beware buying anything sight unseen. Photos and videos are easily ‘cooked’ by anyone with average tech skills. With ponies, seeing – and riding – is believing. You will have seen the pony ridden at least twice before your child climbs aboard: the first time, with the owner and then, if he passes, under either your child’s teacher or your own command.
8. Get a detailed description of the pony in the signed bill of sale. This will include its current state of physical soundness and a lack of mental foibles, for example, laminitis or cribbing. Discuss the option of returning the pony for a full or partial refund if it was misrepresented, or if it isn’t a safe fit for your child. Know your seller’s policies before you sign that check. If you plan to show, obtain a photocopy of the current registration papers and up-to-date transfers before you buy. Any pony, no matter his breeding, without a signed transfer is officially ‘grade’.
9. Trust your gut. If you find yourself wanting to like the pony, as though you’re talking yourself into him, walk away. If you find yourself questioning the seller’s methods or morals, again, walk away.
10. Mistakes are just another name for learning. We’ve all done this the hard way and as my mother says, an education is never free. Happy hunting, everyone… here’s to keeping our kids safe! Your child’s first pony is probably the most important purchase you will ever make when it comes to encouraging a life-long love of horses.
Thank you for reading this ‘mother’s day edition’ of the Keystone blog. If you’ve enjoyed following, please consider subscribing with the red button on the home page. Cheers for now, Lee.
Another great article Lee. I also have had to do this with a bad minded horse. It is such a hard lesson, but if you have spent countless hours trying to make them safe & their basic character is very aggressive, it just doesn’t change
Jackie, thank you. I know that you, too, have devoted so much of your life to pairing the right people with the right horses. Sometimes, no matter how much we’ve worked for it… wished for it… safety and goodness just don’t happen.