this has really upset me :'(

[horseylady]

I have just read on a horse forum 'a swap wanted for bigger pony' advert..

It is a child's pony who is very aged and was there daughters first pony, taking the daughter all the way up from pony club to bigger shows. She has been with the family for many many years and is now to small
The thought of giving up on a pony, just casting her to the side after all the years it has given there daughter, just tears my heart out. How can people do this? Or am I being to soft?? x

[Milliesmum]

I think it depends entirely on the circumstances - ponies like the one mentioned often live to ripe old age and still have a lot to give to another child - often they are passed on by word of mouth and there are quues of children waiting for the ponies which never get advertised!

If the home is the right one, I don't have a problem with it, if however the pony is handed over to the first person who offers a suitable alternative mount, without the proper checks then yes I agree it's very sad.

[network]

Its probably been an extremely heart breaking decision that the owner is having to make, not everyone can afford to keep more than one horse/pony and this may be the only option they have to get her children a bigger horse/pony. We dont know the circumstances so think it is wrong to judge someone. As milliesmum has said ponies like this are like gold dust as will go on to teach lots of small riders to ride, you only have to look on the showjumping circuit where the smaller ponies are competing season after season into their 20's but with different riders as children come up through the ranks

[horseylady]

yes you are probably right, i am being to soft and over reacting.
I am just imagining said pony being led into a trailer with tears in its eyes
The way i read it just upset me.... grrrr get a grip woman.. i need to harden up!! lol x

[haggismarmite]

Trust me I was in this position last year having to sell our first pony - although he wasn't that old - more middle aged at 15 and it was the most heartbreaking thing to have to do but my daughter was too big for him, and as we have to pay livery I can only keep one pony properly at a time so either we kept him sitting in an expensive field and my daughter wouldn't be able to ride any more and he would be bored to tears or we had to find him his next fab home to look after his next little person. As long as you are very very selective where he goes sometimes it has to be done. In an ideal world I'd have them all at home and keep collecting them and finding them little jockeys but sadly that just isn't a world I live in .

[kickon]

::)If it has 4 legs and a pony tail !! I would never part
2 legs with or without a pony tail and it could burn in hell oops sorry another subject
I keep all my old souls it is till death us do part
It they work for me (or not) I will go without food to save them

[bernie1956]

Surely people have to buy their ponies and horses from somewhere?
What if everyone decided not to sell any outgrown ponies....where would we get ponies for our children to ride?
As long as you make sure as far as you can that a good home is offered, I really don't see the point in keeping a
healthy animal with plenty to offer in a field doing nothing.

[kickon]

That fine if you can find a good home!!
I only have horses now and I have ended up with quite a few that are not mine They would have no life at all
I have NO trust left in the human race

[network]

Sept 6, 2011 19:38:01 GMT horseylady said:

yes you are probably right, i am being to soft and over reacting.
I am just imagining said pony being led into a trailer with tears in its eyes
The way i read it just upset me.... grrrr get a grip woman.. i need to harden up!! lol x

I dont think you are being soft, but you do have to think it is probably very upsetting for the owners too, I couldnt part with my 20 year welsh mare, although I really would like another horse, however as I have to pay expensive livery etc I cannot as am not prepared to part with my old girl

[nici]

It depends on the age and health of the old pony. If it's really elderly and maybe not in the best of health, there's a kinder decision to be made if you can only afford to keep one, and sometimes you have to put your child's best interests first. However many veteran ponies, especially kids' ponies that have had a fairly easy life on primarily LR and/or FR duties still have much to offer, and many would be happier being another child's precious pony rather than being stuck in a retirement field.

Our mini ponies were still only young when outgrown, so not quite the same, but I knew the best thing for them was to find other little tots to introduce to the wonderful world of ponies. They went on loan, although one has since been sold to the people who had her on loan for 3 years, as they have a new baby to ride her and made it clear they never wanted to let me have her back ;D

[bernie1956]

Sept 6, 2011 23:16:47 GMT kickon said:

That fine if you can find a good home!!
I only have horses now and I have ended up with quite a few that are not mine They would have no life at all
I have now trust left in the human race

And that's fine if you can afford to keep them all!
If circumstances were different I would have lots of horses...as it stands I had to sell my much loved pony when my husband died, so that we could afford to keep a pony for my daughter.
I can't even afford one horse, so I go without...does that mean I'm wrong?

[dawnie]

I guess you have do what is right for the pony, and put your own feelings aside. They would be ill thought of to carry on riding a pony the daughter had out grown wouldn't they? What also would be wrong is for an activitive pony to be left to stand by while another took it's place when it still has so much to offer. My son's first pony came to us in his late 30's, he wasnt happy stood doing nothing and he and my son had so much fun together .... that old pony looked after my son and taught him so very much.

[lillicob]

I recently saw a on free ads a member from here advertising a 26 year old mare. What annoyed me about the advert is that she stated that she wont be breeding from her any longer as she is now retired but she wanted to give someone else the opportunity to breed from her and that she doesnt have to sell her, she was also around the £200 mark.
Why not let the mare live out her days in retirement which at 26 is what she deserves.
It does upset me seeing older ponies and horses advertised many free to a good home.

[bernie1956]

I do agree that letting an aged pony go just because it's old is very unfair...what I object to is people who think you should keep until death, a lot of us could just never afford to do that.
I think that many of the sales of outgrown ponies are heartbreaking but necessary, especially now with finances being as they are.

[mirosa]

There used to be a term 'meat for manners' ie, a pony changed hands at carcass price because it was a genuine child's pony or schoolmaster who was going on to a loving home where it would be appreciated for its true worth as a confidence-giver. The fact that it might not be young, 100% fit or particularly beautiful wasn't the point. And it would be understood that the pony could be returned for the same price if it was ever necessary.

Obviously, if the pony can't be ridden (not even going to MENTION breeding) or is ancient & needing special care, then as nici said, there is a kinder decision to be made. And if you can't face it yourself, get a friend to be with you. It's not too much to do for something that's given so much.

[ladywell]

I taught a friend's little boy to ride some years ago. His first pony was a 'handed down' very fit 22 year old. She taught him loads and was as safe as houses. She was much loved and stayed with them until the end of her days.

On the other hand, I have 2 oldish Welsh A mares - one homebred and the other we bought as a foal. They have given us so much pleasure over the years - they will be with us until the end of their days.

[Jessica]

Surely its best to sell an out grown pony, than keep it and not be able to give it the proper care, or even relise its pure potential and it be wasted??

[honeypot]

I have a couple of ponies sat in my field munching, both would be classed as PC school masters but both have passed that golden age of between 7 and 12, when if I had sold them I could have made 5 times what I paid for them.
Ponies like people age at varying rates one looks and acts like he's 7, the other only a couple of years older looks a proper oldie, I think she may have the start of Cushings.
Its a tough one I have the funds to keep them in munch and they owe me nothing, most people would not want to buy and older pony for a fair price which at least makes you think they would value the pony.
I have another pony who is 24 out on loan, he has been loaned out several times out of all the loaners only 2 have been outstanding. Most only want the pony whilist they can get the full 'value' from it and once its outlived its usefulness they soon pick up the phone for you to have it back, one wanted me to collect it the following day, which I did.These are the people I would hate to sell an older pony to.
I have bought an older horse as a schoolmaster and he is still munching but it will soon be time to go to the great paddock in the sky, I just hope they do haylage up there.

[mirosa]

Honeypot, I think you've got it right. It depends so much on the animal itself, some just aren't happy to 'retire'.

It's just such a tragedy that people are no longer as good as their word & don't understand the value of an older pony isn't measured in pounds but in pleasure. It's also a tragedy that grazing is in such short supply & few people have the luxury of their own land. Times change, not always for the better.

[vanquish]

If the pony's outgrown I don't think it's a crime at all to pass it on!! I loved my first pony to bits and was absolutely gutted when my feet started to get dangerously close to her elbows, but now another little child is having loads of fun with her and loves her as much as I did.

If the pony in question was a little horror and they were just trying to palm it off, that would be a little bit unethical because the pony would probably be passed from home to home then! But if it's a typical little child's pony with loads more to give to it's next 'customer', I think it's 100x better than sitting in a field getting laminitis (as nearly all ponies of this size would!), and being forgotten about!

[hs]

I remember that term from when I was a child I just thought it was just an old fashioned word for loaning.

I would be upset if I sold a pony to someone who said they were planning to keep it for a few years to then see them advertised again a few weeks later. I guess in some situations their circumstances might have dramatically changed eg death in the family or suddenly lost their job.

I think children's ponies can still often leading useful working lives until they are quite old but I an not sure if it is fair to sell them once they get into their mid to late 20's might be better to loan them out.

A lady on our yard has just given away her childhood aged pony which is still sound as the lady who loaned her had to give her up due to ill health. What upset me was that she said she had to "get rid of it" as quickly as possible as she does not have time or money to look after it. She has a large younger horse who would have been easier to re-home....but the pony had to go and desperation seemed to be the order of the day. She was going to send the pony to somewhere up north to a place she had not even inspected, but luckily someone more local stepped in at the last minute to offer the pony a home. The pony has sweet itch and was very much pampered by her old loaner who had not moved her from the yard when she took her on and she had been on the yard for a long, so I hope they look after her well at the new place though she will be one of many rather than having the individual care she has been used to for so many years so it might be a bit of a change for her. One of my friends at the yard is so upset by what has happened she refuses to speak about it but then like me her horses are keepers, however we are adults who are not going to outgrow our horses so maybe that makes a difference.

Sept 9, 2011 11:05:51 GMT mirosa said:

There used to be a term 'meat for manners' ie, a pony changed hands at carcass price because it was a genuine child's pony or schoolmaster who was going on to a loving home where it would be appreciated for its true worth as a confidence-giver. The fact that it might not be young, 100% fit or particularly beautiful wasn't the point. And it would be understood that the pony could be returned for the same price if it was ever necessary.

Obviously, if the pony can't be ridden (not even going to MENTION breeding) or is ancient & needing special care, then as nici said, there is a kinder decision to be made. And if you can't face it yourself, get a friend to be with you. It's not too much to do for something that's given so much.

[precious123]

I still have my 'old pony' who will never go any where. she is currenttly a very fit and healthy 17 yrs old, ive had her since she was 4/5 and i was 9. luckly im very lucky to live on a farm so i am able to keep her. and although i was out of 13 hh SHP classes many moons ago, i still get on her and take her for a hack out. Last yr i borrowed a jockey and she went back in the ring winning many county shows. she owns me nothing but gives me everything. I wont part with her for the world! she ll be here till the end

[Giddie]

Horselady don't harden up that is what makes us unique lol l think exactly like you and no matter what people say l just can't get away from that thought. I let my stallion go on lease recently to a fabulous home for two years, there was no way on earth could l be at home to load him onto the lorry, it just breaks my heart and this is a pony that is coming back to me..Hey what we like !!!

[sophiea]

I dont think its sad. Im way to big for my pony now and have to sell him and i LOVhim more than anything but finacial circumstances wont let us keep him and get another

[sageandonion]

I couldn't do it, not with an older pony. I might loan them to someone I knew but not sell them on after about 15 years.

[lillegs]

If the pony is only being sold on or swapped because the kid has outgrown it, what's the problem?

Provided the pony gets to go on and live a happy life, whether that's as a companion elsewhere or as another kids pony then I see no wrong in it.

Especially if it is a pony which loves work, and is capable of carrying on with the work, how is it fair to just stick it in the field and let it watch it's child ride and fall in love with another pony.

[auntiebarb]

On the livery yard I used to keep my mare, their children had a super pony for about four years, then she was passed on to another member of the hunt's children. We all were kept in touch with her through friends and she went on well into her 30s, still going to camp and teaching children to jump small jumps and do gymkhana games. She would have hated to be left in a field. If I ever attend a hunt function, we always remember her and we were all informed of the morning she was found asleep, never to wake, in the dew in her field.

What more can one ask?

[janet]

I have a dartmoor gelding who I bought him at 6 yrs of age , he was 2nd at HOYS, but due to him being very difficult to ride and not suitable for a child, he is now 18 yrs , so for the last 10yrs has done nothing other than been a companion! I love him to bits and could not have seen him passed from home to home so he will live here forever and if I could not afford to do that then he would be pts

[dsmum]

agree with sageandonion I couldnt sell my older horses. i took the responsibility on. I have decided that I wont buy another horse thats not an older type as I have to assume it will live into its 30s (as three of mine have done) and I have to be fit enough to look after them.

[pollycrystal]

I was on the Project horses website and someone was loaning out a 38 yr old pony as a companion, how do they know he will be cared for properly when anyone could just take him? It upset me when I saw the picture of his dear little face all greying with age, . They should have him pts if they can't care for him any more, instead of just passing him on