Selling Horses....Why Does It get my Anxiety Up?

[One Two Three]

I have that super cute Buckskin pony....The one I'm always posting about...most notably and recently through her bout with winter weight loss. She's looking superb but I've decided it's time to move on from her and really find the *one* for me. The horse that I *want* to keep and ride forever. I love love love my pony to death, but it's getting increasingly harder to work on myself and keep her in check. We're just not a good match with me being 5'7 and wanting to get back into the Hunter Ring as an adult. My body work and chiro lady told me that while I'm not *hurting* her, the reason her back end and back sometimes gets a little 'out' instead of sticking in place, is probably because she's so thin skinned and dainty, and she would be better off with a saddle in the 16" range. I need a 17.5", and I've compromised with a 17, but really, long term this pony either needs a tiny adult or a good kid.

I've had her marketed for about two weeks now. I have her on major social media, many many facebook groups that are around my area (and up to 100 miles north of me), several horsey websites, etc. At a very attractive price, because I've already found SEVERAL prospects of horses that I REALLY would love to take a look at and bring home.

I've pledged to myself that I will not get a new horse until this pony is safely tucked into a new home.

I've had a couple of questions about her, but no one has set up a time to come see her. I have her listed at about half of what I did last fall. My trainer but the price tag on her and I ran with it. While I think she could probably fetch that price if I could sit on her for several more months (I could, but I don't really want to), I've dropped her price in HALF for a quick sale. No real bites.

Obviously I know two weeks is NOTHING, but I just get this overwhelming feeling of anxiety every time I think about selling, the pony in general, etc. She has several attractive photos, video from December (working on a new one) and an attractive sales ad, with MOTIVATED SELLER and ALL SERIOUS OFFERS CONSIDERED headlined.

At what point do I need to reconsider my already low price and drop further? I have her listed (for those who care) at $5,000 but in all honesty, I'm willing to take quite a bit under that, for the RIGHT home, RIGHT situation, and they're getting a STEAL. As I've said, I'm extremely motivated since I've already found several GOOD prospects that I really want!

I guess I just needed to vent a little bit. Two weeks is nothing. I know I want to be in a hurry, but I really can't be.

Any insight into when I should drop the price is appreciated. I don't want people to think I'm trying to unload the horse. I've made that clear in my ad as well, that I just really need to get something MY size, and that it's due to no fault of her own!

[FindersKeepers]

Do not drop your price. If she's as nice as you claim, your lower price point could already be turning people away. Many people will read an ad for a lovely horse or pony, then see a low price tag and alarms go off. Something's wrong with it. Even if you explain in your ad that pony has been "outgrown" and seller is motivated as a replacement mount is needed, people don't read all that. They look at the picture/video, the location, and the price. End of story.

If I were you, I'd keep price where it is. Find a smaller teen to take the pony out to a show or two and have them announce that pony is for sale. Let real people in the real world see the pony and it will move fast.

[BeeHoney]

The market for a pony that would suit a tiny adult or a pony jock type kid is small. You would expand your market significantly if the pony were suitable for a wider range of kids. Get some kids on her, and get some pictures and video of kids riding her. Even better, get a kid to take her to a show and get some video. Also making her more salable is to be able to advertise that she is suitable for a range of disciplines. For example, local hunters, pony club, and low level eventing and dressage.

[SnicklefritzG]

Price can be a funny thing. Here's an example.

A relative of mine is an artist and had a watercolor for sale at a swanky gallery in nantucket. Definitely a place where people have some money to spend. She first had it priced at $300 but with no takers. She decided to try an experiment and raised the price to $600. Still no one was interested. After another increase to $1k, still no takers! finally she got fed up and raised the price to $3k and it sold within a very short period of time.


Sometimes by pricing something low people assume there is a problem somewhere.

Also, two weeks is nothing when it comes to selling a horse. I'd market as much as possible by word of mouth with friends and trailers. That may help you find a suitable buyer without having to deal with tire kickers and time-wasters on the internet.

[Lady Eboshi]

When I see MOTIVATED SELLER and ALL SERIOUS OFFERS CONSIDERED, even if it's not all caps, to me that's a red flag that it's a problem horse and his next stop is a dealer or the auction. Take those two phrases out right away! And do not drop your price. Two weeks IS "nothing."

You need to have a very clear idea of who your ideal rider for him is, and target- market to that exact crowd. I'd be doing a lot of word-of-mouth, with the vets, farriers, tack store owners, feed dealers, etc. in addition to ads.

[lesson junkie]

OP-right now I am hunting (enjoying and loving to death) a 14h Connamara/Welsh cross pony. She is in my barn because she is a little bit of a sensitive ride, and hates children-she's spun kids off in 5 states! I'm not a great hand-I just ride like an adult, not a child, and I'm not afraid of her. We've become a good match.

There are small adults, older now, who have figured out how much easier it is to live with smaller horses. I will never have another one over 15 hands.

Your pony's new home is out there.

[One Two Three]

I can see how motivated seller and serious offers considered could be scary words....but maybe I just have had a different approach to ads like that. I dunno. When I see those, I do think "is anything wrong?" but I inquire if the horse is something I want to look into. I will go see the horse, and judge for myself whether or not the seller is motivated or hiding something.

I keep getting a garble of different opinions on how to sell her. I have a trainer telling me that dropping her price to $4500 will have the 'walmart effect' where because it's got a 4 instead of a 5, but is only $500 different, more people will bite. I'd just wish someone would at least come take a looksie at her. Tire kickers, low ballers, just so I can get an idea of WHO is looking at her. But nothing? I had one lady inquire and say she would talk with her daughter and get back with me. That was last week. I don't want to seemingly harass her by popping back in to see if there's still interest. Should I?

Love this pony to death, I really do. I have a hard time finding a kid, because most of the kids are in programs already, and the trainers want to see those kids buy THEIR horses. The trainer I work with comes down once a month, and she deals with almost exclusively adults, so she isn't of much help. I don't have many 'kid' connections so finding a kid to show her has been quite the task. I'd of course be willing to do it myself, but it's really tough to find an appropriate class for an adult on a 14.1 hand pony.

[One Two Three]

OP-right now I am hunting (enjoying and loving to death) a 14h Connamara/Welsh cross pony. She is in my barn because she is a little bit of a sensitive ride, and hates children-she's spun kids off in 5 states! I'm not a great hand-I just ride like an adult, not a child, and I'm not afraid of her. We've become a good match.

There are small adults, older now, who have figured out how much easier it is to live with smaller horses. I will never have another one over 15 hands.

Your pony's new home is out there.

Thanks. I like to think so as well. I thought maybe this mare could be MY match, but she's just not. She needs something smaller, and as much as I try to lose weight, I can't lose height, and it throws off everything to have something towering over top of her. Interestingly, of the two 'bites' I've had, one was an intermediate kid, and one was a tiny tiny adult. Both would of been suitable homes, just need them to come see her! She really can sell herself when people come see her. That's how I got involved with her in the first place!

[AirForceWife]

OP, I have followed your pony and she is in my price range, in my state now if my horse would sell, I'd be making the trip down to see her and maybe load her onto a trailer and bring her home.

[TheHotSensitiveType]

OP, 2 weeks is nothing! Also IMO, I wouldn't contact the party that said they would get back to you. They know your horse is there and if interested will get back to you.

Since my one experience of selling a horse was a pony sized mare (14h big bodied), I will chime in. It downright sucked. It took me 7 months to sell her at what I thought was a very reasonable price for what I thought was a pretty nice mare. I was told by local trainer to list her at 6500, and with not even a question for over a month, I lowered the price to $4000. I had one inquiry, but no one came to look at her until I changed her price to $2500 a few months later.

Three people tried her in time I had her for sale. The two kind of serious buyers came from Dreamhorse. Craigslist was a total waste of time. All of the tire kicker e-mails and the tire kicker visit came from craigslist. The local pony club site did not get me any interest, even though I let a kid use her for a pony club lesson. I also did not have a trainer contact that had kids or small adults regularly in their program so that was not a help. My mare trail rode, fox hunted, rode bareback, went through water, jumped, had very good basics, could do a 1st level dressage test easy, impeccable ground manners, hauled well, etc...

I finally sold her through word of mouth. I asked my instructor what classes I should show her in at a local schooling show (w-t-c show), and my instructor pointed me to the other instructor who then gave me the phone number of another instructor/trainer. It took me over a month to get a hold of that instructor/trainer, and she wanted me to bring the mare over and drop her off. That instructor/trainer had a good reputation so I did... She ended up buying the mare.

Good luck! I would try to find local barns that teach lessons and talk to them.

[arlosmine]

Most of the hunter/jumper trainers with larger/show oriented programs I know won't get in a car to look at one pony with a price tag under 10k without a show record in their sport. They will look at the pony if it comes to them, or of it's at a barn with several other sales horses.
Trainers also tend to discount Ammy owner's descriptions of their own horses because they frequently don't know the "lingo", or they don't know what they are talking about.

Contact trainers within an hour's drive (or more, if you are willing) by email or phone, and offer to bring the pony to them for a viewing.

I had a 14.3 hand CHESTNUT mare who had been shown in open dressage shows, and had a monster step, and a real hunter look about her. I'm a dressage trainer, but grew up riding hunters, so I at least had the right vocabulary to describe this mare. That helped.

I targeted a program I respected and liked because they turned the show horses out every day. The trainer hated chestnuts, and mares... but I offered to bring her over and pay board for one week, then I'd pick her up and take her home. I hauled the mare over, rode her on the flat for a little while and longed her over a large roll top without her blinking an eye. She had great form and never blinked at all the traffic in the ring.
I told the trainer what price I wanted, and that she could keep anything over that amount. She was able to see that the mare was everything I told her she was, she was sold in four days, and is still in that barn 7 years later.

It can't hurt to network
Just be sure to target the right programs.

[Lucassb]

I have not followed your posts, so I'm not knowledgeable about your pony; forgive me if these are basic questions that you've asked and answered elsewhere. What market are you targeting for this mare?

I agree that 2 weeks is not very long in terms of exposure. I would echo the cautions about the headlines (motivated seller, offers considered) because I think a lot of people see those types of statements and assume the seller is very anxious to get rid of the horse because there is something wrong with it.

If the best case home for this mare is a situation with a child rider or a very small adult, I think it is absolutely critical to have some good photos and ideally video showing her with such a rider. I hear you about it being tough, but perhaps you can reach out to a trainer with lots of kids, and offer to pay her to have one of her riders do an "evaluation" ride, which you can video.

[Chall]

Or pay a good kid rider and all the show fees to show her in a well attended show.
in the old days a ribbon, white?, around the tail would mean the horse was for sale.

[findeight]

The way you think of seeing the words motivated seller etc and the way buyers read it are drastically different and only the way those buyers read it counts. Agree with others that wording has to go. Suggests desperation and future price drops.

The idea above of calling on area barns and speaking to trainers is going to be the best way to generate the kind of interest you need. This mare needs a regular program and a full time job anyway, she's shown she's not going to thrive in a more casual environment plus she does look to be show quality. But at the moment she's not ready to go into the ring and you don't have the resources to get a quality rider on her regularly. But trainers are ALWAYS looking for quality prospects priced under market to put in their programs...and make $$$ off off. To me, that's your market.

But that market is not going to come to you, you need to get to them. Make a list and start talking and visiting.

[kaitsmom]

As someone who was recently shopping I think you are up against some obstacles. One is that you are right, most trainers with clients looking sell their own horses first and most parents have kids work with a good trainer before deciding to buy. The other thing is the price range cuts out those of us who would want to buy her and train her for our child's chosen area of interest. Not saying you should lower price! Just saying you are already looking at a smaller market and your pony has a set of skills that someone should absolutely pay for, but anyone like me who was shopping for another discipline would probably over look her because I wouldn't want to pay for the skill set she already has. I think having a kid show her will help you sell her for sure. If it was me I would consider calling trainers with younger clientele and consider a free lease to the trainer so she can have some clients try her, show her, etc. Also maybe bump up your price to cover a commission for a trainer who finds you a buyer. I know I would be more motivated to help market a pony that would earn me some money. Good luck! Also if this is the pony I am thinking of....you really could have a very young child show her on western lead line events. I have people trying to buy my daughter's mini at every show. I say not for sale and have had offers as high as 3500 because their little cowgirl NEEDS him. Lol. We would never part with him though.

[One Two Three]

Lots of great information here. I will have to take a look at my ad and re-evaluate the lingo a bit. I don't think it's uneducated, but I suppose everyone IS right in saying that advertising my motivation to sell might come off as wrong.

For those who asked, her market is Hunter Prospect but can easily do eventing/jumpers/whatever else. She's right at the cusp of the age range where she's still 'prospect' at 6, anything older and the idea of a hunter prospect turns noses as well.

Have been trying my darndest to get a kid on her, I think you all are right, I DO need to start getting my feet into the doors of some of the bigger barns in the area. I do have a 16 year old who enjoys riding her. I guess better her than me, at least she still qualifies to ride in the kind of classes this pony would do well in. At the rated shows they have a parade of sale horses at the beginning and announce all the classes the sale horses will be showing in for the day. I'm thinking that's probably where my money is best spent, instead of trying to consign or commission her off with a trainer, at least to start.

I knew she wouldn't be an easy sale, not because of what she is or what she can do, but simply because as many have said, the market for her is smaller. Up north where I spent most of my junior career, this pony would have been long gone. Sucks not having connections in the horse world where you CURRENTLY live! I had an offer to send her up to my old trainer in Chicago, but the shipping ($1k each way) made me rethink at her price.

[Flash44]

I'm surprised you are marketing her to kids considering the problems you were having with her three weeks ago. If you described her behavior accurately, I'd put a lot more miles on her before marketing her to a kid, or at least disclose the issues, including the physical ones.