# Sport pony pricing



## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

Islandwave's thread about her project pony gave me the courage to put my little girl up here. 

She is 7 years old, 14.2, she was inspected and registered first premium by American Sport Pony registry. I have trained her from the ground up basically. 
She is super calm, and has great ground manners (ties, clips, and trailers easily). In the two years I have been working with her she has not spooked at anything. I have been doing dressage with her mostly. She is solid training level and I have done some crossrails with her too. I plan on doing more jumping with her this summer after I get some more jumps built. She will w/t on a loose rein. She trail rides, goes through water etc. I have taken her to one schooling show and will do more this summer. 

Her down sides are that she can be a bit mare-ish when in season. She is sensitive to the rider balance, meaning if you get out of balance then she also gets out of balance and gets a bit of attitude pining ears and gives dirty looks.

The pictures are from last year when I had her inspected. She has more muscle now. 

So, for the question what would you expect to see her priced at?


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

Conformation critiques are welcome as well. Since having her inspected and showing her in hand I have gotten professional opinions on her conformation, but am open to what you have to say as well. 

Here are a couple of pictures of her moving. She has spectacular gaits, which can also be a downside as most of my market for a horse her size are kids and kids might have a hard time riding her big gaits.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Well, first of all, I think she's lovely. I think she's a terrific sport pony type, and I love her and want her. Her confo looks more suited to dressage to me; she definitely has the uphill build and neck shoulder connection of a dressage horse.

Pricing her is problematic - she's not really a kid's pony; so your market is a petite adult. Then you have to look at your area and see if someone's serious about competing; would they be willing to compete a pony and a pinto at that? I would look at warmbloods of similiar age, price, movement and training in your are and then discount the price slightly. I don't like it, but she will not have the same market or bring the same price as a WB with similiar attributes. 

I think her best market may be as an event pony. She has the movement and solid foundation to rock the dressage, and there's absolutely no prejudice against color or size in that discipline. Adults can compete ponies *very* successfully. You could probably find a solid C or B pony clubber (Or a petite skilled adult) who could get her going over fences and she'd be awesome. Right now, however, you'd be selling her as a green prospect. A spectacular one, but still a green prospect. 

Third potential market for her is as a hunter pony. She has the movement to win the hack, no question, but your photos don't show her form over fences, and she's some ways away from being finished enough to jump a hunter course. So again, you're selling a very talented green prospect. 

Bottom line? Getting her started over fences is the best way to increase her value. 

Or just send her to me.


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

Thank you. I am not a petite adult (as you can see in some of the pictures) and am always wishing I could just add a few inches to her and she would be the perfect horse. 

I think with a little more work she could be a great pony club pony or as a hunter pony. If the kid is skilled then she may work out great for them and take them to upper levels, but there seems to be too many ponies with her same skills that is also beginner friendly. 

Also, if I was making an ad I would have a photographer come and take pictures of her. Showing her conformation, and work under saddle. These were just the best pictures I have on this computer.


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## IslandWave (Nov 25, 2009)

I will be following your topic as well!
I am certainly not a pro, but I love the look of your girl. She looks athletic. I think it's great that you were able to register her. I also looked into that, but I'm too poor to afford it.


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

I know the registry is pricey, but I felt like it was worth it when all was said and done. It gave a professional verification to what I knew about her. 

Can you believe someone abandoned her at a boarding facility? Her previous owners dropped her off and paid one months board and then were not heard from again. That is how I ended up with her. She was just too nice of a horse to end up at the auction house, so I took her in. I don't know if I would ever say up front that I got the mare for free to a potential buyer. I feel like that people would get the idea that she is worth less. Believe me I have put a lot into this horse and I feel like I have improved her worth not just by the training I have put on her, but being able to see what she would excel at. 

Yes, she is very athletic that is one of the things I love about her. Again, if anyone knows a magic spell that would add a few inches to a horse I would pay good money for it. :lol:


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

-giggle- go the Saddlebred route and get her the horsey equivalent of stillettos? 

Very cute mare. She looks to have a ton of potential. I completely agree with Maura - start over fences (slowly) to increase value. At the very least, send her down a chute to see how she does on her own..
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

JustDressageIt said:


> -giggle- go the Saddlebred route and get her the horsey equivalent of stillettos?
> 
> Very cute mare. She looks to have a ton of potential. I completely agree with Maura - start over fences (slowly) to increase value. At the very least, send her down a chute to see how she does on her own..
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I have free jumped her a lot. I had to, to get her ready to free jump for her inspection (that is what the jumping pic is from). She has great form over fences, tucks up nice and neat. I know that in the jumping picture the pole is blocking her front legs, but she is nice and even when jumping anything over 2'. I have jumped her under saddle crossrails and a few times over a few low verticals. She is eager to the jumps and just lacks polish. My trainer is a grand prix dressage rider and so naturally we work on the dressage more then jumping. In her option I should market her as a hunter. I wish there was a good hunter trainer in my area but there really isn't anyone that I would go to.


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

Ok, so maybe I will have to take one of my statements back. :?
Yesterday evening after I turned the horses out my husband and I put up the stall fans. This morning when I brought the horses in. Snap my Arab who always approaches everything with extreme caution loved his putting his nose up to it and striking majestic desert horse poses with his mane blowing in the breeze. 

How did this brave little girl react? She ran to the back of her stall shaking. She would not even eat her grain until I turned it off. She was pretty ok with it when I brought her back in from our ride this morning, but still looked at it with a cautious eye. I don't know why she reacted this way she has been in a stall with fans before.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

My apologies - apparently I need to stop skimming! Hah - but yes, jumping under saddle is likely the best way to increase value.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Just a side note - 

I would get a better photo of her free jumping or jumping under a rider if you plan to market as a hunter prospect. Though she shows tons of ability, she is not jumping in good hunter form in that photo. Hunters want the forearm to be horizontal or above; her form in that photo, while safe, is not likely to get a hunter buyer's attention. Her form is likely the result of being chased down a free jumping chute, getting in close and not haviong adequate time or space to fully use her shoulder to bring the forearm up. 

I suspect when kept in good balance and jumping from an appropriate distance, she'll look a lot better.


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

Thanks for the input. I am really happy I took in this little girl, she has taught me a lot about green horses. 

Like I said if I was making an advertisement for her I would have a professional photographer come and do good conformation and undersaddle (both dressage and jumping) pictures. 

Does no one want to take a stab at pricing her?


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## upnover (Jan 17, 2008)

What a cutie!! 

There are several factors that add the value of a hunter pony. First of all, how tall is she exactly? If she is a bit over 14.2 most hunter trainers will not touch her with a 10 foot pole. A 14.3 "hony" has very little value in the hunter world unfortunately.

Also, at hunter shows adults cannot show in pony divisions. Sometimes an adult can show a pony in certain divisions. So unless a pony is kid friendly, it's a hard sell, unless you can find a tough kid who can put the pony in a training program. 

Movement and jump is extremely important. She looks like she'd be a cute mover but I can't tell for certain without a video. She looks like she can jump but like Maura said, i wouldn't be overly impressed at all. In fact, my first thought is, "how fixable is her jump?" I have a feeling it could be, but without a good picture I wouldn't take her too seriously.

A trained hunter MUST have a lead change. For a kid's pony? An auto change is worth even more. So when it comes to training, I'd start working on getting those changes. 

So a cute looking pony, who's a cute mover, has a decent jump that can most likely improve, but isn't all that kid friendly? Eh, I'd say you could possibly market her for $18-2000ish in my area to a trainer. Get her jumping small courses quietly, get a local level show record on her? Maybe about $3000, 4500 AT MOST. But, might be hard to find a buyer. Put a lead change on her and get her going well enough for a kid to jump her around? $10,000 nego if she was in training at the right barn with the right trainer. (bigger names will get you higher prices) Keep in mind, her personally may never be a great kid's pony so she might not get to this point for a long long time if ever. And the time it takes for her to be in training and show fees to get her to 10k? Very possible to lose money in the deal.


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