Xavier is for sale

KP nut

KP nut

I'd rather be riding.
Dec 22, 2008
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I have finally made the decision to part with my lovely Xavi. I can't cope with 4 ponies!!

Here is his advert:

13HH Native Type Gelding

Xavier is 13HH but feels bigger when ridden.

He is going nicely in w/t/c and I have jumped him up to about 70cm. He has jumped higher in the past.

He was professionally backed at 4 and spent time in a RS and was then sold to a customer. She gradually lost interest and he was left unridden for about 5 years. He was on livery so his physical needs were met, but he was not worked with.

I bought him from the field last year as I felt he deserved a second chance. I treated him as an unbacked youngster and he was fairly straightforward to re-start and bring back into work.

When I first got him he was hard to catch and afraid of his own shadow. He has changed beyond all recognition and will continue to improve as his re-education continues. But I have decided it is time for him to find his new home as I have 2 other ponies in work and don’t really have time for Xav too.

He is affectionate, friendly and willing. He loves attention and seeks people out for scratches and fuss. He is totally safe on the ground. I have never known him to barge, pull, nip, kick or even threaten. Good for dentist, farrier and tolerates clipping. No vices.

Under saddle he is still quite green. He can be very light in the hand and responsive to the leg. He transitions between gaits easily and has a comfortable canter. He can rush at times or try to nap to other ponies when ridden in a group. Not a kick-along but does needs to be asked to move forward rather than needing to be held back.

He is a capable jumper but can be nervous of poles so needs riding confidently whenever he sees a new jump. After a couple of times over it, he settles and jumps willingly out of trot or canter. Only recently started to jump and again he is improving all the time.

I have never known him buck, shy, spin or rear. He is a fab vaulting pony – he will stand still all day letting kids get on and off him in ever more imaginative ways!

I have loaded him which was fine. I also took him on a couple of short hacks alone and in company in the Autumn which he coped ok with. He was not totally confident but he obeyed me and did not try to run home or run off. He basically acted like a youngster might going somewhere new. I have not yet hacked him out any distance as hacking is very limited in winter where we are.

Unshod with good feet and a good doer. Lives in or out. Gets on fine with mares and geldings – has been in mixed or same sex herds with no problems in either.

To sum up, he is still a work in progress and his price reflects that. He is improving all the time and aside from the occasional spookiness he is a friendly, willing pony with a heart of gold. Strong as an Ox and carries adults easily. Currently ridden by both kids and adults up to 5’8”. Still green so he needs an experienced home and a confident/calm rider.

Sensibly priced at £750. Good home essential - potential homes will be vetted.
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I am so glad I gave into the impulse to rescue him from his lonely life. But longer term he needs to be someone's forever pony, not my project pony. My girls can ride him perfectly well but they are just too nervous. If he has a 'moment' they freeze and he gets worried by their reaction. He's not right for them and at 13hh he is too small for me. Plus I have Cally. If I find the right home, it will be a happy ending. I am in no hurry as for now he is my therapy pony. But he deserves to be out having fun, not just working for me!
 
I would shorten the advert as honestly I'd switched off before I'd finished the second paragraph. Most of that info should be given to interested parties.

Short sweet and his good points to get people interested, you will get time wasters no matter how detailed your advert is.

Hopefully you will find him a good home.
 
see I would disagree! I like long adverts, I find them more honest and a good insight into some of the ponies history, if somene cant be bothered to read an advert about the pony I love then I wouldnt want them buying it ! but thats just me lol !! ( not that I ever will be selling my munchkins!)
 
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Thing is though when you're pony shopping you are looking at advert after advert and you want the pertinent points to get you interested then you want to speak to the seller as anyone literate can write a heartfelt pull the heart strings advert that's basically a pile of nonsense. Usually by talking to someone you can noise out the bull and definitely face to face you can tell cagey people if your vigilant enough.

Maybe I'm just more of an old schooler that way ;)
 
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I think I'd come somewhere in between: focus the ad on what he can and can't do, and say "His ridden career was interrupted for 5 years and so he has recently been rebacked; I'll give full details to anyone interested." Also you don't state his age, and there isn't enough info to work it out in the ad!

Lovely pictures, and I hope he finds the right person.
 
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If you are choosing to use photos, personal preference, but I like to see the horse doing what it says in an advert.
If they can jump, show a photo.
If he is going nicely, show his best gait. A sat on stationary photo tells me nothing.

"Not a kick-along but does needs to be asked to move forward rather than needing to be held back" I love this description. :) I have been wanting to find something that fits mine and that's probably the nearest. She isn't a plod but isn't forward going either, she settles somewhere in the middle.

The hacking would bother me, but only because that's what we do. If your winter hacking is limited does that mean you have no access to roadwork? You don't mention traffic in the advert.
 
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Its a lovely ad but for me its too much personal which makes it long and lacking on some specifics, as already mentioned that would be ideal phase 2 info to send out to people who contact you for more information but I prefer to see more to the point info in the first instance. I like to see pictures as @newforest suggests and always one side on stood square on level ground to assess confirmation :)
 
I'd shorten the ad and fill it with facts, height, age, box, show, catch, clip? Traffic, alone or in company? that's he's more a 2nd pony, has shown potential, heartbreaking sale a long term home wanted for this genuine pony hence home will be vetted. Genuine buyers will want to know the rest but initially you need facts:) xx. Eta shoe not show blooming auto correct, lol. X
 
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I'd also just put low mileage through no fault of his own and elaborate on that to interested parties. x
 
He's on part loan to a 12 year old girl who adores him and is doing really well with him. Sadly her parents wont allow her a pony as they don't have enough time to look after one. She's desperate to have him! And he's my therapy pony. Still advertised locally with a viewing after Easter but I'm in no rush as we are all so fond of him.
 
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KP nut said:
I have finally made the decision to part with my lovely Xavi. I can't cope with 4 ponies!!

Here is his advert:

13HH Native Type Gelding

Xavier is 13HH but feels bigger when ridden.

He is going nicely in w/t/c and I have jumped him up to about 70cm. He has jumped higher in the past.

He was professionally backed at 4 and spent time in a RS and was then sold to a customer. She gradually lost interest and he was left unridden for about 5 years. He was on livery so his physical needs were met, but he was not worked with.

I bought him from the field last year as I felt he deserved a second chance. I treated him as an unbacked youngster and he was fairly straightforward to re-start and bring back into work.

When I first got him he was hard to catch and afraid of his own shadow. He has changed beyond all recognition and will continue to improve as his re-education continues. But I have decided it is time for him to find his new home as I have 2 other ponies in work and don’t really have time for Xav too.

He is affectionate, friendly and willing. He loves attention and seeks people out for scratches and fuss. He is totally safe on the ground. I have never known him to barge, pull, nip, kick or even threaten. Good for dentist, farrier and tolerates clipping. No vices.

Under saddle he is still quite green. He can be very light in the hand and responsive to the leg. He transitions between gaits easily and has a comfortable canter. He can rush at times or try to nap to other ponies when ridden in a group. Not a kick-along but does needs to be asked to move forward rather than needing to be held back.

He is a capable jumper but can be nervous of poles so needs riding confidently whenever he sees a new jump. After a couple of times over it, he settles and jumps willingly out of trot or canter. Only recently started to jump and again he is improving all the time.

I have never known him buck, shy, spin or rear. He is a fab vaulting pony – he will stand still all day letting kids get on and off him in ever more imaginative ways!

I have loaded him which was fine. I also took him on a couple of short hacks alone and in company in the Autumn which he coped ok with. He was not totally confident but he obeyed me and did not try to run home or run off. He basically acted like a youngster might going somewhere new. I have not yet hacked him out any distance as hacking is very limited in winter where we are.

Unshod with good feet and a good doer. Lives in or out. Gets on fine with mares and geldings – has been in mixed or same sex herds with no problems in either.

To sum up, he is still a work in progress and his price reflects that. He is improving all the time and aside from the occasional spookiness he is a friendly, willing pony with a heart of gold. Strong as an Ox and carries adults easily. Currently ridden by both kids and adults up to 5’8”. Still green so he needs an experienced home and a confident/calm rider.

Sensibly priced at £750. Good home essential - potential homes will be vetted.
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He is absolutely gorgeous. I would LOVE him but husband says no to another pony. Hope he gets a fab home as he's just beautiful. xx
 
He has sold. It's to a novice child and I must have stressed about 10 times that he needs calm, confident riding and he is a work in progress who will sometimes spook and needs an experienced home. But the family are very horsey and the girl is having regular lessons on riding school ponies which will carry on. At one point they were talking about hacking out and again I said 'he;s not done that yet, he will need a buddy horse and a more experienced rider for that" - and the grandad said 'look we aren't going to shove her in a field alone with him and tell her to get on with it!" So at that point I figured it's not for me to insist they get a school master pony for a novice rider. They obviously have loads of experience, they own others horses including rescues and the adults are small enough to ride him too. He will live at home which he will love as he is so people-oriented. She adored him and they are picking him up tomorrow. My girls are distraught. And I feel very sad too but it;s the right time for him to go. I said at the end that he had not been off the farm for 10 years, trust was a huge thing for him, so if they ran into problems I hoped they would work through them and not just sell him on. They should EXPECT issues with him. They were very clear that they understood he would need time to settle and build relationships with them and they would deal with any problems and have done with many other ponies. I can't hold them to that but it's the best I can do. Fingers crossed XXXXX
 
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