Would you buy an ex polo pony

Lorna

Lorna

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Nov 10, 2014
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Hi all,

I am looking for some advice.
My friend is a riding instructor and has taught me on my share horse in the past. I have been actively saving for my own horse and she has found one from a friend. The horse is an ex polo gelding who has been turned away unshod and unworked for the last 6 months. As it is a friend and the owners have replaced a the pony with new ponies (I understand this is quite common in polo?) he is being offered at a very good price.. 150£. My friend used to work at the polo yard and assures me when he's in work he's to die for. I only want an all rounder, the only issue is he is 20 yo, I wondered if anyone had any advice or reccomendations?

Obviously at 20 he's not really worth vetting as I won't get him insured. And seeing as he's out of work he's unrideable until I get him back into work and shod etc. I trust my friend completely but want a bit of extra advice. The current owner says he's got plenty of life in him yet, and I don't doubt that. But id like to gage other opinions.

Thanks everyone x
 
Personally I'd walk away - he's 20 now and while he's cheap, being an ex polo pony he'll have many more miles on the clock than your average horse. To be honest, I'd tell your friend to save her money and look elsewhere.

Sorry :(
 
If he's used to being worked hard (polo then a riding school), he may be hard to settle into light work as a leisure horse and may play up. Also at 20 and after a hard career, he is probably happiest in the field now. I would never buy a horse I hadn't ridden, however cheap, as they cost a LOT when things go wrong! Which is also more likely if it's an oldie. So if it was me, it would be a no-no. Sorry!
 
Personally, no, not this one. Not as a first horse.

If you really want an all-rounder to do a bit of everything with I'd be looking for a younger horse with less "mileage". I don't know all that much about polo to be perfectly honest but if the horse is 20 and has been doing polo all his life I'd be worried about joints etc. I would also not buy an older horse that I could not ride before I bought it. What if, when you bring him back into work he can't cope? He might only be £150 but could cost you much more to keep with vets bills etc and you cannot be 100% certain he will be ride-able. Would you be happy with the possibility that you buy this horse and for whatever reason find out that you can't ride him. Also, I'd like to know I clicked with a horse I'm thinking of buying which is difficult when you can't get on board before hand. I'd be more inclined to consider him if he was currently in work.

My opinion may be somewhat tainted by my recent experience which is maybe stupid as what happened to her is not age related. I bought my horse as a healthy 10yo. We had 2 good years together before she injured herself in the field and after a year of trying to get her sound a further injury set her right back and I ended up making the decision to put her down. It was heartbreaking. There are situations when an older horse would be a good bet for a first horse but if you want to get out and about, do a bit of dressage, jumping and hacking then I wouldn't go for this one. Just from my point of view I'd want to try my best to set myself up with a horse I could have a long and happy ridden career with (as much as you can with horses). I'm not saying older horses are not capable, they can be, it's just that the time to say goodbye is more likely to come sooner than I would prefer. Sorry for my rather morbid outlooko_O
 
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Rubic said:
Personally, no, not this one. Not as a first horse.

If you really want an all-rounder to do a bit of everything with I'd be looking for a younger horse with less "mileage". I don't know all that much about polo to be perfectly honest but if the horse is 20 and has been doing polo all his life I'd be worried about joints etc. I would also not buy an older horse that I could not ride before I bought it. What if, when you bring him back into work he can't cope? He might only be £150 but could cost you much more to keep with vets bills etc and you cannot be 100% certain he will be ride-able. Would you be happy with the possibility that you buy this horse and for whatever reason find out that you can't ride him. Also, I'd like to know I clicked with a horse I'm thinking of buying which is difficult when you can't get on board before hand. I'd be more inclined to consider him if he was currently in work.

My opinion may be somewhat tainted by my recent experience which is maybe stupid as what happened to her is not age related. I bought my horse as a healthy 10yo. We had 2 good years together before she injured herself in the field and after a year of trying to get her sound a further injury set her right back and I ended up making the decision to put her down. It was heartbreaking. There are situations when an older horse would be a good bet for a first horse but if you want to get out and about, do a bit of dressage, jumping and hacking then I wouldn't go for this one. Just from my point of view I'd want to try my best to set myself up with a horse I could have a long and happy ridden career with (as much as you can with horses). I'm not saying older horses are not capable, they can be, it's just that the time to say goodbye is more likely to come sooner than I would prefer. Sorry for my rather morbid outlooko_O
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Thanks for your advice. It's really helpful. Sorry to hear about your mare x
 
My issue wouldnt be age, it would be the "unknown".

Some horses are pretty crazy to ride unless they are ridden every day and kept busy. Given his background it sounds like he is used to being super busy.

I would also be hesitant about not being able to ride first. Could you not, as a friend, have him on loan for a month?

Also, why has he stopped working at the riding school? Could you phone them and ask about him?

If it is not your RI horse then I don't see what she gets from selling you a bad horse as she would loose her custom with you, but I would still be wary - there are a few too many what ifs at the moment!
 
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I'm afraid I'd walk away, like PFB there are too many unknowns for my liking and I definitely wouldn't even consider a horse I hadn't ridden myself, the age would bother me too to be honest, ok so he's cheap, but as others have said he could potentially end up costing you a fortune and/or a lot of heartache and I would definitely want to know why he's been turned away for the last six months.
 
OH and I watch polo and we live near a polo yard.
So the quick answer is, yes I might buy a polo pony - but I probably wouldnt buy the one you are being offered.
It is true that polo ponies are retired at a certain age or if they dont enjoy the game and there are owners looking for good homes. There is a Facebook group "Retired and Ex Polo Ponies for sale" which you could look at. New owners sometimes report back on how much they like the ponies they have bought.
A 20 year old pony that has been out of work really needs a sharer to hack him - bringing him back into work and then hacking him during his retirement. I shared (and paid to share) an elderly mare in that situation. Personally I object to owners selling horses over the age of 18 or so. They should keep the horse and give it a happy retirement.
I wouldnt be too worried that he has been turned away if that has re turned him to fitness. My old share had a summer off and it rejuvenated her. I hacked her normally the moment she returned - there was no bringing her back into work. She was very fresh! But this was a horse I had known and ridden for years. In your case I dont understand why you cant try out the horse properly? And it would not be normal to sell on a horse that could not be tried out by a potential purchaser. You might not enjoy riding a horse trained for polo.
To ride (and hack) a polo pony it helps to understand how they are ridden and what is expected of them. The reins are held in one hand - like USA Western neck reining, leaving the right hand of the player free to hold and use the polo mallet. The horse expects to go from standing to a fast canter, slowing and turning neatly and setting off again when asked. There is little trot work in polo.
Polo ponies live in a herd - they play as a group and may not be happy to hack out alone or to be kept on their own. And if I bought one I would be able to keep it at the polo yard living the kind of life the animal is used to.
 
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I'm not sure id buy this one either after watching polo and seeing the hard work they do.
But seperate to that, I'd be careful on the thinking that because it's not an expensive horse, it's not worth vetting. A free horse could cause you mountains of vet bills, just as well as a £10k one. Different folk have differing views on vettings but I would always take the advice of a vet, even though it can't elimate all the risk, it can rule out some stuff.
 
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I agree with Skib - polo ponies neck rein.

I helped a neighbour many years ago who had some to exercise and return to fitness. I used to ride and lead. They were actually very good, but neckreined - they didn't understand anything else.
 
It is similar to buying an ex racehorse, find out what sort of life they lead and how you can adapt. However I would not be buying any horse I could not try. His age would not worry me ( I do have the ability to retire horse on my own land ) but not as a first /only horse and certainly not ex RS out of work.
 
Assuming your RI friend knows both you and the horse very well it might be ok - some really good horses end up as field ornaments for one reason or another and are then sold from the field at rock bottom prices. But there are some importance gaps in the story of how this horse ended up unused..... originally it appeared he was just replaced by new polo ponies which as you say does happen.But that was 6 years ago? Why did the RS stop using him? And if they decided he was going up for sale why not keep him in work till he was sold so potential buyers could ride him? It's not even as if they had to go to the trouble of bringing him back into work for a sale - he was in work already. There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation but I think you need to know the history better. Also if he is essentially now just an expensive garden ornament then I cant see any reason why they would not agree to a loan first so you could try asking.
 
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I agree with Krissie, if they are prepared to let him go out on loan with the proviso that you will have no problems returning him to the owner if he doesn't work out it might possibly be worth considering. If they insist on selling him for the £150 instead of loaning I have the feeling they want to sell because they don't want him back under any circumstances, and don't want the possibly extra vets expense etc. that often comes with old age, particularly in horses that have been well used.

Possibly they are not able to bring themselves to do the right thing for this horse OR pay to do the right thing, so are handing the responsibility of his old age onto someone else. Unfortunately this happens quite a lot with old horses and it is heart breaking to think of all the years they have given their best to end up sold for meat money just to get rid of them.
 
I would NOT buy a horse at 20, and I think it is disgraceful that people sell them at that age. At 20 plus unless having had a quiet and happy hacker life,owned by people who have not worked them hard, they are still able to do lots and lots. But, their owners know when enough is enough as they know them well, and would hopefully be prepared to keep them as companions until they pop their clogs.

Personally I think it is awful that people get shot of horses at an old age for someone else to pick up the pieces. But there are a lot that do, and clearly they aren't very nice people.
 
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One of our driving ponies was still competing at national 3 day events full seasons aged 23 ! I would go down the loan route suggestion though in this case I think. He may be a great hack for years to come, one of my old horses I was still hacking at 30 !
 
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