just to be nosey, whats the av cost of a connemara over there? Connemaras are renowned for holding there own againt big horses in showjumping, often out jumping horses of 16.2hh +
One of my mates who was on the british jnr team had one, this 14.2 mare was in a team where the others were 16.0hh plus, she was the only pony, but still outjumped them all, ps, my mate bought the pony when she{my mate that is} was only 13yrs old, the pony was prob about 7 i think, she only lost her 2 years ago,,,Gayle is now 41yr old, so long lived eh,

Don't forget the most important thing too Shona, the engine is at the back, so you need powerful hocks and hind quarters, and when they jump, watch that they tuck their little front legs up neatly as they can, that's a good pointer too! So the hind quarters need to be large in a good jumper, well not massive, but look powerful I mean. I think the dark bay one (the one who's a bit sharp!) looks too much of a lightweight to me, more for the race course perhaps?

Having looked again, you know I quite like that grey mare in the first pic, I bet she will show up well during your visit

The unbroken ones will be loose schooled and put over jumps too I expect, if they deal in Irish, I'm sure they do it the Irish way! My horse was only 3 when I went to this particular dealer to buy him, and he was popping over 5ft. spreads being loose schooled!!!! Too bad he didn't want to do it with me on board years down the line! He'd rather leave me to do it first and chuck me over the top with his dirty stop! Lol! Casualty here I come again I thought!!!

OMG I want them all

No seriously, on looks I would like the mare, but being sensible, I would go for the Gelding I guess !

We all went for the mare too, lol, But Allana likes the gelding,,,

personally id go for a gelding

imo an unbroken gelding compared to a broken in mare which has just ahd a foal... id go for the gelding.....

clean slate to school as you want.

also round here a tb x to sell on isnt worth as much as a connemara - they are worth more..

good luck!

Good luck finding your pony.

Have you considered travelling to Ireland if its a connemara pony you are definately looking for?

I'm not sure exactly of prices but they would be nothing like £12000 £15000 for a young pony.

We have had several connemaras in the past and currently have a connemara x tb. Around here (1/2 hour from connemara) there is an unlimited choice.

Any decent seller would also have no problem with having a potential purchase vetted. It is the norm over here just like in the UK. I've lived here 13 years and never heard of the lighter in the eyes

That's a brilliant idea! That's all this Irish Dealer did anyway, to ship them over from Ireland, but give him his due, he did get me exactly what I wanted, whereas he could have fobbed me off with any of the 20 he already had in the yard. This was a yard where Helen VanHeynagon (sp???) was resident (show jumper at the time 198 and the dealer dan was her o/h, again at the time! I too was gobsmacked when he did that bit with the lighter. I asked if I could get my vet up and he said he would never allow a vet into his yard, and then went on to say, if you think he needs vetting, I'll be the vet, held the lighter up to his eyeball, the horse didn't flinch, and he then said, there's nothing wrong with this horse! Bit scarey I think!!!!

I can't wait to see what happens when you've been tomorrow, I shall be very interested if Ian likes any of them, so you must keep us posted please! I'd go for the grey mare, and I bet she's the best out of the 3 too!

here is a link to Ians famous roughlands telstar,
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~temeljon/heroes.htm

ps you may find some of his stallions names a tad familiar,,,lol, I stole em for the dogs,,,aka, trademark landmark,,,lol,

Firstly Irish Sport Horses, can be anything from 16 16 3hh, even bigger depending on parentage.... as they are usually crossed with a Irish Draught..... and don't reach full height until they are 5/6 ish (as we found out with our last one, 16 hhs when we bought him as a 4 yr old , reached 16 3hh.

Forget the XTB ,if it is skittish, to much for a 12 yr old child.

Mares can be temperamental, so you may have that to deal with, along with any other problems.

You don't say how old the Mare is , is she youngish??

There are usually reasons why people put youngish mares in foal, and none are good....1) they have proven to be un rideable...2) they have been injured, and the owners have taken the opportunity to breed from them while they are out of work.

Also looking at the pics of the Mare, I don't like her forelegs...her feet turn out, (you should be able to run a straight line down through her shoulder, knee , to her feet.

Same with her back end, you should be able to run a straight line down from point of tail through hock, cannon and fetlock , and altought she is not standing straight, her lower leg is not straight, bring her heel to the grownd, which will put pressure on the Fetlock joint .


Don't be tempted to go to Ireland to buy your own...leave that to the people who know how to do it....when buying from the sales in Ireland, you need to have contacts, know someone who will work for you, and know your horses in and out. to many people go over thinking they can get a bargain, don't you believe it, by the time you have paid the price of the pony/horse, paid for its vetting , transport, and you own accommodation, you will be paying top prices.

The Gelding in the field , although overweight, seem in this case the best option, but as you will know, you should never go on just apparences, with horses.... their is a whole bigger picture to look at , temperament and ability.

Not to bad Shona, but then I'd had her since she left her mum, I knew her from when she 2 weeks old, she had her moments, but was basically 100% bomb proof as they say, when she was 4 years old, I took her to Horsemans Sunday at Hyde Park, expecting her to be a bit iffy, but she wasn't, she just took it all in her stride, even when someone came past in a horse and cart, she just looked and we carried on as if it were an everyday occurance, the only problem I ever had with her, was when we started to do cross country and she loved it so much it was difficult to stop her