Selling bonded buddies question

[ozymandias]

I really hope this doesn't violate the no sales rule. It's not a sale ad...I'm just trying to pump brains from info

I'm seriously thinking of selling my beloved zebra striped horse Ozy (registerable as seasonal brindle with the brindle registry) but he has lived every day of his life with his best buddy and GF. My mare is unable to get pregnant so IMO she's worth her weight in gold because she can live with a stud year round and I swear that's why he's so happyand has no aggression,boredom issues.

Here's my question and dliemna. Have any of you ever marketed two minis as a pair? I know on a larger farm they'd both make other "friends" but it breaks my heart to split them up myself.

If I do decide to sell, how do I market them? As a pair? As a stud and companion? Charge for one and throw in the other to charge as a pair ? I just can't sell them seperately...I love them too much to do that to them. ( wouldn't make a good breeder would I ! Lol)

Just looking for some feedback before I go any further with this.

 

[Riverrose28]

I'm not sure how to advise you, but do agree with your decision on keeping them together. Maybe you could donate them to your local 4-H club, as somtimes they have kids that need little horses to show and don't have a whole lot of money, but would be willing to keep them together.

 

[MountainWoman]

Ozy, I see many miniatures marketed as a pair, donkeys too because they bond so tightly. I think you can market on Craig'sList and the local paper or local farm publication so you can meet the family. There are many people who would love to have two amazing minis. The 4H idea is great!!! TargetsMom on this board does a lot of 4H work with children and minis and you might want to message her privately about that idea.

 

[Boss Mare]

I once bought an Appendix QH gelding in his early 20s that was bonded to a mare that boarded at this boarding facility in the area. Once home, the gelding was distructive just as he was when he was separated from the mare at the facility. Just when I contacted them to buy the mare they had sold her. I ended up selling him back to a boarder at the facility and he bonded closely with an older gelding there but not as close. He never bonded with my grade QH at home.

If possibly market them as a pair and set your price for what you feel is appropriate.

 

[ozymandias]

Thanks guys,

If I do decide to sell I'll market them as a pair

Help appreciated.

 

[Snapple]

Just wanted to put in, anyone who is trying to start keeping minis would probably appreciate the pair offer. I don't currently have any, so when I get ready to buy my first, I will be getting two. I think there will be plenty of market for them.

 

[bevann]

I had 2 Mini mares same sire, born 10 days apart.NEVER seperated.When buyers came to look it was TAKE THEM both or neither.They were sold and bought back 2 times by me.Lady called looking for a therapy horse.Told her I knew 1 was ok-not sure about the other.Double or nothing.Today they make many children happy in their new therapy job.The right person will come along.Just be patient.You will know when that person comes.

 

[Equuisize]

I understand your concern.

Our minis are kept as a family unit...they've never been separated.

We've only added one outside horse to the mix and the family of horses

have never accepted her. They do not try to harm her but she is not

included into the herd. She is always standing off to the side or away

from the herd.

We've always wondered when 'that day' arrives what we would do with

all of them .... Have this feeling no one is going to want a herd of 7, in

one felled swoop. The dad and son would be OK as they don't run with

the mares but the mom and girls, I believe would grieve.

Good luck with your decision, when you arrive at it.

Let us know how it goes if you decide to go that way.

I am sure there are many of us with similar situations.

 

[ozymandias]

Thank you all for your input and suggestions. When you see them grazing nose to nose and taking a nap almost in each others laps then you know it's a relationship that needs to remain. I couldn't imagine someone ripping me away from my family.

I'm pretty certain after listening to your input that I'm going to sell them as a take both or take none and price accordingly. Gosh I'd think having a mare who can't conceive is a great thing...this stud is such a happy mellow boy with his little mare. Even though I don't breed I've kept him as a stud because the brindle registry will register him as a seasonal brindle and if he is ...he'd be the only stallion registered.

Thanks everyone and I'll let you know if I finally get the courage to make the move

 

[Jill]

I would bet if he was a gelding, he'd be so much more likely to fit into various farm and family situations, and maybe keep the current BFF or make a new one. Something for anyone to consider, if soneone is looking out for stallion's quality of life when they relinquish a say so in his future.

 

[Sonya]

I only had 4 minis, all geldings...the first two I got the same day from different farms and they were together 3 years, just the two until I got another pair...other two I bought together and had been together for at least two years prior to me buying them I was told. I had the second pair for alittle over a year. When I decided to sell, I marketed and sold the first two as a pair and the second two as a pair...my biggest fear was to have sold three and have one left all alone at my place... so I chose to sell them in pairs...it worked out great but I would of certainly got more $ if I had seperated them....especially one who was show quality, the other 3 were more pet quality but all registered. I did have people come who only wanted one but I was able to talk them in to two

...I did keep in touch for a couple years and the pairs were kept together to my knowledge.

 

[ozymandias]

Thanks Sonya,

I'd be happy taking way less selling them as a pair than separately and it sounds like its something that can be done.

 

[ozymandias]

I must admit I never gave it a thought about the bond these two have if I ever decided to sell. These are sentient beings who obviously care for each other.

I remember an old mustangers story about a mustang round up where they removed a herd into the holding pens and then released them back into two different areas. A stallion crossed 20 miles, 5 fence lines and rounded up every single one of his original herd of mares and not one extra one!

What a responsibility we have. I think I'm going to have to sell one and "throw in" the other for free. ... " if" I ever totally decide to do this now it's getting this complicated lol.

 

[WendyJ]

Here's my advice, for what it's worth. If you truly, truly love Ozy, and you have the means, you shouldn't sell him. Ever. Because you lose control of him, and things happen, even in what you consider the best of homes. Think of all those posts on this board of peope saying...oh, my horse is sick, but I can't find a vet to come out, which really means, I don't want to pay for a vet. Their horses might be in agony, but yet some people still choose the "wait and see" approach over spending some money. I'm a veterinarian....and for every good pet owner out there, there is also a really crappy one.

I sold a mini I really loved last year, and I kept in constant contact with the buyer. She seemed to really, really love Ritzy. She called me one day to say that Ritzy didn't eat her dinner well, and that she was worried. I, of course, told her to call the vet. The next day, I called her and she said Ritzy was 100% back to normal. The next day, again, I called her and, again, she was doing great. Well, the next morning she called to say she had finally had the vet out the evening before, and that this morning Ritzy still "wasn't right". ..and then she admitted she had been lying to me all weekend. I panicked, and told her to meet me at the NCSU Veterinary School. They were going to return her to my ownership to me, as they knew I was going to pay for her workup and colic surgery, if needed. They put her on the trailer and headed to the vet school to meet me. THEN, I get a call FROM their vet, who told me that he had treated her the night before and that he was sure it wasn't a surgical colic, and he assured me he could treat her successfully medically if I would have her brought back to him. So, I called them back and relayed the message. My call later that day said that Ritzy was being treated and was doing great. BUT, that isn't what happened at all. This veterinarian euthanized Ritzy shortly after arriving, even though I had told him they were giving her back to me and was going to pay for colic surgery, if needed. So the bottom line was that this guy called me, talked me into having her brought back to him, then euthanized her without consulting me. She had still been a very treatable colic patient at that point.

This guy was a new graduate, and he knew I was a veterinarian, as well. Yet he made money (paid on a percentage scale) for the work he did, and if he put Ritzy back on the trailer to the vet school, he didn't make as much as if he charged them for euthanizing her and body disposal. So he killed her, in spite of me technically doing everything ok, for a pathetic handful of money in his pocket. But, in my mind, it will always be my fault that she suffered for days and then died. Because I sold her to those people.

I bitched like crazy to this veterinarian's boss, and he ended up losing his job. He started his own equine practice, and one day (I guess he was calling on all the larger barns in the area to introduce himself) he visited my barn. I wasn't there, but he left his cards all over the place. I called and told him who I was and what barn I owned and that if he ever set foot on my property again, he would be very lucky if the worst I did was to call the police.

So, I will never, ever again sell a horse that I love. I have a couple of horses that I only like alot, but I don't even think I will ever sell them, either. It just isn't worth the risk.

Wendy

 

[dixie_belle]

I have four little mini's and one mini donkey. Two of my guys (the first two) are really bonded. We brought Spot home first. He was 9 months old and had never been away from his mom. He was really lonely and called and called for her. I would spend a lot of time out there, just brushing and talking to him. In the evenings he would lay down with his head in my lap. Then, as soon as he was weaned...maybe oh....2 weeks later, Fluffy came to live with us. They immediately bonded. It was incredible. Now here it is, years later, and when I take Spot for a walk, Fluffy stands at the fence and whines and cries from the second he loses sight of Spot to the second we return. As soon as Spot gets back into the dry lot, Fluffy runs up and they have to touch noses. I could NEVER sell either one of them. People might say they would never seperate them, but stuff happens, we all know that. They have a forever home here, together. In my will, before anything is dolled out to family, a trust has been established to care for them all, as a herd, until the last one dies. Then, and only then, will my kids get their inheritance. My horses are my children, plain and simple. I could never sell any animal I brought onto the farm, any more than I could sell my kids (although I have been sorely tempted a time or two in the past).

 

[AnnaC]

What a sad story Wendy, but you are quite correct. Once a horse is sold, it is sold, and you have no say in what happens to it (although I realise that in your case you did have the ownership back in your hands 'officially'). If Ozy was sold, then there is nothing to stop his new owners from selling him on at any time in the future and keeping the mare if she is still in your ownership - although even this hasn't stopped some less than honest folks from selling on the 'loan' horse as well!

Sorry to have to say this, but it is sadly too often a fact of life. I really hope you find the right home for your two - I'm sure it is out there somewhere, you will know when it turns up.

 

[WendyJ]

Thanks AnnaC.

And I even had a contract drawn up by an attorney regarding the medical care they were agreeing to, and the fact that, if they were ever to release ownership of her, she had to come back to me. I really did everything I could, and it wasn't about the money, it was about her being in a home where she would have alot more hands-on attention than I was giving her at the time, but in the end I competely failed her.

And dixie_belle, I wish I had been as smart as you in the beginning and your kid statement really made me chuckle.

Wendy

 

[ozymandias]

Thanks everyone who chipped in

I appreciate the ideas and suggestions.

Wendy, I'm so sorry about your horses....what a horrible situation