Llanybydder Horse Sales
Thursday 28th Feb 3 of my NVQ Students, Jess Tasha and Rhian and myself took two ponies to Llanybydder Horse Sales, Cindy a 14year old 11.2 hh grey pony and Merrylegs approx 12yr old 12.2hh grey pony. Most people would call them White cause they don’t come any whiter but their correct colouring is grey. We left at 8am in order to allow ourselves plenty of time to arrive as I’m not the best towing and need plenty of room to park, actually I’m ok towing forwards its the reversing that gets me everytime. Its never a problem thou cause men love to prove they can do anything better than women so you can always find one to do it for you. Two hours later after several replays of Mikka we arrived at Llanybydder which is towards Lampeter off the Carmarthen roundabout. We actually made good time I thought it would take us more like three hours. In the car park I spotted a space i could drive straight into and as I was about too a 4×4 promptly reversed into it which then meant I would have to reverse and park up against the wall – the first man I spotted did that for me. Just before arriving I realised I had left the passports on the kitchen table which is a big problem as most sales will not accept horses without passports. After speaking very nicely to the auctioneer and convincing him this was a genuine mistake and I do actually have passports he agreed to sell them without passports as long as I promised faithfully to put them in the post straight away – Done. After booking them in we found a couple of pens for them put hay and water in and left them as their sales didn’t start till12 in the pony ring and they were one of the last ones in. Time for some ‘Brunch’ Several market stalls in the street sell a variety of food and their is also Tack stalls and a market there. The Horse Sales in the main ring started at 11.30 and the pony ring started at 12.15 on the whole most of the horses and ponies being sold were young and unbroken. I wish I had more land available to be able to buy some youngstock and turn them away for a couple of years as there were several youngsters I liked. My experiences of buying riding horses at sales has not always been so good. Many I have bought never seem to be what you think you are buying often being lame or generally not as quiet as you thought they were on the day, although I have bought some at Llanybydder which have been ok. Sid being one of them. Donkeys always seem to fetch good money at sales. All horses and ponies are sold in guineas at Llanybydder. Our two ponies were nearly last in the catalogue and it was about 3.30pm when they went under the hammer. Merrylegs was sold to someone in Llanelli and Cindy has gone to Abergavenny.
Posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 9:30 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I live near there!! A horse from are yard went to there, a youngster not long broken but 2small for us (also quite an evil little pony). I didnt get to go though
Comment by claire — March 4, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
ahh i miss both of those ponies!!! but i bet they are in happy homes having a great time!!!! x
Comment by freya — March 26, 2008 @ 12:00 pm
Poor Merrylegs and Cindy!
The responsibility of horse ownership should also apply to finding a “GOOD” home for your horse if you decide to part company.
How anyone could send their horse to a sale is beyond me.
No future home is guaranteed as good, but even less so when you don’t know who is going to buy them.
I havn’t bothered to look around your site any further, as your horses must just be a “tool” within your business.
Very sad!
Comment by Lisa — June 25, 2008 @ 11:46 am
Personally I don’t see anything wrong with horse sales as long as they are run professionally and with consideration for the horses (I don’t often use sales these days because I do find their practise’s questionable) I put a reserve on mine above what the meat man will pay and with passports these days you can stipulate that your horse is not sold for meat in the future. Whether you then sell your horse privately or at a sales does not guarantee your horse will have a good home. I have heard from both people that bought my ponies at the sales and both appear to have good homes but I have also sold horses privately to what I thought might be good homes and on some occasions have not. Maybe people shouldn’t claim they are knowledgeable and caring if they are not. We run courses for first time horse owners and people should attend a course before buying a horse. I have also bought horses from sales and dealers and I wonder what would have happened to those horses if I hadn’t some have been in a very sorry state.
You are entitled to your opinion although it seems a little inflexible as you could not be bothered to take the time to find out that our horses are cared for very well, much better in fact than many business’s but we are a business and unfortunately sometimes it is in the horses interest to move on some would say it is not kind for horses to work in a riding school forever.
Comment by Chris — June 25, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
i bought my pony from a llanybydder sale, i was only looking for future, but this one pony caught my eye as he was about to be sold to the meat man for 15 guineas so i bidded and won him for 20 guineas, i am tooo big for him but my friend is not and therefore he is broken, backed and quiet, i feel i would rather buy any horse from there rather than buy one off of an ad as i feel i am saving a life and that is enough, even if i have no purpose for the horse, maybe like in this instance i know someone who may have or if not i could sell them on knowing they are going to a good home than be slaughtered by the meat man.
Comment by hannah davenport — January 11, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
yuor horse was called merrylegs? i reconise the name. was she up clyne farm for a period of time? if she was ……oh my god i used to teach kids on her pla let me know how she is and where she is from and going to thanks ….sarah xxxx
Comment by sarah — March 3, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
I could never live with myself if I didn’t know where my pony was going next. This is why my ponies are with me for life. I think horse owners are ‘too’ quick to pass on their old horses when they no longer serve a purpose. Dont most horse owners love them as part of the family after they’ve carried you all those years?? We wouldn’t be so quick to sell our dogs and cats. Like someone above mentioned, I too just went to a market (brecon) and bought one of those foals ’straight of the mountain’ destined to be shipped of to French Fattening farms. She is the sweetest little thing you ever come across. The thought of her being nothing more than money for food sickens me.
Comment by Sally — November 22, 2009 @ 1:47 am
hi my husband and i bought merrylegs from llanybydder mart when she was sold there . i have read that some people wish to know how she is . i can say she is fine! my 6 yr old boy rides her . she is lovely and here to stay iv owned her 1 half years approx . she is in llanelli thanks i hope its pleasing to know she is good x
Comment by michaela — April 15, 2010 @ 2:00 pm