25th October, 2017 BRS

It was off to the Beaulieu Road Sales this morning in unseasonal sunshine to look out for a pony for a friend. It's good to see the sales thriving thanks to its timing, and the sensible breeding policy which has been adopted (limiting the number of foals and improving the quality of those produced both through choice of stallions and the mares having foals less frequently). Certainly the stand was packed and hopefully this will be reflected in the prices achieved although no doubt there were many sightseers. I'd find it difficult to let my ponies go through a lottery like this but higher prices and better quality foals generally mean better homes and far less likelihood of going for meat, and the highly successful Beaulieu Road Sales Yard Facebook page is brimming with success stories year on year as these ponies start to be ridden and competed. Selling a pony is always a risk, no matter how hard you are able to vet a potential owner as you are only ever one step away from having no control on the pony's destiny in any case.

As well as the foals there were a number of older New Forest ponies, along with some good crosses, a handful of coloured horses, a Welsh and an Exmoor.