Despite the rules and the real threat of being banned from the platform, the social media behemoth Facebook remains a very popular place to advertise horses for sale.
The reasons are obvious; it’s free, nearly everyone uses it and people know how it works. Within the Facebook group ecosystem, based on my own experiences I find the best places for promoting horses for sale that are advertised on Whickr are within Facebook groups. They are their own communities with population sizes ranging from that of a small village to the size of a respectable town.
Knowing where they are and the purpose of these Facebook groups can be tricky if you are not a regular on the social media platform. So, in this blog we are going to highlight thirteen Facebook groups to advertise your horse for sale. There are of course hundreds, however these are the thirteen we have picked out at Whickr HQ.
1. Quality Horses & Ponies UK
Group size: 137,200
Link to group: Quality Horses & Ponies UK
About: Everything equestrian
Rules:
- No prices
- Short adverts please
- No passing opinion on other people’s posts
- Adverts only
- No live videos
This is probably the largest group in the UK for advertising horses for sale on Facebook. It gets a lot of engagement for all horses and ponies – well worth adding to your list of groups regardless of the type of horse you are advertising. But, they don’t include links to adverts away from Facebook, as such be prepared to answer a lot of “price & location” messages!
2. Eventing UK
Group size: 95,900
Link to group: Eventing UK
About: This group is for everything Eventing related in the UK, both affiliated and unaffiliated.
Rules:
- Please sign up to Eventing UK (free)
- “Horses for Sale” posts only permitted via Whickr
- Product Promos/Ads on Tuesdays Only
- Please do not advertise dogs/ puppies for sale
- No “follow for follow” posts please
- Be kind and courteous
- No hate speech or bullying
Eventing horses for sale tend to receive better engagement in this group. However, all horses for sale are accepted.
Note* Whickr has a partnership with Eventing UK that reduces the price of Whickr adverts to £9.99 and seller’s gain access to promote their horses for sale in this group with their Whickr link included. Code to use at checkout on Whickr is EVENTINGUK.
3. BSJA
Group size: 84,200
Link to group: BSJA
About: NA
Rules:
- Types of posts that are not accepted;
a) Stolen watermarked photos
b) How much is my horse worth?
c) Do you recognise my horse?
d) Will you consider loaning?
e) What colour will suit my pony?
f) What show name would suit my horse? - No games and click on my photo
- Please treat people with respect
- People adding rude comments will be removed
- People bumping posts every few hours will be removed
Showjumping horses for sale tend to receive better engagement in this group. However, all horses for sale are accepted.
4. Pony Club Ponies
Group size: 74,100
Link to group: Pony Club Ponies
About: A group set up by a pony club mother in the hope that ponies advertised on here will be honestly described. No posts other than horses and ponies will be approved, if you continue to post tack, clothes, rugs and you will be blocked.
Rules:
- All ads are to be advertise on Whickr
- No livery advertising
- No tack
- No rugs
- No equipment
- No shows
- No lorries or cars
- No livestream/ giveaways
- No pages to be shared
Pony Club ponies for sale or loan tend to receive better engagement in this group. However, all ponies for sale are accepted. The group is also a popular community for those wanting to post Wanted Ads looking for a Pony Club pony. Whickr also has a free Wanted Advert feature for prospective buyers to benefit from, click to here to find out more.
Note* Whickr has a partnership withPony Club Ponies that reduces the price of Whickr adverts to £9.99 and seller’s gain access to promote their horses for sale in this group with their Whickr link included. Code to use at checkout on Whickr is PCPONIES.
5. Connemara Pony Community
Group size: 47,300
Link to group: Connemara Pony Community
About: NA
Rules:
- Connemara pony community
- No sales adverts
- No sales
- No posts unrelated to Connemara ponies
This group is dedicated to Connemara ponies, no other types of horses or ponies for sale will be accepted into this group. As the rules show, adverts in this group need to be even more subtle than is required in other groups. Post approval is turned on so if you fail to meet the requirements your post will not be accepted.
6. Project Horses and Ponies UK
Group size: 38,100
Link to group: Project Horses and Ponies UK
About: NA
Rules:
- Must include age, height, sex and location
- No price
- No loans or wanted ads
- No advertisements (non horse) without permission
- No hate speech or bullying
Speaking from experience, if you try to post horses or ponies that aren’t really project types you’re most likely to receive some abuse from loyal group members in the comments section. Stick with project types and posts perform well in this group.
7. Horses & Ponies In Search For Their Happy Homes UK
Group size: 33,500
Link to group: Horses & Ponies In Search For Their Happy Homes UK
About: This group is to help find horses a new home. Please add your postcode on your post. We are a UK based group.
Rules:
- No prices
- Be Kind
- No Telephone numbers
- Please use the heart guide in the pinned posts
This group is useful for buyers looking at horses for sale that are priced typically at £5,000 or lower. Amatuer riders that are perhaps looking for a fun horse to take part in some low level competition rather than serious competition prospects.
8. Happy Hackers & Family Horses
Group size: 26,700
Link to group: Happy Hackers & Family Horses
About: NA
Rules:
- Do not use the words “for sale” or “sale”
- No prices
- No wanted posts to include “no silly prices”
- No commenting or debating on others pricing
We have only recently discovered this group so we have little we can add in terms of comment. But, we assume that the clue is in the name.
9. Quality Irish Draught and Irish Sport Horses
Group size: 26,500
Link to the group: Quality Irish Draught and Irish Sport Horses
About: The group is to help rehome quality Irish Draught and Irish Sport horses and is to assist
members home horses for all equestrian activities.
Rules:
- Irish Draught and Sport Horses only
- No bullying
- No prices, budgets or “for sale” in posts
A popular group for buyers and sellers of horses for sale with Irish heritage. With the popularity of Irish Sport Horses across all disciplines and as all-rounders, this is a useful group for rehoming or finding Irish horses. Sellers advertise from both Ireland and the UK.
10. First Ponies
Group size: 16,100
Link to the group: First Ponies
About: NA
Rules:
- Do not use words such as sale or buy or put prices on posts
- Please put location on ads
- No promotions or spam
- No marketing
- Remove posts that are no longer relevant
A hyper focused group trying to help match buyers and sellers of first ponies that come in all different shapes and sizes. Post approval is turned on for this group so any posts that do not fit the criteria will not be approved and featured in the group.
11. Welsh Section B Ponies
Group size: 14,400
Link to the group: Welsh Section B Ponies
About: NA
Rules:
- Be kind and courteous
- No hate speech or bullying
- No promotions or spam
A community for advertising ponies for sale that are classified as Welsh Section Bs, a prolific breed in the UK for children to ride. Welsh Section Bs are versatile and have been known to excel at nearly all disciplines.
12. Dressage & Para Dressage
Group size: 9,500
Link to the group: Dressage & Para Dressage
About: Dressage, the highest expression of horse training, is considered to be the art of equestrian sport and is used as the groundwork for all the other disciplines. Interest in dressage continues to grow throughout the world as a sport and a pastime.
Rules:
- Be kind and courteous
- No hate speech or bullying
- Moderate promotions but no spam
- Respect everyone’s privacy
- Please be specific about a location of your subject
We recently found this group whilst compiling this list. Dressage focussed groups are not as popular on Facebook. It’s described as a global group so it might be a useful community for sourcing dressage horses from Europe or selling to Europe from the UK. We’ll update you once we’ve used the group a number of times.
13. Whickr Horses & Ponies UK
Group size: 532
Link to group: Whickr Horses & Ponies UK
About: Promote Horses & Ponies advertised on Whickr. Share your own advert into the group. Have a question about how Whickr works? Share it in the group. Group members get over 50% off advertising on Whickr at just £9.99 with code WHICKRFB.
Rules:
- All horses and ponies are to be advertised on Whickr
We created this group two days before we wrote this blog. The purpose is to create a community where sellers who have advertised on Whickr have an exclusive group for sharing their horses or ponies for sale. As well as advertising, we want it to be a platform for asking questions about Whickr and how it works. Watch this space, there may only be slightly over five hundred in the group at time of writing but it’ll be in the thousands in no time at all!
To wrap up
Here are thirteen Facebook groups that are worth exploring, they range in diversity from discipline specific to happy hackers. Whickr has partnered with two of the groups in the list to provide discounted advertising to their group members and has a group of its own.
I think what was really interesting whilst compiling the list of Facebook groups to feature in this blog is the commonality of a couple of rules that feature in almost every group. The rules around “be kind and courteous” or “no hate speech or bullying”. I’m not sure what that says about our community as a whole but I hope everyone respects the other members of the groups.
