I seem to be collecting ponies. Does anyone else have this problem??! In my defence I do have 4 daughters (all of whom ride) aged between 4-13, and I have started riding myself at the grand old age of 41 after years holding the end of lead rein and directing proceedings from the ground! But somehow I seem to have acquired 5 ponies and 1 horse and am seriously considering buying another 
. 2 of these 5 ponies are out on permanent loan and unlikely to return. The other 3 have livery on my friends farm and the horse lives at school with my eldest during term time.
The problem is my second eldest daughter who is now 11. Her pony is nearly 20 and has Cushings so has a home with us for life plus DD2 absolutely adores him, he is her best friend in the whole world. She would never ever consider him leaving. He is fab for messing around the farm, hacking around and having fun on but is getting increasingly anxious whenever we take him anywhere. We haven't been able to take him to pony club over the winter as he doesn't like artificial lights (gets very spooky) and he tends to refuse most jumps these days out and about although there is nothing wrong with him physically (other than the Cushings) he just seems to lose all confidence unless surrounded by the things he knows at home bless him. He can jump perfectly well at home!
I have accidentally (honestly I wasn't looking!) found a perfect pony for DD2, a hand bigger than her current pony, who will be able to do all the jumping comps and rallies and xc that she dreams of doing. I'm too scared to tell anyone in real life because I'll get the usual reaction of "oh not another pony" followed by deep sighs and looks of disbelief 😕
Should I just go for it?? He really is a pony in a million. We would never have found him if we had actually been looking I am sure (I was planning to start looking in about 6 months time) or am I out of my mind considering we already have more ponies than riders 
. I am so torn as this was not the plan at all!
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The tack room
Should I buy yet another pony??! Lighthearted
GuinefortGrey · 20/01/2016 15:08
I did sell one once... And then I bought her back again . She's my pony now - I can hack out all by myself as she is such an angel 
I knew I could rely on the Mumsnet tack room to make me feel better about adding to our herd 
!
Took DD2 and her current pony to a Clear Round comp last night and it was disastrous 
. Poor pony refused at every jump and DD2 was very disheartened. She then took him back out in warm up arena and he flew over the jumps out there no bother at all. He just goes to pieces with the pressure of "performing" - he senses DD2's nerves and it pushes him over the edge.
So the good news is, the owners have said we can borrow potential new pony for a few days and even take to a local SJ comp on Sunday to see how he is away from home . Fingers crossed for a Clear Round rosette!!!
If I do buy him, I'm planning to tell everyone even my own DP that we have him on loan . DP doesn't like horses!
Oh yes thank you!!! Eyes!!! I somehow managed to omit to mention in my OP that he DOES have some age-related sight loss. The vet saw him about 4 months ago for his regular Cushings blood tests and I asked him to check then and he did detect deterioration. One eye worse than the other - which would likely be causing things to look fuzzy round the edges, and explains why his anxiety is noticeably worse when light conditions are anything less than perfect. After last night I feel quite at peace that semi-retiring him now is the best thing to do for him. It's really not fair to keep subjecting him to situations that send his anxiety through the roof. He will still be ridden and adored, just at home with the comforts he knows and trusts.
I'm looking forward to the weekend with new potential pony - fingers crossed he turns out to be exactly what we think he is
floralnomad your post did make me chuckle. My long term plan, is to buy some land for all our ponies to live out their lives but if that doesn't happen then I imagine they will stay on livery instead. I simply cannot imagine ever selling them, especially as I have a soft spot for oldies (all but one of ours are over 15) and I just feel they deserve some comfort and stability after years of faithful service to all the children who have owned and ridden them over the years.
MrsLaughan I fear you may be setting out on the same path as me
Potential new pony is only 7, so I'm breaking the oldie habit there
Quick update! DD2 had a group flat work lesson with him on Sat am which went very well. He is more the kick-on type than a whizzy pony, which I think is always my preference although DD2's legs were a bit tired afterwards. Then on Sunday we took him to local sj comp, intending to do Clear Round and a 65cm class if all went well. He was a superstar! DD2 ended up skipping the CR and doing a 65 & a 75cm class!! He flew round them all, didn't even look at the jumps & certainly more forward jumping than in flatwork. DD2 was just so delighted to finish a course without elimination for a change .
I just hope he isn't too strong XC as that's the one thing we haven't had a chance to test yet and having seen how fearlessly he jumps (and how much he enjoys it!) I imagine he will have a marvellous time XC as long as DD2 can still control him
Here are some action pics. Not great quality as stills from a video I took. He has a very very pretty face, which can't really be seen here!!
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