Would buying a five-year-old pony suit a nine-year-old?

[Dude2]

Looking to buy my 9 year old a pony. She can walk, trot, canter, pop a small cross pole. Has been riding for a few years. She has a private lesson every week. The riding school has a 5 year old pony for sale, so for the last 5 weeks she’s been having lessons on him. Would I be an idiot to buy him for her? My daughter isn’t the most confident rider. I don’t ride but we have owned a couple of horses over the last 3 years as my older daughter rides. Currently she has a 16.2hh 9 year old warmblood ex eventer. My older daughter is 14, 5’7, she is extremely lightweight so would also be able to pop on the 5 year old who is 13hh if needed. It would mainly be used for hacking, beach rides and taken to riding lessons.

Absolutely don’t buy a five year old.

From my admittedly limited experience of horses I would say definitely not! I would ask Mnhq to move your thread to The Tack Room subforum, which is where all the horsey types hang out, where you'll probably get more detailed replies.

A green horse, with a green rider can work, as long as you’ve got the knowledge and support, but I’d not do it for such a young child. There are so many other ponies out there that would be more suitable.

No, definitely not.
My DD’s first pony ( she was 9) was a 12 year old pony who’d been there, done it etc. Perfect match, we had her for 13 years.

If you are planning on keeping it at riding school would be fine.

What is your level of experience? It can be done, but usually someone in the family is an experienced rider/extremely comfortable with young, green horses on the ground and knows how and when to put in the hours when they need it. Generally though most people would steer well clear, particularly as 5 year old horses can have a "teenage" moment around the 6 to 7 year old mark amd become incredibly tricky for a bit.

The things that stand out to me is (1) your younger child isn't that confident a rider (2) you imply you aren't horsey yourself and (3) you would be relying on the older one to step in if needed. It only takes one bad fall to put someone off, and a bad fall on a green horse at the beach for one or other to not make it home one day. How much risk are you prepared to take?

I’ve seen this done loads of times and in my opinion isn’t a great idea. Get your daughter something who knows the ropes who she can have fun with and be a child. Schooling an inexperienced horse can come later in life.

It totally depends on the horse and the rider. Generally I wouldn’t but you can get a saintly five year old that never puts a foot wrong , you just don’t know. Speak with the instructors and people who work at the riding school. Also, bear in mind the pony could change hugely without its current work level. Would they let you have the pony on a trial period?

I think it depends on the pony. We bought my DD9 a four year old this year old earlier this year that had been backed 6 months. She was bought from someone we knew and trusted. They are doing great much better than the 14 year old that was her first pony and was way too much of a handful having been misold as a fyfr (which she perserved with for three years). That said we have had help from a very experienced instructor and the pony has a great temperment.

You have the benefit of knowing the pony in advance rather than buying cold. Take advice from her instructors.

If you are very horsey and competent and have the help of a lightweight adult or teen it could work. If the answer is no to either of them then don’t.
I’ve had horses since god was a boy and have done a lot of instructing and if I’ve learnt anything it’s it’s always better to be a bit underhorsed than even slightly overhorsed.
A nine year old straight from a riding school needs a schoolmaster

No. You say yourself your DD is not a confident rider and that you don't ride yourself. Getting a green horse in that scenario would potentially be incredibly dangerous.

I would say it would only work if you’re able to take on the schooling and bringing on yourself. You can’t task that to an older child. You need someone who can consistently school the pony 4-5 days a week at least and take it to shows and hacking and beach rides. I wouldn’t put my 9 year old on a green pony to do that. An adult, yes, but as you don’t ride.

Also I wouldn’t be trusting the riding school honestly, if they are trying to foist a young pony on you. The yard where I used to keep my horse was always selling on totally unsuitable 4 year old ponies for stupid money to young kids. You need a been there done that PC all rounder sort, not one that’s going to drag your dd down the beach in a spook. That will be ££££ though.

The riding school aren’t trying to foist the pony on us, they mentioned they had him for sale a couple of months ago, been having riding lessons on him since and no mention of us trying to buy him since the first conversation. The riding school they use is a big riding school, host pony club and are very well known throughout the county we live in. So not some back street job. They will sell the pony whether we buy it or not as they do sell many every year. We bought a ‘been there done that’ for my older daughter when she was 10 years old, turns out they aren’t all they’re made out to be! We have a good budget of mid teens so aren’t looking for a cheap option. I’ve put plenty of posts on fb on different horse groups. Not many replies as we aren’t looking for a world beater. The pony would be having lessons at the same riding school weekly but will be kept at home with our other horse

To be honest , yes. When we were kids my mother bought a lightweight cob colt. My older sister backed him and he ended up being a really safe hack. You don’t need to be an expert to produce a safe riding pony if the pony has a steady temperament. I would be exploring why the striding stables are looking to seek a young child’s pony though. Why don’t they want to hang on to him?

The riding school breed and sell a few youngsters every year.

It can be done like others have said but its incredibly important to keep up lessons and ensure your elder child intervene if you do run into trouble. I can't over emphasise how many dodgy horses there are out there on the present market and how many unscrupulous sellers - both dealers and private homes there are so I'd say that having the benefit of already having many lessons already on the pony can only be to your advantage. Please do think about having a vet carry out a five stage vetting and xrays on all four feet and both hocks. It will cost around £1100 for this but it can save you many years of potential heartbreak and a lot of money saved in vets bills should your pony be unsuitable, particuarly given the budget you have, you're not buying a cheap animal.

I'm speaking from heartbreaking personal experience here, although I was unfortunate to have a horse pass a vetting, pay £12.5k for said horse and only ride 15 times before he catastrophicly broke down, he was full of arthritis and should never have passed the vetting. We loved him so much we kept him comfortable and retired for 4 yrs at great cost before having no choice but to be pts. Even my current horse I had vetted. However I viewed one last year before I bought my current boy who failed on xrays, being very badly affected in one hock. Was a case of not if but when he went lame so we walked away. I'm so glad I didn't let my previous experience of the horse that passed but shouldn't have put me off. Good luck and feel free to message me if you want any advice x

Just something to consider. Riding school ponies tend to be extremely fit. Ridden several times per day 5 or 6 days per week. If you buy the pony, are you going to be able to keep it in a high level of work? I've known too many people buy the angelic horse from a riding school which then turns into a completely different horse when it has time on its hands (hooves?). One family I knew ended up with a pony that was completely unmanageable (ridden and on the ground) because he suddenly had his exercise dropped by 80%

Sounds like a good situation if he’s kept at the riding school and your daughter continues to have regular lessons on him. I assume the current lessons are going well if your considering buying the pony, also your other daughter can help of needed. If the instructors at the riding school think it’s a good fit then I would go for it, sounds like he ticks all boxes and it’s only the age worrying you.

It really depends on the pony. There is a 4 year old pony used in the riding school local to us. He's the most ploddy docile thing you've ever met. Then again some are highly strung and difficult to manage.

If the riding school is willing to sell a five year old pony to a nine yr old whose parents have limited equine experience I’d be looking for a different riding school never mind a different pony

Personally I wouldn't. My DD14 has had 4 ponies on her way up, has competed nationally and I'm STILL umming about whether a 4/5 year old is the right move.

Green + green = black and blue!

The only way it could work is if you're on a suitable yard with a lot of support from more experienced riders and decent instructors - but good help comes at a cost

Yea, exactly this, go from a riding school level of fitness to a semi retired, bored youngster. Seen it happen a few times. Find something older and let your child have fun, not constantly schooling a youngster.

Until you said your daughter isn’t confident and you aren’t horsey, I was thinking it would be fine. Absolutely do not buy a 5 year old for a novice rider who isn’t confident, especially if you don’t know horses inside out yourself. 5 year olds are notorious for going through a tricky phase as they approach 6, and it can last a year or two! Also a nervous novice can ruin a pony that in a few years would otherwise turn out to be a great 1st pony. For a 1st pony you want something at least 9 or 10 who’s seen and done quite a bit, and most importantly has a nice steady temperament - more woah than go. Something that will teach your daughter how to ride - two beginners together rarely works.

My first pony when I was 6 (been riding twice weekly for 2 years by that point) was a 12:2hh proper pony club pony, that had already been a first pony to two older girls. My next pony (when I was 9) was a slightly hot headed 4 year old youngster with poor brakes. I was a super confident, pretty experienced rider, and so I loved that pony and brought him on into a fab mini eventer and prince Phillip cup pony. Had I been nervous or inexperienced he would have probably put me off riding forever. I had him 5 years before I moved on to a ready made showjumping pony that my friend had outgrown.

i still ride now (aged 45), and have a youngster now - she is a complete baby, very green and needs a lot of hand holding out riding - she is adorable but would put off a novice rider in a few weeks with her bonkers youngster antics!

As others have said you need something reliable and bombproof, my mother joked my first pony would take a sack of potatoes out for hack and bring it back safely. Later I had younger ones which were great but need a lot more time.
As an adult after years of not riding I bought an ancient mare. I was definitely under horsed within a couple of weeks but I was the only one in the yard who always had brakes and could gallop anywhere that was suitable. If she wasn’t ridden for a week she wasn’t mad headed when I did ride her. She was an absolute joy in every way and that’s what your daughter needs in a pony. Find a golden oldie. You might have more luck with a loan

definitely not you need a bomb proof older pony. Check the horse section.