Have decided to buy a pony for ds - your top tips please !

[CMOTdibbler]

Yes, you all said I'd be doing this, and I scoffed.. But ds loves riding soo much, and had a real blast at the school show and a gymkhana on his friends pont that we feel the time is right.

His instructor (and who owns the yard where pony will be living) has said she will go and look at any we ask her to, so obv will be getting good rl advice, but has anyone got any words of wisdom to share ?

Intention is a sec A, up to 12hh for ds who is a tall 4.5, just off the lead rein in the school and trotting nicely

We've just done this-we ran any possibles past our "expert" as she was useful for cutting through the ads (people tell the most awful lies). Went to see any possibles on our own and then took "expert" to see those we remained interested in. TBH we found it very easy and bought pony number 3. We had very tight criteria to start with and were prepared to wait (although actually it took all of 2 weeks between final decision to go ahead and arrival of pony!) which I think helped. Do you have a slightly more experienced child who could ride the pony for you before DS gets on?

Horsequest is a brilliant website and it's a buyers' market at the moment so don't be afraid to negotiate. That said, we have ended up exceeding our budget(when you count in tack, rugs and insurance) as we found £500 more made a huge difference to quality of pony open to us.

Our initial starting point was an older "schoolmaster" similar to the pony DD had on loan but our expert talked us through the implications of buying something aged 15 years+ and gently pointed out we were underestimating DD's capabilities but if DS is only 4 probably not such a problem for you.

Good luck!

This is a bit basic but has a few useful tips buried in there:

BHS advice

The only thing I can add from personal experience is to remember how quickly dc grow between the ages of 5 and 7 yrs. You don't want to over-horse of course, particularly with a first pony, but my two dc outgrew their 12hh Shetland within about two years.

Some random thoughts.....

Why a section A? Any particular reason? In my experience they're very pretty but often flightier than, say, a New Forest pony or a cross breed.

Saying that, very lazy ponies are hard work for little legs and though safe, can encourage bad riding habits.

Very wide ponies, the table top types, are also often difficult for kids to get their legs around.

I'd look for a pony that's easy to handle as well as ride, forward going but safe, fairly narrow if possible, though most are pretty wide, easy to catch, shoe, box etc.

I'd also try to avoid anything too old as realistically you will probably want to sell it on once your ds has outgrown it, so something much over about 12 could make that difficult.

Happy horse hunting!

Thanks for the advice.

We were thinking of a sec A as we want something that can live out, and that has a bit of go and suitable to start jumping. But am not excluding anything else in terms of breeds.

I planned on age 8-10 ideally, as am well aware that ds will outgrow and it's not like we have anyone to pass it on to

Make sure your pockets are deep and filled regularly with cash - I've just had a £300.00 vet's bill!

do you have a pony??? and where are you from?? i have a few for sale. :)

Still looking - and am Worcestershire. If you are in the vague area, could you pm me your email ?

aha im kent :( i have to that sound perfect though x

Korma, could you pm me with some more details and a price please ? She sounds lovely

Don't get a grey

Abbicob, take that back! I have a snow White welsh a who lives out all year round. Yes she spends most of the winter beige, but bathed for a show and trimmed discreetly she looks stunning. I wouldn't change her for the world! You know what 'they' say.. 'a good horse is never a bad colour!'

am so excited for you and I DID tell you so!

also in defence of greys (ok ours is skewbald) they are very easy to dye pink

cmot - if i have woked it out right does your ds ride at worcester riding school place . do they not do a loan scheme ? have also noticed thay are selling a few of the riding school ponies off - think i saw them on horsequest. they might suit. another good place to look is the ponyclub website . they have classified section and you can type in how many miles from home you are prepared to travel, how how, price etc and then up pops ads or you local pony club branch - if you ring the secretary they often know of ponies. also if you are in 3 counties area try www.herefordequestrian.co.uk good luck

sorry should be how high not howhow

Hmmm I'd be wary of buying a school pony - they have a habit of being a lot different when not doing a couple of hours a day through the week and 3 or 4 both days at the weekend! You do sometimes get a cracker but often not. Doing a loan scheme can work well though as pony gets both the work it's used to and the extra tlc and individual riding.

You could try getting in touch with the local pony club - the DC or the chief instructor, they might know of something?

Are you sure you want to buy at this stage?

If I were you, I would look into loaning or part loaning - your ds is too young to enjoy most of the benefits of having your own pony (the messing about with friends and hacking out stuff). He's also too young to take much 9any) responsibility for a pony, so essentially it would have to be your pony.

Who would ride it as well as your ds? Practically any pony would need more work than a 4 yead old could give it so as not to be too lively for a 4 year old. IYSWIM.

Not meaning to put you off - but there is a lOT to think about. Not least not buying a grey. My dd has a white Arab mare, and her toiletries bill is eye watering!

Well, we've done it ! Pic on my profile.

He's on working livery, so will be ridden by some of the girls at the stables, and as he is young, school owner (who found him) will be schooling him regularly too, and is going to teach me to lunge

He is gorgeous, and unworried by being led around by small children, lifts his feet for them, and didn't bat an eyelid when there was a party at the weekend and loads of children running round screaming.

He is sort of my pony, but having lost the use of one hand after a riding accident in August, I can't manage a horse on my own, but can still tack up a pony, so get my fix

What a pretty boy!! congratulations

So, what are his vitals? Height, age etc?

12hh, 3.5 years (I know, very young, but school owner is v experienced in bringing on youngstock and will be working with him as part of the deal).
Apparently a good pedigree too, but I don't have it to hand to tell you

Aww, he sounds like a pet! I agree it is very young and I do think it is a brave move - but it is totally down to you to assess how it will work! Many people do make it work and work well.

Good luck with him, I bet your ds is over the moon!

A grey! What did I tell you about toiletries bills?????????

Ahhhh he is beautiful, you must all be thrilled. They make a sweet pair, sorry to hear about your hand though. Will it heal?

That really is young, suppose just can't think of ours as a 'baby' now he is nearly 8!

CMOT Can I ask how long DS has been riding? Round here they don't do lessons until they are 4.6