anyone let their 3/4 year olds groom etc loosely supervised?

[fber]

Myself and my husband just cannot agree on this. My dcs always want to groom my cob, who is 4 and rude beyond belief still. I have to stand next to them and whip them away if he moves. I'd like to get them a bombproof saint of a first pony , something that they can pet while i do my boy. Dh thinks this is highly irresponsible.... Opinions, please?

Cobs are characters!!! You've got to get them a little pony! If they're showing an interest. Then you can relax, after all isnt having your own horse supposed to be relaxing???!!

On his pony, yes - dpony loves to be groomed and would stand all day. As long as the children know to respect the back end jic they'll be fine

DD groomed her own pony from this age including picking out it's (front only) feet, brushing and combing his mane etc by herself (us in yard). However he was a placid Section A and not a bolshy cob.

My kids used to groom wonky donkey from the time they could walk. That said, people meeting him for the first time would often question if he was in fact real and not a statue. He is 16.2 tbx but completely bombproof. One day dd kicked his back leg to make him move over and he did! (not that I allowed her to get away with that)

thanks guys, sorry, I didn't make myself clear. The cob definitely isn't safe for them to handle, so I'm thinking of getting a section a or something. They can groom it on the tie up ring alongside me so they don't need to groom mine!

Good idea, yes? Hubby thinks that even the most placid pony would be out of the question (and he knows horses himself, although he chooses not to bother with them, preferring cars...)

Where are you? We have a 25yo Shetland type, totally unflappable who would like a retirement home, (non ridden preferably, but tinies would be ok). She's free to the right home. She would love some toddlers to look after!

A lovely quiet old pony who would relish the attention is what you need!! A decent old pony is brilliant for little ones as they don't move quite so quickly, are usually accostomed to ham-fisted efforts at grooming and make brilliant friends for little children. Can't recommend them enough! Section A's can be brill but they can also be pretty sharp. Best thing to do is get one that has been there and done that. Good luck.

I let my 6 year old groom our 7 year old NF but he loves being groomed. But I still teach her to be aware round his feet and back end, esp at the moment with all the horseflies about. She fetches him in from the paddock by herself too but I do make her wear her hard hat.

You can get lovely lovely steady, child friendly pones. My dd & ds have been able to do just about everything with our old 12 hh pony since youngest was 3. At first they couldn't reach much but she kept them entertained for hours and was happy to be towed about on leadrope, trundled over poles, round cones, have both littlies sit on board and be litterally groomed to within an inch of her life. Now all they want to do is canter her about the field bareback. Thankfully she is usually happy to oblige and when not, swiftly but gently deposits them! She is small enough and slow enough for them to learn and make mistakes with. Also she has clearly taught many others about ponies and riding and knows her job inside out. When the kids were tiny I could 'park' her anywhere and she (and thus them) wouldn't budge an inch. Sadly those days are gone as kids have actually learnt to ride the dear old thing and she is very biddable to their requests!! Good luck