Okay, it is early days so I am contorted into all sorts of crossed parts while deathly clutching a huge plank of wood BUT a plan that came together in a matter of days seems to be paying off big time!
It is quite complicated, will try and keep it short but still going to be long, sorry!
I (well, for dd but as dd is 7 we know who does the work!) loan a pony from my friend (who I also do allot of work for as I am freelance groom, she gets knock down rates for my work and we pay nothing for the pony), she rather rashly last year bought a 5 year old 10.2hh pony while looking for an old and steady pony, she needed a new companion for her big expensive dressage horse and her dc are 5 and 3 but have no real interest in horses, enjoy the odd sit on but otherwise, very mehh hence we have ended up with pony. Pony is fab, a total doll on the ground, my very small, dd can do anything with him however ridden he is greener then green, been very basically broken and then turned away, friend got him for £50 with bridle and two saddles thrown in, owners wanted shot, they had no one to use him. I have been working with dpony, he is bright, a quick learner but has typical pony naughtiness but have found it hard working with a pony I can't ride (I am not heavy or tall but really, he is a tiny tot!), brought on many a youngster in my past but never one I can't ride, dd riding wise is at the just off the lead learning canter and finer details like diagonals and bend etc so not experienced enough at all for a youngster who needs lots of work. Things also took a hit when I broke my leg badly in Jan and have only been back able to work with pony for the last 6 weeks... so been racking my brains on what to do, had lined up an eleven year old very experienced with youngsters rider to help over the summer but still wasn't happy, our little yard was not able to offer him what he needed and what was fair.
Out of nowhere my friend was offered a 17 year old lead rein/first ridden+ 13hh schoolmaster for free from an acquaintance of her Mother, this pony really needed a home and quick as the family were giving up ponies after a bad experience when they bought the next pony up for the child and went for the fizzy, flashy pony that was too much, child lost all will and confidence and they just want out. Problem was, really couldn't take on another pony for a few reasons however I spoke to another yard I work at, ridding school that only takes working liverys or riding school loans, manager is a good friend of mine.
Long story trying to be shorter is that on Tuesday new pony arrived and on Wednesday I had the experience that I can only describe as sending one of my children off to boarding school as dpony went off to pony boot camp with the hope of making him either a riding school pony or to continue bringing him on to sell as a second pony for someone depending on how things develop. Worse case friend who owns him (officially although have now been told that if we end up selling him any cash for him is mine and he is only gone to the rs because I am there!) will have him back and I will take on all his care but not costs.
I will see dpony tomorrow at rs but his progress reports since we took him over Wednesday night have been amazing, he is really happy, he has found his soul mate (in a pony who attacked any pony that was put with him before), he is loving the busy environment with lots of children to love him and is looking like rather then the 6 months or more we expecting before a client could be put on him he could join the rs in as little as a month.
On the home front (well, not quite my home but very, very close) ew pony has settled in well (especially given he has only ever had two owners in his 17 years!), bonded with his posh field mate and dd rode him for the first time this afternoon, off the lead in walk and trot (would have been fine in canter but not wanting to push things to quick and we have plenty of time to move on, want dd to be really happy, in control and riding nicely before doing more at home) and she just loves him, totally smitten, big smile on her face the whole ride. When dd got off 4yo ds got on, he has only sat on old dd a few times before as not all that interested (not enough to fork out for lessons!) and he loved him to, held his rains correctly and didn't want to get off. He won't be able to 'ride' the new pony as such what with him being bigger then 'old' dp but it's all about confidence at this age and feel new dpony is going to give him bags of it :).
The other big plus point is new dpony is big enough for me to ride (I am only just over 8 stone and pony is 3/4 connie and 1/4 welsh A, can take me easy), not ridden since my fall that broke my leg and although I feel ready I am going to wait until September but still looking forward to being able to join my friend on a ride out occasionally, especially since ds starts school in September and I am going to have more time :)
So yeah, long story just to say YAY, I LOVE it when a plan comes together. Still having worries about 'old' dpony only because who knows what may or may not happen or be possible with him but happy friend and I have come up with a workable plan to have him back home if need be :)