Does this seem like a good idea for 5 year old DGD?

[anydreamwilldo]

She has been riding for 8 months now, off l/r ,trotting nicely had one accidental canter. She has had some "pony days" so learnt to poo-pick, fill hay nets etc. and loves the care as much as the riding. She is pony crazy(so am I!)
We have been offered a loan at the trekking centre. Lovely mare 13hh, we could ride Sat, Sun in school holidays all for £20 per week and some help with jobs. I would obviously be with dgd so she could learn but not get in the way too much. I rode as a child and love ponies. What do you folks think, any replies gratefully received.

Well a trekking pony should be well-mannered and safe to handle for all sorts of levels of rider so I don't see why not. Only reservations are:- Will the pony go out on its own or is it just used to being in a string? If it's a bit reluctant/more spooky without the others that will probably be ok if DGD is going to be going out on a lead-rein but I doubt a 5 yo will have the strength to handle a 13hh pony that is playing up by herself. So the other thing, if she wants to carry on riding off lead is there anywhere enclosed to do it? (just thinking if it's a typical trekking centre rather than riding school they might not have facilities).

Otherwise it sounds as if you could both have a lot of fun .

Thanks for your reply, good point about going alone, there is a paddock with jumps in. Some older girls seem to be on the same type of arrangement and in the summer they were in the paddock riding their loan ponies.Also if I took her out on our own would definitely take a lead rope with me. Am very excited now, she is going to try this pony on Saturday.

Have fun,for what its worth,DD2 was only just 6 when we bought our 13hh pony,and her feet barely came past the saddle flaps.I think there is a picture on my profile.Pony is a saint though,so her being so tiny didn't matter.She belts around the cross country on her now!

Some things to consider:

If she is at a trekking centre (which I presume is close to you) what is the mare going to be doing when you're not riding her? I'd have thought that Sat/Sun/Holidays would be their busiest time so does this mean she'll be ridden more than once on these days?

13hh seems big for your DGD even it she is a steady neddy. Our experienced daughter (10) is still on 12.2s. She won't be able to get her legs round her to squeeze/kick below the saddle flap and therefore probably won't improve her overall riding ability - although of course she'll have fun. Also if a pony of this size did spook etc it's a long way down and she'd not be strong enough to control her. Do they have anything smaller she can ride?

How does 20 pounds compare to just going to ride her on a trek? Seems very good value and I wonder if it's too good to be true.

Might be out of season though Butkin so sat/sun thing won't apply (good point though, OP had better check if the loan arrangement is ongoing or just in low season when the ponies haven't much work). The trekking place I often go to closes completely from Oct to Easter as it is attached to a campsite which closes, but they send all their ponies out to loan homes for the winter. Every pony also has Saturday off every week even in peak season, so not necessarily the busiest day depending on circumstances.

thanks for replies, hmm more to think about. In peak season we may not be able to ride every Sat, or can have little ploddy 10hh instead. We pay £15. for an hour and half trek with half hour pony care so very cheap here.