Buying a pony, where from, and why so much stuff?

[MrsderPunkt]

My youngest (8) has started riding - he goes to a local riding school at weekends and does grooming, mucking out and a bit of riding. He's been keen for a couple of years, and periodically he's sat on friends ponies on the lead rein, but only ridden weekly since June.

We have space for a pony, but no clue where to get one from. It used to be the Yorkshire Post on a Saturday and word of mouth. Where did you get your pony from? I've joined some of the local facebook groups and preloved, but do people really buy & sell ponies this way now? Is there anywhere else that I should be looking? I've asked a couple of horsey friends to keep an eye out.

And while I'm here, a small rant - why so much stuff? Why do fat hairy ponies have to be clipped and rugged and stabled even though they only plod round a field once a week. Why is there 20 different coloured buckets and brushes, and the tack! Dear god, the choice of bits out there is amazing and some of them look really bloody harsh. And why does everything need martingales and flash/grackle nosebands? I'm not a fan of all the emphasis of many ways to strap a head to a chest that are for sale too, everything seems overbent and it looks bloody uncomfortable and unnecessary.

The ponies/horses all look fat, and there must be some shocking breeding decisions happening now, as there's some piss poor confirmation seen out and about on the roads near here.

So in the middle of all of this stuff and amazing change that seems to have happened in the last 20 years, where do I find a hairy pony, capable of living in a field and making a small boy very happy?

You can quite happily keep pony hairy and in a field as long as you're considerate and don't work them too hard in winter. Mine is never clipped rarely rugged and very hairy in winter so we have out at walk mostly in winter. If she was hunting or competing we'd All the palaver you describe.

You obviously know what you're looking for so try tack shop notice boards as well as websites. You could also try horses4homes.

However you can't keep a pony on its own so best get one for yourself as well

Would it be just the pony on its own? Doesn't sound heathy for the pony but I think that especially for DC it is as much about the social aspect and palaver I'm afraid. A child with a pony just on it's own may start to feel a tad lonely and get bored of it all quickly.

Got ours from horsemart. Be warned it is a minefield! take a friend with you who knows about horses, get it vetted and on a trial if possible. I know lots of people who are very experienced but have just ended up with expensive field ornaments. Do not be tempted to 'overhorse' DC, get one that actually like humans firstly. Yep horses are an expensive hobby!

got ours by word of mouth.

never clipped. don't have that much stuff.

no stress.

Word of mouth.

Mine are both hairy ponies. Live out 24 7 no fancy gadgets lol. I do everything with a rope halter and a 15ft rope. The only thing I'll add is a western saddle when I start them ridden.

Where abouts are you? As I know of a 12.2hh pony and can get all his history as a friend had him from a foal. Not met this one myself but I had one who also came from her and he's now working with my landlady and will be used for therapy sessions with autistic children and I've never had a single problem with him.

Don't worry, hairy pony won't be on it's own - I have plans to offer full livery (very cheaply to cover the cost of hay for both) to another hairy pony or two. We've downsized the sheep numbers to prepare, and have friendly goats too, so no chance of loneliness. We're in East Yorks, and I'm going to have a look at horemart and horses4homes, thank you.

Horemart

Mine came via preloved. I have a synthetic saddle and basic bridle with no gadgets. I don't clip but do have a thousand rugs because he gets cold and cross easily and I like buying them.

Just be aware that there is a dealer in E. Yorks. that is dodgy, she is still advertising regularly on facebook but if you google her name (I think she uses a slight variant on her first name now) then you'll see her mentioned in recent articles. If you're on facebook yorkshire horse selling sites then you'll probably see this person advertising several lower price bracket horses...

Why do fat hairy ponies have to be clipped and rugged and stabled even though they only plod round a field once a week

They don't.

Why is there 20 different coloured buckets and brushes

Because someone worked out they can make money from it

and the tack! Dear god, the choice of bits out there is amazing and some of them look really bloody harsh

Agreed. And often horses are stronger in harsher bits because they're trying to escape the pain.

And why does everything need martingales and flash/grackle nosebands?

Because people have over bitted them and not bothered getting their saddles fitted so the horses resist. So people strap their mouths shut because the horse is "naughty" instead of checking whether or not they're in pain first.

I'm not a fan of all the emphasis of many ways to strap a head to a chest that are for sale too, everything seems overbent and it looks bloody uncomfortable and unnecessary

Agreed. Plenty of native ponies can live out quite happily 24/7. I'm a long way from Yorkshire and don't know the networks there but I'd start with Pony Club.

Agreed. And often horses are stronger in harsher bits because they're trying to escape the pain

Don't forget the rider sat on top pulling the reins whilst kicking and screaming "get on" because they're clearly helping matters.

Reading you post reminded me of seeing this on Facebook, spot on in my opinion...........

Haha who else agrees?!

Old School Horsemanship

If horse is too fat…… feed it less
If horse is too skinny ………….. feed it more
If horse looks good………. feed it the same
If the saddle doesn’t fit….. try a different one
If the saddle fits ……….. use it
If horse is sick……. Ring the vet
If horse is well…… leave it alone and don’t go looking for trouble
If horse is too cold …….. add a rug
If horse is too warm …….. take off a rug
If the horse is sweating and warm….. clip it
If horse isn’t sweating and doing little work….. don’t clip it
Horse needs to be shod…… shoe the horse
Horse doesn’t need to be shod….. leave it until it does need it.
Horses ears are forward ….. it suspects you have treats or it likes you
Horses ears are back and teeth bared……. It doesn’t like you, it’s a narky sod or its going to eat you.

New School Horsemanship

If horse is too fat…… either convince yourself that round is a shape and ignore all suggestions that horse is fat (he is just big boned!) or panic and try to starve horse in four weeks while spending a fortune on horse nutritionalist to help you do so.
If horse is too skinny ………….. Panic buy every weight gaining supplement on the planet. Put horse on expensive diet recommended by an internet randomer. Expect results in 2-3 weeks time.
If horse looks good………. fret and worry every five minutes that it might not be or stay the perfect size, buy endless supplements to keep it exactly how it is.
If the saddle doesn’t fit….. pay someone a fortune to come out and tell you that you need a custom made €3000 saddle that they will provide you with so that they can then charge you for fixing it every few months too. Constantly fret about muscle wastage and ill-fitting saddles
If the saddle fits ……….. get someone to check it just in case. Pay them a fortune to come out and tell you that you need a custom made €3000 saddle that they will provide you with so that they can then charge you for fixing it every few months too. Constantly fret about muscle wastage and ill-fitting saddles
If horse is sick……. Panic, ask advice of randomers on the internet, panic again, watch horse get worse, eventually call the vet, second guess vets opinion, ask internet randomers again, eventually follow vets advice.
If horse is well…… look endlessly for things that might be wrong and spend a fortune trying to find out what they are
If horse is too cold …….. fret and worry about how many rugs the horse should be wearing, what weights they should be and who is going to take them on and off every few hours because the temperature went up or down a degree.
If horse is too warm …….. fret and worry about how many rugs the horse should be wearing, what weights they should be and who is going to take them on and off every few hours because the temperature went up or down a degree.
If the horse is sweating and warm….. over analyse for days on what type and shape of clip to give the horse because how on earth will you make sure he is not too warm or not too cold and now after clipping how on earth will you know what rugs to put on him!?
If horse isn’t sweating and doing little work….. but he will look nice clipped won’t he?
Horse needs to be shod…… what type of shoes? How often will everyone else’s horse get shod? Ask advice of randomers on the internet
Horse doesn’t need to be shod….. panic about whether it needs to be shod
Horses ears are forward ….. the horse loves you dearly and has a deep Bella and Edward twilight-esque relationship with you that is rare and wonderful
Horses ears are back and teeth bared……. Horses aura has changed color and he is trying to convey an important message…. and he might eat you

I've returned to add to my rant - seriously poor photography - why would you try and sell a pony with pics of it cat-jumping from 20ft away, or with some terrible rider hanging on by the reins, and why do they have a ridiculously small child popped on top? You wouldn't by a horse because the sellers nephew age 3 sat on it for 30 seconds.

Agreed! And I personally would not consider buying anything with a photo of some teen standing on its back. grrr

I also hated those photos and also one's where some idiot is riding without a hated. I know they think all this makes it clear the horse a bombproof but it just shows its being sold by an idiot. And i don't buy horses from idiots

I also hate autocorrect. Hope you got the gist.

Look at Totem Horses on Facebook. They rescue ponies which they then let you foster (keep but they do this in case it doesn't work out). You can have a lovely pony and help keep one cared for. And they are really, really helpful.

Thing is, I possibly could stand on my horse's back. I could probably lie along him pretending to be planking, or whatever it is. I could hug him whilst standing on my head. He's a good lad. But I don't do any of those things because frankly it's undignified and disrespectful to him. If I were trying to sell him, which I never would, I'd get some really good photos of him in a lesson with my dressage trainer. Maybe one in canter, one showing his medium trot, something showing his lateral work. I might even put my brave pants on and get a good photo of him going cross country. Possibly also, to show what a rounded chap he is, one of him doing ride and lead on the roads.

The "look I'm planking on my pony" photos just bewilder me old-fashioned, grumpy, middle-aged git that I am

gabilan I've seen that and I assume they are copying Clinton Anderson. However It still doesn't make sense to me because I don't see why they need their legs out straight. Surely just sitting normally and then going down to hug them is the same thing just without the ridiculous pose.

We have just found a lovely little pony through the lead rein and first ridden ponies Facebook group. Put up a wanted ad on there or just look through the ads!