beginner questions

[saladsmoothie]

With apologies in advance for asking silly questions (and for the length of this post). I'm not really sure if horses are a part of our future, and while I'm working out where to start my research I thought I'd ask here.

I have almost no experiences with horses, barring a couple of years of horse obsession when I was 9 / 10 and lived at the stables every second I could. Haven't been near a horse in over 20 years since.

I have three children (ages 11, 9 and 5). A couple of months ago we stayed with friends with horses (who both used to teach riding at various stables) and all three kids 'had a go'and my goodness they loved it. They're still talking about it every day.

So, then we moved to a new country and I had it in mind to let them have some lessons and spend some time learning how to care for ponies etc etc (much as I did when I was a kid). But where we now live that sort of thing doesn't seem to exist. Not within an hours drive, anyway.

But there is a pony club. You can join the pony club as a 'horseless member'which means you get to learn all about looking after the horses (which is great!) but they seem fairly strict about horseless members not being allowed to ride. That seems a shame to me as surely that's sort of the point of it all? Or, is it? Perhaps I'm wrong about that.

SO, my kids have now asked if we can get a pony and join the pony club. And my husband and I are sort of looking at each other and saying Ï'm not sure, can we?"

As you can clearly tell, we're clueless. But we want to make sure we're extremely well informed before making any decisions, however long that takes.

So, I suppose my questions are...

Should they join pony club as horseless members?
If they do that and love it and want to ride, is it feasible to have one pony between 3 children?
What are the glaring pitfalls that I don't know about?
What are the questions I should be asking?

seems crazy they don't get the opportunity to ride if they are putting hours in at the pony club helping and working. Are you sure about that?

My view is that I have seen it time and time again where the novelty really does wear off, leaving the family with a pony that none of the children want to ride any more which is a massive shame. But you can't force them....

The best scenario for you would be to find somewhere where they can learn about horses and how to take care of them with the added bonus of being actually able to ride a horse regularly - set a time limit that you feel comfortable with and that has demonstrated to you that at least one of the children would be committed for the long haul. Then make a decision based on that

Thanks for your reply lamb. I agree it seems a shame to get to do all the looking after without ever going for a ride. Perhaps I've misinterpreted it? But it seems clear on the website. I also agree with your 'best scenario'but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option here. Perhaps my next step is to get in touch with the Pony Club and check I've understood the horseless membership.

When dd was younger she was a member of a Pony Club Centre at the riding school where she had lessons. Pony Club centres are for children who don't own their own pony, the PC branches are for children who do have their own. They didn't ride during PC sessions at the riding school, instead they spent time learning about stable management and working towards their badges etc. Lessons were organised and paid for separately. Why don't you call them and ask them to explain the set-up to you?

Have you tried anywhere local for a part loan? No commitment there