Some advice about potentially buying a pony needed

[mumontherun14]

Hi all. I have a horse mad DD who is 11. She has been riding for 4 years and spends every spare minute at the local stables rain, wind snow or shine knee deep in mud mucking out, feeding grooming etc. She absolutely loves it and never complains and spends 2 nights a week at the stables and 2 full days at the weekends. I currently pay for a pony loan for her where she gets to look after 2-3 ponies and rides one of them. She is getting really confident and loves jumping and galloping through the fields. She has started to ask me about the possibility of getting her own.A few people have said to me that for what we pay for the loan each month (£160) it might not be that much more for livery & feed once we've paid the upfront cost of the pony. I have said to her that we'd need to wait another year or so to continue to build up her experience and also speak to the owner at the stables to see if they'd have a suitable pony for sale or to come with us to see one which I know they would no problem. Does anyone have any other advice for things to think about? I am thinking of vets costs, shoes, feed etc and what would happen if we were away on holiday etc but on the plus side we know the stables well and the girls there and I know she would be devoted to the pony and she would get to ride whenever she wanted rather than be governed by the loan. Any tips or questions we need to ask or think about? I think she'd be looking for a pony about 15hh, youngish and with a nice nature that likes to jump. Costs from what I've seen online vary a lot and I am a bit worried I am not experienced enough to buy the right one for her so want to do as much research as we can. Thanks xxx

I think you need to budget a bit more than that. Cost of diy livery round here (Berkshire) is about £100-120 pcm and for that you get a stable and use of a field, but you are responsible for turning the horse out, bringing it in, and mucking out the stable. It can cost more or less than that depending on which part of the country you are in.

Other things you need to account for include shoes/foot trimming (£40-80 every 6-8 weeks,) feed/hay (how long is a piece of string? Depends on the quality of your grazing and the hard feed you give it,) bedding (£6-8 per bale/bag, usually one a week,) worming, teeth, insurance (at the very least public liability, you might want vet fees cover too or you might put the price of the premium in a savings account instead.)

I would also recommend lessons or Pony Club membership for your daughter too - many people overestimate the riding ability of their kids, and let’s face it we could all do with the odd lesson! Pony Club is about £70 a year and it gives public liability insurance as well as access to top level instructors that you wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise - my kids’ PC is doing a day at an Olympic rider’s yard this week.

Finally, I wouldn’t be buying a young 15hh horse for an 11 year old child. My 10 year old daughter is tall but slight for her age and she is just getting to know her new 14hh pony, who I expect will last her at least 2-3 years. It’s not a practical idea to buy a horse for your child to grow into - my own 15.2hh is fabulous but far too strong and forward for kids to ride. Also a young horse will need schooling by someone more knowledgable than the horse. Very few 11 yos have that skill and those that do will almost certainly come from a very horsey home. Far better to buy a pony that someone else has done the legwork with - a pony who can help teach your daughter is much more valuable to you than a young horse. Most kids want to get out there competing and having fun. Schooling a young horse takes time and patience that most kids don’t have. You can get some lovely connemaras, Welsh ds and new forest ponies out there that would be much more suitable for a child’s first pony, and natives are tough and live in fresh air so will cost less to keep.

Good luck - it’s hard work but exciting owning a pony and we wouldn’t be without ours (even if it does feel like we just throw all our money down a hole in the ground!) and the discipline needed to keep a pony fit, happy and healthy is good for kids, teaches them responsibility.

Ps get your child’s instructor to go with you to every viewing, and see at least a few before buying. All ponies are lovely but there’s a wide variety out there and with all due respect both you and your daughter are inexperienced. I’ve seen plenty of more experienced people buy duds by mistake. An extra set of eyes can help you make an objective decision.

Thank you so much. I had been looking a bit more into the costs and I think it is the DIY livery option at our yard (Scotland), which would work out quite a bit more than we are currently paying. She is still getting lessons at the moment 2 hour sessions per weekend and one hour during the week so that is helping and she is definitely coming on in confidence. I will look into Pony Club membership too - I thought you had to have your own horse for that? And I don't think we have one nearby but I will check xxx

Hi sorry just to ask what age is your DD's pony? The loan Pony my DD rides currently is 13 and seems to suit her well but she belongs to a girl at the stables and I doubt she'd part with her x

As someone who was horse mad at that age too, I would maybe be cautious. Is she still at primary school? A lot can happen once she hits secondary school and her interest may wane, not to mention the increase in workload. I would continue to have a pony loan but, if your mind is made up then I am so jealous!! 😆

You can be a Pony Club centre member if you don’t own a pony - worth looking into. DDs pony is 12. He’s fab - he knows exactly how to do everything but lazy enough he has to be told properly if dd wants him to perform!

Thanks we have just been looking at the Pony Club membership, There is a centre about 15 miles away but its the same night as she normally rides at her own stables. I am going to speak to the stables owner about it as I am sure some of the girls who own their own ponies must be Pony club members of the local branch or maybe they would let her take the loan pony along. She is just about to go into high school but her BFF at the stables is already finished 1st yr at the High School and the 2 of them are so keen together that I think she will defeintly continue xxx

I'd second the "go for a pony, not a horse, and an established one at that" mentality - it's always better for a child to be slightly underhorsed than overhorsed, and much more fun to have something ready to go and play with. I'd advocate a well educated pony of at least 6, and not dismiss something well into its teens. You should definitely take your instructor to view any ponies, and you should have the pony vetted before purchase - a full 5 stage vetting, which will set you back another £500 or so more than the purchase price.

Depending on where you are in Scotland, your options for livery may well be much cheaper than in the South East, but I believe there have been issues with the hay and straw supply up there this year, which might leave you liable for additional feed costs next winter if we have a poor harvest this year. Feed and forage bills are hugely variable with weather, demand and location. Vets bills are entirely unpredictable, so unless you have a significant back up sum ready for emergencies, you should take out insurance for these, which can be costly, especially if you are considering working livery where the pony will be used in the riding school. Plus annual vaccinations and dental work (minimum), tack and saddle fitting (which is an ongoing cost as horses often change shape between seasons / with changes in work and saddles may need adjusting or even new ones bought) and farriery - an unshod pony may manage on a £20 trim once every couple of months, but if it needs shoes it will set you back considerably more every 6 weeks.

Pony Club is definitely worth pursuing - either branch membership with her own pony when you get one, or centre membership without. There are lots of benefits to membership, and loads of opportunities you just don't get otherwise.

Thanks for all the advice. I have phoned the local Pony Club centre and they have space for her to join to but the only thing is she is devoted to the ponies at her current stables and she won't want to move. So I am either going to suggest she goes to the Pony club sessions at the new stables to get her badges etc and still goes to her own stables for most of the time or I am going to speak to the stables owner about the local branch and whether she could join with a loan pony. I've found another stable nearby who also do Pony Club camp which she is dying to try. I've told her another 2 years or so to keep building her experience and join the Pony Club and then if she is still keen then we would think of maybe getting her her own if we can afford it and she is fully committed. Thanks for all the advice - really useful xxx

I just moved my horse from a massive yard. During the time we were there I lost count of the 13 year old girls who lost interest in their horses. We loaned one of them for DD but the owner sold it when it became clear her DD wasn't just going through a phase of no interest. I'd be wary of buying for an 11 year old for that reason.

Thanks that makes sense. I have said to her that she needs to keep up the experience and commitment over the next 2 years and increase her learning & knowledge and she is happy with that and wants to go to the Pony club sessions at the other stables but also keep going to her own stables. Yesterday she rode a different pony to the usual one and he bolted with her just in the riding school and she did manage to get control after a bit but I think she got a bit of a fright so she definitely needs more time. I think she sees the older girls at the school (18 and 15) with their own ponies and going to competitions and now she is quite confident jumping and really enjoying it then she wants to do more of it which is something I can speak to the school owner about rather than rushing into getting a pony. The ponies they have paired her up with to loan are not rideable at the moment so she is mainly grooming, mucking them out feeding them and turning them out. The pony she usually rides belongs to another girl but is used in the riding school. I think if she had a true "loan pony" that was matched properly to her ability that she could look after and ride and maybe work up to going to competitions with them that would be ideal. The Pony club stables did say that's what they would look at for her . She is a real animal lover (rescue dog, cat and 2 guinea pigs) so I am hopeful this won't be a phase and she is certainly keen to be outdoors at the stables in the most horrible of weather and has hardly missed a session in 4 years but we shall see . xxx

Just for balance, I got my first horse at 11, and twenty odd years on, I've never been without one. I had my first pony till he died a few years ago. It's not always "just a phase"!

Plus sometimes it can keep their interest in a healthy hobby and mean they leave boys, smoking and drinking for a few more years!
If you can afford it I would get her a pony now, she won’t get these years back and will become busier with school etc as the years go on. Age 11 she will be able to slot into pony easily and have loads of fun. By 14 the only riders still doing pony club are the very advanced and competitive ones.

I know nothing about riding schools, but you pay for her to muck out, feed & groom?? That seems insane. Why are they unrideable?

We are paying for her to have a pony to "look after" - this involves mucking out feeding grooming etc which she takes part in enthusiastically. As time has gone on she has begun to look after 3 ponies. I am no expert but 2 of the 3 she looks after are green I think One has been out in the fields for a long time and is strong for her and doesn't get ridden a lot. The other was bought fairly recently and the aim is for her to be a riding school pony but I don t think they have had a lot of time to train her due to a family illness and then bereavement. The actual pony my DD does get to ride is a lovely older pony and has been ridden lots but she belongs to another girl who has 3 ponies. After reading all the comments I think it is a bit of a relaxed/farmlike set up and not a true "loan arrangement" but my DD absolutely loves it and is devoted to the ponies and has great friends there. She would like to do a bit more I think to develop her own riding as she is now a confident jumper and as I said we looked at another more professional yard that offeres the Pony Club but it now turns out they they have an outbreak of Strangles so there is no way she can go there until that clears. I pay £50 per week which I have worked out is cheaper than buying a pony and is all we can afford for the moment in terms of costs and time and for that she gets 4 riding lessons each week as well as being at the farm and mucking out feeding etc.

OK so at the moment you are paying £50 a week for her hobby?

Trust me as soon as you get a pony, that will increase exponentially.

I did get my dd a pony so i know a bit about it. I was a professional groom so because of my knowledge we were able to do it 'on a shoestring' and it still broke me financially. I absolutely would not contemplate it again unless we had our own field.

However it certainly might not be 'just a phase'.

tbh that riding school that she is at sounds like it is taking the piss a bit.

I mean 'pairing her up' with unridable ponies? Putting her on a green pony that 'bolts'? really?

I'd ditch the riding school and look for a part or full loan already on a livery yard. This would give her the experience and the responsibility of care but without the expense (and huge risk) of buying something unsuitable.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if your daughter has never ridden anything but a riding school pony she really won't be that experienced. I've ridden all my life and owned horses. My DD went to a riding school and thought she could ride. We then found her a lovely loan pony on the yard where I kept mine (who was totally unsuitable for DD to learn to ride on). At that point she realised that actually she couldn't "ride" - she could walk, trot, canter, jump on a well behaved school pony. She was totally out of her depth out in the open on a pony with a mind of his own. Her riding ability increased by 200% in about 3 months!

Don't know what the situation is for loans where you live, but round here there are at least 2 very busy Facebook local equestrian groups which are stuffed with people looking for part loans for their horses/ponies.

" I don't mean to sound harsh, but if your daughter has never ridden anything but a riding school pony she really won't be that experienced."

this is true.

So you’re paying for her to look after 3 ponies only one of which she can ride? I’d honestly be a bit wary of that deal if I were you......

Sorry, late to the table.......

Rather than go through getting one pony and replacing it as she grows have you thought about getting a native - a Highland would be the obvious one for you. They can then do all the usual classes plus the breed specific ones. Highlands need very little feeding, are very hardy and tend to have lovely characters, if a little stubborn. All horses are expensive to keep but native ponies tend to be at the lower end of the scale.

If you’ve got a good riding school near you, have you considered working livery? That can be a good compromise.

i would never put a pony on working livery.

Poor pony, underfed with beginners bouncing around on their backs and pulling at their mouths...

OP, a proper share could be the way forwards.