Advice needed for non-horsey parent please!

[MilesHuntsWig]

Hello - advice wanted for completely non-horsey parent please...

We have a nearly 7yo dd who has riding lessons every week and loves being around horses. We were wondering whether there's an affordable/pragmatic way to help her get more time/experience with one.

So.... my DH and I don't know enough about horses (or probably have the cash/time!) to get her a pony. It's just not realistic. But are there other ways to do it such as shares/renting?

If so how much money (and time as we both work FT) do these type of arrangements typically cost and what are key pros/cons?

Thanks so much for reading this far!

Can she help out at your local riding school?

I used to (when I was a kid) and I'd get free lesson/hack 🙂

During the holidays the stables will probably have an 'own a pony day', where they get to look after a particular pony.

Ask if the stable is part of the Pony Club. She can join as a non-owner and join in events.

Google for local shows and event centres. Take her along. Get copies of schedules so she can see what people do and what it's all called.

Go to tack shops and have a wander around.

Call the British Horse Society and ask about insurance. If she carries her own there's more chance she might pick up rides on other people's ponies.

Forgot to answer your direct question, sorry:

You can part-loan (share) a pony. Costs varies from nothing to £20-30 a week. Would usually include stable duties that you'd have to commit to.

Dh and I are non-horsey parents of a horse-obsessed dd (I had lessons as a child but never got further than popping over the tiniest cross-poles).

Dd started lessons at 8 (she’d been asking since she was 3 but the nearest riding school to us would only take them at 8). Amazingly the reality lived up to her fantasy and she’s been riding ever since. At first she’d do the ‘own a pony’ days run by the stables during holidays, then pony weeks at another, bigger stables. When she was 10 she went on a riding holiday at Wellington which was her idea of heaven - she did that every summer for several years. She started volunteering at the riding school then when she grew out of the ponies there she moved to a much bigger school a little further away and started helping out there. For the last 18 months she’s worked there every Sunday and now gets paid as well as getting free rides. Last year she started sharing a horse two days a week and then finally this year, at 15, she got her own.

She’s now old enough and competent enough to be at the stables by herself, so apart from paying the livery bills, it requires very little input from us.

It makes her very happy but I’m glad we didn’t do it earlier - she’s got quite a few friends who were pony-mad in primary school/early secondary whose parents gave in and bought them a pony but they’ve now pretty much lost interest

Thanks for all your responses/feedback. Really helpful and gives me a lot to think about!

Like a pp said, you can get part loans but I wouldn't advise a private part loan for a 7 year old with non horsey parents. You are normally expected to do chores and also tack up yourself.
The pony day idea or pony club sounds like the best option. Alternatively some riding schools do part loan their ponies where you can use a chosen one for a set number of days/hours per week for a set fee. Normally no stable duties involved unless you especially want to do them and someone normally on hand to help if need be. Might be worth enquiring if your local stables offers this option.

Thanks again. Really helpful (and realistic!)

I was the horse obsessed girl with non horsey parents. I would agree that a loan is to much if you can’t help her out. At that age I had lessons once a week and in the holidays did own a pony day ect. I never joined the pony club as I was to anxious as a child for events and tests ect but I’d give that a go as I’ve friends who’ve had amazing opportunities through the pc. When I was about 12 I volunteered on a Saturday which I loved and did until I was 16 when I was given a job. So definitely look into what your local centre can offer.

I think at that age loan/sharing is far too much if you can’t help.
Own a pony days/stable management lessons/pony weeks in summer holidays all probably a lot more realistic/viable!

Thanks again!

I was in exactly your position a few years ago. Sent daughter to pony camp for week when she was 7 and she came back very keen on ponies and has not wavered ever since, aged nearly 14.

She had riding lessons for a bit and then thanks to helpful readers on mumsnet we had 'loan' of a small 11 hands pony when she was about 9. This was the 'test' for her, I said if she could stick it out we could consider moving forward. She visited the pony almost every weekend for about a year and looked after it and rode it - we paid £10 a week to the owner and paid £40 to farrier every six weeks.

then we did a loan of a pony but it was very expensive and not great, as we could only travel on weekends to the farm where it lived as the owners weren't keen on the local livery. They wanted £400 a month.

I ended up thinking this was crazy and we might as well buy our own money for the money I was paying for her just to ride 2 days a week.

So we bought a pony at the end of 2016 for £7K and its been a very mixed experience as poor thing went lame a year later and she hasn't been able to ride him since about December last year. Insurance is essential, that has paid for his treatment.

But livery costs are only £110 per month for DIY livery and we can pay people to help out in the week - about £7 a day to take pony out and bring him in etc.

Like any such hobby it can end up really, really expensive depending on what you want to do with the horse. I was 'persuaded' to take out a loan for a horse box which did nearly financially cripple me and with hindsight was a very stupid thing to do. However, trailers are much cheaper if you have the right kind of car to pull them.

I think the key is, that given she is so young still that you don't dive into any expensive decisions, such as actually buying a pony unless and until she has proved that this is really what she is interested in. They can't fake enthusiasm about mucking out a pony in February that rewards them by biting them quite savagely!

DD is a keen pony girl with absolute non-horsey parents.

She is a member of the Pony Club and her school does offer a huge school holiday activity schedule with badges to earn, tests to do, working in the stables, day camps in Summer and "owning a pony for a day". So she gets her "fix" without the work/obligations.

Since she passed the D-test she can be a helper, so we drop her off Sunday mornings and collect her at 6pm. They get lunch and a lesson/hack at the end of the day for it.

DD knows there is no way she can get a loan/part loan. One school trip she ended up with a parent helper who also rides and the lady told her in details about the time commitment and costs she has for her loan. DD came home quite shocked and thoughtful and we agreed that money is better spend sending her in Summer on a pony camp residential and more lessons. (I also thanked the mum in question :-)

Awesome info/advice again. Thanks!