First pony at home

[Screwl]

I'd appreciate advice re the pitfalls of keeping a pony at home. My 7 year old has had her 11hh Dartmoor pony on full livery for a while. He has been on loan for a few months but is coming back to us now. We're moving to a home, by accident really, with stable, arena and small paddock. We do have a box.

I'm not experienced (can tack up and groom but there it ends) and have certainly never had full care of a pony before. DD is a slightly nervous novice and the pony has never lived alone before. So far, a recipe for disaster perhaps? He's a showing schoolmaster (not a big thing for us) and we'd like her to be able to enjoy riding at the beach which is close, but we won't be attempting to jump anything a rabbit couldn't hop over.

The pony is very saintly (though not cuddly) and
well known as the perfect pony to learn on. So we have that going for us. We bought him without trying him first and by some miracle he turned out to be a unicorn as advertised. (We then tried this again with a hacking pony and got properly burnt.)

We have found instructor who will visit regularly. Please, if you can be bothered, tell me what I need to do and avoid doing to keep both pony and daughter intact. How often should she ride, what are the dangerous things to avoid? Full disclosure: I have significant anxiety about my daughter riding due to an experience in my own childhood but we're supportive of her passion and happy to supervise everything. It doesn't help that the pony goes like the clappers when asked so she asks and then falls off before the pony has a chance to slow down. He doesn't treat her like she's 7 and should be taken with a pinch of salt.

We made the transition from loaning a pony to buying one just over a year ago, with my 10 year old DD.

It was HARD. And we were at a yard with Mon - Fri part livery and a lot of support from the staff, manager and other liveries. I felt out of my depth for the first few months - and this was after 6 months of me spending time helping out at the yard most weekends when we had the loan pony. My daughter was older (and not nervous) but I still had to do the bulk of the work. It has taken me a year, training and support to get to the point where I feel vaguely competent - but I still would not dream of going it alone with the support of the yard.

If you are not doing much of the hands on work now, I would start by focusing on learning as much as you so that you can make a decision based on the reality of 24/7 pony care. Can you go part livery so that you can learn whilst having the support of the yard?

(Just to add, I have RTFT and I know you own the pony, but it sounds like you haven't done the day to day grind or had him in your care for a while).

(Also - when asking for advice myself a year ago when we bought the pony, I had some very realistic advice - which I listened to, hard as it was. It has taken a year but I have gone from being pretty green myself to handling turnout with a lively pony, lungeing, spotting signs of lameness and pain ... but this took a lot of time, effort and support. And I still make mistakes, ask stupid questions every single day, and can't do neat banks :) ).

I hink PrayingandHopings suggestion is a good one, have the pony on DIY livery to begin with until you are confident looking after it day to day. Most people start off with lessons, then move onto maybe sharing a horse, before loaning or buying. Having the pony at home straight off, with the level of knowledge you say you have is likely to end in disaster for the pony or your DD.

I can see your point about the land being stood while pony is at livery and would feel the same as you.

It will definitely be a baptism of fire. The main thing you need to do before pony comes home is make sure the fencing and physical stuff is secure and safe. And the second thing is sort out some company for him. I would advertise locally for an experienced owner to keep one with you for free in exchange for help. Failing that you need something small and easy to keep and very polite. An older pony on loan would be ideal. However, if you were honest with me about your knowledge unless I was on the doorstep I would be reluctant to let a much loved golden oldie cone to you. Sorry.

The next thing, presuming you sort the 2 above out I would do is join the local pony club. You will get a wealth of help and support and your dd will make friends. And so will you, which will help massively with things like hay suppliers, holiday cover, farrier etc.

You could also look at having him at home over spring, summer, autumn and on livery somewhere over winter. This will give your land time to rest if you don't have a lot.

I am wildly jealous of your dd. I would love to have my ponies at home, probably not going to ever happen but it is what it is.

Sort the companion issue first and the land. Then take it from there. It will be hard and you will wish she did ballet instead a billion times over but if I had any chance of having mine at home I absolutely would.

You need a companion; if not two as you might find that the companion gets upset when left alone.

You need to look into land management rotating fields, seeding.

Also stacks of books does not give you an eye for lameness, help you deal with an emergency situation etc etc, I don’t think anyone should have a horse at home unless their eye for lameness is absolutely spot on.

If you’re on full livery I’d personally drop to part/DIY for a bit first to get the hang of doing it all alone rather than get home and get stuck quickly.

Also if you go on holidays/weekends away you need a plan. You need to book a good freelance groom ages in advance (as they get booked)
You’ll also need to deal with booking farriers, can you tell when a horse needs to be shod?
Do you have transport?

But as you’ve described your daughter as a nervous novice and you with limited experience I think it has the potential to be a (dangerous) disaster.
I’d rent the hard you have out and keep the pony on livery

We have 2 ponies - 1 DD rides and a retiree. We were been offered sole use of a private yard last summer but decided against it.

I wasn’t happy with my level of knowledge to go completely alone despite owning our own for the past 6 years and having read every book and done every course I could lay my hands on

For example, one of ours has mud fever at the moment - would you recognise the symptoms and know how to treat? Could you recognise the signs of colic? Could you spot illness or lameness? Sometimes I’ll think I’ve spotted something off and the more I look at her the more I’m not sure. If you’re on your own, there’s no one to ask to have a quick look if you’re not sure

I’m also, to be honest, scared shitless of them. Riding is DD’s and DH’s thing so I tend to leave them to it. I’ll groom them, and make a fuss of them and currently I’m covering one of them in quite a lot of sudocreme but I’m not overly happy about it. I don’t like leading them at all and I run for the hills the minute they start twatting about. I did an equine first aid course so will put on my brave pants if I have to but I am very nervous.

Will you have someone available to help you? At a yard there’s usually someone around who can bring in for a farrier if you’re running late, or chuck hay over a stable door in an emergency

Will your DD have anyone to ride with? We were on a small yard with no one my DD’s age and DD hated it, she hardly ever hacked as no one to go out with and got thoroughly bored riding in the school. We’re now on a bigger yard with loads of kids her age and they’re out messing about on their ponies as much as possible

Ordering stuff like hay, bedding, feed - we put in group orders and get it delivered. Will suppliers in your area deliver? Will you have to place minimum orders? Do you have room to store it?

Stuff like maintenance and upkeep - muck heap removal, looking after fences and fields, ragwort removal, electricity and water supplies/sycamore seed removal, poo picking, etc, etc. Do you have all the equipment needed? Do you need to buy (and maintain and upkeep) equipment? Would you do it yourself or get someone in to do it for you? Do you have the time and knowledge?

A companion - you cannot keep a pony alone. We have 2 and despite being turned out in a biggish herd they still bonded and we have a nightmare with our retiree if we take DD’s pony away anywhere. She does calm down eventually but it’s a pain

I’d love to keep our girls at home or own our own yard but with my sensible head on I think it’s best left as a lovely dream

As has been suggested up-thread, I'd get DD to join the local pony club - there you will find a wealth of experience, but you will not be alone in being less experienced - pony club members (and parents) come from all walks of life, and vary from never touched a pony before their child started riding to born in the saddle. The majority are very helpful and friendly.

If you have space, finding someone who wants to keep a pony with you would also be a good idea - your pony wouldn't get lonely, and his behaviour is likely to be far better too if he's not stressed. Your daughter will have someone to ride with, and you will have a 2nd pair of eyes and ears, who can help with advice, yard duties if you're going to be away etc. Mine are home with me, and it's great, but is hard work. Good luck!

Put bluntly i know you don't want to hear it but neither you or your daughter are experienced enough to take care of this pony or its companions at home on your own. Horses are extremely complicated things to look after properly. I think you should also be wary of thinking of this pony as a schoolmaster unicorn because it sounds like your daughter may be a bit overhorsed if she is falling off regularly because it goes like the clappers when she doesn't want it to. that does not sound like a good match between pony and child and the fact that she is a novice makes it worse because she doesn't have the skills necessary to ride him appropriately. And yes that is because she's 7. 7-year olds are not experienced horse riders.

I think that taking the pony home for you and your daughter to muddle through will be a recipe for disaster. That's still advice even if you don't want to hear it. Nobody was rude to you or dismissive or any of the other things you said. Just factual. If you get your back up like that when anyone with horse experience tells you something you don't want to hear then you are in for a very steep learning curve because people will stop trying to help you.

Lots of good advice already about pony care, ( especially about joining pony club)I'd be a wee bit worried about the riding part too. At 7, you will essentially be giving her a lesson every time she rides, do you know how to do this? I'm a qualified coach so happy to do this for my kids but do you ride yourself or have experience? You've said she is a novice and the pony goes like the clappers. Do you know how to lunge/ long rein or have a competent older child in mind who could school the pony. It does seem a bit unsafe and the fact that you bought the pony without trying it speaks volumes. You now have a fabulous opportunity to develop together, hopefully you will find some friendly people around you to help. You might find a knowledge mum with a child who wants to ride who can help and share the exercise. Hope it all goes well, that would be my dream! Thankfully we have people who let us ride their ponies at the moment in exchange for helping out.

I would start by going part livery and doing the work yourselves in a yard with expert help to learn the basics and see how you feel about doing this every single day..

Keeping horses at home is rewarding but relentless - its not a hobby, but a way of life. Dont underestimate how your DD would benefit from having other horsey chums around otherwise it can be lonely.

If do you go this route, it might be good to get an experienced sharer on the yard with other ponies so you can help each other out.
I have horses at home and this is what I do, so I do mornings and my friend gets them in as she works part time. But I have been riding since I was a tot and my friend works at a stud so we do know what we am doing. That said you need to think about safety - your DD should also never be in the yard alone. I got knocked out and my arm badly broken last year whilst working alone on the yard. Fortunately my DP was home so once I had come round and staggered back to the house he could drive me to hospital!

You definitely need another pony to keep yours company and some help so I agree with the others that suggest you let someone else with much more experience keep their pony with yours. That way you will have someone else keeping an eye on your pony and your dd that knows what to look for and how to deal with it. You haven't said how many acres you have but I am guessing it would be plenty of land.

If you keep the pony at home you need will need to commit lots of time every day to look after it. Be prepared to spend an hour twice a day in winter (two hours a day) to do stable chores, grooming, lunging, tack cleaning, poo picking, etc. With a pony that needs to be kept off the grass in summer this can be an all year round commitment. At 7 years old your dd is unfortunately not yet old enough to look after the pony herself. A pony that is not exercised regularly can become very difficult for a young rider to manage, and can also develop some nasty habits if the child is riding unsupervised. They can learn very quickly how to take advantage of a novice. As a lightweight adult I spent many years re-training spoilt ponies!

However, after all the negative comments, I would like to add that if you do take the advice and get daily help from someone with experience, it can be a very rewarding hobby.

Actually the only person who has been remotely rude on this thread is the OP .

I have had horses over 20 years and wouldn’t want one at home.

I like the company, people to bounce ideas off, group riding, chatting to people about horses/lessons/clinics etc, having someone to ride with when my horse is being naughty and I need some moral support and also having someone there if I need to go away or I’m working late is invaluable to me.

I think having horses at home would be lonely especially for a child.

I doubt an experienced owner would want to move on to help for free stable and grazing. No matter how straightforward the horse, and how organised the owner, we all have occasions things don't go to plan. Not to mention that the inconvenience of being tied to being around when op is, would make a second job to pay rent elsewhere a more attractive option.

Perhaps if she finds an experienced adult with a very quiet horse, that has their own experienced local back up in place and is happy to be around a lot, and really needs the saving then maybe. But I imagine they are thin on the ground. And even so, it's madness to rely on a single diy livery for companionship.

Leaving aside the need for companions and lack of experience, my biggest concern for a nervous novice 7yo would be the lack of company her own age. My fondest memories as a child were when I was spending all day at stables, bombing around the countryside and swapping ponies with my friends. I can't imagine at that age I'd have enjoyed having my horse at home as I'd have missed out on all the fun of playing ponies with my friends. Am I right in understanding that you only plan to let her ride with an instructor present? If so it sounds like having her pony at home will be extremely limiting.

I'm now in my thirties and will finally be bringing my horses home this year. I've owned and ridden for most of my life and am honestly still finding the prospect exciting, yet daunting.

In your shoes, as someone else suggested I would definitely look at moving your pony onto DIY for a few months first so you can be a bit more hands on with the management side of things and start to get an eye in when it comes to spotting issues or managing unwanted behaviour whilst still having the safety net of others around you.

I won't repeat what everyone else has already said, but if your main concern is your DD's enjoyment, I'd really recommend staying on a nice large livery yard with lots of other children around above having pony at home. Yes travelling to the yard before/after school is a pain (and it will be a real boon in teenage years if you can find somewhere she can get herself to on foot/bike/public transport), but it's more than made up for IMO by the social side of things. Most DC really love going around together in a gang, riding each others ponies, doing chores together, sharing lifts to PC or competitions, competing against one another etc and this is what keeps them going through the more boring/hard bits like yard work in winter or endless schooling. Especially if you/her siblings don't ride, I think she could quite easily get a bit bored just riding at home on her own the whole time, of course you can compensate by getting her out to lots of Pony Club, competitions, hacking etc at weekends but then you are back to spending lots of time travelling plus money on maintaining a lorry or trailer... plus unless you are an absolute saint, standing out in the cold for hours on end watching her ride will get old quite quickly, whereas on a yard parents can share the supervision between them and once they are responsible enough they can ride without supervision at all as there will always be someone around!

Just my two-penniesworth, you know your DD best of course and if you think she will love having pony in the back garden enough to make up for all the above then feel free to ignore!

Maybe you could try DIY livery at a small yard where there aren't as many people around to help and see how you get on with that. It will give you an idea of what it will be like on your own at home. Theres a massive difference between owning a pony on full livery and having full responsibility on DIY.

Horses are herd animals and this guy sounds older so will have been used to company all it's life. He'd be absolutely miserable alone. You'd need to at least get a second pony which is even more tricky for someone with little knowledge. This then risks separation anxiety and one or both acting up and screaming when the other is taken out. What would you do if pony needed first aid? Would you recognise symptoms of colic or laminitis quickly? Looking in to yards closer to your new home definitely seems the best option here.

A few suggestions? Have you got any horsey friends? someone to share any problems with or just talk to about looking after the pony would be good. If you live in the country now and there are other horse owners about it may just happen.
Also, if you need a companion horse why don't you start to ride yourself? Some lessons and a horse care course would be good, but getting perhaps an older horse or pony of the kick along persuasion would give you the opportunity to supervise your daughter and have some fun yourself.
Years ago DH and I had a couple of large ponies we rode ourselves and we let our stable to a lady with semi retired eventer, she was a fount of knowledge and we used to look after her horse and she ours when we were away on holiday. It is a pity your daughter is not a little older as once you get to about 12.2 a small and experienced teenager would be an asset to help, and could ride the pony too.
It is a huge responsibility but when DH and I got our ponies we had little experience, by being quite open minded and taking advice from the other owner, our instuctor, the vet and the farrier we were fine.