Pony mom routine - any help / advice

[LaurenH0893]

Hi Everyone,
Looking for some advice / tips etc. as we are looking at getting our 3 year old daughter her 1st pony

I work Mon-Thursday & she goes to nursery Tue-Thurs , Mon she is with Nanny.
I do work from home so I do have that bonus , hours are 8-4pm with half an hour lunch & these hours are flexible.
So I have Fridays off & collect my daughter from nursery straight after work.
The yard is 4 minutes drive from our house where it is DIY stable & grazing, ad-lib hay, straw, indoor school, amazing hacking.
we have people on the yard that offer day care (full care) , turn out / bring ins for extra money.
I was just wondering how working mums time their daily routine & any tips / tricks before we commit - I don’t know if I’m going to burn myself out.

I am pregnant due in September so will be finishing work to take 9-12 months off in August (but I will then have a newborn in tow) and then my daughter will only be in nursery term time 9-3pm so have a lot more free time & Time with pony.
What do you all think ? Doable, manageable ? Any tips ?
thank you !

@mm255177 you be better off making your own thread

I'm not allowed to! I made one before and it got taken down sorry for spaming the thread :(

@mm255177 Have you tried Facebook horse rider groups? There's lots of regional groups and groups for specific disciplines, and many accept posts about student surveys.

It will be really hard, but it is possible, if you're organised, and if the pony is not one needing any 'special' care. We had a Sec A mare when my older 2 were 2 and 4, my son was in utero / a baby. We did have the advantage of having the ponies at home, but that did also mean we didn't have the help as and when needed that you could get in a yard. As our pony was native but not prone to getting overweight, and wasn't one who needed lots of exercise (despite being a youngster) it was OK, most days just a check 2x daily for her and her buddy, they had a decent field shelter so could live out 24/7, so no mucking out, just poo picking every 2nd or 3rd day. There were days in the winter when it was a drag, but mostly it was what kept me sane.
As a poster above mentioned, driving is another option. Once my oldest was 6 or 7, she'd want to go too fast for me to lead little sister while carrying baby in a back-pack to keep up (yep, plenty of that) so we actually broke the Sec A to harness, and eldest daughter would ride her pony, with me and the other 2 in the trap. It really was great fun, and they all learnt to drive too.
Whatever you chose to do, just don't push yourself too hard - leading a pony when heavily pregnant with a grumpy toddler can be knackering!
Good luck (and tell us more about the pony)

I think you were looking for tips...

Keeping little one safe and busy when you do your jobs makes it much easier and faster to get things done. I found tying my horse up outside and using the stable as a big play pen for toddler helped. Toddler had some toys or ipad to watch cartoons (hides in case the mumsnet police arrive) and sat on little seat I took in and out of the car as needed placed in a corner of the stable whilst I completed muck out, nets, waters in a short a time as possible.

The yard can be pretty miserable on cold wet days, I made sure toddler was very wrapped up. I was able to park car right next to the stable so tried to time nap time with stable duties so toddler slept through the jobs.

My horse was pretty safe and predictable so I regularly led to/from field whilst toddler sat on my hip, (occasionally toddler sat on the horse to get to the field). I used wrist reigns for toddler, if there'd been a choice between letting go of toddler or letting go of horse I'd have always let horse go, mainly because the horse would likely stop and wait for me. Toddler wasn't always so easily caught. Teaching toddler that it was important she stay with me and always listen was key.

I think it's good you have a back up plan to manage both your child if you get stuck at the yard or the pony if you get stuck at home helps. It was really important for me to have DH on board, he often picked up the slack to enable me to spend time at the yard. I'm sure the time I spent away from home helped to convince DH that it was far more sensible for us to buy a place with land and keep horses at home

Toddler eventually turned into a child who enjoys the horses and has her own pony. I don't think she's as pony mad as I was, possibly because she's never had to work for them in the way I did. We've had her pony broken to drive so I can keep it in work long after child has outgrown it or she decides she no longer want to be involved with pony's or horses. I've often wondered if DD would have bothered with horses at all if I hadn't already had a horse, I may have projected my love for them on to her. My tip here is to have a plan for what you'd do with the pony when your little one is no longer able to ride it.

The sort of help you describe your yard as offering is usually available ad hoc and for you it sounds like money isn't an issue so you can just use it as and when you need. Lots of people I know have multiple dc and horses that they do themselves. I think people are imagining one small pony being harder work than it is, especially as it's minutes from your home and there's help on hand. The yard you describe sounds like an amazing place for your dc. It's the entire yard lifestyle you'd be entering not just the pony ownership. Personally I wouldn't hesitate.

Hi All, just a little update.
we brought a pony ☺️ A beautiful Palomino Welsh a x Shetland mare who has been with us for over 3 weeks now & has fitted in perfectly !
she has really settled into her routine & out too.
as I work Monday - Thursday (from home) & have to drop my DD at nursery … Monday I pay for turn out so we get a good start to the week, the rest of the week we’re been popping up & turning her out before nursery and this is working well keeping my DD motivated to get up, get dressed etc. so we have time to see her before nursery.
I then work all day either go straight up the yard when I finish work & sort her out on my own , do all of the jobs etc which I can get done in 30-45 mins easily !! & bring her in for the night then collect my DD from nursery - she’s always disappointed when I go without her but if we have other plans etc. it’s the easiest way.
on a day we will ride I collect her from nursery then straight up the yard, do our jobs with DD help - she has her own tools, wheelbarrow etc. so is quite helpful ! We ride … usually not for too long as she gets tired after a day of nursery then home, showered, see daddy & ready for bed. (She has her tea at nursery)
she is a very sensible 3 year old & I never have to worry about her, she will never stray far from me, is she hears a car tractor or a horse coming she just comes & stands by me h til I say it’s okay to go.
she’s having lots of fun with her new yard buddies and we are very lucky to have the yard we do !
we’re both having lots of fun & enjoying our new routine. Fridays & weekends are a lot more relaxed & we can decide on the day what the plan is.
Once the weather improves the pony - Honey 🍯 can stay out & reducing the jobs etc will help with time wise but all is working well so far.
obviously we don’t have the baby here yet but as my mum said she did this with 4 kids since I was 10 years old (I’m the 2nd child) & she managed just fine.
thanks for all the help, advise & support - it was definitely the best decision just seeing how happy my DD is enjoying our shared hobby x

Hi All, just a little update.
we brought a pony ☺️ A beautiful Palomino Welsh a x Shetland mare who has been with us for over 3 weeks now & has fitted in perfectly !
she has really settled into her routine & out too.
as I work Monday - Thursday (from home) & have to drop my DD at nursery … Monday I pay for turn out so we get a good start to the week, the rest of the week we’re been popping up & turning her out before nursery and this is working well keeping my DD motivated to get up, get dressed etc. so we have time to see her before nursery.
I then work all day either go straight up the yard when I finish work & sort her out on my own , do all of the jobs etc which I can get done in 30-45 mins easily !! & bring her in for the night then collect my DD from nursery - she’s always disappointed when I go without her but if we have other plans etc. it’s the easiest way.
on a day we will ride I collect her from nursery then straight up the yard, do our jobs with DD help - she has her own tools, wheelbarrow etc. so is quite helpful ! We ride … usually not for too long as she gets tired after a day of nursery then home, showered, see daddy & ready for bed. (She has her tea at nursery)
she is a very sensible 3 year old & I never have to worry about her, she will never stray far from me, is she hears a car tractor or a horse coming she just comes & stands by me h til I say it’s okay to go.
she’s having lots of fun with her new yard buddies and we are very lucky to have the yard we do !
we’re both having lots of fun & enjoying our new routine. Fridays & weekends are a lot more relaxed & we can decide on the day what the plan is.
Once the weather improves the pony - Honey can stay out & reducing the jobs etc will help with time wise but all is working well so far.
obviously we don’t have the baby here yet but as my mum said she did this with 4 kids since I was 10 years old (I’m the 2nd child) & she managed just fine.
thanks for all the help, advise & support - it was definitely the best decision just seeing how happy my DD is enjoying our shared hobby x

Hi All, just a little update.
we brought a pony ☺️ A beautiful Palomino Welsh a x Shetland mare who has been with us for over 3 weeks now & has fitted in perfectly !
she has really settled into her routine & out too.
as I work Monday - Thursday (from home) & have to drop my DD at nursery … Monday I pay for turn out so we get a good start to the week, the rest of the week we’re been popping up & turning her out before nursery and this is working well keeping my DD motivated to get up, get dressed etc. so we have time to see her before nursery.
I then work all day either go straight up the yard when I finish work & sort her out on my own , do all of the jobs etc which I can get done in 30-45 mins easily !! & bring her in for the night then collect my DD from nursery - she’s always disappointed when I go without her but if we have other plans etc. it’s the easiest way.
on a day we will ride I collect her from nursery then straight up the yard, do our jobs with DD help - she has her own tools, wheelbarrow etc. so is quite helpful ! We ride … usually not for too long as she gets tired after a day of nursery then home, showered, see daddy & ready for bed. (She has her tea at nursery)
she is a very sensible 3 year old & I never have to worry about her, she will never stray far from me, is she hears a car tractor or a horse coming she just comes & stands by me h til I say it’s okay to go.
she’s having lots of fun with her new yard buddies and we are very lucky to have the yard we do !
we’re both having lots of fun & enjoying our new routine. Fridays & weekends are a lot more relaxed & we can decide on the day what the plan is.
Once the weather improves the pony - Honey can stay out & reducing the jobs etc will help with time wise but all is working well so far.
obviously we don’t have the baby here yet but as my mum said she did this with 4 kids since I was 10 years old (I’m the 2nd child) & she managed just fine.
thanks for all the help, advise & support - it was definitely the best decision just seeing how happy my DD is enjoying our shared hobby x

Oh how exciting! Keep us up to date with your progress xx

Wow well done! Your daughter is a lucky girl 🤩