Preparation and settling in new pony?

[Fudgeball123]

So we are waiting for our pony to be vetted. Our offer has been accepted 😃. A friend will transport pony to the livery yard. I have quotes for insurance. Pony will live out and will have a new friend to live with during initial quarantine.
What else do I need to sort out?
How do we settle the pony in? Plenty of handling but no riding for the first week?
Any hints and tips? Thankyou.

If it's an older pony used to travelling etc, I'd be riding it straight away tbh. A week off work won't do it much good, and sometimes doing what they know, ie working, actually helps them to settle in.

I agree with this. I’d stick roughly to the ridden/work routine they had in their old home. I think it helps them settle a bit.
The exception would be for a very young horse or very fit horse who needed letting down.

Lolabalola oh really? The pony is 11.. I read they need time to relax and get to know their surroundings so I have been managing my children's expectations re riding but you think its best to keep her busy? She's reasonably fit at the moment.

And apparently its used to travelling. She's been at the sales yard for 4 weeks.

Anything else I need to prep?

I'm hoping to buy a second hand, restuffed saddle from a saddler - how long does it take them to prepare this?

Saddles are… well how long is a piece of string.
you need to get the saddler out and try several and go from there. It took a friend about 3 months to find something that fit her and her horse that wasn’t a Butet she couldn’t afford!

Lastqueenofscotland2 ok so here's a dumb question.. if it takes some time to get a saddle fitted can I borrow one from another similar sized pony in the meantime? A saddle is being sold with the pony but it doesn't look great and apparently doesn't fit that well so I wasn't going to buy it.

I would not put any old saddle on a new horse. Ill fitting tack can cause behaviour problems, something you really don't want. Also, be aware that it can take longer than expected for a horse to settle in, so take it slow and concentrate on getting to know your new pony and building trust. This will pay off later. A week or two of grooming, lunging or in hand work is not going to be a bad thing.

I wouldn't ride straight away, stick to your plan of handling/ grooming and getting to know pony for a week. Re saddle, a poorly fitting one could pinch and cause them to react. Can you ring round saddle fitters now and try book one for when pony comes?

No. They need to fit. If you have a very good eye for one that fits then I’d risk it for a bit, if not I wouldn’t.

rickandmorts good point I know of two and will see how quickly they can come out to us.
Ok so other than insurance, saddle(!) and hay net! Anything else? She will live out at livery yard and comes with a bridle and a ton of rugs...
We already have a wealth of grooming equipment, riding helmets, matching numnahs etc..

Find out if pony is being fed, and what they are feeding. Try to feed the same, or less. Don't fall into the trap of starting to offer lots of hardfeed as this can also cause behaviour problems. Also when was it wormed last and had its teeth done.

Basic first aid kit, feed buckets, buckets to wash pony, sponges etc

Make sure you have a farrier, vet, dentist lined up as well as the saddler - the last thing you want is an emergency happening in the first few weeks and not knowing who to call. Obviously you don’t need to get the pony seen by them all immediately but having numbers etc to hand is useful.

Also, have as many lessons as possible in the first few weeks so that you get the pony off to a good start and can nip any potential issues in the bud.

elastamum thankyou have asked for details of what she is currently being fed. I've asked for a copy of the passport.
Pleasedontdothat have asked when the farrier, dentist, vet are next coming to the yard. And I've asked about some 1: 1 lessons to get started.
Good ideas, thankyou.

Priority for me would be finding a qualified, reputable saddle fitter with a decent stock of second hand saddles - there are saddle fitters and there are "saddle fitters". Word of mouth is a good way to find a trustworthy one. I have a friend who is a master saddle fitter and - oh boy - the tales she could tell about ill fitting saddles would make your hair turn grey.

If you find that pony cannot be ridden for a while until you find a saddle that fits, then that's a major PITA but better than riding in an ill fitting saddle, causing at the least discomfort and worse case scenario lameness with all kinds of behavioural issues in between. I have a mare who rears vertical if her saddle's not right. (Got one made to measure in the end as she's not an off the peg size. Best horse-y money I ever spent).

Lungeing in moderation, in-hand walks, ground work will all help build a bond in the meantime.

You need the actual passport, not a copy of it.

I would buy the saddle if it is what the pony is used to - you can always sell it again or you may find the saddle fitter can do his/her magic. The fewer changes you can make, the easier it is for the pony.

Just seen that it's been on a sales yard - have you been able to speak to the (previous) owner?

Oh good yes just seen the passport comment. This is so important!!

RatherBeRiding have found 2 saddle fitters via word of mouth and am making an appointment with one of them who already looks after horses at the livery yard.
VeganVampire will get the passport when I pick up the pony? I understand you have to keep the passport with the pony and the new livery yard will need to keep it on site. Both our riding instructor and the person with the pony on sales livery didn't think much of the existing saddle (didnt fit well) so I am not buying it. Plan is to get a saddle from the saddle fitter.

How old/big is your daughter? We use an aviemore saddle pad for hacking as DD is only five and can give better leg aids when using it

LaPufalina she's 12 about 5 foot.

Excitement over.. pony failed the vetting so now having to stand saddle fitter etc down and start again...

Sorry to hear that … what did it fail on? In general, vettings aren’t ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ but in the opinion of the vet, this pony/horse would or would not be suitable for the intended purpose. So a pony could ‘fail’ if the new owners wanted to do high-level eventing but be fine for low-level hacking.

We had three ‘failed’ vettings before we found dd’s second horse. Vets do tend to be quite risk averse as understandably they don’t want clients complaining that their successfully vetted horse is lame six months down the line. One of those ‘vet failures’ has just completed his first 2* event so he probably would have been fine but we wouldn’t have been able to insure most of him so it was a risk I couldn’t afford to take

Ahh a bit bigger than mine! Sorry about the vetting

Pleasedontdothat the vet said I'm sorry its a fail but of course you can still buy the pony if you like. And I asked would you buy it if you were me for your child. And the vet said no. So that was it.
If you have multiple horses and plenty of money no problem to buy a horse without vetting (a friend of mine does this) and someone I knew bought unseen. However for us it would be a big deal (in terms of 1/1 ponies and also cost) and so I prefer to be cautious, pay for the advice and then take it...
I'm sorry to hear of your three failed vettings..

Aw so sorry! But I wouldn't take any risks for a child's first pony either. Did the vet say why the pony failed? Was it lame?

XelaM yes lame. Looks like early onset of arthritis. Very sad.