Do you need your own pony?

[mellongoose]

I'm fairly new to this world although rode a bit as a child.

DD is 9 and has been having lessons for nearly a year. However, there is no social aspect to this. None of her school friends are interested.

People who are horsey around here suggest joining a pony club. We don't own a pony and it's not an option for a few years yet.

Is pony club without her own pony a realistic option for her? She really loves riding and horses and it's something I'd like to encourage.

Our local stables offer pony club without your own pony - you just use one of theirs ☺️

My dd was the same, she had lessons at a local equestrian centre each week, then when old enough she'd stay a few hours to help, then she stayed every Saturday to help out and had a a free lesson as a 'thank you'. She's now been riding for 10 years, and helps a local family out exercising their horses, loans a horse, has joined pony club and attends rallies, events etc and knows loads of people.

I just takes time and you can't force it. How old is your dd?

A pony club branch you need your own or at least reliable access to one, pony club centres are run out of riding schools and are fantastic.
Have a look on the pony club website, look for a centre, there are a good number dotted around.

As others have said look for a Pony Club center.
Horses/ponies are incredibly expensive + time consuming, DD has been riding for 9 years I have a horse but we haven't bought one for her. She is at an excellent PC centre, is working her way through all the badges + tests, got to the PC National Champs in August etc so is definitely not missing out on anything.
1 year of riding definitely isn't enough to judge whether she will stick it or not, many girls lose interest once they start secondary school and boys take over. Plus there is a very big difference between riding school horses + private horses, she needs many more riding hours under her belt and a good level of stable management/horsemanship knowledge before she will be ready for one.

That's all really helpful. Thank you

Yes don't worry there's lots she can do as she gets older and more experienced that will bring in the social side too (TBH I found with mine that did lots of different activities, ballet, music etc that it's true of lots of things that at first they're just doing the activity alongside one another and they only really start to be 'friends' when they hit secondary school. Team sports a bit different of course.

Like others have said Pony Club centre (not branch) would be a great shout, lots of riding schools do own a pony days or weeks in school holidays where they learn some stable management as well as riding and playing games so I'd look into those as well. Some stables do informal mounted games and competitions either under the PC banner or their own local riding club or school 'league' which is great for friendly rivalry and spurring one another on. Maybe a horse holiday/camp too? When she's a bit older (12 or 13 usually) she may be able to help out at the stables with basic chores like grooming and tacking up and leading/assisting the little ones and that's a really great grounding. Sometimes they get free or discounted lessons for doing this which is a nice bonus. I expect she'll need to be a bit older but you could also look into volunteering at an RDA centre?

I'd advise against getting her own pony really, even when she's a bit older and more experienced, unless you are one of the odd persuasion of people (many of us on this board counted!) that really have a burning desire to spend all their time and money picking up poo and standing in the freezing cold/pouring rain watching kids ride (or sometimes not even watching them ride because pony is injured/sick and costing £££ in vets bils and rehab)- they're a huge practical, financial and emotional commitment, it really is almost a total lifestyle change (except for the super-wealthy that can afford thousands a month for full-time care of a pony they barely see/ride). If that isn't what you'd choose for your whole family (it affects things like being able to go away on holiday, special occasions, ponies need looking after twice a day 365 days a year including Christmas day, siblings birthdays etc) then don't let your DD persuade you it's essential. Lots of kids would absolutely love their own pony but it just isn't feasible until they hit adulthood or at least self-sufficient teen years and it doesn't harm them really in the long run, it's something they can do for themselves when they're old enough to pay themselves and do the work too!

You need to find a stables that is also a pony club centre as then she will be able to do the badges etc and there will be a whole group of horsey kids to make new friends . If you mention which area you are in somebody may be able to recommend somewhere

Last paragraph sums it up.

She won’t learn to ride on a riding school pony and therefore whatever you hypothetically bought her she would likely be totally out of her depth and put off.

A part loan may be worth a shot to see how she gets on.

It can’t be the case that she won’t learn to ride on a riding school pony? Surely it depends on the school and the ponies? My kids don’t have their own ponies, and I think can ride well - not saying they will be at Badminton any time soon but they have been in the ribbons at BRC nationals.

Of course she will. That's literally what riding schools are for. There's a certain snobbishness in the horse world about riding school riders that kind of assumes incompetence and people's ideas of their own (or their kids') abilities needing to be squashed. It is true that the average privately owned horse is going to be significantly livelier and harder to ride than the average riding school horse, and it is a big transition to go from having lessons and being told what to do all the time to riding independently and being fully responsible.

But providing you are aware of this, choose your horse sensibly (don't assume because you/your child is in the advanced class at the school or rides the school's naughtiest pony that you're equipped for anything more than a sensible well trained beginner friendly horse) and have access to experienced help when needed you'll be fine. The more common issue that happens with first horses really is people finding the financial and practical commitment much more than they expected (esp parents buying ponies for kids), consequently often the time and energy/willingness actually available to ride is less than anticipated, pony then gets fresh and unmannerly through lack of regular work and gets a bit extra challenging and then confidence and enjoyment can be diminished and eventually you/the child wants to give up.

That's why it is often a good idea to transition from school lessons to ownership more gradually through a share or loan arrangement if it can be managed, let's you try before you buy (literally!) and some practice and get used to riding outside the school environment so you have a more realistic idea of your needs. It's not because riding school riders are all incompetent!

The whole ‘you can’t learn how to ride on a riding school pony’ thing is nonsense. When dd was 10 she went on a riding holiday at Wellington for the first time having only ridden at a riding school for a couple of years. She was in a group of girls who’d all brought their own ponies and I was slightly worried as I drove home because I thought she might be out of her depth. But it turned out she was absolutely fine and won both the jumping and dressage classes at the end of the week - learning how to ride by lots of different, sometimes very bored ponies acting stood her in good stead. She didn’t have her own horse until she was 15 and was old enough to be at the yard unsupervised - she’s now riding full time for a living, despite having started on riding school ponies 🤨

Some people have gone totally left field here and just used it as an excuse to skate riding schools, the OP literally just asked if there was a means to joining pony club without a pony. Not that she was planning on buying a pony to join pony club.

Thank you.

I've no intention of buying a pony at this stage. DD rides once a week but is not part of a pony club. My question was more about the acceptance of her within a club when she doesn't own her pony.

Yes you can join, but you'll have to join via an equestrian centre. My dd has done both. When she started riding she joined through her local equestrian centre. They had pony club officials on site on certain weekends and were held to the same standards as the pony clubs you join with your own horse.

I was in pony club as a teen. Not a riding school centre. I went to the unmounted rallies and the social events. I rode a friend's pony a couple of times a week when she couldn't and if a mounted rally was on the right day I was allowed to take the pony. Most branch members did own but it was possible for those who didn't to still join in.

Various friends had ponies and DC at boarding school and others whose DC had gone to uni or had lost interest.

Rather than these ponies going to waste, these friends offered my DC to ride their ponies and take them to pony club camp etc.

Really good ponies are often so much part of a family, they are kept rather than sold on.

I appreciate you need to be part of a horsey set for this to happen but there's nothing lost by asking around!

You can find your nearest Pony Club Centres at : https://pcuk.org/find-a-club/
Go and visit 2 or 3 if you can and see what type of riding is available, group size and if they are allocated sessions according to ability. Our centre does 3 hour sessions on Saturdays and 2 hours Sundays. Everyone rides for an hour. See what they offer in terms of off-site trips. Additional 1-2-1 tuition should be available - for example, starting to canter, starting to jump. The advantage of Pony Club centres is that they'll be taught correctly from the start - I've seen Pony Club branch children with their own horses who don't have a clue about putting on a head collar. Also, when you outgrow one horse (capability or size-wise) there should be another suitable horse to progress onto. The disadvantage of a centre is that the riding learning will be a little slower than having their own horse.

If she joins through a centre then it will be a mix of members who own their own ponies, share or loan, or just ride through the centre, so I'm sure she'd be fine. With a branch, she would likely need to share/loan a pony, but plenty of people don't own the ponies they ride for pony club- the difficulty might be getting to rallies etc, though!

If you can find a pony club centre locally, that would likely be a great place to start!

Also an advantage- you're not worrying about one pony going lame or keeping its shoes on just before camp etc!

My daughter had two private lessons a week for a few months, then we bought her a well behaved little Dartmoor. And a bigger cob to grow into. She was seven and learnt so much from both ponies that she would never have learnt with riding school ponies. Also, there's the trust that builds between one rider and their horse.

We found the have your own pony for a day thing etc to be a complete ripoff. But we're not in the south of England facing crazy livery bills.

I don't regret it.

Look around to see if there's any owners looking for sharers who are happy for pony to go out to pony club etc. Maybe someone with an outgrown pony who doesn't want to sell on.
I've got a sharer for my pony & she & her mum take him out to pony club, fun rides etc.

Around here, with own a pony days etc, children usually get two rides and childcare for the whole day. I think, given the price of lessons etc, they are usually pretty reasonably priced, but still expensive, if you see what I mean.

Obviously having your own is great, but it's a pretty huge commitment that OP doesn't seem especially keen on?