First pony

[LAM1407]

Currently looking for a pony for my 5 year old, she is currently on LR but don't expect she will be on for an awful lot longer. Saw a pony yesterday who was very sweet, good LR but apparently you need strong legs to get her going as a FR. Daughter really liked her (of course!) I just worry she will get fed up if she can't do anything with the pony in a year, but know how important a plod along type can be at the beginning. What would you do?

Being dead to the leg is a schooling issue really. Id buy the same, quiet pony rather than something a bit wizzy, always always get the pony for the rider they currently are, not the one they might or might not be in a years time

If you get a pony that she isn’t ready for then you could dent that confidence and hold her back. If she’s on the LR now and will want a reliable plod for a while after, that’s what I would get her.

Yes i agree, that's what my head is telling me too

Yes, it's 100 x easier to razz up a lazy pony than calm down a whizzy one. Good consistent riding plus keeping their weight down and their fitness up (along with judicious diet management) and nearly all ponies (so long as they are sound) will be plenty forward enough for a first ridden. Whereas one that's a bit sharp or nervy already it's hard to get them to go the other way, in the timescale the child rider needs anyway and it's quite easy for them to lose confidence along the way.

So I'd go with the steady pony, so long as she really is 'just' a kick along type of first ridden, not a LR pony that in fact has barely ever been ridden off the lead and doesn't really understand the concept following a rider's instructions/ hasn't been properly schooled for it. People do sometimes forget that little ponies need to be schooled the same as bigger ones horses, they don't automatically understand leg aid means forward or rein aid means stop/turn without being taught it, if they've spent a lifetime following someone on the ground and essentially largely ignoring their rider they can get really confused and eventually nappy if suddenly asked to do a totally different job in a way we'd never expect of a bigger horse. Sadly people often write this off as stubbornness or naughtiness and of course it's not easy to find a very lightweight rider skilled enough to reschool a tiny pony. But it can be really dispiriting for the child and not good for their riding if they have to repeatedly boot the pony to get it to go (as well as not nice for the pony of course).

So I'd definitely want to see her ridden off the lead by a child of similar age and riding ability to your DD before you buy her, and if the child is flapping and kicking and pulling that would be a big red flag for me. If this isn't possible I'd say this one isn't right for you...