Almost ready for pony shopping - advice please.....

nikicb

nikicb

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Sorry this may be a bit long.....
Well, tomorrow, we are moving to our dream house and after 30 odd years of dreaming I will have somewhere to keep my horses/ponies at home. Currently I have my old mare (who I may well leave with my friend, she (the mare, not the friend!) is 33 and I'm not sure I want to put her through a move at her age). For my kids we have the little grey devil - Sec A, wonderful lead rein pony, little monster off. My boys are 12 and 6. The 12 year old is rapidly growing out of said pony, the 6 year old is ready to come off the lead rein, but not on Milligan (we already did broken arms, operations etc with the older son, not prepared to repeat the experience with the younger one). So, I am in a quandry. We will keep the current pony, even if he becomes a lawn mower for a while, he is part of the family now and younger son will be able to ride him at some point. In order to move him though I need to get at least one more, and at some point two more.
For older son (who is nearly as tall as me) I want to get something just under 14'2", but fairly solidly built so I can ride it and it will last son a while(I love Haflingers, or something similar). But the poor child has been riding a real devil for a few years now, and while he can ride and stay on pretty well now, he hasn't been able to get out much and just enjoy ponies/competing/pony club etc. So I think I should go for a 'leg at each corner' type (please don't wince at that phrase, it just sums up what we need) that will be flashy enough to impress the girls (he's a 12 year old boy after all!!), but safe enough not to worry the parents (especially totally non horsey Dad)!
For younger son, I have this idea that it would be great to get an ex riding school little pony that has had a good working life and is ready to poodle around the paddock with a 6 year old on its back a few times a week. I'm happy to take something in its teens, but probably not 20s - already have a 17yr old and 33yr old, and don't really want to establish a yard of total crocks! But how do I find such a pony - do riding schools offload their old ponies? It would be a home for life as I would need/want a companion anyway, and I would love to give the opportunity to a pony that has worked hard. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but would love some help and advice.
Thanks!
 
My advice on the riding school pony idea is - don't!

You can take the pony out of the riding school, but you can't take the riding-school mentality out of the pony. I bought two ex-riding school ponies, one was late teens and the other was 26! They would only go round the school if they were nose to tail with something else and both napped badly.

On hacks the older one was fine, but the younger one (relatively speaking!) had a homing pigeon mentality. He couldn't cope on his own and always wanted to get back to base so it was lead-rein only. He was pretty good at pc rallies though - all those ponies made him feel at home, although he would nap back to the ride if he was asked to do anything on his own.

You might be lucky and get a lovely old pony, although I suspect most riding schools would not sell a good pony as they are worth their weight in gold, but would probably sell you a problem one quite happily
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How about trying a rescue charity for a pony that deserves a good home?
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply - I totally see where you are coming from. I already have a pony that naps, so that would not be good! I kind of want the 'three legged babysitter type' if you know what I mean. I would actually prefer to offer a home to a rescue pony, but was under the impression that they were mainly offered as companions. Also, while I am experienced and can retrain a pony, my 6 year old son is not at that level. Having gone through the nightmare once, I just can't face it again. When I was growing up, these ponies were everywhere, but everything seems so flashy these days. I don't want something that is a HOYS potential, just something my little boy can meander round the field on and go for the odd hack.
 
I would try the ILPH think they are now WHW we got a lovely little v quiet potter around pony for my little neice - lovely to hack and required substantial amounts of leg!

For your older boy what about trying your local pony club DC or the pony club website?

Good luck
 
Put a wanted add on your local pc website it's free, depending on where in West Berks you are you will probably be catchment of South Berks Pony Club. Also try Riding Clubs, could try Mortimer, Berks County or Chiltern. Good luck.
 
I would actually look at the normal horse-y adverts. It depends on your price-budget TBH. You can actually find some lovely bomb-proof and obedient cheap ponies, but it may take a little while. We have a beautiful 14.2hh gelding (5yrs), that was broken in twice and hadn't done much work before (only hunting) and he hasn't put a foot wrong. He will jump anything and doesn't nap at all. This is the kind of pony your son will probably need, especially if you want a confidence booster. SO..... I think looking at normal adverts within your price range would be also a good idea.....
Hope this helps!!!
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