Exercising daughters diddy pony......

flying solo

flying solo

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As most of you know from my recent posts I have bought daughter a shetland x, thing is he is wayyy too fat! He gets ridden 20-40 mins 4 or 5 times per week. Although mostly in walk so I lunge him for 15-20 mins most days keeping him in trot with a only about 2 circles of canter on each rein.

Thing is we're at a fab yard which has loads of kids who would be willing to exercise him etc but what would be the most weight you would put on him? He's probably around 10.3hh and is the chunky type (even under all his blubber!).

Contemplating trying to teach him to drive, but since I have no idea where to start I'm a little bit lost!

P.s He is in a starvation paddock etc and has lost 6" in his girth size since he arrived! I just need to get him some riden exercise and let him have fun off the leadrein. The only feed he gets is a tiny amount of fast fibre for his supplements.

Thanks again everyone, tea and toast for all xx
 
Our little Shetland at work is probably a tad smaller than yours but she's also a chunky monkey, build and blubber!!

Kid wise she has anyone up to the age of about 8 or 9 ride her, depending on height obviously! So I'd say probably up to 6 ish stone on a regular basis.
However, in her younger days she was a bit of a nightmare off the lead rein so the grooms at the time used to have to school her to attempt to solve it!! One of them probably only weighed about 7 stone but the other was probably more towards 9! Pony had no problem shifting round the school with them on, would quite happily walk, trot and canter (usually without being asked!)

Obviously if he's carrying excess weight I wouldn't suggest putting max weight on him but older kids/tiny adults would be fine i'd imagine if no other underlying issues!
 
Friend had a shetland as a kid & it was refusing to jump / school or basically behave in any way, Her dad (a very competent rider) got frustrated watching & got on - he must have weighed at least 14 stone - pony behaved exactly the same & then bucked him off.
No-one worried much about "weight limits" for him after that!!
 
I have an up to height registered Shetland and although don't ride her regularly (she's on loan), she would not struggle with me on board. I'm around 8 stone.

As he's a Shetland X, I would say a maximum of around 8 stone would be absolutely fine but wouldn't worry if someone's a little heavier.
 
AliceFlapjack said:
I have an up to height registered Shetland and although don't ride her regularly (she's on loan), she would not struggle with me on board. I'm around 8 stone.

As he's a Shetland X, I would say a maximum of around 8 stone would be absolutely fine but wouldn't worry if someone's a little heavier.
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REALLY?? I'm 81/2st :o 5ft3 I may try loosing more weight! :rolleyes:

There are around 10 kids at the yard and I'm sure most of them will be willing to ride him a couple of days a week to shift some of his weight! He's such a cutie, goes in a outline and everything! If only I could get the fat cob to copy him!! :(

Thanks for all your replies x
 
Fidget130.jpg

:D
 
I used to exercise a friend's shetland when I was about 12, probs weighed 50kg ish then. You could also try loose schooling instead of lunging and you could do more canter without risking joints as much and also a little jumping
 
Brill idea to break him for harness: my friend competes with her little Dartmoors and its mega great fun!

You'd need to start by long-reining; then let him drag a tyre around so he gets used to weight behind him plus the noise of it. But I'd be inclined to get professional help before you actually "put to" a carriage - you should have a British Driving Society rep in your area (the website will tell you) who'd be able to recommend someone locally to help you.

OR you could lunge him? But more fun to break him for harness, and it needn't break the bank!!

Go for it!
 
Your average Shetland will have no trouble whatsoever carrying an 8-stone/50kg rider on a regular basis. Many can carry even more than that. At my old yard our Shetlands were regularly ridden by teenagers (some weighing about 10 stone) and I also hacked and schooled them myself (50kg) on a regular basis. I now exercise two Shetlands belonging to my boss's mother, they are carriage-driving ponies but I have been training them myself as riding ponies - we go on regular ride-and-lead hacks where I swap ponies half way round, and I also school them once or twice a week. Shetlands are FAR stronger and tougher than people give them credit for.
 
I couldn't ride and lead him because he would stop to eat constantly (even with grass reins the little toad tries!) and this would in turn pull me off my not so wise cob! :o Who would carry on his hack without realising he was on his own :rolleyes:

Ok I'm now heading over to the auction site to search for a harness! This pony is costing more than I bargained for haha! The woman I bought my pony from does quite a bit of driving so perhaps she would help me via emails to keep me right and once we're ready to hitch him upto a cart I could pay someone to come in and give me a couple of hours training??

Is there such a thing as driving lessons?

Thanks again everyone

p.s I have no intention of pony squishing, he's far too sweet! :D
 
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Loose-schooling is heaps of fun. And, especially if you have kids around, try some pony-agility... you can get books plus there are a cpl of ppl on here who do it.

To start driving you need pony to long line first. You should be able to get someone on the yard to show you and/or a freelance instructor. You can do school movements with it or go for nice long (fittening) walks.

Personally I would hate to see anything 8 stone on a little pony. Just because they can carry it doesn't mean it is good for them! Your idea of some of the slightly older (but still small!) kids sounds much more responsible.

Have fun!
 
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