How much to do with child pony

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charlotte1997

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Hi,

I am looking for some advise / guidance on how much I should be doing with a young pony (5) that it is going to end up been a lead rein / first ridden as my children grow.

I rehomed a gorgeous 12.2 pony who had been wild as I needed company / field companion for my horse due to a change in circumstances.

I rehomed the pony in July and I spent last summer working on ground handling, grooming, and stable manners ect as everything was new to him.
By October time we introduced tack and lunging / long reining.
At Christmas time he was backed by a very small adult and is now ridding in the school walk trot & basic canter. I take him for a walk down the road sometimes and a wander around our farm.

He loves the fuss and my 3 year old does help brush him and do the stable jobs, she does also have the occasional sit on in the stable.

I feel like I have now reached a cross roads and I don’t know what to do with the pony for the best … do I continue his ridding until my children are ready to sit on ? (Could be a year or two away)

Do I turn this pony away until my children are ready?

Do I find him a jockey ? I am worried though as he’s only newly backed this could send him backwards and ruin all my hard work my my children in the future.

I think I just want people’s option on what’s best to do for the pony, as I have a potentially fabulous kids pony for my children but ultimately no child rider for him yet… only small adults.

Thanks in advance.
 
Join Pony Club, if your child is 3 the lessons will be super gentle and perfect for brining on a youngster, you wouldn’t be the first parent to do it. I can think of two in my daughter’s cohort who have slowly gone from l/r to first ridden.
 
HopOnTrot said:
Join Pony Club, if your child is 3 the lessons will be super gentle and perfect for brining on a youngster, you wouldn’t be the first parent to do it. I can think of two in my daughter’s cohort who have slowly gone from l/r to first ridden.
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Thank you for your reply! Pony club is definitely a future plan. (Ex pony club lover myself) but at the momment my daughter is a sit on for a minute and then off.

Shes defiantly not ready for pony club yet.

What would you do in the meantime? Thanks
 
I'd keep doing what you're doing, long rein etc to continue seeing the world and the sights, perhaps take out to training/shows as a companion just so it all becomes familiar and normal. Then you should have a great pony for your kids to learn on when the time comes?
Perhps once a year get the person who backed them to do a week or so re-familiarisation if you wanted to , but horses do have good memories so once somethings learned it tends to stick. Culd you do ride an lead from yours to get them ready for that once your child is on board?
 
charlotte1997 said:
Hi,

I am looking for some advise / guidance on how much I should be doing with a young pony (5) that it is going to end up been a lead rein / first ridden as my children grow.

I rehomed a gorgeous 12.2 pony who had been wild as I needed company / field companion for my horse due to a change in circumstances.

I rehomed the pony in July and I spent last summer working on ground handling, grooming, and stable manners ect as everything was new to him.
By October time we introduced tack and lunging / long reining.
At Christmas time he was backed by a very small adult and is now ridding in the school walk trot & basic canter. I take him for a walk down the road sometimes and a wander around our farm.

He loves the fuss and my 3 year old does help brush him and do the stable jobs, she does also have the occasional sit on in the stable.

I feel like I have now reached a cross roads and I don’t know what to do with the pony for the best … do I continue his ridding until my children are ready to sit on ? (Could be a year or two away)

Do I turn this pony away until my children are ready?

Do I find him a jockey ? I am worried though as he’s only newly backed this could send him backwards and ruin all my hard work my my children in the future.

I think I just want people’s option on what’s best to do for the pony, as I have a potentially fabulous kids pony for my children but ultimately no child rider for him yet… only small adults.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
We made most our own ponies, I just couldn't afford a made one, so I have been through this a couple of times. Ponies are very smart and learn very quickly, the basic temperament is the key thing and IME I keep every thing short and simple so they do not get bored and make mistakes, or start thinking of ways to avoid what they do not like.
I would keep the pony with you, you are making the pony suitable for your child to ride, unless there is something later on that you need someone who is more capable to teach the pony, something like proper leg aid or jumping More experienced larger riders want the pony more off the leg, when the child is young you just need a walking sofa, that responds to your voice aids and ignores everything else.
My most adaptable pony was backed at three and hated being bored, so a trip to the shops, or a wander around the village with child on board was far more interesting than being in a school. He went to PC on lead rein and then when the child was more competent you transfer some control, but actually when the child is riding sometimes you have control because the pony will be smart enough to know what you want and will still be looking at you for guidance. Technically my children were often over horsed but as long as you asses the situation and the pony properly, and try and prevent situations where the pony can make its own choice in, our case it worked.
A child can not make a pony do anything, so there is no point in thinking they can, you have to engineer it so the pony wants to or thinks it has no choice.
 
I’d keep going as you are. Are there any local shows or something you can take the pony to too? Would be good prep for getting used to being out and about before pony club 😊
At the end of the day the pony won’t care that it doesn’t have a child rider yet, so I’d utilise this extra time you have to really work out the kinks and make the perfect pony for when your kids are ready.
 
I wouldn't get another child rider unless it was one that you knew was a good quality child rider who would just keep the pony ticking over on basic walk/trot. Too many kids are a bit 'yank yank kick kick'. You don't want the pony to become dead to the leg.

On a similar theme it wouldn't hurt to keep the light adult riding the pony once a week, not in the school but out on hacks to see the world. However it must be with the proviso that the rider uses the very lightest leg and rein aids and not 'adult strength' aids.

If that is not possible then ride and lead is a very good thing to do. Apart from seeing the world it means the pony (and the leading horse) become used to being up-sides each other - which will be needed when you start taking your child out on lead-rein hacks.

Maybe also take both pony and child to a pony club rally (with the D.C. permission) so that your child can see others having fun with their ponies and maybe get inspired....

I was lucky that I was light enough to ride an 11.2 (wish I was still that weight!!) whom I took in unbroken and semi-wild at 3. She was a fabulous Welsh A and although I rode her for years every week to give her a bit of fun and a 'gallop' around for variety, she still remained great with kids (not mine - I had horses instead of kids) and basically turned her hoof to anything at the PC.
 
3 is old enough to ride. Go for walks with your child and the tacked up pony. When the child gets tired, pop her on for a rest. Gradually she will ride more and walk less. Going round in an arena/field is boring for a small child. Hacking is fun! We loved the Wintec Kids saddle as being nice and secure with a handle, forgiving for the pony and starting off with a good position. Your adult rider’s saddle will be much too big for a 3 year old!

Once you’ve got her riding, keep up with the small adult a couple of times a week until pony is ready for an off lead sharer.

My rising 4yo has two sharers (2 days a week each) and is merrily looking after a beginner 5 year old and 3 year old with enthusiasm and kindness. She was backed last summer, ridden for a few months, turned away mid Dec-March and then brought back into work before we looked for sharers. She’s realistically too small for us though hence finding little people for her to enjoy. I lead her out off another pony on the other days, or sometimes my smaller child rides to keep up her off lead education.
 
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If it was me, i’d find a very lightweight adult/older teen who can get him hacking out, and/or start long reining him out and about. Second the idea of taking him to some local shows too, it’s all about life experiences! if he’s already very good, i don’t think you’d struggle to find a child locally who would be made up with borrowing him for the young handlers, and handy pony classes, which would do him the world of good - i think for a child’s pony, he needs experience being handled by children, and the handy pony is a good way to get him used to “scary” stuff…but equally you can expose him to all of that at home, umbrellas, tarpaulin, windmills, anything flappy/noisy/a bit funny looking!
 
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