Is he being naughty or does he have a problem?

[Littlelegs]

In all honesty bhs qualified & going competing means nothing. Do yourself & your child a favour, go & watch kids doing pony club dressage, & some top level dressage too. Then watch the lessons & standard of riding at your riding school, & decide which you admire most. Then when you know what decent riding looks like find a school that teaches that way. This isn't me having a go, just trying to help, rather than several years down the line you realising you've wasted a lot of time & money. And I agree with amymay re the loan too.

 

[TigerTail]

If your child hit a dog with a stick would that be ok? Im sincerely hoping you are sat at home thinking no! So why is it ok to hit a pony? Because it cant yelp and show pain in a way we can easily empathise with.

Hitting and kicking is NOT the way to ride or how to be with ANY animal or person. If the pony wont go forwards with the child but will with an adult its most likely the child is blocking the pony with her seat/aids unintentionally or a pain issue.

BHS qualified doesnt mean you blindly trust them, especially when they are clearly not able to solve this problem for you. There is a better way.

 

[Honey08]

It does sound as though he would be better with a family that want to hack. He doesn't sound quite right for your daughter to learn on, unless you are prepared to hack out with her (walking with her if need be) and just letting her go in the school on lessons once a week.

I've worked in several riding schools over the years, and they are often very clever and able to work out how little they have to do for the rider onboard. Hence why he is going fine for you and not her..

I would add that it might be better to continue with her lessons until she is able to canter properly on a variety of ponies before you loan one, and if you do, make it one that she can learn on - that she can get into canter easily (and stop again!). Some children aren't strong enough to get a particular pony going.

I would still be wanting to have the weeing issue checked out. Its more than likely the pony using it as an evasion to work, but should be checked out - the fact that the riding school have noticed him doing it more than usual should ring warning bells - to them even more than you really!

Good luck, hope you can get to the bottom of this and find a good solution for you and the pony..x

 

[AmyMay]

If your child hit a dog with a stick would that be ok? Im sincerely hoping you are sat at home thinking no! So why is it ok to hit a pony? Because it cant yelp and show pain in a way we can easily empathise with.

Hitting and kicking is NOT the way to ride or how to be with ANY animal or person. If the pony wont go forwards with the child but will with an adult its most likely the child is blocking the pony with her seat/aids unintentionally or a pain issue.

BHS qualified doesnt mean you blindly trust them, especially when they are clearly not able to solve this problem for you. There is a better way.

I do think you're maybe being a little OTT here TT. I can't imagine for one minute the child is sitting there beating seven bells out of the pony. And whilst none of us advocate kicking - let's face it it's probably what most of us did too as kids.

As for the child blocking the pony. Can't agree at all. There are such things as novice riders who can't even get the most push button pony to move forwards because...... They don't know how to ride. This, coupled with the fact that they have no leg strength, and the pony most likely being dead to the leg generally, and school sour ends up in a non moving animal.

And, where are our riders supposed to start if they come from a non equine background? The simple answer is that they do put their blind faith in a qualified person. It's not until they have built up some experience that they are then able to judge for themselves whether that trust was rightly placed, or if they need to look around for a better qualified or unqualified person to educate them further.

 

[MrsB]

OK, my 2p's worth for what it's worth

My daughter rides at a RS where they have a variety of ponies, some push button and some downright naughty little gits. They spend the majorty of their time in the school and are probably bored to tears. I tried out another school and couldn't believe the difference in their teaching methods, however the ponies at the original RS wouldn't know what asking for canter properly is - all they know is sitting trot in a corner + kicking and/or whip = canter.

I have not allowed my daughter to have a whip until she can prove to me that she actually needs it because the pony isn't listening to her. She is a good, tidy little rider and shows a lot of potential. She can ride a variety of ponies, where as one child one week on pony A can't get it to trot or steer, my daughter on pony A the following week can get it to do everything very well without a whip.

However, the RS encourage lots of kicking and whipping and not in a good way, but it's close to us and the other really good school hardly answers their phone (amazed they're still going TBH!!). I personally show my daughter how she should nudge gently with her heels and not these flappy rodeo kicks that these other kids do and what annoys me the most is that the RI's there don't correct the kids, they just let them do it.

MrsJ - if you feel that your daughter isn't enjoying this experience, then see if you can find an alternative. You don't want to knock her confidence at all, and whilst yes, you should call out the vet, the RS will know that pony better than anyone so it's probably best to seek their advice first. And if there are other RI's there, maybe seek some advice on your daughter's riding from another one.

Hope she enjoys her riding and you find a happy solution

 

[MrsJ]

I do think you're maybe being a little OTT here TT. I can't imagine for one minute the child is sitting there beating seven bells out of the pony. And whilst none of us advocate kicking - let's face it it's probably what most of us did too as kids.

She isn't and believe me if she did that would be the last time she rode until she learnt some respect!


As for the child blocking the pony. Can't agree at all. There are such things as novice riders who can't even get the most push button pony to move forwards because...... They don't know how to ride. This, coupled with the fact that they have no leg strength, and the pony most likely being dead to the leg generally, and school sour ends up in a non moving animal.

She is only little and doesn't have the strongest of legs....or the longest to that matter

 

[joeanne]

MrsJ did the RS suggest this pony for your daughter?

 

[xxMozlarxx]

Oh dear MrsJ bet you wished you'd never asked now eh? it sounds to me like you have a fairly good down to earth approach and sense of what's going on here...pick out what you need and what resonates with you and leave the rest.

 

[Booboos]

OP you may enjoy reading the updates of Dolly, a pony a poster (redmore) bought for her daughter. She has written candidly about all their initial problems and how they were overcome with lessons, help and patience! A year later they are out competing on their own so they are really an inspiration for every child starting out with a new pony. If you search 'Dolly' and 'redmore' their posts will come up but it's worth reading the first ones first.