New pony arrived on Monday!!!! Any advice welcome.

R

rachel7631

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Hi all.

I am a newbie on here so hi to all and thanks for any advice in advance. My daughter's pony (Ali) has finally arrived (2 days ago) and she is an 11.2 sec A and my daughter is 5 and a half. My daughter has ridden for 18 months at a great riding school and is quite plucky and confident so I dont have too may worries about her getting scared on her new pony. We have spent the last couple of days doing lots of grooming, walking her around the field in her headcollar and generally just messing around the the stables...Oh and also hacked for a bit today. Ali has so far not put a foot wrong, she is kind, gentle, easy and just so so sweet, (love her already). Ok, so my questions are:
1) She has quite a fast trot and I am not sure how to explain to my daughter to slow this down as she is used to riding school ponies that need to be pushed on. She is having a lesson on her on friday so should I just forget this till then?
2) Ali could probably do with losing a small amount of weight and at the moment is turned out both day and night on okayish grass. I am also giving her a small handfull of soaked pony nuts mixed with garlic and codlavine. She has never had laminitus. How will I know what is too much or too little? I have been told she is not greedy and has been left out at grass for a month and not doing anything hence slight belly.
3) I lunged her today for 10mins before my daughter got on and am thinking of having a lunging lesson to make sure I am doing this properly. Would you guys advise this on the days if my daughter does not ride to keep her fit?

Are there any other tips that you guys can give me? I had such a wonderful time with my first pony and mainly just want my daughter to have fun. She is absolutely desperate to canter and 'go fast' but I don't feel happy to let her do this yet until Ali has settled in a bit and she has mastered the trot.

Many Thanks
Rachel :)
 
Get one of these and put it on straight away!

DMCLGRAZ_m.jpg


It's from Dinky Rugs

Never mind that the owners said she hadn't worked. Overweight ponies are a ticking time-bomb for laminitis. First job is a diet overhaul and if you are a first time owner, find someone who really know their stuff on this matter.
 
Cheers for that - I have been looking at them at the tackshop today but they did not have her size, so will order one from that site - thanks.
When I went to trial her with my daughter over a month ago she was slimmer but has just been turned out since and to be honest I am being picky as I just dont like to see small ponies with bellies.
Grass muzzle it is....thanks.

Any more advice out there?
 
How big are you? If you are little you could get on your self. Section As are shepherds ponies originally so if you are a small adult then this isn't a bad idea. If not do you know someone who could? I am too big for my sec A but I have a 'size 6' friend who regularly gets on... not only to keep him fit for my son but to keep him in line a bit so he doesn't 'extract the urine' if you know what I mean.

I would restrict his grazing to a small area (My pony can take muzzles off within 10 mins ) Sec As tend to be quite bright and quick to learn this...

Doesn't by the sound of it need any hard feed at all... I just give mine a handful of hifi light and his suppliments and he's thriving!

As a friend said to me once with a fat pony 'How do I feed him less fresh air'....

Anyway hope all goes well and your daughter loves it... and resist if you can being a 'typical pony club mother'... not that I've managed to avoid this!!

HTH

Blitz
 
I would agree about getting a lunging lesson, they're always a good idea. The extra exercise will help keep Ali's weight in check too.

I would ask your daughter's instructor to help teach her how to slow down the trot, but it may be that the trot just looks quick as she's got little legs!

As for feed... I would get her in a small paddock or get a grazing muzzle on. If you are going to be lunging her as well as your daughter riding then a handful of pony nuts won't do any harm... BUT you would be better off feeding a feed balancer (like Topspec, or Baileys Lo-Cal) as she'd get all the vits and mins she needs and no extra calories. You wouldn't need to feed codlivine then unless you were planning on showing when its good for a bit of coat shine.

She sounds like a sweetie, and I hope that you and your daughter have lots of fun with her. I can't recommend Pony Club highly enough, its a good learning experience for everyone, as well as a horsey social club!!
 
Hey, exciting time, congrats!

With the trot, I'm sure you know the way to do it is to slow the rising and really work through her seat to slow each "bump" down. But I'd probably wait for the instructor to show her that - but also agree about the little legs lol!!

Definitely muzzle.

Lunging lesson probably very worthwhile, but youtube videos etc will help xxxx
 
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