New to the horsey world please help !

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jocoel

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Hi everyone:)
My 8 yr old daughter loves horses and ponies and has spent the past two yrs on a friends yard helping out and getting some basic riding lessons and did some fun shows. My daughter then spent a full year mithering me for her own pony for christmas. I gave in and my friend found her a lovely section A to loan for a year and weve had him since christmas.

Now the problems (which are mainly me) All my life I have been scared of horses but since we have had the pony I have worked really hard to overcome this and now do evrything with him too. We both adore him and spend everyday with him . The problem I have is, the friend who used to teach her to ride now doesn;t have the time and I am now having to do it. I have no knowledge of riding and my daughter is still doing walk and trot. She can happily take him out on a hack and he would do that all day he loves it. But when he is in the sand paddock he refuses to do much. He makes it really difficult ( spinning in circles, pushing his head down etc) I have read lots of books and asked lots of questions to others on the yard but as im so useless we are getting no where!! My daughter and I end up arguing all the time, she wont listen to me as she knows I know nothing and its just not fun anymore :(.

I know I should have just sent her to a riding school instead of loaning a pony but now its too late ! I cant send him back as my daughter would never forgive me plus we love him so much and none of this is his fault .

So please any ideas anyone, what I can do?? How do I teach her to canter? How do we make it fun again ?? Plus we have problems with her legs flapping sometimes....
Sorry the post is so long but I really wanted you all to understand the background. Thank you for reading.
 
I would look up an instructor on the BHS register. They can teach her properly what she needs to know and its alot safer for a professional to do it.

Go to the British Horse Society website xxx
 
Sounds to me like you need to invest in the time of a good instructor who can come to your yard once a week and help your daughter (and you!) progress with the pony.

Whereabouts are you located? perhaps someone on here could suggest an instructor for you (or even offer to help, there are many kind souls on here!)
 
Thankyou for replying so quickly . I will definitely look at the website suggested :D We are in Manchester it would be great if you could suggest someone to teach her :) I think half the problem is that im her mum and mothers and daughters do butt heads and she knows I know nothing so its making it worse. The friend who found me the pony who used to teach her to ride has said she can go to one of the shows with them this Sunday coming. I am now panicking as I don't think my daughter is ready to go !!! I don't want her to look silly as it will knock her confidence and this has now added more pressure :(
I have lived and breathed this pony for 3 months to join in with my daughter but I do feel its too much pressure now .... BUT she wants to go on Sunday arrrgggghhhh
 
let her go but tell her its for fun and just to have a look around, if they have a Best Turned Out class pop her in that as she won't have to do any riding as such, just look pretty xx

I taught all my girls but I have rode myself for a long time soit wasn't too bad. We did have "moments" though and I had to pay for an instructor in the end or I would have buried them alive lol! Sadly we are just outside Birmingham or I would have given you my ladies number.
 
Firstly, well done you!! Really lovely to hear of a Mum who is not only so happy to help her daughter along, but who asks for advice when it's not plain sailing.

I would also recommend getting an instructor out via that website, or word of mouth if you are able to ask people you trust. No, if you are not horsey and have never ridden, nobody can really tell you how to teach her to canter I am afraid! I think it's great you are clearly such a good mum :-)

Re the show: if you can promise her an instructor coming, then maybe you can soften the blow of not taking her x
 
Hi there, from a fellow mum with pony mad daughter. Theres a few things you could do that would help you out. Firstly you could get your daughter joined to the local pony club they get lots of instuction there and not just on the riding but also stable managment and lots of other stuff. They hold rallies and shows and the kids learn alot. It would also be a chance for you to meet other mums in the similar situation to you.
There other is put the pony on livery at a stables that also has a riding school. You could then get your daughter to join with group lessons, pony days ect ect. I spent many days a my local riding school where i learnt so much not just the riding but on the yard aswell.
 
Ha ha " moments of burying her alive" have cropped up frequently lately !! LOL . I do feel bad for her though ... she knows im rubbish and I want to be better. I think you are right though somebody else teaching her would be best, for her and her pony as the poor thing probably doesnt know if he's coming or going lol
I would love for the future for us both to ride together but as I am terrified of even sitting on one ( the feeling of not being in control is not good) I cant see that happening ..... But I have caught the bug of horse life and adore it most of the time but the teaching part is not me :( How do I make her look beautiful for the show then???
 
With a section A you can get away with leaving him unplaited if you aren't up to plaiting him. Give him a really good groom, make all the white bits white and give the tack a good clean. If your friend is ok about plaiting him as if she could plait his mane but as long as he is clean and tidy she will be ok for her first show, tell her its a test run so you can see whats needed for next time and then make sure you get someone to show you how to plait manes etc so you can practice at home. Youtube can have some useful tutorial vids that may help you for next time xx
 
Thankyou " Bumper" For saying im a good mum!! :D Don;t much feel like one at the min! I feel like a daft one for getting my daughter a pony when im so clueless :O
I don't have a riding school near me and as I have to sort the pony out twice a day I wouldnt be able to put him on a yard at my nearest one as then he would be too far to travel to twice a day and I would be able to take him to pony school as i have no transport for him so really I need someone to come to us :( is this usually expensive??
Thankyou everyone for your lovely advice and not shouting at me ;)
 
My girls instructor comes out for £15 an hour, my sisters is £25 but she travels further to our yard than mine, I think it usually between that and about £40 depending on who you have x
 
jocoel said:
Thankyou " Bumper" For saying im a good mum!! :D Don;t much feel like one at the min! I feel like a daft one for getting my daughter a pony when im so clueless :O
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Not at all! The great thing is, you ASK! I am sure many on here will agree that there are many novice owners who don't ask! :-)

Oh I am a control freak too lol! The brilliant thing about riding is that it gets over that....it's really quite nice to be able to control something you didn't think could be ;-)

ETA you would be looking at @£30 an hour, give or take.
 
I would sent her to pony club, it is great for youngsters. They learn pony and stable management as well as riding. She will get the experience and enjoy herself. I would also get her a really good private instructor, for individual lessons. This is what I did with Elizabeth and she progressed really quickly and is a good rider with an excellent seat. Depending where you are a good instructor should cost around £25-£35 an hour. Make sure they are properly qualified and insured. It will probably be cheaper if she has lessons on your welshie. But I would beware of any that are too cheap or too available, a good instructor gets very booked up very quickly.

Finally a Welshie is not necessarily the right pony for a little novice. They can be stroppy and bolshie, they need a firm hand.

I think you sound a very caring mum.

FDC
 
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Oh I am a control freak too lol! The brilliant thing about riding is that it gets over that....it's really quite nice to be able to control something you didn't think could be ;-)


But can you really ever control an animal?? Scares me that it could just take off with you and their is nothing you could do !! :O My girls pony is so good though I do trust him not to :D Although im now being told he has spring fever :O Just something else for me to worry about lol
Ive looked on the BHS website ,WOW what a useful website and there are loads of instructors in my area !! No prices on their adverts though so will have to get ringing around tomorrow :D

The top bit was a quote from Bumper but its not shown up ?? Cant even do that right hahaha
 
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There is plenty you can do...also you trust your daughter's pony not to, and she is THE most precious cargo, so why not you on a horse? I'd go and get some lessons if I were you, as clearly you want to be dedicated to supporting her :-) Plus, there is no such thing as absolute control over anything in life ;-)

Spring fever (as whoever told you that described it) is just the spring they get from the flush of new good grass, makes them a tad livelier, that's all.
 
jocoel said:
But can you really ever control an animal?? Scares me that it could just take off with you and their is nothing you could do !! :O My girls pony is so good though I do trust him not to :D Although im now being told he has spring fever :O Just something else for me to worry about lol
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This is why a GOOD instructor is imperative. Think of it like a driving instructor, I can drive a car but can I teach driving? In my opinion a good instructor is vital and is worth every penny of their money. Also if you don't have not already got one, I would get your daughter a body protector and get it fitted by a professional.

And keep coming on here, there are some excellent people who will always help you:).

FDC
 
When I drive my car I know it goes because I press the pedals and I can stop it when I want to ... with a horse I cant, plus it wobbles and I feel like im going to fall off... in a car I wear a seat belt and have doors and I feel safe. LOL :o Plus there is nothing on our yard I would feel comfortable riding (they all seem to have issues) I need something slow and ploddy lol . I would only feel comfortable getting on our pony as he is sooo good but my feet would probably touch the floor and I may break the poor thing haha
 
Yes "Fany du champ" She has a body protector ... although I didnt get it fitted to her I just bought it... no one else wears one at the yard so didnt realise they had to be fitted :o
 
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