Please help me buy a horse, I'm clueless!

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NannySarah

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Hi everyone, I'm new to this website (and to horses!) but would love some advice please!

I am a nanny to three children and their mum wants to buy them a pony, mainly for the eldest girl but I think the other two will enjoy it as well. I have been given the task of finding suitable pony and will also be taking full care of it once it arrives :eek: I've no idea where to start!
I have been looking at various websites that I found by googling 'buy horses' but obviously not sure which are best and what I need to look for!
I have seen a few which look very nice and sound suitable but that's coming from somebody who knows nothing about horses so I could be wrong!

Any advice on buying horses would be much appreciated.

I plan on reading up on horse care as much as possible as well!

Now this may be a silly question but as well as the horse itself, what do I need to buy to have ready for when the horse arrives?
 
If this is a serious post then I strongly suggest that you and the family involved get more experience with horses, their care and riding before you get the cheque book out.
Get the kids booked on some riding lessons at a riding school and see if they even enjoy riding before you even look at getting a pony.
If you do want to plough ahead then please, please put the poor thing on full livery at a good yard where you can all learn and your horses health and welfare are looked after until your up to speed.
 
If I was nanny I'd be very upset at the extra number of hours a day I'd be having to work, 1.5hrs looking after the pony + travelling time + 3 kiddies riding time = big pay rise please :)
 
I don't really know what the issue is, I'm asking for advice and willing to learn. I'm well aware that looking after an animal you don't know about isn't a good idea, that's why I'm here - for advice and guidance!
I did point out to my boss that I don't know anything about horses but my options are learn fast or loose my job!

I'm not an idiot, I'm just doing my job.

The girls already go to riding lessons so we now they like it.

If anyone has any ACTUAL advice I honestly would appreciate it a lot.
 
Then I would put the pony on full or part livery where you can get advice from knowledgeable people while you learn about how to care for a horse.

When looking for the pony, find something 10years plus that is safe and sensible, an ex riding school pony would be ideal.
 
I know that we are all laughing but this seriously did happen to me when i was selling a childs pony several years ago.

Clueless Nanny turned up on Good Friday at 8am (i was going to in-laws) but she'd insisted that she had to see pony asap. She brought her own child, who had never ridden, no gloves, hat, boots! Watched my daughter ride, sat her daughter on for 30 second lead round, Said that pony had 'a very pretty face & that they'd have it' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They did send a YO up two days later who did ride pony. Had it 5 stage vetted, quibbled about a pair of front shoes.

As it was being loaded i was informed who it was for. Well known pop stars children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gosh i missed a tick there. :-)
 
If you are serious, I would advise accompanying the kids to their lessons and act like a sponge. Ask questions, get involved, ask more questions, be as hands on as the yard will allow. You are not going to learn the ins and outs of horse ownership by reading a book. You will need as much practical experiance as you can!
 
OP...does this family have their own land or do you have a local yard?

My advice is sound...put it on full livery where you can all learn from experienced people and the pony will be looked after which will take the pressure off you and might keep the pony alive past Christmas!
 
First you need to find a livery yard in your area. Since you havn't got any experience you need one that does full livery in other words they look after the pony and the kids just need to turn up and ride.
Either them or the riding school should be able to help you find a suitable pony. Do not under any circumstances buy a pony without some experience with you.
Get youself/kids some books like the pony club manual and get reading.
good luck.
 
have a look on the Pony Club website, they have a classified section where the horses advertised are likely to be suitable for children.

I would advise buying nothing younger that 8 for a first horse for children with a novice keeper. That way you avoid the 'teenage' tantrum years and should have a more sensible settled horse.

Go for something native, a good welsh or newforest etc - something that doesnt need wrapping in cotton wool and can happily live out without a stable if needed.

Tack will need to be purchased but you can get a saddle fitter to come out and help you with that and discuss bridles and bits with the girls current instructor.

Talk to the girls instructor as they will often accompany you to view a horse for a small fee.

Not sure if this post is serious or not but there is my ten pence worth if it means anything at all.
 
CobsGalore said:
Then I would put the pony on full or part livery where you can get advice from knowledgeable people while you learn about how to care for a horse.

When looking for the pony, find something 10years plus that is safe and sensible, an ex riding school pony would be ideal.
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^^ this!

PLease get some proper advice from an experienced horsey person when you go to look at ponies. Some unscrupulous people will just see you coming as a novice owner/buyer and you don't want the kids to be stuck with a dangerous or sick pony. Maybe someone at the girls's riding school could help you?
 
As the child has riding lessons the first place that can really help is the riding school, they may have something suitable and can also offer the support once it is purchased, even if not from them.

Buying a first pony is not something you can really do without some help, there are some unscrupulous people out there that will sell anything if they think they can get away with it, equally some sellers are great but may be apprehensive about selling a much loved pony to a home with no experience.

Do any of the childrens friends have ponies, could you ask their parents, nanny or groom for help, the forum can be useful but you really need hands on help and someone to go to viewings with you.

A vetting is essential before buying.
 
if the kids have lessons then it should be their instructor helping to get them a pony - you should be saying what you have here to him/her and perhaps suggest to the parents that they pay the instructor to find them a pony and oversee its care or at least sort out appropriate full livery.
 
Thank you to those not laughing at me, I'm feeling a bit stressed out about this whole situation to be honest!

I normally drop the children off at their lesson and do my other chores in the meantime but will try and juggle things around to see if I can stick around while they have their lesson.
As for not 'rushing out to buy a horse' mum wants it asap so I don't have much choice in that matter.
I will ask at the riding school if any of their horses are for sale (or is this a no-no?)
 
Please for the love of God get the pony on at least part livery.
You need to be surrounded by supportive knowledgeable people who know just how inexperienced you are.

You may well be aware that you are looking after an animal, but horses aren't a dog.. or a goldfish..
They're incredibly complicated, time-consuming and strong!

If you can't tell a martingale from a breastplate then you really are not in a position to be in full care of a horse.

We may all appear quite harsh, but sometime down the line when you are more experienced, you will realise just how worrying this idea is!
 
On the assumption this is mot a troll post, What facilities do you have? It's not very fair to keep a social herd animal at home on its own. My suggestion would be to join your local pony club, ask for their head instructor to help find you a suitable pony and suggest a suitable yard to keep it to start with.
 
Thank you to those not laughing at me, I'm feeling a bit stressed out about this whole situation to be honest!
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I'm not laughing at all. I can just see the myriad of ways that this could go wrong. It is very irresponsible of the parents to put so much responsibility in the hands of an unhorsey nanny. The wrong pony could easily badly injure the child. The right pony could easily become distressed, ill or unruly if looked after by someone with no experience.
 
My advice is to contact ads with the following key words;
16.2
Ex racer
Not novice ride
Age 5 or under
Sweetitch
And remember, all the most suitable ones will be either free, or under £300.
If you are actually serious, tell your boss that if she has even a vague interest in her children's well being, she'll get experienced help to buy a pony.
 
nannysarah, do you work 7 days a week for the mum? The pony will need seeing to twice a day 365 days a year.
once in the morning before the children go to school and again straight after school as a minimum but if it's ill or injured then it may need to be seen to more than twice a day - your employers need to factor this in.

If this is genuine then full livery would be the best way to go for the sake of the pony and enlisting the help of the childrens instructor to purchase it but I really truely hope that this is a joke or your employers change their minds.
 
Get as much help as you can from the riding school!! Even ask to help out for a few weeks in your spare time just to learn as much as you can. I seriously agree that this pony should be on full livery and that you need to shadow the YM/YO in their duties before taking full responsibility for the pony. Explain to the mum that this is in the best interest of the pony and that if it colicked you wouldn't know the symptoms or when to call the vet which will cost her a lot of pennies!!
 
I've messaged you OP.. On the trust that this isn't a wind up if you're anywhere near me I'll do my best to find you something that is hopefully suitable..
 
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