Ponies … coming off lead rein ?

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Lauren1993

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Hi all,
My 6 year old daughter (very tall for her age) rides our little 9.2hh Shetland mare. She can walk & trot her independently around our yard when she’s behaving , the odd canter up the hill back to the stables 😅 she is a true lead rein pony & relies on me to be with her a lot in the school rather than listening to my daughter riding her.
She can manage a walk & a little trot independently in the school but pony then knows she can turn & come back to me & on grass she needs grass reins & then she can just about manage.

At what stage would you progress them onto a first ridden rather than lead rein ?
Unfortunately we don’t have the space for 2 ponies so a decision does need to be made at some point

I’m thinking of maybe sending her for some riding lessons on a riding school pony instead of her lessons on her pony for a while to see if she progresses then maybe make the decision ?

When would you progress them ?

I also have a 3 year old daughter that loves to plod around on her so it’s a tough one with only 1 pony to make a decision.

Thanks all.
 
It can be quite tough to transition a lead rein pony to a first ridden. As you’ve noticed, pony is used to taking its lead from you not her little rider. Plus your little rider isn’t going to be able to correct when pony realises she has independent thought 🙈 lessons are a good shout but I’d also maybe try and find a slightly older little jockey that might be able to install some buttons for you … not an easy task for a Shetland! Maybe your pony will make the transition without the “woohoo I’m free!” Stage but I spent a lot of time on the floor when my Welsh pony made the switch from lead rein to independence… and the memories are still here all these years later 😂 so it’s good to be prepared!
 
I’d say RS lessons or part loan until the younger one is ready to progress to first ridden as well?

I think you might as well kill two birds with one stone, because looking for the angelic, ready-made 1st ridden will be very difficult in the market at the moment.

ETA: I’d recommend part loaning over RS lessons if possible, because RS ponies can often just be plods (no fault of their own, they’re often overworked) and due to insurance, many RS places don’t really let kids progress much.
 
I had this dilema when my daughter was moving from lead rein to independant riding at about age 6. Her pony followed my lead and listened to me mostly. I sent my daughter to a really good riding school where she had a great time riding lots of ponies independantly for about one year. Went back to her pony and they had years of fun together. The riding school really was the turning point. She had the basics walk, trot and a bit of canter when she started there but they got her doing so much more and her independance flourished. I would recommend a riding school if it's convenient for you.
 
Thanks all.
My eldest has massively outgrown our Shetland now being 9.2hh & 135cm tall at 6 years old.
She’s starting to be top heavy & wobbly riding her & my daughter can feel it & gets worried (sensitive confidence when not doing a lot of riding) so definitely need to move on up.
We had a lesson on a 12.2hh last night & was much better but my daughter felt the big change from a 9.2 to a 12.2 … so I’m maybe thinking to try an 11.2-12hh

My issue is we have our own yard with my horse & the Shetland.
Obviously paying rent, hay etc. every thing that comes with horses.
Her 1-2-1 lesson for 30 mins was £35 !
She could go to a group which is £30 for an hour - this is more than my weeks yard rent for my 2 !
Plus my daughter has clearly stated she’d rather have lessons at home 🤦🏻‍♀️

I’m stuck. Do I bite the bullet & buy the next pony up & continue her lessons at home (£20 & conviniently at home while I muck out) on new pony or splash out on weekly lessons at a RS ?!

Selling Shetland will be heart breaking as she is 1 in a million 💔 but is it time.
 
A true first ridden pony would work for both your daughters but the problem is they are few and far between and command a big price tag. Many advertised as such are not actually proper saintly types and tend to be a leadrein or second type pony but are not angelic enough for a just off the leadrein small child. Much of the problem stems from not having competent, lightweight riders to school these ponies correctly. I had a Section A who was wonderful with small children just off the leadrein and if I could have cloned him I would - when I shut my riding school I could have sold him twenty times over and was getting offers at the same price as my big horses!

If you go down the RS route make sure the lessons are good quality ones to bring your daughter's riding on correctly. BTW a private lesson at £35 per half hour is probably average - sadly anything to do with horses is costly!
 
Well I can tell you what not to do? 🤣

From personal experience, do not turn up at a viewing for a saintly first ridden with your child only able to kick (or trot) by holding onto the saddle with their hands, no idea at all about how to hold the reins (or how short they should be) and let them set off into the sunset to ‘try the pony out’. Then when they wobble because they asked for a faster trot and pony gave them one, complain because pony caught the wobble, over-rode the instructions and returned child to parent, expecting parent to…oh I don’t know…teach their child?

Got that x 2 when I tried to sell a saint on four legs this year. Traumatised the poor pony let alone me! Kind of put me off. Pony is consequently still here, much to the delight of all my kids’ beginner friends who love to come and have a sit on her!

On the flip side, what I did and past purchasers of saintly ponies have done is:
- teach child on the lunge until they can ‘ride’ with reins and stirrups in all paces in balance and some semblance of control;
- get the basics on a friend’s pony/riding school pony of how it feels to go off lead;
- go try out a first ridden on lead first then following then maybe if ready trotting away. With supervision and instruction.
 
thanks all.
My daughter can already walk & trot her Shetland independently, she’s used to a 9.2hh fast trot & when she rode the riding school pony he was 12.2 & very slow - slightly sharp too !

We’re more than happy to & will 100% expect to be going back to lead rein for starters if we do get a new pony.
We’re happy to put the work into a new pony as we do not have the budget for a ready made unicorn unfortunately!

My dilemma is - she has massively outgrown her 9.2hh Shetland so needs a bigger pony to continue riding - we have our own little yard with my horse & the girls Shetland so selling shetty & buying a new pony is no more cost or work. But , if I keep shetty & pay for RS lessons that is more of an expense & shetty is being wanted at home.

I think if I can find a lead rein & possibly first ridden with some work to buy, my daughter can continue her lessons on the new pony at home as she is with shetty.
I now they are like gold dust & very expensive but like I said I’m happy to put the work in - find a more advance rider to school new pony at home too.

Our local riding school is not the best ! & I could have taught her better & felt like a waste of £35 for half an hour when I could have spent £20 for a lesson at home with a better instructor & it benefit our own pony too.

I have found a few ponies to see over the weekend, one is younger but professionally backed & schooled - lead rein perfect, more woah than go but being young still needs work. 2nd is older been there done it type,
More forward, bigger - very posh & over budget but she knows my budget & open to a discussion because she is the other side of our nearest town so very local !
hold off until spring - but prices will increase for what we want, shetty will be wasted over winter & her price is more ‘capped’ because she’s a shetty.

Do I buy the new pony I guess is my question ?!
 
Feral to Family have 3 in at the moment, all about 11hh, that she's selling as lead rein/just coming off it. Could be worth a look? I don't know her but have been following her on Facebook for ages and she seems like she'll answer all your questions and give you an honest assessment of each pony and whether any of them might suit your needs.
 
I have a 12.2hh and 12hh - both would do both jobs for you depending on how much the older child is willing to learn to ride rather than expecting pony to do it for her (I had one child of each persuasion!). So they definitely are out there and can be in a reasonable budget. So yes, buy the pony!!

For example, my 12hh younger one knows it all on the lead rein and is very keen to please off lead. She has taught three children to come off the lead for the first time, and my daughter’s friend has learned from the very beginning on her, almost ready to come off now. Her lead rein sharer is 2 and again learned from the beginning. I would price her around low four figures starting with a 2 - so you really don’t have to spend the Earth if you are willing to put in some time yourself and the child is willing to be patient with the pony. Ours is currently brilliant but she would not stay that way without lessons for the child and a competent parent being involved - she is simply not yet an adult herself.
 
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Fab thank you for this. I have a budget of 3k ish so I do think this time of year I should be able to pick a suitable ping up that may need abit of work.
My eldest is very independent but does have a very sensitive confidence … so it’s a fine line with her.
My youngest gets (2nd child 😅) has balls of steel & is obsessed with trotting bouncing around on our shetty.
 
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