Pony Advice for my daughter........

aidybex

aidybex

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 February 2009
Messages
387
Location
In the Valleys, oh what's occuring..
Visit site
I'm hoping you helpful people can help me........My daughter is nearly 7 years old and pony mad. My dad bought her a pony a couple of years ago but he was too nervy and due to him jumping one day it spooked my daughter and she then refused to ride. She is now keen again and wants to start.
I am not an amateur - I have my own horse and own land so keeping it is not an issue. The question I have is what is my best option to pursue:
a) take her for riding lesson and hope they will help her improve and gain trust (although not had good reviews about local riding school!!)
b) try and find a old faithful that she can learn on and gain trust with? I have enquired about one locally but she's now sold.

Advice woud be gratefully accepted - bonus if anyone knows where this is something ideal - no bigger than 12hh ideally and sex no issue (other than stallion). I'm located between Grantham and Nottingham.
confused.gif
 
Well, I was going to suggest riding lessons but bad reviews are a NO NO haha.
I think you should get her a Golden Oldie that she can really learn from and trust.
Ask your horseyfriends about any thing they know that may be suitible.

Your daughters already being brave by being eager to get in to the saddle again.

xx Hope it goes well
 
It may be worth tryng to get get an old faithful on loan/t borrow for a while and see how long the novelty lasts- there seems little point paying for (bad) riding lessons and also shelling out for a pony only for her to be bored/scared of it in a month or two. Riding lessons would probably be valuable but only ever worthwhile if they are good so hunt around for another school
smile.gif
 
You could phone the local pony clubs up and ask if they know of anything. Or even charities/sanctuaries. I know of a fab childs pony that belongs to a sanctuary!
There might even be someone locally who would be grateful of someone to ride their pony for them.
 
As you have your own land and are an experienced horse person yourself I would go for option b and get a pony. Perhaps one on loan is a good idea becaue if she decides riding is not for her it can go back to its owner.
 
I had a similar situation many years ago. We had a lovely pony for my son but she was just tooo sharp and he gave up riding. after about 3 months he expreassed a wish to start again so we hunted for a "schoolmaster". This was a brilliant success and he went on riding for many years.
Mind you it was a long hard hunt for the right one.
Good luck
 
i would get a really nice old pony that has seen everything, that way she wont be swapping from pony to pony which can happen at RS which may not help her build up confidence.
here is the pony club website which is a great place to look, they are all genuine ponies who have belonged to people just like you:
http://www.pcuk.org/index.php?option=com...0&Itemid=85

good luck in your search, i hope find what you are looking for....
there are some really loevly ponies out there who will give your daughter years of fun
smile.gif
 
Is there an alternative riding school with a better reputation? Have you actually visited said riding school and watched a few lessons/different instructors? Normally RS insist on a few private one to one lessons to assess the child before fitting into a group, I'd go visit the school more than once and see if you like how the instructor (s) teach and if you're happy then book.
I'd start with a few lessons at a RS to get her confidence back up in the mean time while you look for a pony.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top