Pony Shopping / Waiting for Vet Check / Etc

[FireCracker238]

How was his first night at home Mrs. C?

 

[Melandmary]

Woohoo!! Please post pics of this handsome boy, he sounds lovely ?

 

[MrsCentaur]

I am the happiest human in the world.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Gorgeous photos! He looks lovely - we need more pics.

 

[Archangel]

He is gorgeous. Congratulations.

 

[Melandmary]

Oh he looks adorable and lovely colouring. You do look like you will make a great partnership and might I add you don't look old enough to have popped out 5 sprogs ?. Hope you will have lots of fun together and I will be interested in what matchy match sets you find to suit his colouring

 

[Berpisc]

Isn't he gorgeous! I hope you have many good times together and have loads of fun

 

[Red-1]

Gorgeous!!!! Congratulations!

 

[MrsCentaur]

Thank you so much, everyone! He has been such a good boy and has settled into our busy yard beautifully already. We’ve walked out in hand and he was very responsive to voice aids and not bargey in the least, and the littlest ride which we kept short because he was rather anxious, though he listened well and was clearly trying his absolute best to give what was being asked of him. I think he’s going to do very, very well here. Hoping to ride him in a lesson on Wednesday (and then another on Thursday... and a hack on Friday...) but we’ll see how things go.

@Melandmary thank you! I feel about a hundred so that has cheered me right up. ? We had two sets of twins in quick succession, followed by our ‘holiday child’ (a singleton). It is a bit chaotic but good fun!

 

[Bernster]

He’s gorgeous, lovely colour!

 

[Jules111]

He looks lovely. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with him.

2 sets of twins and a single . Wow, my hat is definitely off to you. If you can wrestle all of those mini's into clothes and out of the house whilst holding down a job you'll find dealing with a sensible cob easy peezy.

 

[J&S]

You deserve a horse with all those children, and as Jules says, he will be a peice of cake by comparison! He does look like a cool dude.

 

[MrsCentaur]

Good morning! I am missing the boy dreadfully from the comfort of my office in London - it is worse than going back after maternity leave! He's gone out into the field with a couple of pony friends this morning, for the first time since arriving, so I doubt that he's missing me much at all. Fingers crossed he'll be in one piece still when he comes in... eek.

I'm hoping to take him into my lesson on Wednesday (shared with friends, usually quite measured) and then again on Thursday ('Cavalry Club', less measured, we will probably sit out of the hot bits!). Contemplating sneaking up for an early morning ride tomorrow, if only because my usual instructor is away having a knee replaced and the Wednesday lesson is being taken by our wonderfully old-school but quite anxious yard owner, and if I'm going to fall off of a new horse I really don't want to do it under her beady eye else I'll be practicing walk-to-halt transitions for the rest of forever and we have Pony Camp for Adults in three weeks! Will take him into the school and play in-hand for a bit, I think, and if he seems settled I will hop aboard and spend some time checking that he is comfortable being ridden in there and that he is listening and responsive and we have brakes! He was super on Friday so I don't know why I'm suddenly nervous. I think I just want to start things off right and give him the easiest transition possible to his new life.

 

[Charley657]

Can we get an update on how he is settling in? More pics please!

 

[MrsCentaur]

@Charley657 I'm so glad that you asked!




Merry has been home for just over two weeks and is absolutely beloved by everyone he meets here. After a VERY whizzy initial week and a half we have mostly established where the brakes are and are getting there with the steering.. it's been a massive change for me, as I've been riding/learning on competitive schoolmasters where riding correctly = successful performance; he hasn't been schooled much and I'm finding that I'm not asking so much as teaching, which is of course incredibly enjoyable and rewarding but rather outside of my skill set - it is very much a case of the blind leading the blind! He is a cheerful little soul though and utterly giving, and already he is recognising and responding to voice commands and, when he stops bombing off with his head in the air, there are moments where he moves in a lovely outline. I don't have the experience to do him justice so I think we might do a few weeks of 'pony boarding school' with someone experienced in showing cobs during my busier period at work and I will probably pay for him to be schooled once or twice a week by somebody who can bring out his very best self and correct whatever I am misteaching when I ride him. We haven't been out hacking yet but he is apparently a bombproof hack, having spent most of the past couple of years doing exactly that.

We have Pony Camp this coming weekend. When I booked camp initially, and especially when I started pony shopping, I had visions of impressing everybody with my new pony's ability and experience. Owning and working with Merry has definitely altered that plan - I'm not planning to jump him until I'm confident in his flatwork, and I don't want to blow his brain with anything too fast, confusing or stressful. My goal for camp is to finish it with a happy pony who has progressed in his skillset (and without my falling off!).

All in all, I am so very happy.

 

[Fraggle bells rock]

Sounds like your both doing great and building trust in each other as you go.

 

[Birker2020]

@Charley657 I'm so glad that you asked!


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Merry has been home for just over two weeks and is absolutely beloved by everyone he meets here. After a VERY whizzy initial week and a half we have mostly established where the brakes are and are getting there with the steering.. it's been a massive change for me, as I've been riding/learning on competitive schoolmasters where riding correctly = successful performance; he hasn't been schooled much and I'm finding that I'm not asking so much as teaching, which is of course incredibly enjoyable and rewarding but rather outside of my skill set - it is very much a case of the blind leading the blind! He is a cheerful little soul though and utterly giving, and already he is recognising and responding to voice commands and, when he stops bombing off with his head in the air, there are moments where he moves in a lovely outline. I don't have the experience to do him justice so I think we might do a few weeks of 'pony boarding school' with someone experienced in showing cobs during my busier period at work and I will probably pay for him to be schooled once or twice a week by somebody who can bring out his very best self and correct whatever I am misteaching when I ride him. We haven't been out hacking yet but he is apparently a bombproof hack, having spent most of the past couple of years doing exactly that.

We have Pony Camp this coming weekend. When I booked camp initially, and especially when I started pony shopping, I had visions of impressing everybody with my new pony's ability and experience. Owning and working with Merry has definitely altered that plan - I'm not planning to jump him until I'm confident in his flatwork, and I don't want to blow his brain with anything too fast, confusing or stressful. My goal for camp is to finish it with a happy pony who has progressed in his skillset (and without my falling off!).

All in all, I am so very happy.

So pleased for you. I am pony shopping at the moment, the whole thing is a nightmare! Saw a lovely one yesterday, fallen in love ....

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Saw a lovely one yesterday, fallen in love ....

Are you having it?

 

[Birker2020]

Are you having it?

Not sure what to do, its not currently advertised so I am in no urgent rush so going next Sunday with my physio friend and trying another one at a different yard if that isn't sold by then.

BUt I am really keen. I can't really say anymore at the moment, the girl who owns it and her mother were so nice and its such a lovely horse, I have very little confidence due to my weight (which I am currently frantically addressing) and the fact that I'd not trotted or cantered or jumped in a school or any setting for that matter for over three years due to my previous horses orthaepedic problems, and this horses demeanour made me feel really secure and happy, I also cantered in an open field kicked on, dropped my reins, off he went as predicted but then came straight back to me, no questions asked.

He is so cuddly and sweet tempered and feels like we would suit each other very well in terms of personality. That's sounds a bit fluffy clouds and isn't meant to. I'm a a realist and my head is currently ruling my heart and I am determined it will not be the other way round until I can gather more information next Sunday.

 

[Bernster]

Great update MrsC. I can relate to lots of what you said, these things take time and training. With my just turned 5yo who was pretty green, I started with weekly lessons and got my ins to school him weekly, which did wonders for us. I still keep to this on the whole (not always weekly) as we’ve continued to develop and improve over time and it’s been great for us both.

 

[MrsCentaur]

We had a glorious, golden sunset at the yard last night and I couldn't resist getting a few iPhone snaps of the best boy after our lesson. Merry has been home for just over a month now and continues to be a fizzy, whooshy thing in the school - not malicious at all, just bouncy and with a tendency to accelerate when he's not quite sure what he should be doing. That said, he's also a quick learner and after three lessons/week for a month and some practice in between, there is a marked improvement in his output compared to when he first arrived. On the ground he's basically an overgrown labrador; I've waited thirty years for a pony and tend to keep him with me when I can, so the yard is getting used to me taking him about with me on the end of a headcollar most of the time regardless of whether his presence is actually necessary or not! He is such a darling and a joy to have around.

 

[Birker2020]

H looks smashing, lovely photos too.

 

[Pipps]

Those sunset photos (and all the others to be fair) are so lovely!
Loved reading this thread

 

[Wishfilly]

What an absolutely lovely pony. Your enthusiasm in your posts is so infectious, too!

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

He’s lovely - I saw him advertised and thought he was very attractive. So glad he’s working out well.

 

[ycbm]

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We had a glorious, golden sunset at the yard last night and I couldn't resist getting a few iPhone snaps of the best boy after our lesson. Merry has been home for just over a month now and continues to be a fizzy, whooshy thing in the school - not malicious at all, just bouncy and with a tendency to accelerate when he's not quite sure what he should be doing. That said, he's also a quick learner and after three lessons/week for a month and some practice in between, there is a marked improvement in his output compared to when he first arrived. On the ground he's basically an overgrown labrador; I've waited thirty years for a pony and tend to keep him with me when I can, so the yard is getting used to me taking him about with me on the end of a headcollar most of the time regardless of whether his presence is actually necessary or not! He is such a darling and a joy to have around.

The pair of you sound lucky to have found each other ?