Pony showjumping people

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mummblesmum

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Some advice required for you knowledgeable people.

Looking for a new 138cm pony for DD who is a small 11 year old (12 this year). We want to progress to BS at some point. She has had current pony for 4 years, done PC and unaffiliated/trailblazers etc up to approx 80cm. Current pony been off work since Sept with a virus and not sure when it can come back into work.

Ideal situation was to sell current pony and add a bit to that and buy another pony.

As this can't happen we are now thinking of buying but have a more limited budget. We did not want a pony that had money on its card and is a "been there done it" type.

I have seen a 4 year old pony that I and DD really likes. It has been produced by a showjumper for the last year but competed and ridden by kids round the yard. Seemed capable but sensible - but was worried that it was only 4.

It rides more like a 6 year old. Pretty well schooled and balanced and was registered BS a few weekends ago and went double clear BN and Discovery, although I think it has only been out to a handful of shows so far (the others being unaffiliated).

What are the pros and cons of something this young?

Bearing in mind daughter will only be on this pony until the end of the year she turns 14 (that is if she doesn't grow out of it first - but that is unlikely based on the size of her parents :p)

Would welcome your thoughts. Many thanks.

PS Would like to check this pony's BS record - if you pay the £11 to get its record what information does this tell you?
 
I can check its record for you for free around dinner time for you if you like? (Am just popping off to hospital at mo, may be able to do it in waiting room though if you send me the name!!) Personally I prefer a younger pony that can be brought up through the ranks. My daughter has just finished juniors & competed on a JC older pony & also a 5yrs old first timer! She loved doing the youngster as she found it super rewarding having something that she was bringing on herself.

The problem with more experienced ponies is that most of the time they are out of the classes the kids starting off want to do so have to do open classes instead which means they can't qualify for as much stuff! xx
 
I do agree with everything tinap says but there is on the flip side a lot to be said for a more experienced pony who will teach a child. I don't know how your daughter rides but we have gone for schoolmasters for our boys at each stage until they were older and had learnt from them.

That said younger son is bringing on a 128 pony that we bred for him and while he enjoys it he finds elements frustrating and I think at his age he might have benefitted more from two experienced ponies rather than a novice and the fantastic JA schoolmaster that he has.

One other quick thought is that this pony is only 4 and has been in a pro home. You need to be sure that your daughter rides well enough and has sufficient support from coaches/instructors to enable her to ride to the same standard or you could have problems. When moving up a stage I have always bought experienced jumping ponies with solid records but from amateur homes as these are much easier for a new rider to take on I have found.

Best of luck whatever you decide.
 
^^yep good points M! Must add that when my girl was competing the youngster she had been jumping BS for quite a few years anyway so wasn't new to it & had been schooling this young one since it was backed too so knew it well. Her older JC had given her all her confidence too xx
 
mmm...yes this is my concern. She has not BS experience. Also I have just realised that Pony Club don't allow ponies to compete until they are 5 so she couldn't even start off at PC competitions :(
 
measles said:
I do agree with everything tinap says but there is on the flip side a lot to be said for a more experienced pony who will teach a child. I don't know how your daughter rides but we have gone for schoolmasters for our boys at each stage until they were older and had learnt from them.

That said younger son is bringing on a 128 pony that we bred for him and while he enjoys it he finds elements frustrating and I think at his age he might have benefitted more from two experienced ponies rather than a novice and the fantastic JA schoolmaster that he has.

One other quick thought is that this pony is only 4 and has been in a pro home. You need to be sure that your daughter rides well enough and has sufficient support from coaches/instructors to enable her to ride to the same standard or you could have problems. When moving up a stage I have always bought experienced jumping ponies with solid records but from amateur homes as these are much easier for a new rider to take on I have found.

Best of luck whatever you decide.
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I am not a "pony person" but I am a "young horse" person and I would agree with the above. The other qualifier with looking at a professionally produced pony is fitting it into your current situation - there can be some bumpy adaptation, moving a horse from a professional yard to a more personal situation and the young pony that is quiet and ridable when you go to look at it in situ may not be quite so amenable reliable when it's out of its depth in a new home. The advantage of an older pony is that, even if it's been with one person, it's done a bit of living, likely stayed away, hacked alone, travelled alone, been in a less structured program and generally had a more "amateur friendly" life.
 
Some good advice already, I would just add that ponies (and horses) who are saints at four can turn into little devils at five, when they are a bit stronger and fancy testing the boundaries. Properly managed, of course, they come through it, but I've seen many a purchaser lulled into buying a quiet, meek, weak, four year old ;)

My personal view would be that DD needs something which can teach her the ropes at this stage. Perhaps you could try and source one on loan for the moment? Best of luck, anyway :)
 
Hi,

We have done this exactly. Daughter went from a 12 2 doing unaffiliated comps to a 13 2 doing BS.

We ended up getting a 10 yr old JC pony and although it had jumped out if the smaller main classes we have found there are plenty of opens and also at the moment there is the stepping stones class where the 138cm class is 85cm and it's not timed.

We did have confidence issues when we first got him in the bigger classes but the pony was already really well schooled and helped my daughter loads. I'm not sure what would have happened if the pony was nervous too!
 
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