Putting daughters much loved pony out on loan

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footballerswife

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just thought i would share this as it has been one of the hardest things i ever had to do as a parent and i thought it might help anyone facing the same situation. my daughters second pony has been a wonderful allrounder/pc pony but she loves her sj and he reached his limit about 2 years ago when she wanted to do BS. we bought another competition pony to move on to the next level but kept red as we love him so much and to give him a role in life she did PPC and local shows on him. but she has grown, she's jumping bigger & out of some classes and we got the next pony. we are lucky not to be paying for livery and we have a huge field but i thought red was too good and too young (11) to just be in the field so decided to put him out on loan. my daughter was heartbroken and would have given up the 2 competition ponies to keep him. we had fights like we have never had fights and i almost gave in. but now red has gone to a loan home where he is building the confidence of a nervous rider, who hasnt learnt to jump yet, loves showing, and the whole family treat him like a king. even my daughter said "she will never ask him to do too much and i did ask him to do too much". so the moral of the story is: your the parent - be brave and do right by everyone :) x
 
That last line is so true. So many parents miss that nowadays!

We kept my stepson's first pony to avoid upset (sometimes having your own yard and land is not a good thing!) and really regretted it as she got laminitus. Once better we sold her onto a good home where she was used and kept fit and well. We did the same with his second pony - obviously without the laminitus bit! Both ponies are loved and doing well. Thankfully he is now on our big horses and no more will have to go touch wood!
 
thank you all. forgot to say that it killed me too! the pones are like dogs to me. when i dropped him off at the loan home he looked at me with his ears flat forward like "Mum!". but when the little girl came to try him at ours he was kinder and better than i had ever seen him. she had been over horsed and tanked off with before and sat on him all crouched forward. i was a bit nervous when she asked for canter but he just lolopped round and round and gradually she sat up straight with this great big smile on her face and the parents were nearly crying with gratitude & relief and red knew he'd been a hero lol x
 
Sounds like a lovely home for a lovely pony. Wish he'd been around when I was looking for my nervous daughter!

Well done for seeing it through, it's so tough. I had problems letting go of the one who'd scared my daughter silly so can imagine how you feel. xx
 
i know! someone said to me the other day well what are you going to do when shes too big for freddie bear - who tries his heart out for her - and i was like, omg! shoot him in the field it would be easier! (jks obvs lol :) x
 
Thanks for posting this. I think this is the same situation we will have soon with my daughter's pony and I'm dreading it - the pony is an absolute saint but my daughter is soon going to be wanting to jump higher than the pony can manage...the only reason she's come on so much is because of this pony. I'm trying to keep my head buried in the sand until the last possible moment because I so don't want to let the pony go!
 
We were very lucky with my sister's first pony, just like you! We found him the most incredible loan home through a friend of a friend. He has been able to live out (which for a chronic weaver has been so so beneficial), taught the two children all he knows and will be there until the end of his days. We actually sold him to them a year or so ago for £1 :D
 
footballerswife said:
...i was a bit nervous when she asked for canter but he just lolopped round and round and gradually she sat up straight with this great big smile on her face and the parents were nearly crying with gratitude & relief and red knew he'd been a hero lol x
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It sounds as if Red has a job to do in his loan home... :)

I'm dreading this one myself when daughter outgrows her pony... But he's only ten so I've already laid the ground work that when she outgrows him in a few years we'll have to start looking for a loan home for him so he can teach another child to ride...
 
Very well done all round! Sounds like daughter has a good mind set - fights for what she wants and not willing to give up on something just because she no longer 'has a use', and yet has the strength of character to see and to acknowledge that the pony is better where he is now and why :). Very well done :)

I expected to have similar conversations with D1 and D2, but as it turned out, LL is an old cantankerous g!t who just doesn't get the whole work ethic, and Little Cob is wonky, so two ponies munching grass and keeping us on our toes managing weight for one and laminitis for the other :cool:. I wish it had worked out your way OP, where the pony is happy, healthy, and bringing happiness to others :)
 
This is so true. My pony has always been a family favourite, and I would never sell him, but I outgrew him mentally, and wanted an arab to take racing. He comes back to me periodically, and has had all sorts of jobs, but he generally goes again, because he gets bored, and its not fair to keep him sitting as a field ornament, went he would rather be charging round the countryside teaching a new child.
Loan has had a bad press recently, but it can work so well.
 
zaminda said:
Loan has had a bad press recently, but it can work so well.
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The loans mentioned in this thread are mostly where a child comes to try a pony and details will be exchanged and possibly Pony Club references taken. Ponies used to move around our Pony Club every couple of years mostly between families who knew each other well and owners would see pony regularly and be able to offer any advice needed.

The loans which have been most problematical have been companion horse loans which possibly have not been checked frequently or loans because an owner is ill/injured/pregnant and unable to properly care for their horse. Then there are the 'pro loanees' who seem very convincing and then totally ignore the contract and sell the horse!
 
MrsMozart said:
Very well done all round! Sounds like daughter has a good mind set - fights for what she wants and not willing to give up on something just because she no longer 'has a use', and yet has the strength of character to see and to acknowledge that the pony is better where he is now and why :). Very well done :)

I expected to have similar conversations with D1 and D2, but as it turned out, LL is an old cantankerous g!t who just doesn't get the whole work ethic, and Little Cob is wonky, so two ponies munching grass and keeping us on our toes managing weight for one and laminitis for the other :cool:. I wish it had worked out your way OP, where the pony is happy, healthy, and bringing happiness to others :)
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thank you for your very kind words. it makes it sound far more honorable than i think it was but it is true that my daughter is incredibly loyal and had been offered almost literally any JA she wanted if she would let us move red on (by my husband - i was vacillating and being a useless parent). if she could only have one pony she would keep the very first one we bought her, still eating his head off in the field,nearly 30 and looking good for another 20 years - who was vile and dropped his shoulder - and never jump again. we should have done this 2 years ago, it was incredibly egotistical to think we were the only people who could love the pony and make him happy. but hey ho, we got there in the end xx
 
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