riding school or loan pony dilemma, help please!!!

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aliceeventing131

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okay i need peoples opinions on what i should do really really bad, i have seen a loan pony advertised and im allowed to loan him (i cant afford a pony of my own, even though i have wanted one for the 5 years i have been riding) but one problem, getting the loan pony would mean i have to leave my riding school and maybe only go there as a birthday present or enter the odd show there but i LOVE that riding school, the horses the people i would just miss them all sooo much but i only get to go there once a week as it is quite expensive (but well worth the money) iv learnt so so much there, but now i have learnt things i need to know like schooling, jumping different fences horse managment etc my mom thinks im ready for a loan pony after 5 years, and instead of having once a week lessons i could ride this pony most days and go to shows, hacks etc. i would just miss my riding school a lot my mom reckons i should just move on and go with the loan pony, which i really do want to i just hate the thought of hardly ever having lessons there, even though iv already learnt 90% of the things i need (my mom can cover the 10% she knows everything about horses) so i just dont know what to do, i really really wantr the loan pony, but then whenever i think about leaving the riding school it just makes me upset, but then when i think of not having the loan pony it makes me upset too! opinions needed please id be grateful!
 
Personally if you feel your confident enough to look after and ride your own loan pony I would do that.

My daughter was similar to you, she rode for about 4 years at a sweet little RS, had one of their ponies on a sort of "part loan" and then she got the chance to take our friend's pony on full loan, she always says the moment she first learned to ride was the first day she sat on our friend's pony, she got a lot from the experience, so as long as you have people to call on for guidance and advice (which she did luckily) I would go for it
 
yes, i have been kinda leaning towards going for the loan pony, as i would get the chance to do everything iv always wanted to do like go to a lot more shows (my riding school does do small shows, but with everyone i know there and my instructor watching i just loose my cool and either forget my course or knock most of the fences down, the opposite to my lessons) and hacks and get a whole lot more experience, i just wanted other peoples opinions to help, thanks :)
 
Could you have the loan pony and maybe go and help out at the riding school on a Saturday or something which would mean you wouldn't lose your friends there?
 
yes, ill post and let you know what i do, the owner of the pony (who is going to university thats why she is up for loan) has gone on holiday (her mom told us when we rang a few days ago about the mare) until tuesday 5th and she said to ring back then to arrange to go and try the pony, so i wont know until iv tried her out :)
 
Much as your riding school sounds wonderful, there is nothing like having one pony that you can build a relationship with. You'd find loads of new friends at the yard where you kept it, and if you joined the pony club or something, there would be even more like minded people there. You'd always look back on your time at the RS with fondness, but you'd love having your own one even more!!
 
i said id post what happens, so here it is! yesterday i tried the pony out, shes a 14.3hh piebald called megan (just meg to everyone) and when i first got there she was in the field, so with her owner i caught her, groomed her, tacked her up (she has lovely stable manners and her owner is really nice) then her owner rode her, then i rode her she was forward going but willing at the same time, and she has been schooled in dressage so has lovely elevated paces, after 10 mins of figuring out what buttons to push i got her going and had a walk trot and canter, the yard where meg is kept is lovely! everyone is so nice and friendly and meg was a dream to ride! then i rode her in the field for a bit then i untacked her groomed her etc, meanwhile my mom was talking with her owners mom about the fees and everything and me and my mom both love meg, so we have decided to go through with the trial period for a week or 2 then im 95% sure the loan will become official, im planning to go down everyday and do lots of things with meg! im really happy i decided to go and try her out as she is just wonderful, thanks for the replies everyone :)
 
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