The move up to horses

[Julia0803]

Inspired by the other thread on unbanked youngsters....

Can you tell me your experiences about teens moving up from ponies to horses?

I know nothing about it, as I am not quite 5’5 on tiptoes so I’m a committed pony squasher!

But my son has my husband’s beanpole genes and is just over 6’3 at 15 and still growing. He’s had his lovely 14.2 cob since he was 10 and they’ve done so well together and they genuinely adore each other. Thankfully son is super skinny and cob is as wide as a house so whilst he’s too long he’s not too heavy and whilst he looks very tall on him, he actually only looks ridiculous standing next to him.

It’s a huge jump in terms of size of height of cob to new horse, but it’s taken about two years for him to get to the point where he is happy and wants to ride something bigger. Initially he was adamant that he just loves his cob and if he got too big for him he probably wouldn’t want to ride at all. As I said, he’s changed his mind over the past 6m or so, but it wasn’t an easy decision for him.

We’ve just signed a loan agreement this week and new giraffe horse is coming at the beginning of April. He’s 17.1. He is in fairly poor condition. Hasn’t done anything much all winter aside from hack a few times a week. He’s done a bit of PC SJ and eventing last summer and SJ in previous homes novice and discovery with the odd pole here and there. He seems very sweet and fairly chilled out. The reason my son liked him was due to his temperament. I spoke to his current PC and they confirmed that he was still pretty chilled when in good condition and in proper work last summer. The plan is to do dressage and PC with him. He’s not done any dressage at all. Doesn’t worry me too much as we have a brilliant instructor and weekly lessons with a lot of support. My son jumps at home and PC rallies but not really competitively. He did a series of combined training last summer but unless he has a change of direction that’s not really his passion.

I was just wondering what others experiences were? It was touched on in the other thread, but mainly in relation to SJ and striding difference and the difference between clever ponies that help you out.

As I said jumping isn’t really his thing, but are there any other expected differences lots of others have found? Whilst he doesn’t really jump, I would definitely say lovely cob will always try and help him out and is exceptionally kind and really tries his best to please.

Thanks

 

[Fiona]

I just want to say good luck with the move.....

My son is only 7, but we had a move last year from a kick along 1st pony to a competition/sharp 12hh welsh sec A.... There were tears (from me and him), and a few stages where the new pony (mare) tried to take advantage, but thank god it is coming together now

I know how you and your son feel though, I ride a 13.2, so I'm not planning on moving to a horse any time soon. I love my pony...

|Fiona

 

[Annagain]

I think it depends on the horse. I moved from a 14hh Sec D to a 16.3hh IDx as an adult. I lost my boy, whom I'd had since we were both 14, 6 weeks before his 27th birthday and 3 days before mine and when I was looking for a new one I went to see a black 15.2 Sec D and came away with a 16.3 IDx instead!

I really didn't find much of a difference on the flat. A's quite short coupled and short striding for his size though so I'm sure that helped. It was jumping where I struggled to get to grips with his stride length. I just couldn't 'see' a stride on him for quite a while. It didn't help that he kept stopping - which turned out to be a foot problem - but by the time we knew this, my brain had convinced me that it was all my fault and I'm a rubbish rider.

I then starting sharing a 17hh horse. He is exceptionally long and the difference between him and A on the flat feels greater than between A and my old boy If I get off M and onto A I feel like I'm riding a pony again. M is much more difficult to get together and keep there (and is a bit lazier too so that doesn't help). He is like a giant pony when it comes to jumping though - clever and very polite, will shorten and lengthen really easily, thinks for himself, and will stand off or chip in if he needs to so is much easier to jump and I've built my confidence back up on him over time. Most importantly, he never stops. His owner's 12 year old son is currently swapping between him and his (outgrown!) 13hh pony and other than not quite mastering tight turns yet is doing remarkably well.

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

Slightly different circumstances but kind of the same!

I bought a 17.2hh ISH once & It did take a few weeks feeling like I was learning to ride again because of the giants huge striding - previous to him despite riding a large variety of horses in the past, I'd had 9 years on just my 15hh cob so it was a massive change.

I had to learn to re-balance & position myself on such a big moving animal & hold him together too but I got there, it was mainly me learning to feel his movement & stay in the air longer whilst rising trot as I was naturally used to a short choppy stride!! The biggest difference to me though was the lack of help off the bigger horse eg jumping, opening gates etc. I was so used to my cob helping me out chipping & taking out strides jumping & knowing how behave in certain circumstances - generally thinking for himself, that pretty sharpish I had to learn to see strides a lot better & spoon feed most instructions rather than leaving it to him to suss out or we'd end up in a mess. I trusted my cob to sort himself out. Good luck with the move, it is a change but it can be done & I'm sure a few weeks down the line he won't look back

 

[Orangehorse]

Ponies (and cobs) tend to look after themselves, and thus their riders. Then you get on a horse and the horse is waiting for help from the rider, particularly if it is a young horse and all of a sudden riding isn't quite so easy.

A schoolmaster type horse should be OK as at least they know the job, but I would suggest that they have lessons together for a bit.

 

[oldie48]

Daughter moved from full up 148 connie/tb to 16.2 WB/TB by Ricardo Z, who was relatively short coupled. We went for temperament and although he was only 5 he was a genuinely nice sort. She was a very confident rider and wasn't phased by his size but she had loads of help and she needed it as it was a learner with learner situation .She coped with flatwork easily, her pony had not been easy on the flat and the horse had really nice paces and was relatively easy. Showjumpng though was a different matter, she really struggled to get the right quality of canter so often met the jumps on the wrong stride, horse had huge scope but if he was "wrong" he dodged out or stopped, if she got the canter right he sailed round. XC he was really good, probably because she rode him with a bit more oomph. He was great to hack once she'd sorted out a bit of nappiness. With hindsight I probably should have got her a more experienced horse but she loved him and he was safe and he was easy to sell on when she went to uni. I think it is a difficult move, especially if the teen has been quite successful on ponies but for me temperament was the absolute thing to go for.

 

[Shay]

They are very different! As a heavily involved PC committee member I have seen this transiiton so often. It is often coupled age wise with a very difficult age to keep them in riding so the challenges of a very different way of riding get compounded.

Obviously every horse - and pony - is an individual and you get more pony thinking horses and horse thinking ponies. As others have said - ponies are more likely to think for themselves - positively and negatively! Some riders are bothered by the stride length and the height. Some by the fact the horse tends to look to its rider for direction and ponies don't. Competitive kids coming out of the "wins everything" or "is everything" pony also suffer in terms of their self esteem - they were a "good" rider, now they are not.

OP - you seem to have done everything right in terms of sourcing a suitable horse. Good instructors. Lots of support. A supportive PC. And a loan in case it doesn't work so you can move on / back without adding too much emotional burden to it. Give him time - and you'll have a giraffe son on a giraffe horse!

(And you'll need a nre trailer because they are too big New rugs becuase nothing fits. Your trusty box of spare tack and bits won't work anymore becuase it is all too small....)

 

[SpotsandBays]

I guess I kind of cheated the transition from horses to ponies. My first pony was 12.2, am did when I got abit taller we then loaned a 14.1, then when the loaner asked for him back we bought a 14.3, who then had a growth spurt and is now 15.1/2. The growth spurt one was very green whenmy parents bought him, but I had a lot of support from my liveries/friends to help me with his education (and mine). I say as long as your support base Is good (which it sounds like it is) he should Be fine.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I cheated. I have never really jumped much and I went from a 13.2hh Fell pony to riding racehorses for a living!

 

[Celtic Fringe]

My son moved from my 14hh cob to a horse when he was around 13 and just getting to the bean-pole stage. This was a positive move as my cob was quite dangerous and it was a bit of a miracle that my son kept riding. It sounds like you have every chance of success - a sweet horse and a good support network. This was essential for my son as although the horse he moved onto needed re-backed he has a really lovely character. At first my son was understandably nervous but had a lot of help from the horse's owner and also Pony Club and they soon formed a really great partnership. My son is now 25 and we still have the horse (now aged 19) on loan. The horse is an Anglo-arab x cob and has a real pony brain which was great when they were eventing, but very helpful when schooling and hacking too (I also stole him a couple of times for TRECs). However, the main factor is that he has a great temperament and is lots of fun. The main thing is just for your son to enjoy whatever he decides to do with his new equine partner.

 

[windand rain]

I did it the other way round as a fat child I learned to ride on 15.2 cobs, rode big horses/eventers all my life until I met a wonderful Highland pony stallion bought his daughter and have had ponies ever since I love ponies and can honestly say there is a pony out there for every casual rider

 

[Julia0803]

Thank you everyone!

Yes, I think there will be a ‘relearning’ period when he just had to get used to a much larger stride. When he tried him out the second time his instructor came with us and pointed out he was hurrying him and pushing him out of balance a little, that with a much larger stride he didn’t need or want to be hurrying him as he was pushing him out of his rhythm and unbalancing him. I think it just felt so different, he didn’t realise he was doing it! He said he felt as if he was going much slower with a longer rise in the trot as @awelshandawarmblood said. Similarly he needs to help him more with things like setting him up for the corners with a half halt etc. I think the phrase was, ‘don’t let him wang round the corners! He’s not lovely cob, he’ll fall over! You need to help him more!’ Again, hopefully not something that will cause an issue as such, just needs to learn he needs to help him more. I’m hoping it will just be a case of readjustment having been used to riding just one very different horse for the last 5.5years!

He’s always been the one to hop on and off for dropped sticks etc so think that will become my job now!

We’re very lucky that our instructor is on the same yard so she’s on hand if there’s a big problem, plus our usual weekly lessons. If she has the time in her schedule we may decide to do twice weekly lessons for a little while.

Interesting @Shay. We have spoken about that and son and I discussed that he would be going right back to the beginning. Whilst lovely cob isn’t going to set the world on fire he always does really well competitively even several years ago when they first started out and weren’t working correctly as he was rhythmical and obedient in tests and it was easy to be accurate. He said he was actually looking forward to the sense of achievement of starting at the bottom and working up together. I hope he continues to bear that in mind and it doesn’t knock his self esteem.

His owner said he was quite stressy when he first moved to the yard they’re at currently as he’d been out 24/7 and was then stabled overnight. In the morning when others started going out he would get stressy and be strong on the way to the field, bogging off once. On our yard they all live out 24/7, which she said he was much happier with so hopefully he won’t find it too bad.

I suppose I’m slightly worried about all the things we take for granted with lovely cob, going out places and him being well behaved and just the same as at home etc. It’s been very very nice not ever having to worry whether he’ll be a good boy going to shows/rallies etc We can go out Xc schooling etc and he doesn’t ever get overexcited or silly etc. They’ve got a big group picnic ride with PC coming up and it’s nice not to worry that he’ll hot up etc. But i think that sort of thing is a universal worry with a new horse, not just a giraffe sized one!

I really hope it works out for both of them. Fingers crossed!