Too much too young?

Nonyabusiness

Nonyabusiness

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Having purchased my daughter her first pony in october last year. she was very excited and like most 8 yr old girls be over the moon in having her first pony after learning to ride for about 2 years. She hasnt really made loads of progress learning once a week at riding schools for half an hour, was hoping her progress would come on in leaps and bounds by now. But she seems to have lost all intrest. Doesnt really want to groom him its become a struggle to get her to ride him. (shes fell off him once i might add, no biggy though) She likes the soical life around the yard with other kids ect but the work ride side of it all seems to have gone by the way side.

Her pony is a little welsh sec b 12.2hh lovely little thing very cheeky but sweet natured he done nothing to her to make her scared or anything ect.

Having spoken to her about this im waiting on her response as im close to either loaning him or god forbid selling him. I love the little man but cant keep him as a pet.

What experiences have you had? And how can i turn it round? advice please.
 
If she isn't interested in riding/looking after him I would sell him but let her continue spending time down the yard
 
Is she happy to hack out with her friends on the yard, ok to play games on the pony? Kids often find riding in a school very boring and hard work, making it fun is the way to go.
 
is she in the pony club? or get out to comps? this would give her something to aim for and may get her to ride more! and put the social side together with the riding....

is she still haveing lessons? it can be very dishearting if you dont feel like your improving or getting better!

are you totally sure she not frightened/scared of him? she may be trying to hide it from you..... does she take interest in others horses/ponies?
 
Sell him or loan him, if she isn't interested enough to help care for him she isn't going to be and you can't force her to want to. Be a shame but it will help her to see that these things are not toys to be picked up and dropped again when they don't suit. If she's happy mooching around the yard then let her but don't rush to replace him when she shows a pinch of interest again, make her work at it!
 
What type of stuff does she do when she rides? And how interested are the other kids at the yard? Do they do their own jobs etc?
 
I've just bought my 9yr old daughter her first pony and want her to have fun with him above all else and develop a bond rather than worrying about the technical side of things too much. so I think as others have said making it as much fun as poss is the way to go,pony club,games,hacking out with friends etc and just letting her play about with him :) xx
 
I had ponies well before my daughter came along. She had no choice but to ride, sadly like your daughter she loved the new friends but lost her confidence in the horsey department. I paid for private lessons at an excellent RS and all she wante to do was play with her pony friends.

I struggled on though and kept our beautiful show pony fit and educated and five years later she got serious and now...she's now 16 and I am 40 we go competiti g together and hacking and she will look after my whole yard if I am I'll or at college.

So, what I am saying is, don't expect too much at this age, the just want a cuddly pony and friends but after a while they suddenly Become more focused than us. Let her lay at being pony mad if you have the time and money because it will pay off xxx
 
She likes to have lessons, most of the other children are younger than her and hacking out alone with them isnt going to happen. not that i mind going out with her or others. He has now got grass reins on as hes a grass eater while out and hes very strong for a little pony shes stronger than my 16:3.

When shes in the stable with him she gets very flustered and ive no idea why cos ive stood and watched her at times hes not doing anything naughty,

I will try the fun games and we have said about joining pony club ect, but i just dont understand why shes just lost intrest atm. me at that age would never have come away from the yard id have slept in the stable..... lol :o) But my daughter isnt sooo like me in that way i suppose. I just dont want to force it on her as i know she will just stop coming altogether, as shes very stubborn.

thanks for replies.
 
When you were young did you have your own pony. I have found that my kids and grandkids didnt want to ride because it was always there for them they loved having lessons but that was only once a week everyday was a bit much and playing with the kids on the yard was much more fun. They love to have the odd pony ride but really are not interested enough to be horsewomen. Sad for me but I dont push it
 
I think you have to be very sure of the child's keenness before buying a pony as for some it's just a passing interest (one of many). Having said that perhaps after only a few months she hasn't really bonded with him and the fall wouldn't have helped. Also this rotten wet, cold, dark and muddy spell we're all suffering isn't the best motivation in the world. Perhaps don't be too hasty to part with him yet but wait and see if it's more fun when better weather returns - it's quite common for mum/dad to do all the work, especially at this time of year.
 
She sounds more like she isn't at all confident round the pony rather than being disinterested. The fall, combined with little experience of handling, a strong pony, & the likelihood she's caught on to the fact you expected more progress by now will have been enough reason to make her pony a chore instead of a pleasure & cause her to get nervous. Does she have lessons with a proper instructor? And does she hack with someone on foot or on another horse?
 
She sounds like my neice.

We joined her up with a pony club centre rather than branch so she has to handle their ponies not ours. She is just 5 years old and has now got her second badge in 5 months. She practices at home, has made new pony loving friends her own age and it has done so. I for her. I believe pony club is the way to go.
 
On second thoughts now I have realised which of your other threads I've recently posted on, she's probably just copying the stable management & work ethic you follow. And I can't imagine being stabled 24/7 does much for the behavior of any kids pony, let alone one that I get the impression is rarely rode. Especially a novice child who's not very confident. I suggest you move to a decent yard where you can both learn from experienced people.
 
You say she had a fall, but it was 'no biggy', on one of your other threads you say she had a bad fall. Can you be consistent in your posts, if not in your stable management?
 
Sell pony and cut losses. When we bought pony for our daughter I was super firm on all grooming , tacking up etc had to be done before riding... Now there has been possibly a small handful of occasions where its been a battle BUT to be fair daughter is fab. Oh and weather never an issue - pony needs regular and routine exercise.
 
NonyaFNbusiness said:
Having purchased my daughter her first pony in october last year. she was very excited and like most 8 yr old girls be over the moon in having her first pony after learning to ride for about 2 years. She hasnt really made loads of progress learning once a week at riding schools for half an hour, was hoping her progress would come on in leaps and bounds by now. But she seems to have lost all intrest. Doesnt really want to groom him its become a struggle to get her to ride him. (shes fell off him once i might add, no biggy though) She likes the soical life around the yard with other kids ect but the work ride side of it all seems to have gone by the way side.

Her pony is a little welsh sec b 12.2hh lovely little thing very cheeky but sweet natured he done nothing to her to make her scared or anything ect.

Having spoken to her about this im waiting on her response as im close to either loaning him or god forbid selling him. I love the little man but cant keep him as a pet.

What experiences have you had? And how can i turn it round? advice please.
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You certainly cannot force kids to like ponies - and if they are not interested give up......(I did with my youngest very quickly) However, kids mostly want to be social, so have you joined a Pony Club / Riding Club? That is usually when they get quite competitive and enjoy it more. Hunting for boys, is always often the breakthrough. I encouraged my kids to do horses, because that was my interest - and when the older two (of four) were younger my income as well - they did get it, and had lots off fun - the younger two were less impressed (and by that time I had an income outside of the family), so I was fine about them being less interested too. Number 3 child, likes riding still, though ( a bit of hunting and SJ - certainly no pressure - he learnt to ride, hacking out point-to-pointers) The youngest would prefer to have absolutely nothing to do with horses at all - but will skip out and bed down, as long as the occupants are out on a ride!
 
My stepson went through a phase of this when he was about nine or ten. One day, when he was dithering about whether to ride or not, I got a tiny bit cross, and said that the pony would have to go if he didn't try a bit harder. A tiny bit of tough luck seemed to sort him out, as did the summer weather and joining pc/doing well at shows.

But sometimes kids with horsey mums just aren't as keen as their mums are... You hear them saying they want a pony and lock onto that, while not really seeing they aren't that keen, because you really wanted a pony like crazy at that age, and you think it would be great for them.
 
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