Trying Out a New Pony

[mazsullivan]

hi,

i’m trying out a pony on Sunday and i’m super nervous. due to covid i’m not able to organise a string of ponies to try out and then decide as they are getting sold like wildfire and are way to expensive. i don’t want to rush into it but i’m afraid if i don’t, it will soon be sold and an opportunity lost.

also, i’m not to sure what to do when riding him. is there specific things i should be looking for and testing out? please help and provide some tips!

thank you!!!

 

[View]

Please take your instructor or a more experienced person with you who will be honest and tell you if this is not the right pony for you.

temperament is the key for me. Is the pony nice to be around? Well mannered? Easy to handle?

see him ridden first. Catch him in yourself. Tack up yourself.

Do a search on here for questions to ask. Get a 5 stage vetting but accept that it is a snapshot on the day and does not mean that the pony can’t go lame as soon as it’s home.

good luck

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Arrive slightly earlier than agreed…if you make an offer/leave a deposit make it contingent on passing the vetting.

 

[Quigleyandme]

There is quite rightly such an emphasis on how a horse or pony performs under saddle for a prospective purchaser but the vast majority of leisure riders will spend more time with their purchase on the ground unless it is in full livery. As View says, tack it up yourself but also brush it, pick up it’s feet, ask it to move it’s quarters away from you, back up and come towards you with light pressure. Lead it and stop several times and see if it stops with you. Touch it’s ears and face and insert a finger into the bars of it’s mouth. Does it stand nicely by the mounting block without someone at it’s head and does it stand tied up? What you do under saddle is dependent on what you want to do with the pony and what level of schooling he has received.