Very young riders

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Highmileagecob

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Firstly, I am not a fan of plonking a very young child on a pony. Would rather wait until they are old enough to balance and hold on without an adult to shadow them. And then I got a third grandchild who is now two and a half, and has the meltdown from hell if you don't pop her on the horse, and another one when it is time to get off.
Has anyone used an Inky Dinky saddle? Does it do what it says in the blurb? Or should we grit our teeth and wait until she is older? She is absolutely itching to ride alongside her five year old brother, who is basically having lead rein pony rides, whilst the older one prefers to play rugby.
 
We were bullied into buying a pony off some relatives of the husband when my daughter was two and a half (and my son a baby). They rode her in an old show saddle (same as I did when I was a toddler) with a balance strap added to the front. They held on well and didn't fall off until they were older..

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What I'm trying to say is if she's mad keen to ride don't make her wait just because you feel you haven't got the right saddle.
 
I’ve had friends use them and they look good, can be quite pricey, though there seems to be a good resale market from what I see on FB.

Not the same thing, but I’ve started smaller children with cub saddles with the handle at the front.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
I ‘rode’ from two. We had whatever saddles were going for the pony.

What would be the reason for waiting?
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Grandson is on a borrowed 12hh pony, and granddaughter would be on our old cob. 14hh, needs one to lead and one to catch unstable child. Cob thinks being led is a bit cissy, and has a habit of hooking a foreleg around your ankle. If we could stabilise youngest, then one person could lead him.
 
I have a couple of Willis felt saddles, I let friends take their children and grandchildren for pootles on little A.
As long as the tot can sit up, they enjoy anything from a walk round the yard to going on a bear hunt in the woods.
Little A is a lightweight 32 inches tall and generally takes under 3's due to weight or height.
 
Highmileagecob said:
Grandson is on a borrowed 12hh pony, and granddaughter would be on our old cob. 14hh, needs one to lead and one to catch unstable child. Cob thinks being led is a bit cissy, and has a habit of hooking a foreleg around your ankle. If we could stabilise youngest, then one person could lead him.
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Well, I may have different suggestion but it will definitely cost more than a saddle 🤣
 
Yes i have an inky dinky and well worth the money!! My daighter who is now 5 started riding in it when she just turned 3 and by 4 she was in a ‘normal’ saddle and so secure in her seat and had a great balanced rising trot! My youngest has just turned 3 and the inky dinky has now been pulled back out the tack room and she is using it. You dont need to hold the childs leg constantly can just be at the head of the pony and trust the saddle to keep then secure
 
Thank you - I have seen the warnings from the website, and have decided that if we do decide to purchase a second hand one it will be cash on collection. There is one for sale on Facebook, as outlined by ycbm, but unfortunately it is a members only page and daughter won't pursue it. I think granddaughter would be ecstatic if she could ride, but mum has the final say.
 
My friend’s children were riding in cub saddles from the age of just two, on our trusty Shetland. My daughter (and Shetland’s current sharer) learned to ride at about 2.5 years old on a Best Friend Bareback pad. Nice and grippy, has a handle, no complication of stirrups on top of getting their balance. Went from there to cub saddle with stirrups aged 3 and a bit. Both my two children could walk, trot and canter on the lead by 3 and a half, and my son was doing rising trot and coming off it.

So basically, in my experience it’s the trusty Shetland you need, with small smoother movement and close to the ground so less worries about falling. Then any appropriate saddle will be fine.

(I think this is the solution other people upthread have suggested!)
 
Ah. That might be the sticking point! Daughter has just bought herself a nice steady youngster to back, and our oldie is 14hh. We borrow a pony for the five year old for an hour a week but we feel it might be a bit cheeky to ask for more. Never mind, I'm sure the small will be a bit more stable in another six months.
 
Exciting times!
The people i do some work for were given a little welsh who they bought an old basket saddle for. Their daughter is almost 18 months maybe, She just absolutely loves it and seems pretty stable in the basket, she's strapped in and they just have to hold pony and i think a leg. I've never seen a tiny child smile so much when she's on board.

The inky dinky looks brilliant!
 
Highmileagecob said:
Ah. That might be the sticking point! Daughter has just bought herself a nice steady youngster to back, and our oldie is 14hh. We borrow a pony for the five year old for an hour a week but we feel it might be a bit cheeky to ask for more. Never mind, I'm sure the small will be a bit more stable in another six months.
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In six months, you could maybe put the 5 year old on your 14hh pony and the little one on the smaller pony?
 
Think my daughter may be coming round to the idea! Another huge tantrum because granddaughter couldn't go to the yard with her brother. Furious toddler stomping around with wellies in hand muttering 'Want to ride! Want to ride!' She absolutely lights up when she's sat on the horse. We are going to have to do something!
 
Highmileagecob said:
Think my daughter may be coming round to the idea! Another huge tantrum because granddaughter couldn't go to the yard with her brother. Furious toddler stomping around with wellies in hand muttering 'Want to ride! Want to ride!' She absolutely lights up when she's sat on the horse. We are going to have to do something!
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They are so funny 🤣 this is my youngest daughter just turned 3 in the inky dinky on our 6yo welsh a ☺️ she is absolutely obsessed with riding too!
 

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My nieces 3 year old daughter is riding a small pony who is quite lively coming home so she jogs, my niece puts her hand on daughters leg and is told “dont touch me”. She is determined to do it all by herself but obviously my niece wants to make sure she doesn’t slip off as she is in an ordinary saddle
 
splashgirl45 said:
My nieces 3 year old daughter is riding a small pony who is quite lively coming home so she jogs, my niece puts her hand on daughters leg and is told “dont touch me”. She is determined to do it all by herself but obviously my niece wants to make sure she doesn’t slip off as she is in an ordinary saddle
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She will develop an extraordinary seat! 👍
 
My youngest had one, she had it until she was about 5 but I took the back pad off towards the end so it was just the front one.

It was amazing. She has a balance disorder and possible dyspraxia and she couldn’t have ridden without it. She did everything in it and is such a keen, confident rider now (in a more normal saddle!).

My older children hated it though. They called it the inky stinky saddle 🤣🤣 but then they didn’t really need it.
 
Highmileagecob said:
Firstly, I am not a fan of plonking a very young child on a pony. Would rather wait until they are old enough to balance and hold on without an adult to shadow them. And then I got a third grandchild who is now two and a half, and has the meltdown from hell if you don't pop her on the horse, and another one when it is time to get off.
Has anyone used an Inky Dinky saddle? Does it do what it says in the blurb? Or should we grit our teeth and wait until she is older? She is absolutely itching to ride alongside her five year old brother, who is basically having lead rein pony rides, whilst the older one prefers to play rugby.
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There might be nothing in this, but I’m sure I’ve read that riding while this young is a recipe for back and pelvis problems. Either way I’m not a fan either, I think it’s a better idea to wait until the child is old enough to have lessons.
 
Cadbury said:
There might be nothing in this, but I’m sure I’ve read that riding while this young is a recipe for back and pelvis problems. Either way I’m not a fan either, I think it’s a better idea to wait until the child is old enough to have lessons.
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I specifically asked our physio when my extremely hypermobile daughter was 2 years old, because I had heard this. It is apparently an old wives tale. She was approved to ride as much as she wanted.
 
We have an inkydinky saddle.
Amazing things

Here is my 2 yearold on my 13.2 welsh cob
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My little one is seeing the physio and the orthotics guys regularly as she turns a foot in. We have been told to get her riding as often as possible and on nice wide ponys to help her hips
 
Cadbury said:
There might be nothing in this, but I’m sure I’ve read that riding while this young is a recipe for back and pelvis problems. Either way I’m not a fan either, I think it’s a better idea to wait until the child is old enough to have lessons.
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I spent a lot of time on ponies and horses as a toddler and I've never had a bad back and only recently started getting achy hips (which I suspect is down to my age).
 
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