views on Connemaras, please.

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LessThanPerfect

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Hi everyone,
I am a returning mature disabled rider who competently rides at walk, trot, canter, small jumps, have in the past done the occasional pony race on the gallops near Harrogate on an Irish Sports Pony, RDA dressage competitions (walk, trot, canter and medium trot tests).
My longer term plan , all being well, is to complete my Stage 1 course and my RDA Silver award and then start a pony share with a local yard who has a grey cob 14.2, very steady type, to get used to riding outside an arena again.
Eventually if this all goes well and the yard can offer the right type of livery for me due to my disability, I am intending to get my own horse/pony.

I would prefer a native breed and am thinking Connemara or New Forest might be best as I can have problems with anything too wide due to my legs and hips (although I have ridden a Fell and Highland in the past and also a Section D) however I have been told that Connies are too sharp and not for novices.
I rode as a child and had a Connie/Appy cross for many years but in the last 30 years have only ridden at riding schools/ riding holidays and am rusty after a 7 year break.
I am just 5 feet tall and weigh between 9 st 10 and 10 stone depending upon how much chocolate I have been eating!
Any Connie owners out there who can tell me all about their Connies, please? Thanks.
 
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Some conies are sharp, some are not. They are, personally, my favourite breed. My first pony was connie x arab and was very sharp but my lad now is pure connie. He steps up when i want him too but i wouldn't call him sharp. such a lovely versatile breed with lots and lots of character. You really would have endless fun with a connie!
 
Tbh I don't think you can't generalise with a breed - I have had 2 connies that were polar opposites.

The first was one of the best ponies I have ever owned, safe with an amazing jump, and he looked after me for many seasons out hunting.

The recent one we had was a nightmare - neurotic, constantly on edge, and difficult too ride and handle. I had to sell him on as was just not experienced enough to own such as high maintenance model!

Maybe do some research into bloodlines if your heart is set on a particular breed, and try to buy one with a proven temperament?
 
I've known a few - some are very sharp, some are not! That seems to depend on their type too - the ones with the more dishy refined faces have been sharp, the ones with the straight profile haven't!! That may be entirely coincidence, or perhaps they have bloodlines in common or something. It's easier to judge the individual :) They do seem more fizzy than most native breeds, but that could just be because they're athletic, and again you get exceptions with every breed!

All the newfies I have known have been fab, though they are less flashy than a connie.
 
I would say if you go for a connie go for a more old fashioned type than the more sporty type :)
Love a connie though! !
 
I have a conny x tb mare who I've owned for the past 8yrs. She's fairly sharp, but she's very loyal and genuine - she'll follow my footsteps to the nth degree and never walk faster than I'm capable of. Para riders have ridden her in the past, and they've not had any problems. She's fairly broad but not many of them are as broad as she is. I've more recently ridden two other, pure connies - one I'd say was more sharp than mine (I got on well with him mind!) and the other was quite steady (although responsive). They're quite a sporty breed as a whole and can do well with the dressage scene - I've done affiliated with mine in the past. Every horse is different though, you do see kids riding connemaras, equally you get adults riding them. They're very versatile. I'm biased, I'd say connemara everytime, but I struggle due to the size of them (and the fact if I had another I worry I'd be constantly comparing it to my current mare!) as I'm just shy of 5ft8.

Good luck with the horse hunt when you begin, take someone you trust who knows what you want on paper so when you see one, you don't buy cos you fall in love without it being right for you to ride. :)
 
I love connies think they are fantastic ponies however the downsides are they are often grey so difficult to keep clean they are very popular so expensive.

I originally wanted a connie but in the end I just could not afford/did not want to pay the sort of prices that were being asked for a nice well schooled straightward connies so I got a new forest, having said that new forests are more expensive now than they were 7 years ago when I bought my forester.
 
I have a very gentle and easy to deal with Connemara but she is a one person horse she is suspicious of anyone new and gets tense when ridden by strangers so if you get one like it may take a while to bond once she knows you she is wonderful never bucks rears or get upset by anything is totally bombproof literally just walks on if a helicopter lands next to her and isnt even a little spooky. So I would say if you get a good one they are loyal gems but get a bad one and they are like anything else a nightmare as they always have an opinion on everything. I love my little slim highlands forward going gentle and true wonderful easy deal with poppets who you can leave in a field for months then just climb aboard and they are as sane as before you left them. Absolutely perfect versatile and able ponies that are a dream to own. Mine show jump, event, do dressage, and are shown successfully in hand I adore them as they are only in medium to wide saddles and are often on a medium twist so are not too wide of old legs and hips I am 60 with terrible damage to my joints and I can ride them for hours without getting stiff even if I havent ridden for years
 
I have my first Connie x TB and so far very impressed with him. Still only a baby but he has such laid back temp. My other horse is a welsh D and he is sharper. Think the Connie's are fab any def new fan. Get the old fashioned type not the sporty type. But they all have different personalities so just have to hunt carefully for the right one. Good luck!
 
We've owned a connie and a conniexTB. We bought both as 5 year olds and they were brought on by my daughter, the connie when she was 7 and the connie x when she was 11. Both were tough, intelligent and trainable and multi purpose. The connie x took her to the pony club senior eventing champs and FEI ponies but was happy to step down several levels if ridden by a novice child. The connie went on to become a poloX pony and a fab hunter. I absolutely love the breed they seem prepared to do pretty much anything, neither was sharp but they were forward going and forward thinking.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, they sound a lovely breed, as do the New Forests from your responses, so either would do me well I think. I would like to continue with RDA dressage competitions so maybe a Connie might be more suitable for that? Can I ask those responders with Foresters if they are good at dressage too?

WINDANDRAIN, when you say slim Highlands, can I ask if that was irony or if you have a particular strain/bloodline? ----I was very fond of the Highland I rode previously. Do you have any photos you can post, please?

Yes, as regards the greys, not an ideal colour for someone who is disabled as bathing horses is not easy for me, especially tails as I cannot lift a bucket of water to dunk the tail in. I would prefer a dun Connie to be honest as I love dun and bay roan ponies. Do the iron grey Connies white out the same as the dapple greys and is skin cancer an equal problem in white-greys, dapple-greys and iron-greys?
 
I have a connemara very bright but i one person horse very loyal, has a very strong personality and can be challenging at times!. I would suggest going for the old show types rather than the performance bloodlines. Have a look on the Eastlands stud website I believe there daughter breaks ponies in North Yorkshire I think somewhere near Leyburn.
 
No seriously they are not as wide as my 14/2 connie as they are only 13hh and are wonderful as well as being nearer the ground so not falling from a big height they are county winning ponies so not poor specimens and are simply the most versatile ponies in the world
Mum at the end of a long distance pleasure ride last year 19 years young
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daughter at x country

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connie as a three year old much wider now but just as beautiful
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they all wear the same saddles so are all much the same size
 
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Ooh, Wind and rain, they are stunning---and I also like your endurance Jodhs! Three beautiful ponies.

Do you mind me asking how tall you are, please, I'm assuming it is you that is riding them?
 
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I have ridden the mum lots and I am 5ft4 and anything between 11 and a half and 15 stone, Granddaughter rides her too and she is 10 and 4ft6 and about 6stone
 
we have a bay connie for my 4ft9 just under 5st, 13 yr old daughter who is a nervous nellie, the pony is an absolute diamond and has done wonders for daughters confidence and I would not change anything about her! we now have a sharer for her who has aspergers and once again superpony has stepped up to the mark and is looking after her new rider. if i could clone that pony i would be a millionaire as she is just god damn perfect!!
 
We have a bay connie who is performance bred and as sharp as a tack, wouldn't do at all I don't think. But we have also loaned one before who was a beautiful dark buckskin, was bred by a keen driving person and would probably be just what you are looking for. So as others have said, research your breeding.
 
I used to ride a connie, hes still on our yard. He is extremely sharp in the school. He's ok in walk and trot but in canter he does the wall death from time to time. To be honest it's just him though, he's a total wimp and needs to get confidence from his rider.

He's a sod on farm rides but a complete angel to hack and he loves to jump. He is probably the most intelligent on the yard, or that I've met to be fair.

Funnily enough he's fab at giving lead rein lessons to kiddies :) and he's such an angel on the ground.

To be honest though you can't generalise with breeds, you could get something that is sane and sensible or you could end up with something sharp. You'd have to view to find out :)

Lovely breed though, even if I have fallen off him more times than I care to admit!
 
My disabled daughter went from a 12.2 section B welsh to a 14hh connie, who insisted on being ridden properly and taught her such a lot. She did RDA dressage, including the championships, Pony Club, show jumping and x-c, handy pony and m and m showing as well as plaited whp. Yes, she was grey (with ambitions to be coloured) but she was a superstar. Next step up was a connie x TB, very sharp but a lovely kind nature.
 
I have 4 connies for me and my 3 young children. I bought them all as 4 yr olds having done very very little for my relatively inexperienced children. 2 ave the same dam and two have the same sire. They all have manners to burn and are a pleasure to handle and deal with. the most talented one occasionally has hysterical moments but I wouldn't say any if them are sharp and they are extremely trustworthy to hack out and compete
 
I have a forester he has beaten Connies and big horses at dressage, he has won a dressage challenge and open prelim. I got him when he was 5 and both of us were new to dressage and he has taken me from being so nervous that was I was shaking in the into test up to winning an Open Prelim.

The new forest pony enthusiasts riding club have done really well at dressage at RC level they can 6th out of 30th at the riding club dressage championships this year and the team consists of only new forest ponies. In the past they have also won the quadrille at Olympia and been RC of the year.

I know a lot of people who have foresters who do very well at dressage affiliated competing at elementary and medium level. They are clever ponies though, so not always saintly but then most native ponies have a bit of spirit in them.

If you like dun as they are a rare colour in both connies and foresters you may end up paying more - most foresters are bay.

Four friends have connies two of them over 60, one the under 60 owners has a mobility issue and in on crutches or wheelchair and she competes on her connie. They are older ones are sensible but the younger ones were quite sharp to start off with but have mellowed with age, however education, training and how the horses are kept does have big impact. All them were cost over £5,000 and two are over height and little horses.

LessThanPerfect said:
Thanks everyone for your replies, they sound a lovely breed, as do the New Forests from your responses, so either would do me well I think. I would like to continue with RDA dressage competitions so maybe a Connie might be more suitable for that? Can I ask those responders with Foresters if they are good at dressage too?

WINDANDRAIN, when you say slim Highlands, can I ask if that was irony or if you have a particular strain/bloodline? ----I was very fond of the Highland I rode previously. Do you have any photos you can post, please?

Yes, as regards the greys, not an ideal colour for someone who is disabled as bathing horses is not easy for me, especially tails as I cannot lift a bucket of water to dunk the tail in. I would prefer a dun Connie to be honest as I love dun and bay roan ponies. Do the iron grey Connies white out the same as the dapple greys and is skin cancer an equal problem in white-greys, dapple-greys and iron-greys?
Click to expand...
 
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I adore my connie, he's the most brilliant fun and is 100% genuine. He does however hate dressage and schooling with a passion. Is much happier rattling around the countryside jumping hedges. If he gets overschooled, he gets silly, spooky and sharp, he looks for monsters if you don't give him something to think about and is quite a sensitive soul and has to be ridden very much from the seat and doesn't like his mouth being messed with.

He's a diamond XC and hunting. Has never had a fault XC - although will merrily demolish an SJ course ;) Hunting he leads over the biggest hedges despite being 14.3hh on his tippy toes.

He is grey and has melanoma's. He's only 11 and has had them since he was 8; they are getting bigger - we are monitoring them.

I love him. My mum loves him. But I would be very careful who I let ride him!
 
With regard to keeping greys clean, we used to clip our grey out completely, then the dirt rolled off with a wet sponge. the dun we had was brilliant as basically she was mud coloured!
 
I have a roan Irish sports pony, he turns 22yo in June and is a total dude, does everything to a decent competitive level and at 15hh give the big horses a real run for they're money, Also my 6yo niece rides and handles him, he is the perfect gentleman with her. My 70yo disabled dad has ridden him and again he was a perfect gentleman
 
If you buy a Connie, make sure it has good hooves. Connies can suffer from HWSS (hoof wall separation syndrome) a genetic problem that causes the hoof wall to crumble and break away.
 
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