Would you take on a 14hh 5 year old unbroken new forester?

I would go for it :) I have 3 new forests, i weigh 11 stone and i am 5ft 4. My 14.1 has no trouble at all with me on his back, he is built like a tank lol. Others are unrideable as one a baby and other a rescued ex forest run broodmare. I find them extremely easy going so cannot see why a 5 year old would be hard to bring on x
 
Youll be fine with your height ect. Foresters make good riding ponies so with the right backing schooling youll have a good pony on your hand. Dont be afraid to get help though if your not experienced with youngster. :)

I take it the ISH didnt work out for you.:(
 
ive broken n backed before....so thats fine, the ISH, guy messed me about with delivery the other sunday, re arranged for thursday, didnt turn up, then said this weekend but wanted extra £150, everything was screaming that something was wrong, so i pulled out, all my insticts screamed nooooo at me lol
 
Sammi&Leigha said:
ive broken n backed before....so thats fine, the ISH, guy messed me about with delivery the other sunday, re arranged for thursday, didnt turn up, then said this weekend but wanted extra £150, everything was screaming that something was wrong, so i pulled out, all my insticts screamed nooooo at me lol
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Oh that was a shame, you were probaly right pulling out if they started asking for more money they may have been scammers, it just not worth risking. Im a great believer in fate so you havnt got that horse because its not your perfect one.;)

If youve backed/ schooled before youll be fine, youve got the winter ahead so you can take your time and bring it on slowly. Foresters make great riding ponies so once your going youll have a great pony for you. And youll be able to say its all your own work. Its great satisfaction when the horse your winning on is something youve trained yourself. :)
 
Sounds like an excellent project all round to me - 5 isn't late to back a new forest. My cousins never back theirs before 4 anyway. If she's forest bred she should be reasonably stocky so the weight won't be a problem either
 
While I agree with the others to a certain degree (oh and yes size wise should be fine etc!), just to play devils advocate a little bit, I had a 4yr old off the forest that was (granted) backed when I bought him, and he took a lot more than TLC!!:rolleyes:

He was bought from a (professional :confused:) producer based near the forest (I won't say too much on here for obvious reasons), and he was a stunning little chap and a true stamp of a forester, but he had some real issues/hang ups. Not sure if that was due to the poor backing process it became obvious he received (he arrived with sores to both corners of his mouth - and we're taking fully broken skin that was actually bleeding), or if it was from being shipped a bit from pillar to post having been purchased from the new forest sales.

I bought him as a project and I put in everything I had with him for the year that he was with me but it was very much '2 steps forward - 50 steps shooting backwards very very fast). He had real trust issues with humans, which I spent lots of time working to overcome, and to be fair he was by the time i sold him excellent to clip, shoe, bath etc etc but had real leading/catching issues which no matter how much time and effort and patience I had with him never really improved in the year I had him. Riding wise 9 times out of 10 he was a gem, if a little tense (again due to a bad start) - but was known to have a bit of a blind panic and shoot off from time to time.

All I'm saying, having now had 2 bad experiences of NF, for every fab one that you get that's a true allrounder, there is a definately one out there sent to try you! (but this can be said for any breed I guess).

As I am sure you will give her a good start and the good grounding that this poor chap didn't receive I'm sure you'll have few problems - however if she has any hang ups/quirks experience says there is a good chance they'll always be there, even if not every day, and being 5yr old she may be a little more complicated, but if you have the time, patience (being the key word!!) and experience then there is no reason why she shouldn't get a fair shot!

Good luck and keep us posted :)
 
Yes, of course, send her down in the morning :p

Seriously though, your height and weight should be fine and if you've done that sort of thing before it should be great! Pictures soon please! :D
 
your height and weight would be fine my friend who is 5.8ft and over 11 stone has ridden my 13.2 forester and she was fine and so was my pony - he was originally backed by a 6ft man! i am 5.2ft and my instructor says i am the perfect size for my 13.2 new forest.

This is taken from the new forest pony breed society website "The New Forest Pony has an ideal temperament and should be very easy to train". I would say out of all the native breeds they have a reputation for being the easiest to train however this means you could by mistake train them to do something you don't want them to do as they can learn bad habits as easily as they can good!. however any pony that has had a bad start however nice their temperament could lack trust in humans. it will probably be easier to train her if she has had little contact with humans than if she has been badly treated by humans.

there are three foresters at my yard and they are the soppiest bunch of ponies ever - mine was a bit of a loner when i first got him but has grown into a very friendly pony who loves attention almost as much as he loves food!
 
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SO1 said:
he was originally backed by a 6ft man!
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Ahem! Nothing wrong with 6ft men riding Newfies. :eek:

They are real characters and as cheeky as you like with a wicked sense of humour. I couldn't be without my 'fat lad'.

I would strongly advise you to buy her, and have some fun on a pony :D
 
Yeh, to be honest i wasnt so worried about height/weight, was just checking.

I was just wondering if it'd be left to long, if i'd have a massive fight on my hands lol! She is quite nervy and shy, but i think we'd get on!
 
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