What age did you get your child a pony

[leapoffaith12]

As the title says really. What age were your child / children when you got them their first pony? Or was it dependent on when they could walk / ride or any other reason? Thanks!

[sarahp]

Well I had one or two of my own and an older child, and had first a borrowed and then a bought small Welsh A for them to potter about and play on when they were very small, nothing serious, and they were sat on some of mine from time to time almost from birth. Then the elder one went off the idea, and we bought daughter her first off lead pony when she was 6yo - she had been having lessons with a proper instructor on the instructor's ponies anyway. The old Welsh A we had was a feisty one, kind on the ground and great on the LR when adult was in charge, but bucked children straight off if ridden without a leader. In fact when I led her home I had to show her who was in charge on the way, she tried me out to see what I was like. So we had to buy a FR, who happened to be a Dartmoor, great pony.

[leapoffaith12]

Thanks! Trying to work out if I'm MAD to buy my 18 month olds a darty! Had to laugh at the Welsh a, definitely sounds familiar! Thanks again.

[janet]

Molly was 4 yrs when we had a shetland, she mucked her out though every morning!!

[sarahp]

That Welsh A came into our lives about 35 years ago and was an elderly retired showing pony - half sister to Bengad Nepeta - so I take no responsibility whatever for her shortcomings! I now breed them and do not have any like that around here, and they are broken to ride by a small adult who stands no nonsense so they wouldn't dream of bucking anyone off. I like them kind, quiet, gentle and trainable.

[Philippa]

I've had ponies all my life so it was a given that Maisie would have her own. I bought hers, a very nice section A when she was 8 months old and showed her in hand until Maisie turned 3 when she was able to come out in the riddens. She hasn't looked back. We sadly lost that pony but now have a show pony & a section A.
Maisie is 5 now and has competed county level from 3 yrs old but she also does some RC shows on her fun pony and does all the pony/child things on him at home that the SP is far too 'precious' to be seen doing!!!!!

I think it gives them a great grounding having a pony to look after, it teaches them responsibility but the one thing we don't do with Maisie is force her. Sometimes she doesn't want to go to the yard, we don't make her. Sometimes I don't but unfortunately have to lol.

[sarahp]

My daughter didn't show, just did things! PC, hacking, lessons, gymkhana, playing around at home with her friends. I can remember doing one LR class at a local charity show, but she'd never have stood for the current size of LR classes and standing in line all that time, she wanted to be up and doing, preferably off lead.

[Philippa]

And that's why we have 2. This is what the fun pony is for lol. This was today's tricks
The SP is very good but I'm not sure she would appreciate circus antics!!!

[sarahp]

This thread got me thinking last night about how times change. In my now well grown up daughter's day as a learning small child, and earlier in my own, the emphasis was on learning to ride, first off acquiring an independent seat before adding the rest. Both of us were in the days before showing was regarded as a discipline in its own right as it is now, and we wouldn't have gone out competing in public except possibly small local gymkhanas and the like, until we were competent riders.

I learned at a riding school before my sister and I had our first, shared pony. Lessons in the indoor school and hacking out, and I can remember playing tag in the school at the end of lessons with a white handkerchief down one's neck, to be pursued until someone else could grab it. Jumping lessons were on Sat mornings, lines of ponies going down a lane of cavaletti with both stirrups and arms crossed - the ponies knew the drill, they just followed the one in front. At PC we used to do formation rides at sitting trot for hours on end. Our pony used to get bored, as we all did, and was rather encouraged in his habit of getting down to roll when too fed up with it. We were unusual in having a trailer, home made, and pulled by the old LR borrowed from my father's work that was used as recovery vehicle for broken down lorries. Prior to that we hacked everywhere, or on occasions hired the local knacker's lorry which sometimes had dead horses' legs hung up in the corner. We went hunting, and did PC messengering for the local horse trials - no radios used then. My pin up Richard Meade, father of Harry, was riding on one occasion.

I had ponies myself by the time my daughter was learning so always something around for the children to play with. They did lots of exercises, round the world, touching toes etc, and riding bareback - I have a photo somewhere of the first little A pulling a sledge in the snow! From 6yo daughter had lessons from my instructor in a group of four who all had their own ponies, but in lessons sometimes they swapped and rode each other's, and they also had to ride (in a fenced in school) with no reins, directing ponies with body and leg aids only. She did PC from 6yo, and they swapped ponies there too, I'm pretty sure it's not allowed nowadays on H & S grounds, like much of the above!

At home I often used to ride to fetch her from school a mile down the road, leading her pony and taking her hat, and we'd have a hack out before coming home - couldn't do it today, too much traffic! She used to have a ponyless horsey friend over and they would take turns on hers, riding in the field and doing little jumping - I remember them doing bucket elimination, do they still do that nowadays? Friend used to hack out with another friend of hers two of them up together, bareback, all round the countryside on the same angelic pony. What we didn't do were LR classes!

[mcnaughty]

I bought my daughter a 2 year old welsh A in the Autumn when she was 4.5. We took him showing in hand (her perched on a little pink chair ringside while I ran around in the ring) those first few shows in hand ... wow his eyes were out on stalks! By September he was asleep in the ring. We slowly broke him and brought him on that year until January when we took him out under saddle in LR classes. He was an angel. Never behaved like a baby when ridden. Three years later we bought another A that had been there done it all and another two years later we have sold him and bought an upgraded jumping model ;-)

[whiz21]

I bought my son a yearling when he was born, with the idea when the pony is old enough to show he'll be old enough to ride in the ring. He's currently 19months old. We've been showing the pony in hand and my son gets so excited when he sees him. He does ride my old pony round the farm but it's like he knows already it's not his pony.

[catkin]

I think it depends on your circumstances as to when the time is right. If you other ponies around you that a tiny tot can hop onto for five or ten mins, often that's enough at a young age. When they want or need to do a bit more, then the time is right to have their own. I have lots of younger siblings and we would use ponies ridden by older children to also teach the littles to ride. My own daughter had her own pony at six months, but at the same time it was ridden by my nieces and nephews so it had more of a proper use. If you cannot do this, I would say three or four is about the right age.

[herecometheboys]

i have 2 children aged 9 and 7, i brought my eldest her first pony when she was 4 but she seemed to be interested one day then the next day she wasn't, she had a few years break and she got into ponies properly when she was 8 and now she's pony mad, my son had his first pony last year when he was 6 and took to it straight away