mo2 Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Can someone point me in the right direction? We're beginners... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Have you read any books or visited/helped at a horse barn? I'd start there for the basics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 your biggest things are going to be regular worming, farrier visits, and weight control. An overweight pony will founder. Grazing muzzles and diet pens are necessary for a pony. The best way to learn how to handle and care for them on a day to day basis is to find a local group that you can join. And extra thing I was reminded of this year, keep your horses out of the clover! My neighbors' pony has liver damage now from munching out in the alsike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Seriously, the best advice for a beginner it to look for a 4H group or similar horse group to join or you could start checking out riding lesson barns and learn a bit there (including how to ride). Second best is to have a friend who knows what they are doing - a good friend. It's seldom a good idea just to "buy a pony" and learn while you are going along. It can be very dangerous for both the pony and the family - esp if young kids are involved. In the meantime, check out horse care books from your library, but nothing beats hands on experience with someone who has knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 You need to do some serious reading on founder. Until you do you don't need a pony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 You need to do some serious reading on founder. Until you do you don't need a pony. :iagree::iagree::iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 My best advice is to NOT buy a pony. They are cute but they are pushy and they have a mind of their own and often they are hard keepers. Buy a small horse or even a big horse but don't.buy.a.pony.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 My DD's riding trainer's advice: find a local boarding facility and board your horse for a while. Learn from the owner of the facility as much as you can about horse care. Have you children learn safe riding. Have your pony trained by somebody who knows what he is doing (your post sounds as if you are not used to working with horses). THEN bring the pony home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Can you give more details? How old are your kids that will be working with the pony? Any experience with riding or horse care? How old is the pony? Have you already bought the pony? Where will you be keeping the pony? What do you want to do with the pony---pasture pet, driving, riding--trails, showing, or ???? There is SOOO much to learn that having someone local that can help you out is key. Also, horses/ponies, don't do well alone for the most part. They do best with another equine but can be OK with goat or other companion animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 My best advice is to NOT buy a pony. They are cute but they are pushy and they have a mind of their own and often they are hard keepers. Buy a small horse or even a big horse but don't.buy.a.pony.! I have worked with horses that are stubborn and pushy and I have worked with ponies that are as sweet as they come. Not all ponies are hard to handle, many have simply learned bad habits from being constantly handled by inexperienced, young children and need a tuning in regularly. Also, the temperament will vary greatly depending on the breed of pony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 My DD's riding trainer's advice: find a local boarding facility and board your horse for a while. Learn from the owner of the facility as much as you can about horse care. Have you children learn safe riding. Have your pony trained by somebody who knows what he is doing (your post sounds as if you are not used to working with horses).THEN bring the pony home. :iagree: GREAT ADVICE I have worked with horses that are stubborn and pushy and I have worked with ponies that are as sweet as they come. Not all ponies are hard to handle, many have simply learned bad habits from being constantly handled by inexperienced, young children and need a tuning in regularly. Also, the temperament will vary greatly depending on the breed of pony. :iagree: As a pony breeder who has worked with oodles of different equines over the years it always annoys me when people spread this bad info as gospel. Many ponies are saints. Many horses will kill a youngster (not necessarily on purpose, but simply because if THEY get pushy they have far more weight behind them). The key is finding a well-raised, nice tempermented pony. Either ponies or horses who are raised by those who are inexperienced or who are poor with correct discipline will be a bad choice for anyone except experts (and most experts don't care to deal with them for retraining). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 My best advice is to NOT buy a pony. They are cute but they are pushy and they have a mind of their own and often they are hard keepers. Buy a small horse or even a big horse but don't.buy.a.pony.! A pony is just a size as well as a classification of some breeds...It totally depends on the horse. I have had several over the years of both breed and size classified ponies. Mine have been sweet and kind, but the one we have now is definitely an air fern. We don't feed him anything but a few treats here and there and a little extra pelleted feed in addition to his normal hay ration in the winter as he is older. Yes they can be opinionated and stubborn and stinkers and mouthy and pushy, but many of them are sweet and watchful and great with kids. Many times it's a lack of proper training that's become the problem in most ponies. Many are too small for larger adults to train properly, so it often isn't done right, creating a sour or bossy pony. Plus people tend to treat the little cute ones like giant dogs to be pampered with little training reinforcement. Thus creating a monster. It sounds like the OP may already have one. Too late to get experience first in that case :D. I recommend connecting with a barn or a 4-H club. Do you have any knowledgeable horse friends? What did the previous owners do to care for him? Do you have a farrier and vet lined up (very important). Your local feed store could have recommendations for those as they normally know lots of people in your area. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 If you haven't already bought the pony, I would go along with the suggestions of getting lessons, training, etc. FIRST. Also, take someone VERY experienced with you to go look for the pony. An experienced person can noticed evidence of founder and other health issues, training issues, etc. They might also know who and who NOT to buy from (some people selling just buy at an auction on Saturday and list them for sale on Monday as KID SAFE when they don't even know personally). If you do have the pony, enlist some personal help ASAP. Make sure to link up with a good farrier and vet and get established with them---dont' wait for an emergency to make the first call. Have someone help you with a good feeding program (some ponies eat almost nothing and are fat while others, esp. older ones, might need senior feed in a mash several times a day to stay healthy), some basic ground work, and safety issues---how to lead, groom, tack, etc. Any child riding needs a riding helmet. Even the calmest, quietest pony and trip and the rider slip off. Like I mentioned earlier, if you can give more details that would be great. Even including the breed and age of the pony if known, what past experience it has, how tall it is, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 ITA with starting lessons, getting involved with 4-H and/or pony club, etc. From there you can even expand into things like 4-H horse judging teams, hippobowl (horse trivia/knowledge test), etc. Learn about ponies first, get the fundamentals of horse care and riding down before you even consider buying a pony, IMO. I participated in 4-H for a few years before I was allowed to own a horse. We started off boarding and then moved her home a year later or so. Like PPs have said, you do have to have knowledge of things like founder, colic, etc. When my pony was shipped to us, she was huge and looked like she had swallowed a barrel. She had been overfed, etc. and it took time to figure out what kind of food was going to work for her. My trainer was able to help me through that, even though I had been around horses for 2-3 years at that point. Starting off at a barn and boarding was a good way to work our way into ownership, and I think my parents used my commitment to 4-H to test how serious I was. They also had me clear our future pasture at home of rocks every day after school. I think I did that for many, many months-went home after school and loaded rocks in a wheelbarrow, every single day. In retrospect, it was smart on my parents' part, as they had a better idea it wasn't a passing fad that way. I was truly committed to what it took. Once my pony was home, I had to get up and feed her in the dark before school, take care of grooming, hoof care, etc. before and after school, etc. I do not ride at this point in my life, although I'd love to return to it. When I was a preteen and teen I was a "pony fixer" around the barn I trained at, because I was so short LOL. So as a preteen and young teen, I could still ride the ponies and work with them. I agree ponies can learn bad habits because often there is no one who can really train them adequately due to their size. I agree it isn't inherent to ponies; they just often are ridden by young kids who don't know how to train them adequately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Please, please deworm the pony. ILs received a young mini horse for youngest BIL from an older gentleman who was getting rid of his horses. The horse was always skinny and they'd ask me about him (we don't live in their town), but I'd never thought there wasn't a vet involved at some point. Horse was kept in a large shed and grazing area at end of their yard. She was being trained to pull a little cart and doing really well. Anyway, one day she just.dropped.dead. 14yo BIL was of course devastated. Could have been anything, but I've always wondered if it was something as simple as worms and I'm pretty sure they were ignorant enough about horses that that wasn't taken care of. So sad, put potentially so simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Just wondered what was going on with the pony situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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