Paint pony

[Warped]

We have a friend who has a mare pony he wants to sell. She's 4 yrs old. She's halter broke but has never been broke to ride.
She's a sweetheart and loves my kids.
we'd really like to get her and put her in with our mini donkey when we get him.
My question is,how hard is it to break a pony to ride?
And whats the best way to do it?

We have Amish neighbors who said they'd break her for us.its $10 a day to break her.

Could we do it ourselves,or should we have someone else do it?

 

[freemotion]

Even a pony can really hurt your kids. IMHO, leave it to the experts. It will be money well spent. Go watch and learn if they will let you, and see if they will give you some "homework" and help you get it right. It takes many months to make a pony safe for kids, especially kids who are not already very accomplished equestrians.

Newbies do much better with older, well-trained horses and ponies. Something large enough for the adults to ride, too, would be great, since the animal would get more work. An inexperienced animal needs to be worked with almost every day for months, and very regularly for the first few years, to be safe for newbies.

I would never get anything younger than 8 for children, and I trained horses and children for years. There are rare exceptions, but again, those generally are for experienced adults and experiences kids. And there is still some danger. For example, I have put kids on 3-5 year-old horses, but only for a few minutes at the end of a long work session on a hot day when I'd already tired the horse out. And I closely observed and corrected the child often. And did it rarely, not daily. Every time a horse/pony is handled, it is being trained, for good or for bad.

Hate to sound harsh, but if I had a dime for every person who told me they were scared of horses because of an experience as a child.....alway, the story is something that was very avoidable and made me gasp in horror that an adult would put a child into that situation.....I'd be in good financial shape!

So it can be done, but you will not save money, you need to be very willing to spend it. I think you will have a much more enjoyable experience if you find a truly well-trained and well-behaved horse or pony, and have an experienced person help you with the purchase decision. Be sure to watch the animal being ridden first, then your expert friend, then if it is safe, have whoever the animal will be ridden by give it a try.

Then go back on another day, and try it again, this time before it is exhausted by all that "trying!" Lead it in from pasture, groom it, pick up it's feet, saddle it, ride it, hose it off, use clippers on it, etc.

Safety for the children first, and worth extra money, IMO.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I agree with freemotion! When it's for a child, SAFTEY, SAFTEY, SAFTEY. Is the top word. An experienced horse/pony that has proven itself to be stead fast and trust worthy.

 

[sterlng&sierra]

For children, something large enough for adults to ride, something safe enough for a complete beginner, and something forgiving enough for a first horse is a MUST. ALWAYS get a safe, well-trained, gentle, bombproof horse for a child. Get something big enough for the adults to ride, and I would strongly suggest riding lessons and boarding at a good barn so you can easily ask questions and get answers right away.

 

[Warped]

we're going for it and getting the pony.
We've been going over everyday and spending time with her.
We love her to death.

 

[Warped]

picture of my daughter and our new pony

 

[wynedot55]

he is a goodlooking pony.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

How cute! I love the black and white coloring.

We are having our first experiences training a young horse and its been a very challenging task so far. We are thinking about just hiring somebody to help us so that we don't hurt ourselves or the horse. When we bought the horse, it was going to be my only project and then this other rideable five year old fell into our laps and the baby just isn't getting the time she needs.

If you know people who you can pay to train the horse for you, go for it! Especially if they are good at training horses (The problem we are having around here is that we just don't like the methods a lot of trainers are using) Just remember that even a small horse can hurt you! Our girl is only 13.3hh and she can have the power of a 17hh horse!

 

[Countrymom]

Ponies are very intelligent critters. And if they learn the wrong thing or how to get out of work, then the potiential for your children to get hurt is great. I have three ponies of which all are broke to ride. And my daughter has one in training and has trained two more on top of hers and the three we have. She is 12 yrs old and an EXTREMELY ADVANCED rider. So she was able to train them in detail like a full sized horse. After seeing her hard work in these guys I can tell you it takes someone skilled and quick with their responses and reactions to the pony.

Most ponies get a bad rap for being terrible for children because people bully them into letting kids ride and never train them properly. Just because they are small does not mean you can skip steps. They must be trained just like a full sized horse.

Find yourself a trainer.

 

[Warped]

We have an amish neighbor that is going to train her. he has trained 4 of my uncles horses and 2 of his ponies. he's great with them.
He charges $10 a day but my husband is doing some work for him so they bartered a deal where he will work with her and get her broke in exchange for the work my hubby has done for him. he knows his stuff.
I watched him saturday work with my aunts Paint. he was great with him. So i am going to use him.And he lives across the road from us.