What to ask before purchase?

[AClark]

Usually, I find that they just get lazy on the kid, or plain stubborn, knowing that a kid can't "make" them do anything. I like ponies well enough and all, they're adorable, but they can be bratty little snots too. Kids get frustrated with it as well. Sometimes, they need a refresher from the back that going forward, even for the little one who can't "make" you, needs to happen. Really depends on the horse/ponies mentality though. I've seen some that are more than happy to plod along for a kid, and others that jerk the reins out of their little hands and eat grass because it's what suits the pony. Whereas a small child doesn't have the strength to reach down for the reins and pull their head back up - and the pony knows they're being mischievous!

 

[Bunnylady]

Y'know, I met a mini that was the total opposite a while back. This little guy was an absolute angel for little people - a 3 year old could lead him, shoot, he'd walk right up to her. Anybody bigger than maybe a 6 or 8 year old, though, and they'd have a devil of a time just getting their hands on him.

I met this little dude at the Fair a year ago. One evening, he and another pony had been turned out in the round pen for some exercise, and as it was starting to rain, I was given the job of getting them back into their stalls. The livestock super told me, "what you have to do, is take a handful of sweet feed with you, offer it to him, and when he starts to eat it, grab his halter." I didn't say anything, but I was thinking, "Gal, you are a 50-something that has had horses all your life, and you are telling me to do a sneak attack on him? Really?"

I got the other pony in, no problem, but the mini was another matter. As I expected, he was quicker than me, and once he knew what I was up to, he wasn't going to let himself get caught. When I went into the barn with the other pony, I enlisted my daughter, thinking that BB2K would be quicker than I was. I moved over to the far side of the pen, and just observed. The mini out maneuvered her, too - a quick jerk of the head, and bouncing away just out of reach. After he pulled that on her a few times, BB2K said, "he's not scared." "No, he's not," I agreed. "This is a game to him, and he's much better at playing it than either of us. I'm getting pretty tired of getting wet, myself." The next time he bounced away from BB2K, I said, "OK, buddy. You want to move? Let's move," and advanced on him with purpose, behind the drive line and with one arm extended. (I mean, it was obvious, right? I had him in a round pen, for Heaven's sake!) He moved, all right, at a brisk trot, but it was clear from his body language that he really didn't want to. I pushed him maybe two-thirds of the way around that ring, then stopped. He didn't quite turn and face me, but he turned about halfway around and turned his head toward me. He stood there as I walked calmly up and took hold of his halter. "OK, silly goose, let's get you in out of this rain." Simple case of "who's in charge?"

 

[AClark]

Oh come on, I love a good game of "you can't catch me", especially when they only move as fast as you move. You walk, they walk 1 step ahead, you jog, them too! Fun game! My parents had a mare like that, and I learned to just shove the halter under my shirt, which worked for awhile and then she got clever that "hey there's a lump under your shirt...pfft that's a halter crazy lady". So I'd slip my belt off and around her neck. She was a sweet thing really, excellent manners, just a pain to catch.

With our palomino gelding, the previous owner said he always had a hard time catching him, but his teenage son could catch him no problem. I haven't had a single problem catching him out in the field, he comes right up to me, but my husband he looks at like "I don't know about you dude."

 

[Latestarter]

Yep, there are some things (riding related) that it's hard to get through their brain unless you get on them though. For example, mine likes to buck small children off when they kick him in the flanks, and yes, I know, they shouldn't be kicking him in the flanks in the first place, but when my idiot brother tells the kid to "wrap your arms around his neck and hold on with your legs" guess where their feet end up... right in his flanks... then the kid hits the ground...

YAY! Flying children! Just think, the laws of evolution imply that eventually they'll grow wings and it will no longer present an issue! Your brother is really a genius, see?

 

[Kusanar]

YAY! Flying children! Just think, the laws of evolution imply that eventually they'll grow wings and it will no longer present an issue! Your brother is really a genius, see?

Lol, they ARE the brothers kids... so he can get them killed if he wants.. I don't like kids anyway and would really rather they not drool on my pony or touch him with sticky hands... lol

 

[Baymule]

Sticky hands......my Grandmother had a white sofa that she wouldn't let me touch or sit on. I can still hear her fussing at me not to touch her sofa because my hands were sticky...ALL children's hands were sticky...don't sit on it because children are dirty....with sticky hands..... When she died, she still had that infernal white sofa, yellowed with age. I had the satisfaction of hauling it off.

 

[Bruce]

I hope you sat on it with sticky fingers first @Baymule !!

 

[NH homesteader]

@Alexz7272 did you ever go look at the donkey (or other creature)in question?

 

[Alexz7272]

@NH homesteader Yes I did! He turned out to not be a good fit & money is tight so I am going to hold out for the perfect one.

 

[promiseacres]

@NH homesteader Yes I did! He turned out to not be a good fit & money is tight so I am going to hold out for the perfect one.

So what was it?