# kids: horse or pony



## Rattery (Jun 27, 2013)

Still a couple years off from the actual decision with my oldest only turning 4 this summer, but what is everyone's preference for a child's first mount?

I know kids will outgrow riding a pony, but I like the idea of them being able to catch/brush/tack up their own pony. And I figure if it interested them when they upgrade to a horse then can break the pony to harness, or we just sell. There is ALWAYS a market for broke ponies.


----------



## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I'd vote for pony. I grew up on my mother's retired cowpony and I did learn to catch, bridle (not saddle, as I rode bareback) and get on ... I suppose she was probably around 14 hands or so, not a big mare but average ranch horse size for the time.

My kids grew up with a pony and were actually better riders sooner than I was, a pony is 'sized' for their legs and arms so a good, well-trained pony can be ridden with the same 'aids' for legs and hands as they will need for a horse when they are bigger. They can learn on a horse to start with, but it's easier with a good pony.


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

A small older been there, done that horse is better as a kid's first horse because many ponies are just too small to be ridden by an adult for "tune-ups." Ponies can be snotty little buggers. 

I'll be looking for a horse for my grand daughter in a year or so- I've been told she can't have one until she's 4-5.  My youngest daughter's first horse (her walk/trot show/all purpose) was a 16.1 hand appendix Quarter Horse- she could groom and tack her just fine with the use of a mounting stand. It's not the size of the horse, it's the training and temperament.


----------



## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

We had ponies and horses. A large pony or small horse will fit them longer. I did like the fact that the kids could groom and tack the smaller ponies themselves. We had a Shetland pony that was a doll and one (for awhile) that was a stinker. I think it depends on the kid and the animal.


----------



## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

Donkey.  They watch out for my kids and while they will try the kid out they wont hurt them or do anything stupid.

That said, the donkeys we have are very old and slow as all get out. The girls now want more of a challenge. We have tried to get more donkeys but nothing in our price range so we now have 3 ponies( 2 large 1 small) as one was cheap and the other 2 free. Those ponies provide a great deal more of a challenge LOL


----------



## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

My first mount was a pony. It built character right away. Maybe not the best first mount for everyone. It might have discouraged a less-determined kid. I was able to out-pony the pony, though. Most things in my life, I have learned The Hard Way and, while it has worked for me, it certainly isn't what I would recommend to someone else. So I voted horse. Pony-sized horse would be great but maybe not pony breed.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Depends on the kid and the horse or pony. A more timid rider is best off with a horse but a tougher child might be able to easily handle a pony's orneriness. In either case I recommend something good and aged and a been-there, done-that one for sure.
In retrospect I wish I'd gone with a small horse for my girls rather than ponies.


----------



## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

As long as it's not a giant of a horse, kids ought not have any issue tacking up, brushing down, and mounting with a mounting block. Personally, size wouldn't be my determining factor.


----------



## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

Why can't they use a stool to reach the horse to brush them and all?
When I took lessons, I had a big QH gelding to learn on. Used a stool if I couldn't reach his back or head. 
Then again, I just hate how disposable everything is these days, so naturally hate the idea of a pony instead of a horse. jmpo
Ponies can also be real brats, more-so than horses. They tend to get fat easier, too. It'd be less work n worry with a horse it seems to me.


----------



## karenp (Jun 7, 2013)

Small horse, most ponies are rotten (aka "snotty little bugger")


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

secuono said:


> Why can't they use a stool to reach the horse to brush them and all?
> When I took lessons, I had a big QH gelding to learn on. Used a stool if I couldn't reach his back or head.
> Then again, I just hate how disposable everything is these days, so naturally hate the idea of a pony instead of a horse. jmpo
> Ponies can also be real brats, more-so than horses. They tend to get fat easier, too. It'd be less work n worry with a horse it seems to me.


I don't know anyone who throws out a pony really, so I don't quite see them as disposable. We sold one, one died, and one is still with us waiting for grandkids and as a companion for the other horse.

Horses and ponies are outgrown in ways other than size. I see nothing wrong with getting one and selling or rehoming it when it's outlived it's usefulness for one person.


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Mini donkey would be my first choice.


----------



## dizzy (Jun 25, 2013)

Gotta agree w/Lisa. It depends entirely on the kid and the animal. There is no one size fits all when it comes to this question.


----------



## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

o course my grandfather (a real teamster and horseman of the old school) would say if you can handle a pony you can handle a horse .we had a good plow pony and a little mule that were safe for any kid but I saw quite a few that were very unreliable .da had a big clidestale that all 4 kids could ride at once theres good and bad in all sizes just make sure a pony for young children is completely broke and safe


----------



## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

All things being equal, I'd vote for a pony.

But, that assumes a child safe, dead broke pony. If both mounts had equal temperament, training, and attitude, then yes - of course, the smaller one will be easier for a young child.

However, that assumes a lot, and one problem with small ponies is that adults are not always appropriately sized to school them. So, if you can find a saint of a pony - grab it. If not, a saint of a horse is the next best thing.


----------



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Most of the ponies I've seen were ill tempered. But I have seen a couple ponies that were great, nearly babysitters fir young riders. 

Barn sour horses or ponies and an inexperienced young rider is always a bad idea. An inexperienced rider can ruin a good horse/pony in a short time.


----------



## Rattery (Jun 27, 2013)

In my particular situation I'm looking at an 11.2 hh section A welsh, and a 14.2 hh Canadian. Both 4 years old and not broke, but the welsh has had groundwork done and is owned by a stable that does kids riding programs(ultimately the same place my kids will take lessons). I honestly wouldn't mind owning either of them forever, the welsh is a really flashy bay with a bald face/blue eye and white stockings, feathering and fairly heavy boned. The Canadian would fit into a breeding program with my other mare, and the breed is known for their calm temperaments, although like ponies can be stubborn because they're smart and don't react well to harsh training/heavy handed riding lol. 

I know 14hh is still considered a pony, but that's not how I see them, it is a size I can put some miles on though, and Canadians are nearly born broke


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Rattery said:


> In my particular situation I'm looking at an 11.2 hh section A welsh, and a 14.2 hh Canadian. Both 4 years old and not broke, but the welsh has had groundwork done and is owned by a stable that does kids riding programs(ultimately the same place my kids will take lessons). I honestly wouldn't mind owning either of them forever, the welsh is a really flashy bay with a bald face/blue eye and white stockings, feathering and fairly heavy boned. The Canadian would fit into a breeding program with my other mare, and the breed is known for their calm temperaments, although like ponies can be stubborn because they're smart and don't react well to harsh training/heavy handed riding lol.
> 
> I know 14hh is still considered a pony, but that's not how I see them, it is a size I can put some miles on though, and Canadians are nearly born broke


I wouldn't consider either of them as a mount for young children, even in the next few years. I strongly recommend a much older pony or horse for your kids. An old pony club rule goes: the age of the horse and rider added together should equal at least 20.
I DIDN'T follow this with my youngest daughter (on the poor advice of a trainer) and bought a very well trained 7 year old for her when she was 9. Big mistake. My daughter was never injured and is an excellent rider but her self confidence did suffer. The mare just didn't have the experience that a young rider needed. I would not do the same thing again. She would have been far better off if we'd gotten the older been there, done that mare that was serviceably sound but unflappable. Hindsight.....


----------



## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> I wouldn't consider either of them as a mount for young children, even in the next few years. I strongly recommend a much older pony or horse for your kids. An old pony club rule goes: the age of the horse and rider added together should equal at least 20.
> I DIDN'T follow this with my youngest daughter (on the poor advice of a trainer) and bought a very well trained 7 year old for her when she was 9. Big mistake. My daughter was never injured and is an excellent rider but her self confidence did suffer. The mare just didn't have the experience that a young rider needed. I would not do the same thing again. She would have been far better off if we'd gotten the older been there, done that mare that was serviceably sound but unflappable. Hindsight.....


100% agreed. A confidence-builder is the BEST trait to look for in a first mount.


----------



## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

I'm on the fence on this one. I learned on whatever I could beg a ride on and it didn't matter to me how broke, unbroken, big or small they were. Falling off didn't faze me and I'd hop right back on because my passion was that great. Not all kids are going to have that same passion so you are best with a confidence builder. The thing is, smaller usually instills less fear. I had a 13 hand riding pony that my great nieces & nephews loved to ride but she wasn't a babysitter, she liked to go, go, go. I have a 15.1 paint mare who is slow as molasses and great with kids but they still liked the pony better because she was smaller. Their decision on riding the pony didn't even change when they knew she had to be on a lounge line while they could have ridden the paint mare by themselves.


----------



## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Teej said:


> I'm on the fence on this one. I learned on whatever I could beg a ride on and it didn't matter to me how broke, unbroken, big or small they were. Falling off didn't faze me and I'd hop right back on because my passion was that great. Not all kids are going to have that same passion so you are best with a confidence builder. The thing is, smaller usually instills less fear. I had a 13 hand riding pony that my great nieces & nephews loved to ride but she wasn't a babysitter, she liked to go, go, go. I have a 15.1 paint mare who is slow as molasses and great with kids but they still liked the pony better because she was smaller. Their decision on riding the pony didn't even change when they knew she had to be on a lounge line while they could have ridden the paint mare by themselves.


Horses are potentially dangerous. As far as my kids are concerned, I don't care how great their passion is (and my daughter's was every bit as great as yours),
I don't want broken bones and concussions or worse. You shouldn't put green riders and children, no matter how great their passion is or how unaware they are of the dangers, or how brave they are, onto an unsuitable mount.


----------



## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Get an Icelandic or Fjord and they will never out grow them. :grin:

And I would strongly recommend only buying been there done that... well trained horse or pony for new comers. Riding horses can be a very dangerous sport.


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> Horses are potentially dangerous. As far as my kids are concerned, I don't care how great their passion is (and my daughter's was every bit as great as yours),
> I don't want broken bones and concussions or worse. You shouldn't put green riders and children, no matter how great their passion is or how unaware they are of the dangers, or how brave they are, onto an unsuitable mount.


I grew up riding anything I could throw a leg over- and I'm suffering from the effects of those decisions. What my parents were thinking is anyone's guess. 

My kids learned on been there, done that horses and there were a succession of horses as their skill grew. Plus they always always always wore a helmet.


----------



## JamieCatheryn (Feb 9, 2013)

I was thrown from a stubborn pony as a child, I'm told that stubborn streak is common. Once my broken arm recovered I only rode the 20 yr old bombproof gentle old lady horse at that ranch for a long while.


----------



## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> Horses are potentially dangerous. As far as my kids are concerned, I don't care how great their passion is (and my daughter's was every bit as great as yours),
> I don't want broken bones and concussions or worse. You shouldn't put green riders and children, no matter how great their passion is or how unaware they are of the dangers, or how brave they are, onto an unsuitable mount.


 Well Lisa I happen to agree with you which is why I said in the second sentence that a confidence builder is best.


----------



## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

I just saw this on my dh horse crazy cousin facebook page









LOL as we are just discussing pony's and their temperaments.


----------



## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

Our kids started riding very young, and the older two started with small horses, the younger two with ponies. I don't like the idea of using a stool or anything lightweight to work around horses. For one thing it's dangerous, for another, kids will find anything to stand on if they can't reach-buckets, boxes ect. Our rule was fences and rocks were okay, anything that moved would get you in trouble.

Our kids were pretty small for their ages, and with 4, the ponies were easier because they could do more by themselves. We also knew the ponies well before they came to live with us, our older kids friends had outgrown them. The smaller pony went to raise a friend's kids, the larger pony we had until she died at 36.

I like an older horse or pony for a first horse. The kids horses were in their late teens when the kids started with them, been there, done that retired show horses. The ponies had been kids ponies their whole lives. We did something right, our kids all have horses today and most of the grandkids ride as well.


----------



## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Ahhh the memories of getting the crap beat out of me by my ponies. The shetland bit, kicked, ran off, and learned exactly when to step on my foot while leading so I would face plant. My amish pony was a bit better but spent the first year refusing to listen to me and not going forward. My mom said to let her back in to the barbwire fence and it worked after a couple times. She wasn't too bad of pony after that. There was that hackney thing that dumped me in the creek and I'm not sure what the grey we called silver lady was but she dumped my sister in the manure pile and ran off with my mom connected to a cart.

I would really suggest a small horse. A qh pony which is just a qh bred horse that is under 14h, had a nice little dun I used for pony classes, or a POA that is more like the personality of a qh or appy in a small package.


----------



## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

akane said:


> Ahhh the memories of getting the crap beat out of me by my ponies. The shetland bit, kicked, ran off, and learned exactly when to step on my foot while leading so I would face plant. My amish pony was a bit better but spent the first year refusing to listen to me and not going forward. My mom said to let her back in to the barbwire fence and it worked after a couple times. She wasn't too bad of pony after that. There was that hackney thing that dumped me in the creek and I'm not sure what the grey we called silver lady was but she dumped my sister in the manure pile and ran off with my mom connected to a cart.
> 
> I would really suggest a small horse. A qh pony which is just a qh bred horse that is under 14h, had a nice little dun I used for pony classes, or a POA that is more like the personality of a qh or appy in a small package.


Me too. My mother would bring home anything cheap and I'd be expected "to do something with it." Sigh. I remember one little chestnut shetland/Welsh/something pony that was truly horrible- she flipped over backward on me (which contributed to the hip problem I have now) would roll in any type of water (creek, big mud puddle) took off and dragged my little brother through the manure pile (I have no idea why he didn't let go of the rope) OK that one was pretty funny.  I finally got her to the point where she'd ride pretty well could never break of rolling in water. 

She was one of many- the hackney that would "attack" to bite, the POA that would just randomly lie down, the many many shetland and shetland crosses that were just little terrors. 

No more ponies, ever. :grit:


----------



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

The problem with ponies is that they are usually trained by kids because they are too small for an adult to break. Tack is heavy and fine motor skills aren't well developed so young children cannot do much with tack anyway. By the time a kid has the fine motor skills to help somewhat he can stand on something that will allow him to help.

Our neighbor has a beautiful Shetland mare and some rodeo horses. He is training his toddler nephew (who lives with him) on the rodeo horses. He said the pony is stubborn and way too much for his nephew.


----------



## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

What is the age of the children we are talking about? There is a big difference in what a 3 year old can reach and do and a 10 year old.


----------



## Rattery (Jun 27, 2013)

Youngest age for lessons is 5, would be ATLEAST a year of lessons before they would have their own horse/pony if they do in fact want to stick with riding.


----------



## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

So we are talking about a 6 year old? I would lean toward a small horse. I don't know what the rules are now but if a horse was under 14.2, they could qualify as a pony. That is the size I would want. A small pony will be outgrown so soon, a bigger horse would work, but be harder for them to reach. I started lessons at 6 on a retired hunter who was well over 16 hands but a sweetie. I had been around horses several years by then and wasn't fazed by his size. Our youngest DD had an Arab-Welsh cross, 13 hand pony that she got at 7or 8. She already had the stinker who was good as long as you didn't ride him. She rode her pony until she went to college, then her pony did 4 years of pony club with a friends little girl. She came home to retire, unless there was a kid around.


----------



## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

I started on a horse, my sister started on a pony. No real difference.


----------



## mulemom (Feb 17, 2013)

Have to agree with the consensus of a small horse. I started at 9 on an unbroke yearling stud pony we got as payment for pasture rental. I was more stubborn than him so getting dumped repeatedly didn't faze me but he totally terrorized my younger sister. Anyone who rides very much will eventually fall off or get dumped. Best thing we learned was how to fall by using tumbling, especially shoulder rolls and forward rolls. A lot of winter 4-H meetings were spent in the old haymow jumping off beams for practice. The kids loved it and considering that none of us had what I would now call 'broke' horses most of us used what we learned.


----------

