Good idea to loan a horse for a 11 year old?

[liddy 10]

My daughter is 11 years old and coming on 12. She is a very experianced rider, and can canter, jump ect. Do you think it is a good idea to loan a pony for her or would people think shes too young to look after their pony?

[Rich 12]

Not sure about loaning Ponies but I think one of the Farms in Stannington does Horse riding.

 

We always see Horses riding round up in Stannington Village.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Rich

[manofstrad 10]

My daughter is 11 years old and coming on 12. She is a very experianced rider, and can canter, jump ect. Do you think it is a good idea to loan a pony for her or would people think shes too young to look after their pony?

 

To be brutally honest liddy, she is too young. It is good that she is an adept rider but there is a huge difference between a good rider and a good keeper. When we owned horses we would not "lend" to anyone until at least the age of 16 and they had at least 4 years riding experience behind them. If you thing I am being hard, buy her a hamster and see if she has the same level of interest in it when she reaches adolescence.

[*star1* 10]

I part loaned a pony from her age. Loved it, kept me out of trouble, fit and happy!

[Elizabeth13 10]

I started riding at that age.

I moved on to working for a stables and riding for free, I definately think you have to 'earn' any right to getting your own loan or owned horse/pony. I put in a lot of years of hard graft to prove it was something I would stick to.

 

I would find a stables to which she can go regularly and take care of the horses, in exchange for riding/reduced fee for riding. Most stables, I personally think, should include horse care and not just riding lessons - you need to do it all if you want to have your own horse in the future!

 

I presume she only tends to ride, from what you say? She hasn't ever totally looked after horses and cared for them on a day to day basis?

If yes, I wouldn't go into loaning yet. It's a lot of money, and a lot of work if your girl doesn't have any experience on what to do.

I think you may well find it hard to find someone willing to loan their horse to someone who's never cared for one, also I imagine they would not be too happy if she changes her mind a few weeks along!

Loaning is like a contract, you have to commit to it and be sure.

[Bethie 10]

Riding stables aren't able to take on young helpers like they used to any more, best you're likely to get are "pony days" or pony club centres for learning stable management. The question isn't really is your daughter ready or not, or will she enjoy it or not, it is whether you want to take on the commitment of a pony as the responsible adult here.

 

Whether you take on a full or part loan, the owner will expect you to put in the time "supervising" (read "doing" a lot of the time!) your daughter in the daily stable tasks. Will you resent going out in the wet and cold during the winter, will you want to go off and do other things rather than see to the pony, will you be able to commit to going up daily, twice daily if necessary. Can you cope with standing around getting cold and bored yourself supervising her riding.

 

Can you take on the unforeseen expenses as well as the regular stuff, first ponies can be kept pretty cheaply still, but even on loan you will most likely be responsible for vet fees. Then if she does get keen there will be shows and pony club to go to .

 

If you are willing to take on the pony, with eyes open as to what it will involve and not thinking that you can just drop her off and leave her to it, then go for it.

[harric88 10]

Hi Liddy! It's a very big commitment. Looking after a horse is a full time job- she might have to feed and muck out before school then be back straight after. I used to have mine on part livery and all I was bothered about was being with my horse and on the farm so it was never a problem for me however I've seen many cases where the parent ends up spending more time looking after the horse. (- think about 6am start before school then back to do it all again straight after work) I've previously worked on a racing yard and been on a university yard with 60+ horses - it feels like constant mucking out and feeding is all you do through winter depending what yard you're on you might be required to poo-pick the field on a daily basis too!

I'd try and find someone she can help out with for a while first or help out at a riding school she might love to ride but hate the hard work that's required to have a pony.