http://poloponyrescue.com/?p=512
An excellent read for anybody looking to buy.
Agree with everything in the article. But really? Polo ponies as beginner horses? If I knew a beginner looking for a first horse that’s not where I’d send her.
I used to be a polo groom for low-level players. Many (not all) of those horses were in their teens and dead broke. The players were just weekend warriors and needed horses who knew their job. The problem is finding one that is still sound. Pro-ponies might be a handful.
It’s a great site. Shopping for lower priced horses is difficult, it seems like everyone is lying.
The Polo field across the street from my barn uses their ponies are tourist trail ride ponies a couple of days a week. If they are quiet enough for Joe Schmoe to take out on a beach trail ride I think they can probably handle a beginner.
I just got a 20 year old polo pony still sound to play:). She is totally amazing and safe. So much fun. It’s really worth to check out Polo pony rescues for beginner horses
And IMO they survived polo so they are a lot sounder then most other horses
Love that article.
I had that problem once. I sold a horse. The buyer tried it twice, did a PPE and then moved the horse to wherever they were boarding it.
A while later I got a call from the ‘trainer’ (I use the term very loosely) at that barn that I had sold their rider a bad horse.
What happened was, she went to take him out on a trail ride and when they got to a certain point the horse stopped so she turned around and took him back to the barn (the reason given by the trainer was that they thought the horse must be tired from moving the week before, etc) . Next ride the horse stopped a little sooner, she turned around and took him back. You get where this going. When I was called the horse would not leave the barn yard and this was all my fault. I had never had any issues of this sort with the horse, but some how… still my fault.
I’ve seen a few (new riders) surprised by their former lesson horse. Horse was cool when it got ridden 3 lessons a day for 5 days a week, but surprise, when it only got a fraction of the work, it wasn’t as easy to ride.
I kind of cringe sometimes when it’s recommended that greenies buy an old lesson horse. Heck, my evil, rank mare had been a lesson horse. She was fine if she got ridden every day. When she didn’t…well, the break in my arm wasn’t that bad, just a crack really.:lol:
There are ways to keep horses on the cheap, but you have to make up for the money you aren’t spending with knowledge first and doing the work second.
If you don’t have the knowledge to run your own program for the horse, or if you do but you don’t plan on doing the work, then you have to pay someone else to have that knowledge and do the work for you.
But when people say they want a “beginner safe” horse, what they really mean is one where they can pay the bare minimum board at a facility where really the owner needs to be pretty knowledgable and hands on, rather than paying more for a place where better care happens more “by itself”, pay for no pro rides, and take no lessons, and everything will just magically be fine.
The idea of taking weekly lessons and making sure the horse gets five riding interactions a week and having a couple pro rides for the horse when they’re not going to be around is way more than they bargained for. It involves more effort and expense than simply holding hands and singing kum ba ya. They have a lot of expectations of the horse, not a whole lot of expectations for themselves.
[QUOTE=trubandloki;7656094]
Love that article.
I had that problem once. I sold a horse. The buyer tried it twice, did a PPE and then moved the horse to wherever they were boarding it.
A while later I got a call from the ‘trainer’ (I use the term very loosely) at that barn that I had sold their rider a bad horse.
What happened was, she went to take him out on a trail ride and when they got to a certain point the horse stopped so she turned around and took him back to the barn (the reason given by the trainer was that they thought the horse must be tired from moving the week before, etc) . Next ride the horse stopped a little sooner, she turned around and took him back. You get where this going. When I was called the horse would not leave the barn yard and this was all my fault. I had never had any issues of this sort with the horse, but some how… still my fault.[/QUOTE]
Well there was some training going on there. That horse trained the trainer really well.
Or those of us looking for a beginner safe horse could really just want, you know, a beginner safe horse for our children. The horse was coming home, I don’t board. I’m assuming having been a licensed TB trainer and galloped for years makes me a pro, and I did have DD in a lesson program, to preserve our sanity. Beginner safe doesn’t mean you are trying to cheap out. It means you are realistic about the level of the intended rider and what your horse needs to be able to put up with.
Now, if you want beginner safe for $500, including tack and blankets, yeah you are cheaping out. And if a horse needs to be ridden 5 days a week, it probably isn’t the right beginner horse. We are going away for 3 weeks and I know with absolute certainty that DD’s mare will be the exact same horse she was when we left. She doesn’t need to stay in work because she truly is beginner safe. But she is also in a field and can and will rip around when the mood strikes.
Great article! 
I intentionally looked over the fact that it was a polo pony page that put up the article. The messages still apply no matter what the horse may be or who is selling it.
But when people say they want a “beginner safe” horse, what they really mean is one where they can pay the bare minimum board at a facility where really the owner needs to be pretty knowledgable and hands on, rather than paying more for a place where better care happens more “by itself”, pay for no pro rides, and take no lessons, and everything will just magically be fine.
^I disagree 110%.
Or those of us looking for a beginner safe horse could really just want, you know, a beginner safe horse for our children. The horse was coming home, I don’t board. I’m assuming having been a licensed TB trainer and galloped for years makes me a pro, and I did have DD in a lesson program, to preserve our sanity. Beginner safe doesn’t mean you are trying to cheap out. It means you are realistic about the level of the intended rider and what your horse needs to be able to put up with.
Exactly. Some people just want true beginner horses for their children, or adults who need beginner horses.
But one should always be aware of the points made in the linked article.
[QUOTE=meupatdoes;7656121]
They have a lot of expectations of the horse, not a whole lot of expectations for themselves.[/QUOTE]
Yep. And I must say, as a beginner, I was as guilty of this mindset as anybody.
Excellent article. They need to read it before they get the horse.
The best point in the linked article is that if boarders start asking for better turnout, BOs might start providing it. My horse is back on 24/7 turnout, individual and dry lot, but with opportunity to socialize with other horses over the fence, and that has made a huge difference. No, it is not for every horse, but I think it could make for a lot of happier horses and riders!
I made a few of the mistakes mentioned in the article; I just wasn’t thinking yet about how much of an effect a few differences can have on a horse. My horse wasn’t “beginner safe” – that wasn’t what I was looking for, as I was more an advanced beginner or intermediate rider – but she appeared to work for me. I didn’t anticipate what going from 24/7 pasture in a herd to boarding barn with stall and some hours per day of individual turnout would do to her. I don’t think anyone was expecting her reaction to suddenly having a rider that weighed 100 pounds less than her old one… She suddenly had a rear, and a teleport-sideways spook, and way more “go” … and was quite a bit more green than she’d seemed (Yes, old rider was too heavy for her, but that’s a long story.)
Lots of training and lessons and just plain spending time with her figuring things out helped… but I had the $$$ to do that. And somewhere along the way I realized that while this horse is opinionated, she’s usually pretty polite about expressing her opinions, and she doesn’t do anything “sneaky.”
I wouldn’t say my riding has improved that much over the years, but my horsemanship has, by leaps and bounds. I simply had no choice, if I wanted to keep the horse.
That was a WONDERFUL article, OP. Thanks so much for sharing. 
This was a great article. I have seen this happen several times just as described. Pretty sure the author was the old writer of the Fugly Blog, which I used to find very well written (and super snarky). In fact this made me feel guilty that my mare has been standing around in a stall for a few days while we moved. I am heading over to ride now. I do not expect the perfect ride.
So many stories begin (and end) this way. At my old barn, a rank beginner adult decided she must have her own horse to learn to ride, because the school horses just weren’t cool enough. As it happened, a WTC and low-jumping palomino gelding was for sale in the barn, marketed as one the owner’s three young children all rode. And yes – he was as quiet and sweet with those kids as could be.
So the adult wrote her check. Without even a honeymoon period, the gelding started unloading her.
Yes, the three children rode successfully, but the key was that they could ride, having all gone through their lessons first. The lady sold off the gelding and as far as I know stopped riding thereafter.
You know, this article confirmed what I was already beginning to suspect: I’m better off leasing right now.
As much as I’d love to own my own horse, I’ don’t have the ability (financially, time-wise OR skill-wise) to take on such a huge commitment. Unless my lifestyle were dramaticallly change for the better (like say I win the lottery and quit my job for instance), it just doesn’t make any sense. Why make the animal suffer when there are so many other options available?
The article was excellent and very relatable. Just confirms “pride (ego) goeth before a fall”.
