Have You Ever Dealt with Horses or Ponies Showing Aggression Toward Children?

[atr]

My 7-year-old grand daughter is just starting to take lessons. She’s wanted to for a while, but simply didn’t have the coordination, strength or focus that made me comfortable about her doing more than a lead line pony ride. I certainly wouldn’t expect her to have the strength or self-possession to manage keeping a pony’s head up or handling ponytude. At the moment it’s still all unicorns and rainbows.

She’s also quite tall for her age, but 13.2 would be big for her.

If your daughter were mine, I’d be seeking out a more appropriate beginner pony that she can have fun on and gain lifelong confidence with. Doesn’t mean that this one is bad or mean, he’s just a bit sharp for her at her stage of riding, and would probably be happier in himself with a more mature rider.

[CBoylen]

They almost all do that. It’s why a vast majority of these beginner ponies go in Daisy reins or something similar. The rest have one foot in the grave. Or two.

[AllTheCarrots]

If ponies had opposable thumbs, they would take over the world.

If you can swing it, find another pony for your daughter to learn and grow on, and keep this one in reserve for when she’s more ready to engage in a battle of wills and wits.

Or find this evil mastermind a new home, where its tricks won’t ruin a young rider’s confidence.

[chestnutmarebeware]

@AllTheCarrots

If ponies had opposable thumbs, they would take over the world.

And they’re short to be closer to hell!

[Christa_P]

There is a reason people say “pony is a four letter word”.

I had one, a homebred, for 29 years and I always said it was a good thing she was foaled into an experienced home that insisted on manners and that she was NOT expected to be a kids pony.

She was a great driving pony, single and pair, and did spend time as a lesson pony, but always required experienced supervision.

[Demerara_Stables]

Agree with others that say your daughter needs a more suitable (read: polite) pony to learn on now.

Whether or not your keep this pony and invest more in it, I think depends on your daughter’s aptitude for dealing with pony attitude. I’ve had small students on full sized horses that didn’t get scared by shenanigans, and every time they fell off/got run away with, they got back on/rode it out, and had a sense of humor about it. I’ve also had students that completely seize up the moment the horse/pony puts a foot out of place and are on the verge of tears.

How does your daughter react when the pony misbehaves? Does she laugh it off and hop back on or does she get scared? At this stage you want to do everything you can to boost her confidence, so if she gets scared (even if she’s only scared of this pony), then I’d say it’s time to move him on and not spend anymore time on him. If she seems to enjoy the challenge of him, and if they seem like they’ll eventually be a good fit otherwise, then maybe keep him around, and find another, larger child to lease him that is strong enough that he respects her and doesn’t pull any nonsense.