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Member
Posts: 18
| I have been out of horses for about 5 yrs because of college/grad school. So I was looking for some advice. I had planned on going to buy a pony this weekend for my 2 and half month old daughter. I know she wont be riding until she is about two yrs old, but I thought it would be nice to go ahead and start training a pony for her. Plus I just love messing around with horses and I finally will have some free time on my hands. I also plan on getting back into barrel racing myself. Anyway, I found an adorable 3 yr old registered Shetland for $150 that is 36'' tall. The owner, which is an old friend of mine, has already worked her in the round pen and saddled her numerous times without any problems. Her 5 yr old daughter plays with the pony all the time and she said it has never bitten, kicked, or bucked. I was showing my father the same photos I have on this post and he says that the pony doesn't look good conformation wise to him. He said the pony looks cow hocked to him, but I guess I fail to see that in these pictures. My friend rescued this pony from a bad situation, so it was malnourished when she bought her. She just wants to find the pony a good home. What do you guys think of this little pony?
Edited by Gocowgirl7 2014-02-27 12:31 PM
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  Fact Checker
Posts: 16572
  
Location: Displaced Iowegian | I would "assume" that you mean "conformation"? In the second photo, it does show that the pony toes out and the hocks are close together...BUT that being said, it is very hard to really tell by those photos. Additionally, what would THAT matter for a safe and gentle pony???? |
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
 
Location: Gainesville, TX | Is she cowhocked? Yes. Does that matter to a two-five year old who will likely walk and trot mostly? No.
Conformation should matter primarily for performance horses who are going to have a lot of stress on their bodies or breeding. Your daughter is not going to ask that much of her, and you probably don't need to breed her. Otherwise, enjoy her. |
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Member
Posts: 18
| I am so used to hearing writing composition that I didn't even notice. Although, they are synonyms. Personally, I thought it was hard to tell from these photos as well. But like you, I do not believe it should matter, especially for $150. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I agree who cares if the conformation is not perfect.
The part that concerns me is the age I wouldn't be buying a 3 year old for a kid especially the age of yours as this pony has not been alive enough to be exposed to everything |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Mountains of VA | I vote for a much older, been there done that type of pony. Safety should be the main concern. It will be a long time before your baby is ready to even be lead around and you need a completely bombproof quiet pony. |
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 Desert Diva
Posts: 4946
Location: The birthplace of Honest Abe | I dont like how the back pasterns almost touch the ground in the pictures, if that is case I would be worried about how sound it would be with riding period. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Where is this pony at I will buy it, I could care less about a pony's conformation, as long as its gentle and good around the kids, now if it was going to be a show pony that would be a different story. And this is a really cute little fella. |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | Three year old full grown horses can be gentle as dogs. This pony has not been truly tried. I probably spent a good 18 months looking for the perfect pony for my daughter. We found that pony just before her 3rd birthday.
Cheap does not equal bargain....I just think that if you are patient you can do better. |
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 I Want a "MAN"
Posts: 3610
Location: MD | I'd much rather have the pony in the back ground. The paint looks too wild eyed and his back legs kill it for me. Too many nice ponies at auctions for $200 to buy a half broke crooked one. |
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | Having dealt with lots of ponies over the years, working with one for a couple years does not guarantee a bombproof, kid-safe pony. MY opinion is I don't like the way this one is built at all. Yes, it's a pony for a kid, but her hind pasterns don't look good at all. I'd be worried about long-term soundness.
I think it's a much better idea to wait until your daughter is old enough to walk and sit on the pony, and by that time, you can find an older, been-there-done-that pony.
My opinion is this pony is nothing special, and you can find better ones all the time. |
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Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | For reference we have bought several ponies over the past few years. My daughters like to break and train them...we have paid prices all over the board.
The yellow mare - $75
The roan mare - $150
and then there's the white gelding Captain Jack who will be with us for the rest of his life - $2,000 and he's worth a million.
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Regular
Posts: 91
Location: North Dakota | I just have to say that that little white pony pictures is absolutely ADORABLE!! OMG! I too have been in the spot of looking for the perfect pony! My advise to you is to take your time and not buy the very first one you come across for a good deal!! There are so many awesome ponies out there - they are worth waiting for! |
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Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | jhanlan - 2014-02-27 3:25 PM I just have to say that that little white pony pictures is absolutely ADORABLE!! OMG! I too have been in the spot of looking for the perfect pony! My advise to you is to take your time and not buy the very first one you come across for a good deal!! There are so many awesome ponies out there - they are worth waiting for!
The white pony "Captain Jack" came from Pete and Jill Houck. www.houckhorsecompany.com in Minnesota. They are a great source for wonderful ponies. Their daughter Lana rides them all. I bought him on this site but they send theirs through the Billings Sale as well.
This is the video from Captain Jack's sale ad, you can see why I couldn't pass him up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLk7-0Y76e4&sns=em
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Regular
Posts: 91
Location: North Dakota | How how awesome is he! LOL. To cute! I am from North Dakota so may have to look into them for a niece!! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 365
| Everyone's right about being able to find a better pony. Personally I can find a dozen cheap broke ponies on Craigslist. But you have a few years to mess with it and get it better. My second pony the good one who didnt take advantage of me was 3 when I was 4. Bought green broke, my mom trained him he was a deadhead.
As for conformation, a good pony is a good pony. My step brothers pony that my son will inherit is foundered and blind in one eye, plus she's 15 this year. Everyone wants that pony and has offered good money for her. |
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 Grandaughter of a Champion
Posts: 2956
Location: left field | We have bought, trained and sold lots of ponies. My kids ride really well and they turn out awesome little horses, and they sell for a lot of money. Anyway, the paint pony in the pic doesn't look the greatest in the left hind, his pastern is really long and his ankle is way low. Now if you are dead set on him, I'm sure he will be fine. All he has to do is walk around or maybe trot a little. I see no reason why he couldn't tote a little kid around. Now my advice for a little tiny kid learning to ride, find one that's about 20 yrs old, half crippled and super broke. They don't want to run off, they want to stop, you're kid has to make them go, not worry about making them stop. Nothing will scare a kid and ruin them on horses faster than scaring them on something they don't feel in control of. My kids learned on a 30 yr old mini who was blind in one eye. We still have her and she's over 40 yrs old and still going strong. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1218
Location: Great NW | I would let the paint pony go to a home where he is a horse companion. His left pastern just doesn't look like he will hold up under any work.
I started saving when my son was born. when he was 2 I had plenty of money to go find that been there, done that pony that was proven to take care of the kids. I actually found the pony after Many months of looking. I talked to the owners and verbally agreed to pay a certain amount for the pony when they were ready to move up. It was a win, win. That pony raised both my kids and was worth his weight in GOLD. |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Buy the pony. By the time your daughter is two. That pony will be five. In that time you could have a well mannered pony.Plus there are plenty of kids around that have no problem in breaking that pony to ride. I think that pony is pretty cute. |
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I Need a Xanax!
Posts: 2774
| awest - 2014-02-27 5:41 PM We have bought, trained and sold lots of ponies. My kids ride really well and they turn out awesome little horses, and they sell for a lot of money. Anyway, the paint pony in the pic doesn't look the greatest in the left hind, his pastern is really long and his ankle is way low. Now if you are dead set on him, I'm sure he will be fine. All he has to do is walk around or maybe trot a little. I see no reason why he couldn't tote a little kid around. Now my advice for a little tiny kid learning to ride, find one that's about 20 yrs old, half crippled and super broke. They don't want to run off, they want to stop, you're kid has to make them go, not worry about making them stop. Nothing will scare a kid and ruin them on horses faster than scaring them on something they don't feel in control of. My kids learned on a 30 yr old mini who was blind in one eye. We still have her and she's over 40 yrs old and still going strong.
The highlighted part is the best advice on this thread IMO. I wouldn't buy the pony....too young and now matter how many years you spend riding it it still may not make a good kids pony then you have wasted a ton of valuable time. |
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 Triple Extra-Ordinaire
Posts: 4244
Location: Okla | My grandfather (a true cowboy) bought me a pony when I was 2 yrs old. I will never forget that and chose the same path when I bought our son a pony. My grandfather bought me a pony off of a carnival ride. That pony was blind, but it was used to walking in circles with every kid imaginable on her back. My parents could turn me loose in the yard with full confidence that I would only be walking in a large circle and not going somewhere else.....or going any faster than a walk. .......... As a child I learned the value of patience and going slow |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | tripleE - 2014-02-28 8:35 AM My grandfather (a true cowboy) bought me a pony when I was 2 yrs old. I will never forget that and chose the same path when I bought our son a pony. My grandfather bought me a pony off of a carnival ride. That pony was blind, but it was used to walking in circles with every kid imaginable on her back. My parents could turn me loose in the yard with full confidence that I would only be walking in a large circle and not going somewhere else.....or going any faster than a walk. .......... As a child I learned the value of patience and going slow
That is what my first pony did before we got her. My mom was friends with the guy that had them, so any time we were in town we would stop by and they would visit while my sister and I rode the ponies... round and round in a big slow circle lol.
He was selling out and we brought lady home, she did know how to do more then a big circle though. I wasn't exactly pleased with her in the beginning (I wanted one of the pretty full size horses not a fuzzy shetland). I was told I was lucky I got a horse considering she(mom) didn't like shetlands, Lady was a good horse and if I didn't want her I wouldn't have a horse... and that was that! I don't think she ever spooked at anything, she had spent years around a bunch of screaming kids that knew nothing about horses and did all the things you are taught not to do around horses lol. |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | I don't think you can make a good judgement on conformation from those two pictures. The pony is cute. So she's young - big deal. You have several years to work with her and decide if she'll work for your daughter. IMO conformation doesn't matter very much for a kids pony, and by the time your daughter is big enough even to be led around, you'll have an idea if the pony is going to turn into a kid pony or not. If not, sell her to someone with a little older kid who wants a project and use that money to buy a more beginner-friendly pony. Lots of options with a pony if you have time to put the miles on one before you need it.
I'm currently riding a Welsh mix and a small QH gelding for some friends of ours who want to sell them, and I'm thinking the Welsh may have some real kid horse potential despite his conformation not being the greatest. |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | The pony isn't built very well.............but who really cares for a shetland that will probably just walk/trot.
I'm a sucker, the little guy hasn't had a fair break, and ponies are waaayyy cheap to feed. I would buy it and play with it. If it doesn't seem super quiet, just buy another one and they can be buddies. |
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 Firecracker Dog Lover
Posts: 3175
| rachellyn80 - 2014-02-27 1:02 PM
For reference we have bought several ponies over the past few years. My daughters like to break and train them...we have paid prices all over the board.
The yellow mare - $75
The roan mare - $150
and then there's the white gelding Captain Jack who will be with us for the rest of his life - $2,000 and he's worth a million.
To heck with training ponies, can I send my 6 year old for your daughters to put some time on? GREAT pictures and you can tell these girls know their stuff, are gentle and you can't beat a pony that let you shoot from it's back. :) Good job - with the ponies and the girls!!! |
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Firecracker Dog Lover
Posts: 3175
| rachellyn80 - 2014-02-27 1:32 PM
jhanlan - 2014-02-27 3:25 PM I just have to say that that little white pony pictures is absolutely ADORABLE!! OMG! I too have been in the spot of looking for the perfect pony! My advise to you is to take your time and not buy the very first one you come across for a good deal!! There are so many awesome ponies out there - they are worth waiting for!
The white pony "Captain Jack" came from Pete and Jill Houck. www.houckhorsecompany.com in Minnesota. They are a great source for wonderful ponies. Their daughter Lana rides them all. I bought him on this site but they send theirs through the Billings Sale as well.
This is the video from Captain Jack's sale ad, you can see why I couldn't pass him up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLk7-0Y76e4&sns=em
Rachel you are right - Captain Jack is worth a million, at least! What a great pony! |
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Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | brlraceaddict - 2014-02-28 12:06 PM rachellyn80 - 2014-02-27 1:02 PM For reference we have bought several ponies over the past few years. My daughters like to break and train them...we have paid prices all over the board.
The yellow mare - $75
The roan mare - $150
and then there's the white gelding Captain Jack who will be with us for the rest of his life - $2,000 and he's worth a million.
To heck with training ponies, can I send my 6 year old for your daughters to put some time on? GREAT pictures and you can tell these girls know their stuff, are gentle and you can't beat a pony that let you shoot from it's back. : ) Good job - with the ponies and the girls!!!
Thank you! Pj is 12 now, but when she was 6 she wasn't nearly as confident or aggressive as Savvy is. Savvy is 4 and fearless. I have to keep an eye on them! Pj is too big for the little ponies now, so she uses her sister as a test pilot, lol Here's a video of a pony that came to us for training. She was so scared of people it was sad. Pj had worked with her for about 45-60 days driving and handling on the ground and then had her sister get on her. Savvy wasn't quite 4 in the video.
When Pj turned 9 she changed completely. She went from a fast lope to running in the 1D at big events. If you look through the videos on my Youtube channel you can see their progression. Most of the videos of Savvy are from when she was 3. We just keep them on solid horses and ponies and try to make it as fun as possible. I won't put my kids on anything that I wouldn't want to ride myself.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ArinK2wfk
Edited by rachellyn80 2014-02-28 12:57 PM
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Firecracker Dog Lover
Posts: 3175
| rachellyn80 - 2014-02-28 10:56 AM
brlraceaddict - 2014-02-28 12:06 PM rachellyn80 - 2014-02-27 1:02 PM For reference we have bought several ponies over the past few years. My daughters like to break and train them...we have paid prices all over the board.
The yellow mare - $75
The roan mare - $150
and then there's the white gelding Captain Jack who will be with us for the rest of his life - $2,000 and he's worth a million.
To heck with training ponies, can I send my 6 year old for your daughters to put some time on? GREAT pictures and you can tell these girls know their stuff, are gentle and you can't beat a pony that let you shoot from it's back. : ) Good job - with the ponies and the girls!!!
When Pj turned 9 she changed completely. She went from a fast lope to running in the 1D at big events. If you look through the videos on my Youtube channel you can see their progression. Most of the videos of Savvy are from when she was 3. We just keep them on solid horses and ponies and try to make it as fun as possible. I won't put my kids on anything that I wouldn't want to ride myself.www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ArinK2wfk
Great job with those ponies. You can SEE that Savvy has no fear. This is going to be good and bad when she's 16 you know. :) :) |
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 Hummer's Hero
Posts: 3071
Location: Smack Dab in the Middle | I'm outside the norm I guess...I bought an unbroke 4 year old pony for my son. He's freaking adorable, sound, and I paid $200 + a little fuel money to get him. He's an ornery little turd, but I'm small enough I can break him. Then, at my disposal, I have my friend's two little boys who are pretty dang handy on a horse. So George is going over to them for a couple of months for those boys to ride, rope off of, and torment. Then, when he comes back, I fully intend to ride that little sucker to bring steers back for the guys while they rope. My son can leadline on him in between.
But, that said...I also have a 19 year old BOMBPROOF mare that he can actually learn to ride on. And another big, really safe gelding that he can ride. The pony is more something his size that he can play with at home (and to be a companion for my horses). I do hope, in another couple of years that he can use the pony for goat tying and things like that. But he'll have the big horses for everything else.
Worst case scenario for me...we decide to sell him, but he's worth more with all the work that I and my friend's boys have done with him.
Edited by RockinGR 2014-02-28 3:12 PM
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 Color My World
Posts: 4940
Location: My perfect world bubble | I bought a 28 yr. old POA for my 4 yr. old daughter to learn on. He is now 30 and she is 6 and ready to step up to her next mount. He has been a God send and she's been able to learn and gain confidence on a been there, done that. I paid $1200 for him and it's probably the best $1200 I've ever spent.
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