AM I BEING CRUEL TO MY PONY?

H

hlstarmie

New Member
May 9, 2000
83
0
0
uk
Visit site
I AM 24YRS OLD AND HAVE OWNED MY 7YR OLD EXMOOR PONY FOR 3YRS. HE IS ONLY 12'2'' AND I AM 5'4'' AND 8 AND HALF STONE.
I HAVE A SCHEDUAL THAT I TRY TO STICK TO OF EXERCISE AS I LIKE TO KEEP HIM FIT:
MONDAY - HACKING FOR 1 HOUR
TUESDAY - SCHOOLING FOR 30 MINUTES
WEDNESDAY - HACKING HILL WORK 1HOUR
THURSDAY - 10 MINUTE LUNGE AS ITS HIS DAY OFF
FRIDAY - JUMPING FOR 30 MINUTES
SATURDAY - HACKING 1 HOUR PLUS 15 MINUTES OF
SCHOOLING
SUNDAY - OFF
I HAVENT HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH HIM HE SEEMS HAPPY BUT HES NOT KEEN ON JUMPING IM NOT SURE IF ITS BECAUSE IM TOO BIG FOR HIM OR IF HE JUST DOSN'T LIKE IT.
PEOPLE HAVE COMMENTED ON HOW HES TOO SMALL FOR ME BUT I LOVE HIM AND DONT WANT TO GET RID OF HIM.
DOES ANYONE THINK IM BEING CRUEL?
 
hi! i don't think cruel as such, but you could change a bit! You could either exercise him a little less or put him in an ad for a person to exercise him, but still look after him!? Only a suggestion, I don't really know what you should do, but I would probably do that!

CZAR
 
Hi

I don't think that you're being cruel - there's been quite a bit of discussion before about weight on horses and the general opinion seems to be that native breeds can take quite a bit of weight (8 stone is pretty light anyway). You could let someone smaller and/or lighter try some jumping with him if you are worried and then you should be able to see if he simply doesn't like jumping or whether your weight or height are causing him problems.

A couple of other things to think about - if you jump him over small obstacles when you're hacking him out does he seem as unhappy about it as when you're jumping him in an arena? I just wonder if your height could be making it harder for him to balance - but this is just a very casual (and probably wrong) suggestion.

Best of luck with getting to the bottom of it anyway.

[This message has been edited by Flo (edited 09 May 2000).]
 
No you are not being cruel because I checked! We have a 10 yr old 12.2hh Exmoor which is my 9 yr old daughter's pony but she needs more exercise that my daughter can give her. Experienced people I spoke to said I should ride her but since I'm 5' 8" and 10 stone I too thought this would be cruel.

I rang the Exmoor pony society to check and they said of course she could carry me, historically they carried shepherds to round up the sheep on the moors and could carry up to 12 stone! Anyway, I started to ride her and although I get some rather odd looks, I love it. I don't ride her for more than an hour and I have to say that I haven't jumped her although she is a very good jumper - I think my long legs might get in the way! She's a good fun ride and doesn't seem at all tired when we get home. She can nap ocasionally with my daughter and it helps to have a stronger rider on her now and again.

Enjoy your pony and don't worry what people think. Exmoors are really solid and ride bigger than they are. As for the jumping, what is going wrong? Is it the concept or just height. Ours will jump a course of 2' 9" with a light-weight experienced ride on board so Exmoors can certainly make good jumpers. Hope this helps

Sara Jane
 
hello!

Exmoors are brilliant weight carriers. what governs how much a horse can carry is its type and fitness - you exercise him a lot so he should be well able to carry you.

If you are worried about the jumping, why not get some lessons with a jumping teacher - it may be that he just doesn't like jumpming or that your position is not encouraging him.

bye!
 
No, you're not being cruel. I (at 5'4" and 9.5 stone) used to ride a 12.1 hh Sec. B, another very tough little native breed and although I restricted our schooling and fast work, he never showed any sign of problems. The worst thing was the comments from other people, but unless you have a competent child rider available, how else do you break in and bring on a pony? Mind you, my 5'8" friend is planning to hack her 4 y.o Shetland out later this summer and she does look pretty silly on him!
 
Well, you could lease out your pony and buy a new horse. You would probably have more fun on a horse, since you probably have grown out of your pony. Leasing him, will get you money, but you can still see your pony!
 
Hi, I think that if your pony is happy and you feel happy then there shoudlnt be a problem with you riding him - I agree with others in that natives are strong and capable of taking quite a bit of weight (and the Exmoor Pony society say its ok!) - most people don't realise this though and make stupid petty comments - I used to get it when I used to ride a 12'2 welsh mountain pony but we had *loads* of fun together - dont worry about what people say, ponies rule!
 
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP I HAVE DECIDED TO JUST LUNGE HIM OVER JUMPS FOR THE TIME BEING AND HE REALLY ENJOYS THIS HE IS VERY GOOD!
I DONT WANT TO LEASE/SELL OR HAVE ANYONE ELSE RIDE MY PONY AS HE GETS VERY STROPPY IF ANYONE ELSE TRIES TO RIDE HIM TO THE POINT OF TRYING TO BUCK THEM OFF!
I DONT THINK I HAVE GROWN OUT OF HIM AS HE CAN DO EVERYTHING THAT I WANT TO DO AND THE THOUGHT OF SELLING HIM DOES NOT EVEN CROSS MY MIND.
IF IM TOO BIG TO JUMP HIM THEN NEVER MIND WE CAN DO LOTS OF OTHER THINGS!!
THANX SO MUCH EVERYONE
 
you are worrying about nothing just keep up the good work and if your pony did not like it i think he would soon play up,
i have got a welsh cob sec d 14.2hh and i weight 151/2 stone and i am 5foot5 and am think i am very big has having cancer three years ago, don't let people get you down just enjoy yourself. hope this helps tez
:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back