This Cob Can.... But should she?

KP nut

KP nut

I'd rather be riding.
Dec 22, 2008
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Lisa has been a fabulous pony for Twin 1 and she has kept pace with Oscar. BUT, as they have moved from cross poles, to 45cm, to 60 cm and now to 75cm classes in SJ and XC, she has reached her limit.

At Pony Club last week they played Chase Me Charlie. After 80cm the instructor would not allow Lisa to carry on as she said it was unfair on her. She had not knocked anything down - as usual she had tried her very best! But the instructor said it was not fair to put her at ever higher fences. I totally agreed with the instructor and so did Twin 1, though she was upset to have to stop early. (Especially when Oscar went on to win!!)

But it did make me think that actually we are now expecting an awful lot of her by regularly competing her over courses that are pretty much at her limit. I have explained -and Twin 1 does understand - that progress is not about jumping higher and higher. It is about the quality of what you are doing between the fences! But at 12 years old it is hard to be so sensible, especially when your sister and friends ARE going higher/faster. And actually I really think we need to scale back and not jump courses at her limit so often as it is a lot to ask of her physically and mentally. In the meantime Twin 2 has qualified for 2 different championships at 70cm so will be competing at that height regularly. I spoke to Twin 1 and said she still had loads of fun she could have with Lisa and loads she could learn on her (or any pony) but we needed to let her have a slightly quieter pace of life, really, or at least not push her any further. Would she be happy with that? And her response was that she wants to carry on competing and doesn't want to slow down or stay where she is.

So I think the time has come to let Lisa go back to her natural forte of being a reliable safe pony for a novice not a competition pony for a very enthusiastic and confident 12 year old. Hopefully Twin 1 will have Cally, but even if not, then I think it is time to move on from Lisa.

So if anyone knows anyone who needs a Lisa in their lives, do let me know!
 
Is Lisa older? I just wondered why you feel she needs a slower pace? I know some cobs that can easily jump 1m and they didn't start out jumping that high. I just wondered whether it was age or build that made you feel that way, our fell can jump well and she certainly isn't light on her feet. Surely, and I'm playing devils advocate here,but Callys a stocky pony and so if it were build then surely she would be restricted with Cally too and you'd maybe be better looking for a completely new pony for her to compete. If it's more to do with Lisa's age then that's different. I'm not trying to be argumentative at all just offering food for thought. . x
 
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I don't understand why you feel Lisa is at her limit at 70cm? She is young, fit and has showed no signs of being overfaced (e.g. stopping). Why can't she jump 80cm courses? I know many cobs who do so.

I think it is madness to sell her to be honest. Only a few months ago your daughter was too nervous to even canter. Lisa has restored that confidence for the time being, but confidence is fragile and can so easily come crashing down again. Ponies like Lisa are like gold dust and I would keep her if I were you. Your daughter may wish to ride competitive 80/90 courses to keep up with her sister, but is she really ready for this anyway? You have only had Lisa a few months, I would keep her at least until this time next year by which time you will know if your daughter really is ready for a 'proper' competition pony. Otherwise you could overface her and risk losing the confidence Lisa has given her.
 
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I agree with @tikkitti How do you know her limit is 80 if she's jumping well? If you don't push them how do you know what they can do, I could stop jumping my horse at 1.10 because he's jumping well and he's small when in fact he can go a lot higher. Just because she's a cob doesn't mean she can't jump over 80. There's a girl on the yard I'm at has a barely 14.1h cob pony, last year she was jumping 50/60cm now she's out eventing! Last weekend in the BRC teams she won the individual as she was the only one with 3 clear rounds, beating the finer types. He is a now a super cob and has jumped 1.15m!! Would share pics but he's not my pony. Her parents can't afford to go out and buy a competition pony so she has made one herself, he's kept fully clipped out, hogged, has good feed and it's amazing what he can do.

I wouldn't be in a rush to sell such a cracking all round pony without at least seeing what she can do. Is she an older pony perhaps needing to wind down or has a previous injury? I'd consider keeping her another year seeing what she can do, then re assess. Of course she's your pony and your daughter but from an outside view from what you have posted in the past I wouldn't;t be in a rush. If you do sell I'm sure she will be snapped up as looks worth her weight in gold.
 
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there are soooo few Lisa’a about KP, you know that. If you can afford to keep her and just keep her ticking over or let someone else hack her then I would. At least for a year or 2 until you are absolutely certain you wont need her. Id also give anything for a Lisa in my life to get back jumping with and I d only ever want to do 75cm! She’ll be snapped up but once she’s gone , she’s gone, dont regret it x
 
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Wow KP nut you do live your equine life in the fast lane don't you? This isn't meant to be a criticism but there have been a lot of ups and downs and pony buying selling and swapping over the last couple of years. I thought the idea was to gradually switch Twin onto Cally? Surely Lisa is the reason why her confidence has come on so much. It could easily all go pear shaped again if you are unlucky, and once Lisa is sold she's sold.
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Noooo, I think you are nuts @KP nut :p. A pony like Lisa is so hard to find and she has brought your daughters confidence on in leaps and bounds but I think the pair of them are doing so well together I would leave well alone. Let them enjoy each other and have fun...;)
 
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I'd love her, she looks great fun and confidence restoring too. If only I could find a decent yard not far away...
 
I can understand your instructor telling your daugher not to carry on in a 'chase me charlie' with what sounds an intrinsically honest pony, in fact I am surprised at any PC rally including one! However at the pony's age this does not mean she has reached the limit of her ability nor does it mean the the one who jumped highest has the most talent.

You are I think currently competing at 80cms events with Cally and feel she won't go further, now you think Lisa won't go further than this so why try to move your daughter onto Cally?It does sounda if neither cob suits either of your ambitions?

My personal view is that a horses ability is outgrown when it is consistanty being placed at say level 1 but cannot complete at the next level up even when ridden by the owners coach/trainer.
 
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Perhaps you are all right... I am just going by what their jumping instructor said: ie that Lisa will jump courses of 70/75 but according to her instructor, she struggles with it a bit. And I can see that behaviourally. She starts off happy and willing but after a while you get ears back, tail swishing. And recently some stops which she has never done before. I am just trying to be fair to a lovely pony. Today we did the Somerford Farm Ride and she flew round popping logs. Had a real spring in her step, ears pricked, snorting, evidently happy and relaxed. I said to Twin 1, why don't you just hack out, have fun, go to the beach, the gallops. Why do you want to focus on showjumping? (I have no great love for pure show jumping at all!) But that is what she wants to do and what she loves most.
 
She's not advertised anywhere except on here yet. And she's off to PC camp soon, so we can see how that goes. The variety will be good for them both I think.
 
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They will love PC camp :) Are you not better selling Cally and Lisa and looking for a Oscar for twin 1 if they don't have the scope to do the heights your daughter wishes to compete at. Do you think your maybes making a reason to convince twin 1 to move onto Cally because your more emotionally attached to her. I can totally understand if that's the case and empathise with you but realistically it's pointless moving twin 1 off Lisa onto Cally if she doesn't have the scope to compete at the level your daughter wants, if you do within a year she will be looking at moving to yet another pony and that won't do her confidence any good. I'm just trying to be honest and objective advice and a huge hug as I know it's a difficult decision x
 
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MrC said:
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Being honest I am getting confused with the comings and going and the amount of horses you have and the plans you seem to come up with which then seem to change drastically less than three months down the line. You have a decent connie there who should be capable of going round BE 90/100 if you are willing to put the time in.
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It's not that confusing I don;t think :)
I bought Cally and Zak at the same time almost 2 years ago. Zak was a first pony for the girls to share. Cally was a project for me to back and sell on. Zak was missold and I threw in the towel 8 months later having tried VERY hard to make it work and be fair to the pony as well as keep the girls safe. I bought Oscar October last year who was a 2nd pony partly because I knew his whole history so no nasty surprises. And also because my girls did ride well and I figured they would cope. (The girls have only had 1 crisis of confidence after the accident. Before that they were fine, and now they are fine again.)

It was hard but no regrets at all. He is a superstar and Twin 2 has developed a great partnership with him. He's going nowhere till outgrown. However Twin 1 stopped wanting to ride him so we bought her Lisa. Eventually they were going to want a pony each anyway so that process was just accelerated a bit.

In the meantime there was Xav who was a rescue/neglected pony who I bought, sorted out and sold on because he had been left untouched on grass livery for 5 years in the same field mine were in and I could not bear leaving him in there!. He was always doing to be sold on too. That was a wholly positive experience for all concerned.

Then Dylan came along unexpectedly due to the injury to my friend. I was initially just looking after him and realised he needed restarting. She told me she did not want him back and could I keep him and sell him on her behalf. He wasn't really sell-able in the state he was in, so I felt slightly stuck with him. So instead I bought him from her - again as a project. I have not remotely finished with him. He is coming along nicely and needs many more months work. If it turns out I can event him, then Hallelujah. I shall give it my best shot. But he has a lot of problems so a more realistic ambition may be for him to be a safe, allrounder. It's not just about how much work I can put in. We will also be limited by a) his temperament/potential and b) my limitations as a trainer. I am doing everything I can to develop him but I can't use skills I don't have!

So that's my horses. I do have lots of dreams, ambitions, ideas. Perhaps I should never post such musings on here. But I don't regret any of the choices I have made. It all made sense at the time! Tbh I don't feel the need to justify myself really, (thanks @domane!!). But as I said it does not seem that complicated to me.
 
KP nut said:
So that's my horses. I do have lots of dreams, ambitions, ideas. Perhaps I should never post such musings on here. But I don't regret any of the choices I have made. It all made sense at the time! Tbh I don't feel the need to justify myself really, (thanks @domane!!). But as I said it does not seem that complicated to me.
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No, don't stop posting! I love reading about your stories with your ponies and I enjoy reading about your dreams for the future. Ultimately of course you know your horses and children best and will do what is right by them. I am actually tempted to buy Lisa for my own children (complete novices aged 6 and 9) and she would be big enough for me to ride as well. But it's not a great idea as they are not committed or even that interested in horses and I would have to move Ben from my posh yard to complete DIY so I could afford them both. It wouldn't be impossible, but I think it is more my dream than theirs if that makes sense. I am sorely tempted though....
 
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If she's putting her ears back, swishing tail and has started refusing jumps then you are absolutely doing the right thing in my opinion.
 
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KP you don’t have to justify yourself for sure. Lisa is such a saint it would be a tragedy if you regretted it but the decision making process is yours and yours alone and however many horses you choose to buy and sell is your business. I went through a fair few different horses in a few years because of one thing and another and people are very quick to be holier than thou and stand in criticism, Im not sure why.. as long as your horses are well cared for and you do the best by them it’s noone else’s business and it’s no crime!
 
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