From: Julianne
Dear Jessica, you have helped me so much with your advice in the past, even though you wrote it in response to the questions of others! Now I hope that you will help me with a question of my own. My daughter is now eleven years old amd my husband and I want to buy her a pony. She has had lessons for two years and is able to ride with us on weekends. We both have hunters and wanted to buy a nice hunter pony for Ella. But here is our difficulty. Ella is now very tall, five feet four inches, and does not feel comfortable riding the small ponies at the riding school. She wants very much to have a horse. When my husband and I were Ella's age, we had only horses to ride, no ponies, and we have talked about this and agree that we would have enjoyed to have ponies to ride and not have to ride large horses so young. Of course we want the best for Ella, and we can buy a good pony for her, but she wants only a horse! What shall we do? Ella also enjoys reading HORSE-SENSE and says that she will follow your advice, whatever you tell us.
Also, I wish to ask one thing about supporting HORSE-SENSE, of course I am happy to do this but it is not so simple to send a cheque to another country. I attempted to make a contribution on PayPal, but apparently it is not possible for me because I do not live in the United States. Will this be changed soon? I know that there must be many HORSE-SENSE subscribers like myself, who live outside the United States and would like to use PayPal to make our contributions to HORSE-SENSE.
Thank you, Jessica!
Julianne
First, let me tell you the good news about PayPal - just in the last few days, there's been a change. Try again! PayPal now accepts credit cards from people outside the USA! Here is a list of the countries whose citizens may now use PayPal:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
That should make life easier for any number of people. Thank you for making the effort to support HORSE-SENSE!
Now, for your other question. ;-) Ella is so lucky to have parents who have horses, ride, and can help and advise her - and ride with her. She is also lucky that she is about to get a pony or horse of her own.
If Ella has had lessons for two years, and you are satisfied with her riding instructor, why not ask the instructor to help you find the most suitable mount (note that I'm not saying "pony" or "horse") for your daughter? It doesn't really matter whether it's a pony or a horse. Don't narrow your sights too much, and don't eliminate any possibilities. Remember, "horse" doesn't necessarily mean "large" - if you bought Ella an Arabian, for example, it could be 14 hands and would still not be a "pony"!
Ella needs a mount that will fit her, physically and emotionally.
Is she a thin child with long legs? She'll need a mount with a round barrel to take up that leg. Is she a round child with short legs? She'll be more comfortable on a more slab-sided animal that doesn't present a rounded surface to the rounded surface of her own legs.
Does she have a long, tall torso? She'll be more comfortable on an animal with a longer neck and possible with higher head-carriage as well.
Is she more comfortable on a horse with short or long strides? These things matter.
Is she timid or aggressive - would she be happier with a horse that needs to be pushed a little bit, or does she want one that will always be eager to go a little faster?
Is she a child who loves to go fast and jump high? Does she want to hunt? Is she passionate about dressage? You'll want to find her something that can do what she wants to do. Or does she simply want her horse or pony to be her best friend?
It seems to me that you need to sit down with Ella and with her instructor, and find out as much as you can about what Ella actually likes, enjoys most, and wants. You may discover that she very much wants an animal of a particular breed (or even of a particular colour...). What matters most is that you find her the most suitable animal possible, one she can enjoy, love, and continue to learn on. As to breed... I can't even make a suggestion. Ella may end up with a Thoroughbred, an Arabian, a Welsh pony, a Connemara, a Haflinger, or just about anything else. As long as it is sound, sweet, and suits her, it won't matter.
My advice to Ella: Be honest with your parents and your instructor - and yourself. To find you the best and most suitable mount, they need to know what you like best, what you want, what you enjoy doing now, what you dream about doing in the future. It may help if you tell them about all of the horses you've ridden at the riding school, and explain what you liked and didn't like about each one. It seems to me that you're a very lucky young lady, and I hope that you'll send me a note when you DO find just the right mount, and tell me all about it.
Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
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