Yesterday we went to ride as usual, when we were done, we headed over to Amy M’s house to drop off a few things for her to sell for me so I can continue to support our horse habit. I am finding that I will need to add another job or talent to my list in order to have and do the things I want for the girls for riding. This is a EXPENSIVE sport even if you don’t have to pay to board your ponies ( thanks MOM!!!) they need new helmets, which run anywhere from $159.00 all the way up to $515.00 EACH!!! Crazy huh? I also need some new tack for the new pony who will arrive next week, but I am holding out as long as possible.
Any way at Amy’s we decided to go see HER horse and the barn where she boards. Amy has 5 children plus a little girl she babysits. Her daughter Cellie is the same age as Sarah and her daughter Evelyn is very close in age to LuLU. Elli is a few years younger than Meg and Quinn is 7. Her youngest is 7mos old. You can imagine what it looks like when we go anywhere let alone into a BARN full of horses! MOst trainers would have shown us the door, but the trainer at Amy’s barn , Kate, was sooo welcoming and let the kids help her do chorse , groom horses, and then RIDE two of her horses. Sarah rode an adorable small pony and Meg rode a really cute App named Scotch. All of the kids ran around the barn, played well together, and had a really nice day.
I love spending this time with my girls ,my only complaint is that I get very little adult company or converstaion except on the phone. It was so nice to enjoy something I love doing and to share it with another family I love being with.
So it was another awesome summer day spent with good friends doing something we all love to do, it does not get much better than that!
Well I paid for the shipping on our pony today. At least I have them my Cc number so they will make the plans and the route. She will ship on the 13th of the month. I am soooo excited and so is Sarah. She can’t wait to meet her. Please keep your fingers crossed that I have made the right decision. I feel like it is in my heart, so I am going with that!! This is such and important choice, a child first opny can make or break the rest of their riding career. They need to be an almost perfect match. Hopefully I have done a good job!! Wish us luck!
As I mentioned I have been looking for a small pony for Sarah since march or april. It has not been exactally fun. for some reason small ponies are highly coveted, people hang onto the good ones and try to convince you the BAD ones are worth tons of money.
I have been looking online , in person and have called almost everyone I know or have met in the horse world.Yesterday I received a call from a lady who posted to me online . I posted back to her and gave her my number. she was in the same position and had spent 8 mos looking for a pony for her young daughter. She purchased a pony from a girl in WI. Yes the lady live here in the northeast and rides with a trainer I know, although we have never met or spoken to each other before.
she loves the pony she purchased and said the trainer from WI was very honest and stright forward with her, drove 3 ponies all the way out her for her to try at Devon and they picked Mick and her daughter loves him. She suggested to me another pony she had tried from this lady but did not pick due to her age. Said pony was perfect in every way except for being 14 yr old. This is not an issue for me ( ponys age plus kids age should add up to as close to 20 yrs old as you can get then they both have enough brain to help one another. Meaning if the kid is young the pony should be older, if the pony is young the KID should be older)
I spoke with the trainer in WI yesterday afternoon, she was VERY nice and has two small boys( I like trainers with little kids, don’t ask me why that matters but to me it does.) she feels pony would suit us very well and is looking for a good home for this pony as she has a breeding program now and needs to make room for ponies she has standing in the field that need to go to work.
Here is my issue. We have never tried this pony, ponys come with a 2 week to a month trial period, so we can use her and see if she fits Sarahs needs. BUT I have to pay to ship this pony in from WI, and if we don’t like her I have to pay to ship her back. That could cost close to $1000. Not a ton of money in the horse world but a TON of money for me! Her others terms are VERY reasonable and if we like this pony it will be the best deal on a small pony I have found so far.
so I think I am going to go for it. My Dad has a saying ” god hates a coward” I don’t know for sure if this is true or not but in my heart I think this is our best option. Am I scared to death it will all back fire on me?? YUP!! But hey I have screwed things up before and can usually figure out how to fix them, what is one more time around???
Wish me luck I need to find a shipper for this pony and would like to get her here ASAP. Of course I would because I am an impatient imp and instant gratification has always been a huge issue for me!
here is a link to what I hope will be our newest family member the kid riding her is 7 yr old
Well here we go, if you care to take this trip with me hang on. I am attempting to chronicle my days spent with Meghan my 12 turning 13 yr old and Sarah my 5 yr old. They both ride horses, Meghan has a new large pony she is training this summer and Sarah rides Ice Cream a medium pony with a bad attitude. We are currently searching for a small pony that Sarah can ride on her own and start to take to the horse shows.
Ours days right now are pretty routine, we get up at 6:30 and are out of the house by 7am. I usually have at least 5 kids in the car with me. Sarah, Meghan, their little sister Lauren, their older brothers Zack and Brandon.
I stop on my way to the barn to see my patient, then we head to the farm. Zack adn Brandon both work for my parents who own Merry Mount Farms Inc. they breed hunters and my girls keep their ponies there and ride at the farm.
Meghan has been working with Roxy now for over a month. I have to say I am seeing some improvement. Meg took a 2 yr riding hiatus and is now finally ready to start again. We were looking for a pony for Sarah when we found Roxy, a 14.1 hand 4 yr old Morgan Thoroughbred cross. She has the sweetest face and a personality to match. She is bombproof on the ground and almost as quiet under saddle. She is an awesome mover and from what we have seen so far her over fence work is nice too. We made a great choice, not that we were looking for ANYTHING for Meg.Sometimes these things happen so we went with it and I am soooo glad we did. Roxy is building Megs confidence as a rider and Meg is gaining valuable knowledge on how to train a younger horse. They have bonded well and love each others company.
Sarah is a totally different rider than Meghan. At 5 Sarah possesses a leg that I have never seen the likes of on a child. It is PERFECT in every way, including the way it works!! It actually holds her on the pony, most kids at 5 can’t get their leg to work for them yet, they just don’t get the concept. I believe Sarah has an amazing amount of natural talent when it comes to riding. She also has NO fear, at all. That is a valuable asset in the pony world and should serve her very well if she can hang onto it.
So that is our intro, I hope to post here almost everyday in order to keep track of the girls progress and highlights. We already have several highlights to add so stay tuned!