Craigslist people can be real dorks

[Aimless Farmer]

Arkane, right on!! Can't agree more!!! I think ponies should only be owned by experienced adults who know how to work them...hard! They should all be driven if they're too small to ride by an experienced adult. They're just too smart. You'd never let a child be wholly responsible for the training and discipline of a dog, even a small one, let alone a pony-sized one! Yes, let them ride them, supervised, but they need to be worked by adults. I was beat up by so many ponies growing up. "Sure, kid, you can ride my ponies any time. No one else touches them..." I've got the scars (skin & bone) to prove it!

It's the cute that saves them But sometimes, the cute doesn't even save them.

If the big guy's "bomb proof", look around for a Theraputic Riding Program in your area/region. They have them for mentally and physically handicapped kids and adults, autistics, etc. A friend donated hers to a similar organization. Those horses are soooooooooooooooooooo loved and cared for.

Good luck

 

[Camelot Farms]

Not raining on the therapuetic parade....we tried to donate the bomb proof gelding to 3 of them in a tri-state area and they were all thrilled that we thought of them but had a wait list of donors.
Just another testament to the economy and its effect on the Equine world

 

[Haviris]

I think ponies are great, it's true inexperienced kids can ruin a good pony, but that is where supervision and teaching a kid to ride come in. I prefer to see kids on ponies.

 

[IcarusSomnio]

Quote:
This could be the problem. Give him a tune up and advertise him again. It's too easy for a dishonest seller to use this excuse for a horse with bad riding habits.
I learned to stay away from ads that state the horse is a well mannered horse but a "little rusty" from not being ridden. That's not to say that you are being dishonest. But if a person doesn't know you it could be what they are thinking.

I actually rode him yesterday and took him off the market. He's high powered and VERY well trained and sensitive- not the slow-poke ol' guy I thought he was. So, Sam will be sticking around here

Otherwise it'll be one of those 'experience rider only' kinda deals.
He's still great on the ground, amazingly calm and gentle. Undersaddle...hold on, we're off!



Quote:
I rode (I'm rather smallish) ponies before. They are FUN! IF their properly trained. You can just as easily have the mean, snappy little demon creature.

I saw a POA that I'd love to have, if I had the time and space.

 

[IcarusSomnio]

This is Sammy, kindly excuse the rather poor pics. I got out there to late so I had to rush

His mane was a wreck so I kinda avoided that side. He's all groomed up now though, of course, I didn't think to snag some better photos of him

The ground was pretty soft still (we've had rain...rain...rain...more rain...and rain) so he was standing a bit funny with his hind legs.

http://i26.tinypic.com/fegher.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/vy49jn.jpg

 

[Haviris]

The same can be said about any size horse, but ponies are ment for children, so a tempermental one tends to stand out more, where w/ a full sized horse you just have to find the right rider. I've had several ponies, all were great! We had one that our poor judgement ruined (after we outgrew her (10 or 11 hh) we let our younger friends ride and they ruined her), she was still fine for leadline and was fine for a child on the ground, but needed an experienced rider otherwise (wasn't dangerous, just thought she could do whatever she wanted). Other then her, all were great children's ponies (and she was up to that point).

My current pony is a work in progress, she's very sweet and wants to be around people, but had some rough handling and is not very trusting. She may never be a beginner pony, I think she'll like to go to much, but she's going to be an awsome pony for an experienced child!