[hellerkm]

I recently bought my daughter a Large pony, I was told she was 4 coming 5. Fine I can work with that, well we had her feet done the other day ( first time since she has been home) and our vet happened to be there at the same time( checking our broodmares) the farrier asked the vet how old he thought pony was ( he felt her feet were "immature" ) vet says 2 coming 3 , farrier agrees!
Now i have a 3 yr old, we will STOP jumping fences, until next summer.
We are having issues with forward, she likes to REALLY suck back under the kid and then bucks when we push her forward, is this her age or just her personality? she is the SWEETEST thing soooooooo sannnnne on the ground and has totally attached herself to my daughter ( comes when called , follows her all over the farm) am I pushing too hard? should we back off? I do NOT want to ruin this gorgeous pony, she is a 10+ mover and very tight over fences. we are currently riding 5-6 days a week , is that too much???

[Alterrain]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, if she's a Large now.... ain't gonna be a large in 3 years.

[hellerkm]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, if she's a Large now.... ain't gonna be a large in 3 years.

I know but we ride EQ so we are not so concerned, she is an AWESOME pony ( horse??/) and her personality is amazing so we are fine with whatever size she ends up!

[englishivy]

I recently bought my daughter a Large pony, I was told she was 4 coming 5. Fine I can work with that, well we had her feet done the other day ( first time since she has been home) and our vet happened to be there at the same time( checking our broodmares) the farrier asked the vet how old he thought pony was ( he felt her feet were "immature" ) vet says 2 coming 3 , farrier agrees!

OK, I gotta clarify....

Are you saying your vet was there, and he (with your farrier) looked at the horse's HOOVES to determine age? Did he compare that to the horse's TEETH? Although aging a horse via teeth isn't 100% accurate, a horse that is 2 going on 3 (vs 4 going on 5) should be very obvious...the 2 year old will have A LOT more "baby teeth".

I've got two textbook examples in my barn: a boy who justed turned 3 in May and his sister who will be 5 in August....their teeth look TOTALLY different.

If not done already, I'd have your vet or an eq. dentist give you a better age indication. Then decide what to do with the pony.

JMHO

[hellerkm]

OK, I gotta clarify....

Are you saying your vet was there, and he (with your farrier) looked at the horse's HOOVES to determine age? Did he compare that to the horse's TEETH? Although aging a horse via teeth isn't 100% accurate, a horse that is 2 going on 3 (vs 4 going on 5) should be very obvious...the 2 year old will have A LOT more "baby teeth".

I've got two textbook examples in my barn: a boy who justed turned 3 in May and his sister who will be 5 in August....their teeth look TOTALLY different.

If not done already, I'd have your vet or an eq. dentist give you a better age indication. Then decide what to do with the pony.

JMHO

LOL vet looked at teeth , farrier looked at hooves !!! sorry if I confused anyone!!!

[Sugarbrook]

Confused here. Someone posted that she would not be a pony in 2 or 3 yrs (dont quote me on that, i looked and am posting so not totally sure).......but where in the original post did it say her size? And if it did not, how can anyone say she won't be a pony in a few years.

[AmandaandTuff]

Confused here. Someone posted that she would not be a pony in 2 or 3 yrs (dont quote me on that, i looked and am posting so not totally sure).......but where in the original post did it say her size? And if it did not, how can anyone say she won't be a pony in a few years.

I think it's because the OP stated that the pony was a large. If said 'pony' is a large and just coming 3 years old, there is a very high chance that pony will turn into horse.

[Lucassb]

Confused here. Someone posted that she would not be a pony in 2 or 3 yrs (dont quote me on that, i looked and am posting so not totally sure).......but where in the original post did it say her size? And if it did not, how can anyone say she won't be a pony in a few years.

If the pony would measure as a large as a 2 year old, it is very possible that she will measure over 14.2 as an adult... and thus, it may wind up as "not a pony" at 4 or 5. "Honies" as they are called can be very difficult to sell (or re-sell) as they cannot be shown in the pony divisions and frequently don't have the step to make the required strides in the horse divisions.

To answer the OP, I would not personally be riding a 2 year old much at all. I have the vet check my young horses and we start working them once we get the OK (ie, knees closed, etc.) The age varies among individuals.

[Mamare]

Seriously, maybe it is only an age issue. I had a 3 y/o warmblood filly who was doing really well in training, then started acting like what you described, sucking back - all that stuff. I gave her most of the year off, then let her go to a fox hunter lady who just hill topped her - nothing else. No jumping, no lead changes, nothing. Then gave her the winter off. Started her back as a 5 y/o, thinking I was crazy with this filly who could do nothing. She is really a different horse. Going super well, very brave, no issues. I think we over-faced her a bit when she was young. It seems like giving her time off has been helpful. If you have a promising youngster, I would think about giving her time off to mature.

I did have a very thorough vet evaluation at the 3/y/old mark. He said keep her going, there were no issues. However, in my gut, I felt she needed time off. I'm no expert at all, but I think that may have been a good decision to let her have the time to mature. If you like this pony, give her a chance for her mind and body to mature. It seems to have made a big difference in my WB filly.

[CraziiPonii]

Nothing to add only that I love the title of this thread. For some reason it made me laugh

[quicksilverponies]

Sorry, but don't agree. Many, many 3 yr old larges stay large ponies. Most ponies are at or almost at their mature height by age 3. Yes, a few keep growing, but most do not. I am sure that Sugarbrook and VABred - both longtime top pony breeders will agree.

[Mamare]

Whoa, not taking into issue pony size, but don't ponies end up their full size earlier? (Asking all you pony people.). I bought a yearling pony who could have overgrown, and we were all looking at him to do so; however, he topped off at `14.2. What do you pony people say??????

[onelanerode]

If she really is 2 coming 3, then yes, riding 5-6 days a week is too much. I was on that schedule with my coming 4-year-old last spring, and then she had some problems due to poor farrier work. She had 10 months off and is now, at 5, a completely different horse. Much more mature, physically and mentally, much better work ethic, much longer attention span, happy and willing. And best of all, she's *quite* sound.

I think I'd be inclined to get another opinion on her age, though it should be fairly apparent from her mouth if she's two or four, but I have known horses who were really 5 but were late in shedding some of those baby teeth.

There are lots of things you can do on the ground with a youngster, or you can do some light work under saddle. I wouldn't jump a young 3-year-old, but I tend to be on the conservative side. I'm interested in long-term soundness, not how soon I can get a horse into the show ring.

[FrenchFrytheEqHorse]

How long have you had this pony? Did the vet that did the PPE not notice the pony's immaturity? It seems kind of weird that no one would have noticed that relative physical maturity level between a 2 year old and a 4 year old.

[LetsRide]

Confused here. Someone posted that she would not be a pony in 2 or 3 yrs (dont quote me on that, i looked and am posting so not totally sure).......but where in the original post did it say her size? And if it did not, how can anyone say she won't be a pony in a few years.

14.1. http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum...d.php?t=207553

[SSFLandon]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, if she's a Large now.... ain't gonna be a large in 3 years.

not true exactly aw I have a large who has not grown since she was coming 2 and is now 4...so, it's all a crap shot. She was 14 1/2 H then and now

[SSFLandon]

pony breeders I did not read your post before posting....I'm glad you agree with me on the size thing especially you Sugarbrook since i have one of yours!!

[Daventry]

Sorry, but don't agree. Many, many 3 yr old larges stay large ponies. Most ponies are at or almost at their mature height by age 3. Yes, a few keep growing, but most do not. I am sure that Sugarbrook and VABred - both longtime top pony breeders will agree.

I agree too! If she's only 14.1 HH right now and coming three, she may likely be done growing and just have some filling out to do. A lot may depend on her breeding though. For example, if she is half warmblood, she's likely not done growing yet. But, I'm assuming if you were given the wrong age on her, she is of unknown breeding and has no papers. If she has a typical "pony type" look to her, as in Welsh, etc., she likely won't grow anymore or maybe a half inch or so at best. Good luck!

[Donkey]

For a three year old, I'd ride every other day keeping it short and sweet with a week or two off every once in a while. And if she's sucking back I would work on nothing but going forward (no contact at all) until it becomes second nature for the pony to move off the leg (pony may be confused by opposing leg and hand aids and expressing frustration)- it is not something your daughter will want to continue to struggle with as she tries to progress the pony's training.

[AmandaandTuff]

I would cut down the riding time. If she's having too many issues undersaddle they could be age related. Some pasture rest can't do any harm.