shetland pony

[bobcat187]

Im lookin for a shetland pony that's good with kids, for a reasonable price.If anyone knows of one let me know, thanks.

[pegleg]

just curious is there a specific reason your looking for a Shetland or would a smaller standard breed of horse work for you just as well?
I only ask because I was beaten black and blue through out my childhood by various ponies. didn't get any relief until I got my first full sized horse. I know there are good ponies out there but they are hard to find and often a guy can find a better horse cheaper.

[zachvu]

[Gunn]

You're fix'n to hear a thousand negative replys about Shetlands (which most will be true) so I won't start. There have been some good ones (maybe one), but really find a small size horse that is broke to death and teach the kids to enjoy the experience.

[Mike Leonard]

I agree most shetlands are just trouble. Several factors. first they went thru a craze in the 60's and they were tons of them bred andf sold and most were never really used for anything but a yard pet and the quality if there ever was any went down the drain. Most have been used for circus and carnival rides and petting zoos and such. At one time you could even order a shetland pony thru the Sear and Roebuck Catolog. But another factor unless you have a skilled jockey sized person at your disposal most of them are kid broke becasue grown ups are just too big to ride young shetlands and so they are usually mis-handled and get mean or ornery and stubborn.

I was lucky as a 6 year old kid and although we had other full sized horses a friend of the family gave me a black shetland with a blaze face. I broke Shorty myself with the instruction of my Uncle and that friend both professional horse trainers and full time cowboys. Shorty was one in a thousand and although I outgrew him pretty quick he lived to be 33 years old and taught a lot of young kids the joy of riding a horse. I moved on to a 14 hand Welsh Pony named Sport and let me tell you that was a good one. I would encourage anybody looking for a pony check out a Welsh pony they are much more horse minded than pony brained.


good luck

[Benny G]

I second the Welsh pony IF you just have to have a pony.

I've got a 24 year old QH mare out here in the pasture that's what you're looking for, just a long ways off. I won't have any grandkids big enough to go for some time, and by then one of these flea bags that I ride will work for the kids.

[Hagerman]

[Cowboyvon]

I agree on the shetlands I've seen some good ones but they were the exception.. And my only experience with the welsh ponies was a half welsh they made me ride when I was a kid. That was the meanest little bastard I've ever rode. I bet he threw me 3 times a day and I still don't understand why my father made me ride him with all the good horses he had.. my Mom tells the story of that pony throwing me and my father telling me if I wanted to be a cowboy I had to get back on.. and I told him if thats what it took I don't want to be a cowboy

[Hagerman]

Ha, and quite a distance to fall too!
All of about 2 foot!

[pegleg]

[Mike Leonard]

Pegleg,

I agree on a lot of the Pocu Bueno (King) bred horses usually great dispostions and once broke are quiet and stable.Some of them can be tough buckers to start with. I was riding colts for a big horse outfit in the badlands of North Dakota when i was in my late teens. I was really more of a helper or guenia pig for the main trainer a French Canadian cowboy who was a real hand. This quarter horse outfit was built around two sons of Poco Bueno they had bought at the Houston Stock show back in the day. boy they had some good horses and they were tough buggers too and could take a lot of riding but I am here to tell you a lot of them were born knowing how to buck. I rememeber many days after hours in the saddle in rough country having one of them blow up and buck my butt off coming down the lane back into the place at dusk. Once you got them over that hump and dead broke they were good for life and usually it didn't take along time like some of the Gray Badger horses. ( Ouch!)

Hagerman, you mentioned Smart Little Lena and for sure long tall Leon looked funny on that little thing. I always felt that the culmination of the cutting horse evolution just about hit rock bottom as far as a real using horse with that winner there. Oh for sure an amazing cutting horse on a couple minutes of cattle but those tiny bones and structure sure didn't lend for a horse that would last or be very useful on a real working ranch and that initially was the basis if the cow horse events. Like anything else it was the way they judged the event and the trends they looked for that selected the smaller horses who were quick, close and choppy, stop and turn around quick rather than the big sweepers of the Poco Bueno and Jesse James era. when the magic was struck with the King/Doc Bar mixture the production of Doc Olena and Dry Doc might have been the pinnacle but they just kept going with it till you had them fined down about like a small arab. One thing about the Little Peppy and Mr. San peppy/Col Feckles (leo/Sugar, badger) line they had enough bone and muscle and still showed well. But i guess just like going to a bull show and then looking back at the same show 20 or 40 years before and seeing how they have changed what they like to see. As the saying goes the only thing constant is change.

[dirtydan]

I agree with the poco bueno,king,hancock and most foundation bred quarter horses are born knowing how to buck. just watch a weanling from that blood in it's pen and you will see they have it in them. now i am pretty young(i've seen mike leonards picture on here) but i've started a good deal of colts(probably not even close to as many as mike). All these little cuttin/reining bred quarter horses are born with fire in the blood. once finished they make one hell of a mount but it takes alot more wet saddle pads to get there. Look at my post for my horse and mule for sale. The horse is my personal mount at this time and that's her blood. every time i start to brag her up she makes a liar of me and goes to bucking. It seems to happen about once every ten rides just when I think she is past it. Now with 60 rides on her I think I'm halfway to dead broke. Most other horses I start are pretty much dead broke at 60 rides. And my damn horse had all her groundwork done since she was a baby. She is still as hot headed a horse as they come. as for shetland's i never had the misery of having one. i can say most all i've seen are more headache than good. start him on a burro and you'd probably have better luck. i used to ride the hell outta some burro when i was a kid. Regular size horses are the way to go. i've seen lots of people have luck with pinto's and welsh ponies also. don't be fooled by size. ponies have little man syndrome

[Mike Leonard]

Dirtydan,

Made me laugh cuz you are right about fire in their blood. One of my main 2 horses is a 13 year old chesnut out of an own son of Dry Doc, and his mother is an own Grand Daughter of Sugar Bars with double bred Leo on the other side. I mean this guy is beautiful and double tuff, and can slide, spin and move like spanked bobcat! But at 13 you still better on track him good if you haven't been on him for a few days. Hot damn! he can buck! I mean not that crow hopping bogging around bs I meat piutch and kick and sunfish and bawl and squel like a gut shot griz. A week ago I took him out and I had been riding some colt mostly regular but i wanted to make a pretty good crcle with the hounds. Well i trailered him 65 miles and then dumped him out threw the rig on him cinched her down and gathered my plunder and loosed the hounds, turned him around a few times and stepped on. Holy $hit! he went high wide and handsome and lucky for me he is light mouthed and I got him pulled out of it because he had me bucked off but I just kept landing in the saddle! LOL!

Oh boy you talk about a back ache for the next couple of days. He is a good horse but he ain't excactly ever going to be dead broke. LOL!

[dirtydan]

Mike, I am also feeling it right now. I took my filly to film a documentary in Lincoln on Billy The Kid. I jumped on her in a big ass pair of parade spurs. The rawls are big mexican dollars. When i put those pizza cutters to her, she put Billy Cook up my ass and back a few good times. They weren't little crow hop bs either. I ride her in a cowboy martingale also known as a german martingale I think. Anyhow she bucked hard enough to break the tie down strap along with all of my personal business down there. Earned me a few x-rays and hernia checks. I'm barely walkin straight legged again and I never hit the ground either. Ol Billy Cook really did a number on my business. Sometimes it hurts worse to stay on. Happy Trails Amigo!
PS If you ever go through old Lincoln after the middle of June the documentary will be playing in a few of the museums. Check out me, my horse and my cow dog

[bluesage]

If you just want to lead them around or have the kids follow you on your horse try a donkey. I ride one all the time, but they can be strong if they decide to go somewhere. They are not mean like a pony.