Parents! Dammit, it’s your job to say no! If your child isn’t going to be able to even see the horse for a month then why are you buying it now? I’m of course hoping the child isn’t going in for anything serious – but if she is, take her for some riding lessons, don’t buy her a horse! Having a sick child AND a horse to care for is a recipe for disaster! Nothing good will come of that – especially if money is already a problem! I’m sorry if that sounds cold or callous, but it’s true! I would imagine a sick child is no walk in the park, why would you add to that burden? Especially when lessons and/or trail riders are readily available.
What if something, heaven forbid, goes wrong with the operation and suddenly more expenses are incurred and the continuous financial burden of a horse is no longer viable? How do you think your child is going to feel about Skippy going to the knackers? NOT GOOD! I know some parents have problems saying no, but good gawd, they’re going to feel a hell of a lot worse if they have to kill their kids pony! It’s not fair to the kid and it sure as shit isn’t fair to the poor horse!
Another reason for the parents to say no is that, judging by the wording, the writer seems fairly ignorant about horses in general (let alone a foal!). It doesn’t sound like they know much about horses – certainly not enough to be good, responsible owners. I’m wondering if they’re maybe confusing “foal” with “pony”? Or do they just not care about age and/or training at all? And are they wanting the horse to come with tack? Is that what they mean when they say they’re “not expecting it [the foal] to come with any anything” but are willing to pay so much more for the horse?
Top 5 reasons to NOT buy a horse for a 14 year old with zero, nada, zilch, BIG FAT BAGEL knowledge of horses
5. Easily injured (child and horse)
4. No concept of the amount of work required
3. Puberty and teenage hormones (pony vs. boys)
2. The purchase price is just the beginning
1. You can’t take it to the mall with you. It won’t help you get ready for prom. In short, a pony doesn’t replace friends (ok, it does, but for healthy psychological development it probably shouldn’t, otherwise your child will end up like me. And no one wants that.).
Being 14 is no excuse. It’s called a period. Learn it; use it; love it. Frak!
22 Comments
Best thing the ladies at the lesson barn where I went as a child did for me was, every lesson started with a thorough grooming of the horse (My Pretty Pony!) and every lesson ended with a thorough cleaning of a stall. Every time.
I do wonder if the parents are even aware when kids post this sort of thing? Hope not.
I think in this case they are not ready for a horse. Me and my husband just bought horses about 8 months ago 1.for us I love horses and he was interested and 2.we have a 9 y/o who wanted a horse. Now I know buying a horse cause a kid says they want one isn’t the best but in our case it was a family decision and with his ADHD we were happy to buy one. It is an older(in her 20′s) well trained horse for him to learn with. He feeds the horses helps groom what he can reach(he’s a short 9y/o) also helps keep tack and helps get ready for rides. the responsiblilty it takes for a horse is huge and should be understood as a parent that there r times when u will have to take care of your childs horse. Before we bought horses my husband who knew nothing of them and had just started to be around them did tons of research about them and how to care for one.It sounds like that’s what they need to do and re-think the whole get a horse thing.
I would point out that the pound signs mean this is the UK, where medical expenses are less of a nightmare than the US…
But still. No. Don’t buy a horse. For god’s sake.
Also known as no nightmare at all thanks to the NHS. You can go private but only the rich choose to do that.
You know it is a good chance that this 14 year old girls parents didn’t even know she placed such an ad. Can’t blame her for dreaming, I know I did when I was her age. I also ended up with a off the track QH who new nothing but run full speed, not to mention I knew less. My parents never gave me permission to get the horse so I had to pay for board, food and shoes all myself. Not an easy task when you got paid 50 cents an hour to babysit and clean the house! but I did it and never did my horse go without. I had this mare for 20 yrs before I ever got a saddle to ride her with and she never got her teeth done but she got new shoes every 8 weeks because we actually wore the down until they were more like foil than steel. This mare lived until she was 42 yrs old and never needed a vet until her last year of life when she broke her knee from a kick. I kept her duct taped and wired together for her last year of life and I would have sold everything I had to keep her going for a little longer. When she left this earth, she left a big hole in my heart that has never been filled. When we met neither of us knew anything but some how we both survived each others ignorance and managed to become quite a team. I rode that mare into her 40′s, as she was still going strong (and without properly working brakes) I am sure glad nobody stopped me from getting a horse because my lack of knowledge. Determination and love can go along way when you want something bad enough. Never once in my life did I ever consider getting rid of her. She went where I did and if she couldn’t then I wouldn’t go. She moved with me to another country when I got married, she got put in fancy expensive stables full of gaited show horses when I went on vacation to Hawaii because they had the best care of any place around. I remember being shunned by the rich girls and often asked why I would spend so much on a 150.00 horse. My comment was always the same, “you couldn’t understand if I explained it to you a 100 times” I still have dreams with her in them quite often and I know for a fact that mare came to me for a reason, She did a good job of keeping me out of trouble and teaching me real compassion and trust, something I never got from my parents.
Unfortunately stories like your’s is the exception not the rule :/
Yay, you used the ad I sent in :] I thought it was weird to say they wanted a horse or a foal, plus the fact that the kid is ill, recipe for disaster. I’m not trying to make a comment on her age, I know some 14 year olds who are quite capable with their horses, but none are stupid enough to want a foal.
hehe thanks for sending it in! There are definitely kids who can handle being horse owners – but judging from her ad she wasn’t one of them. I, unfortunately, was 13 when I got my foal – it didn’t turn out well. Learned a lot at my poor girl’s expense
It’s not always even that the owner is inexperienced, but if you hitch your wagon to the wrong trainer, so to speak, then horses can be ruined. Unfortunately at 13/14/15 I didn’t know enough to know the trainers were full of shit. Le sad. That’s why stuff like this really gets to me. I worked my ass off from the time I started riding so I could get extra lessons and just learn. It bugs me when I see horses handed to people who don’t even know how to clean a stall! It just doesn’t seem right. I mean, if they’re willing and eager to learn, great. But I kind of think maybe they should learn first and buy after, if they’re still interested.
Completely agree, I worked my ass off to get my horse while I watched people around me get them for nothing. Those horses ended up being sold for scrap because they couldn’t even be ridden anymore :L
I would bet on it being an ad placed by the 14 year old that the parents know nothing or little about, under the heavy influence of horse-craziness. I knew a girl who rode at my barn who, at about that age, would call newspaper ads for horses for sale and ask all kinds of questions about the horses. Her parents had no intention of buying her a horse. They only learned of it when the girl brought the results of her phone calls to her riding coach for advice on which one would be better for her, and coach called the parents. This was pre-internet (back when the newspaper classifieds were still a thing!) but I could easily imagine that girl posting an ad like this one.
lol you know, I honestly hadn’t thought of her doing it behind her parents backs. When I was that age I would have NEVER tried something like that – actually never would have at any age! lol Guess I’m not a very good rebel
Not that craziness combined with delusions of adequacy are confined to the young! When I (completely honestly) advertised my very talented, but decidedly hot,and quirky, warmblood mare, I spent half my time on the phone telling dreamers and nutters of one variety or another that I wasn’t going to waste my time or theirs showing them a horse that wasn’t suitable for them. Some of them were just kids, but others were definitely old enough to know better.
When my daughter turned 15 she got her foal a month later when our mare that I inherited from a friend foaled out. He was an “oops baby”…the stallion down the road had came-a-courtin’. Anyway, I already had had experience working with Belgians at a small breeding farm, so she wasn’t going in blind without a bit of knowledge. She asked a gazillion questions to the vet, farrier and anyone who bred and raised foals (that knew what they were doing). She read every book on raising and training foals and absorbed every video she could get her hands on. She did all the groundwork on him by herself (I stood on the rail and offered encouragement and/or suggestions) and at two gently started him under saddle. By the time he was 4 he was going on quiet trailrides and being hauled to shows to be acclimated. Now, at 8 he is able to do a variety of diciplines (including drive) and was sold last year to a very nice family who trail rides him. His legs are fine, his mentality is fine and he is a gentle, well behaved, trustworthy mount. So, not every teen who starts a foal screws them up (as long as that teen has adult supervision and the knowledge to do it right).
Head desk… just… head desk…
One word – lessons. If you want the horse experience but don’t have the knowlege, skills, money, or parents’ approval. get thy self to a good lesson barn and learn all you can. Maybe “someday” you can get your own horse. ( And, your horse will thank you! )
I think at some point she probably disgussed the possibility of getting a horse with her parents at some points in the future. The girl probably took that as carte blanche to write wanted adverts and did so without parents help or approval.
When I was that age I called several stables to ask if I could ride in exchange for yard-work, without my parents permission. But at least I was doing that in order to gain knowledge, a little different from just wanting a purty pony in my garden!
I also have a friend who keeps her horses quite close to a busy road which leads to a tourist area, who has, on more than one occasion, arrived at the gate to find a family there, asking if the kids can “have a ride on the pony”. As this friend has two horses, one of whom is 17hands with a serious attitude, they can only mean her 8-month old youngster :0 I have to say she handles this more diplomatically than I would!!
I think these dumb tourists are confusing a foal with a pony. Because if it is small and horse shaped, it must be a pony. I think that is what is happening with the girl that wrote this ad as well.
If I was your friend, I would have a big sign on the road up to the barn that said “NO, you or your kids can’t ride my horses!”
Yahhhhh for living in the bush. You can’t even see my guys from the road
Anyway, it could be that the parents are willing to do anything for a sick child who is going to be hospitalised for a month, just to give her something to look forward to. Still a Bad, Bad idea but it is hard to condem them without understading the context in which this ad was posted. I think the child did this on her own, you’d think a parent would clean up the spelling and grammer before submitting it to CL.
You think?
I’d hope!