How to Respond to Your Child's Wish for a Pony

It's that time of year again when children all over the world are asked, "what do you want for Christmas?"

If your child is one of the many children that answer, "a horse or pony", then you are not alone. I remember asking my parents for a horse since I was 6 years old. How should you respond to that answer? Most parents just plain flat out ignore the answer and get the child whatever they feel is the best gift for the child. Other parents just come right out and say no. Both of those responses are wrong. Why are they wrong? Because the child will still want a horse or pony even after the parents' response and might even feel some resentment towards the parent year after year of the same response. Would it surprise you to know that there is a better answer other than no?

Here is my alternative to saying no to the child's wish. First ask the child if she or he knows anything about owning a horse. The answer will usually be no but some kids come up with the strangest ideas about horse ownership. Get them to come to you with a complete budget plan for owning a horse along with how they plan on paying for the up keep of the horse. Tell them you will think about getting the horse if they can afford the up keep. Then go and educate yourself on prices of feed, vet care and the general overhead costs of horse ownership. If the child has done some surprisingly good research on the subject and comes up with a decent budget plan you can at least reward the child with the next step of the plan.

The next step is to have the child at least be around a horse in the form of riding lessons. You can often appease the child's desire for a horse with sporadic riding lessons throughout the year. Often the child's desire for a horse lasts only for a few years but if that is not the case at least they will have a good foundation in how to properly and safely handle a horse should it become apparent that their desire is more than just a passing fancy.

If the child's desire for horse ownership is still strong after several riding lessons and it has been at least a year since the riding lessons began you could then look in to leasing a horse. Your riding instructor should be familiar with how to go about doing this. Leasing a horse is much like renting a horse except it is by the month. There are many types of horse leases and it is best to have someone familiar with leasing contracts and horse help you find a horse to lease.

I have leased out 2 of my horses on leases to teenagers for the summer. I supplied all the equipment for riding and grooming and the horses stayed on my property for a flat rate monthly fee. A legal contract was written up and signed. The children had a blast each day they were around the horses for their summer vacations. They learned much more about horses than they would with just riding lessons and their parents did not have to worry about owning a horse.

So there you have alternate ways to answer your child's desire for a horse. From riding lessons to leasing there are other ways to be around horses without owning one.