my 7yr. old wants a horse. i thought i'd start her with a shetland pony. what is the weight limit on riding them? can i keep it with my goats? thanks for any answers.

Ya know, just my take...

...but unless she has some riding skills and shows real horse savvy I wouldn't recommend a Shetland. They are super smart and can be little brats if the rider doesn't know what they are doing. Think of the issues that have been brought up here about horses testing their owners. That, in my experience, is a somewhat daily routine with shetlands. Now I'm not down on sheltlands, I had a lot of fun with several of them where I had my horse (well other than the aptly named "Bad Guy") but "not so high--not so far to fall" is not always the best adage! There are other ponies, slightly larger, that have more reliable temperments and your child will not outgrow them quickly either.

All the other advice given in other posts about chooseing an older horse for a young rider applies to ponies as well.

she has had some riding lessons and has a creepy way with all animals. i just can't have a full size horse right now and it has to be able to be fenced with my goats. i looked at welsh ponies but they seem too big. any suggestions other than a shetland that isn't really big?

The other possibility is a cross. We had a cross between a welsh and arab and she was very small. Smaller even then her mother (the welsh)! I'm guessing she was about 2 hands taller than the avg. shetland. I was 5'5" (very long legs) at the time and if I really stretched and leaned I could reach the ground with one toe while astride.

My first thought when I saw "Shetland and Goats together" was the goats teaching the shetland to climb trees, and the shetland teaching the goats some equally nasty pony trick. LOL I know it sounds like I don't like shetlands, honestly, I do... They are a lot of fun and if your daughter has a good way with animals, then go for it. Just know that shetlands are mischievious as all get out! (I think all ponies share that trait to some extent). You just have to be smarter then they are... and sometimes they make that difficult!

Hi I own a miniature shetland and love him dearly, but would not advise for kids. I have a couple of kids who used to come and walk him and he knew they were not firm with him and took advantage of that. I agree that sometimes the bigger ones show more respect. The little ones are big minds in little bodies. I also have him with two goats and they are a little herd. The goats fret when I take the horse! I think whatever horse you get, your daughter will have to be firm with or they will take advantage.