If you’re reading Young Rider, we know one thing about you for certain—you love horses! However, whether it’s due to size, ability, or physical limitations, most of us can’t ride the same horse forever. It’s tricky to know when to move onto a new equine friend, so we chatted with three of our readers to share their stories.
Size Match
Grace, 12, is small but mighty, and her ponies match! Coming from a horsey family, she has ridden ponies since she was tiny. However, as her skills continued to grow, so have her horses.
A couple of years ago, Grace moved up from her tiny pony, Annie, to Dinero, a Pony of the Americas who can jump the moon.
“Dinero is similar to Annie,” she says. “They both overjump the jumps and like going fast! However, I needed to move up the levels, but it would have been hard on Annie’s hocks. Now I get to compete at Novice level in eventing with Dinero and jump bigger things.”
At 14.1 hands, Dinero and Grace are a perfect match. They already won the Top Pony award in their Junior Beginner Novice division at the American Eventing Championships!
However, Grace is still growing, so in addition to Dinero, she is now also riding her off-track Thoroughbred, Greye’s Creek (“Slate”). They have been accepted to compete in the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover in October, and Grace is getting to learn about differences between riding ponies and larger horses.
“Slate feels like he’s floating when he trots,” she says. “He is way up in the air. Slate is larger and I am growing—maybe he will be able to go Modified or Preliminary level and jump even bigger things!”
Too Much Horse
Last year Zoie, 13, had to make an impossible decision. She was leasing a talented Thoroughbred after riding in a lesson program for years, but she was realizing that perhaps he wasn’t the right fit for her.
“Cairo was my whole world,” she says. “I loved him to death, but I wasn’t ready for him, and he needed somebody that could take him to his full potential, and I was not that person.”
After talking with her equestrian role models, Zoie decided it was time to move on.
“I love Cairo so much, and even though I hated it, I needed to do what was best for him and for me and my riding.”
Luckily, through a friend, Zoie found her next mount, Izzy. Izzy is a little older and has more shows under her girth. Plus, she is a couple hands smaller.
“When I rode Izzy for the first time, I was just like, ‘Wow, I really like this pony,’” Zoie recalls. “I felt really confident, and I jumped for the first time since I broke my foot. I felt this spark of electricity.”
While Zoie is thankful for everything she learned with Cairo, she is a lot more comfortable on Izzy. And since she is more comfortable, she can focus on learning and improving her riding and not being nervous.
Zoie is still able to keep up with Cairo’s adventures and visits him occasionally.
“I’ve never loved another horse quite like I’ve loved Cairo,” she says. “And I love Izzy like I would love my best friend. I love them both in different but equal ways.”
Just because you adore your horse, sometimes moving on to another is what’s best for everyone. Zoie is excited for everything she gets to accomplish with Izzy.
Physically Limited
“Fancy is a spicy little mare with a heart of fire,” Emma, 16, says of her former mount, a Paint Horse named Ima Fancy Design.
Emma got to experience a lot of firsts with Fancy. She got to compete at Beginner Novice level in eventing, soared over her first 3-foot jumps, and went on many adventures.
Unfortunately, as Fancy got older, her body couldn’t keep up with Emma’s riding goals.
“Sadly, due to a few leg injuries, Fancy could no longer do more than light flatwork and maybe some small jumps,” she says. “I would have loved to keep her forever.”
Luckily, Emma and her family were able to find the perfect retirement home for Fancy. Emma’s older sister, Caroline, had been competing a small but mighty Thoroughbred while Emma rode Fancy. Caroline was in college and was busy with school and work, so Emma took over the ride on Sligovitz (known as “Oliver” around the barn).
“Both horses are similar in the way that they love to jump, are insanely quirky, have so much personality, and make me the happiest person ever,” Emma says.
Their differences, however, have made Emma a stronger rider, both physically and mentally.
“As a rider, I tend to be on the nervous and anxious side,” she explains. “Riding Fancy was the best confidence builder because she would always jump, no matter what. She had enough confidence for the both of us! However, Oliver is a more nervous and very emotionally intelligent horse. If he feels nerves from you, he gets nervous. He always wants reassurance and needed me to give him confidence. When I didn’t, we would have issues. Fancy taught me confidence, and Oliver taught me to exude that confidence in my riding.”
Oliver and Emma got to check off boxes that Fancy wasn’t physically able to. He took Emma around her first Novice level event, and they learned together how much fun fox hunting can be, and they got to jump BIG jumps!
Sadly, Oliver passed away in November. While heartbreaking, Emma is extremely thankful for all the memories they got to make and all the lessons she learned for her future mounts, too.
“I am the luckiest girl alive,” she says. “Both Fancy and Oliver make me extremely grateful every day that I was able to have these experiences and know these animals that have hearts of gold. As devastating as it was and still is, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to love Oliver and be his person for three years. Fancy is still living her best life, but it’s still difficult to not be able do our favorite things anymore.”
Emma offers up some advice to other kids moving from one horse to another.
“Enjoy every moment,” she says. “No one’s riding journey is linear, so try to take it one day at a time. Keep every pat, kiss, and ride that you have in your heart. Embrace the quirks of your horse. Let them be themselves and encourage the big personalities! Love them with everything and go easy on yourself.”
This article about moving on to a new horse appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!
