Advice needed please :)

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Emma1516

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Hi everyone, we are new to this forum so hello all :)
Last august we bought my son his first pony Marmite a welch sec C, he was very good on the lead rein and gave my son lots of confidence, we got him off the lead rein quite quickly and have been doing really well but Marmite will quite often buck, the last couple of weeks we have been to pony club rallies and he is like a coiled spring, he tenses up and in 2 hours must have bucked 10 times, whilst my son is able to sit most of the bucks it is knocking his confidence and trust in the pony, I was just wondering if anyone had had similar experiences or any advice for us please !!!:)
 
i know its the first thing thats always said, but have the teeth/back/saddle been checked?

is thee any pattern to the bucking?or any situations in occurs in particularly?
 
If the bucking has started at pony club it may just be the pony is excited and will calm down the more he gets used to parties.

If the bucking has been happening a while and is getting worse do all the usual saddle, teeth back checks done for peace of mind.

If nothing comes from that call in a vet for some thoughts.
 
What is the pony fed? And what is his routine like?
Have you had his back, saddle, teeth checked?
Is he prone to lammi and his feet are sore as a result of coming into the early stages of it?
What is the ponys weight like and how often does he get worked and for how long?
Sorry for the questions, other people will just ask you the same so may aswell get them all out of the way :D :)

ETA: Sorry how rude of me - Welcome to the madhouse :)
 
Emma1516 said:
Hi everyone, we are new to this forum so hello all :)
Last august we bought my son his first pony Marmite a welch sec C, he was very good on the lead rein and gave my son lots of confidence, we got him off the lead rein quite quickly and have been doing really well but Marmite will quite often buck, the last couple of weeks we have been to pony club rallies and he is like a coiled spring, he tenses up and in 2 hours must have bucked 10 times, whilst my son is able to sit most of the bucks it is knocking his confidence and trust in the pony, I was just wondering if anyone had had similar experiences or any advice for us please !!!:)
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Hi, welcome to HHO :)
If its nothing physical, such as saddle teeth etc, could it just be the spring grass coming through and summer turn out kicking in, making Marmite that little more feisty? I know from what people on here have said, a LOT of horses (including our own) have been complete and utter fruitloops the last 3 or 4 weeks...including bucking, tanking off etc etc!
K x
 
Thankyou all so much for your swift replies and for your kind welcome :)

We had Marmites teeth done about 6 months ago and we had him a new saddle fitted about a month ago, the bucking has definitely become more frequent in the last month, he was such a good boy when we started working him again at the beginning of feb and Josh was doing so well, the bucking and erratic behaviour is definitely worse at pony club.

We feed him 2kg of hay morning and late afternoon and he also has a couple of scoops of hi fi lite late afternoon, we are also strip grazing him, Joshua rides him everyday except for a Wednesday, his work varies from schooling to jumping and going out on hacks as well as a lesson every week.

He has never had laminitis and the farrier says his feet are really good, his weight is good, he is not fat at all :)

Will look forward to hearing back from you all, thanks in advance :)
 
Have you tried lunging him before your son rides? It could be the spring grass giving him a bit of an edge.
However it sounds like the saddle may still not fit. Is there a saddler in the area that can give you a 2nd opinion? I would also get his back checked because even if his saddle does fit he may have some soreness from where it hasn't fitted in the past?
Hope this helps!
Izzi x
 
Hi Izzi,

We lunged him this morning but he was still a nuisance when we got him to the rally, will definitely get a second opinion on the saddle and get his back checked though, thankyou for your help

Emma x x
 
Is your son quite small on him? Half the ponies I have had/taught at pc massively take the p out of their riders while they know that their rider is too small and weak to do anything. Once the child gets bigger and stronger (and often braver and more experienced) the pony calms down again. This is particularly the case when the child is not that long off the leadrein.

Could you get an older, more experienced rider to ride them at the next rally perhaps, just to iron it out?
 
Hi Emma, first thing I would do is get the saddler back out as it sounds like this has got worse since the new saddle was fitted.
 
If the saddle is a flocked system and was brand new, they can settle down quite quickly with use and become flat, therefore dropping the panel down onto the ponies back and may pinch his spine.Most new saddles (flocked ones) will NEED to be flocked at the time of fitting and sale, to just put a saddle on and use it is asking for trouble.
As others have said, get the saddle checked to eliminate this off the list of possible things that could be making him buck.
When I flock up a saddle I do an initial flocking and fitting, then go back in 2 weeks sometimes less if the saddle is used alot and re check it and flock it up again, it is surprising how much air is expelled from flock with the rider's weight on it and it will have gone down again, sometimes a little sometimes alot!
Oz :)
 
Spring and the grass is here..he`s a pony..he`s feeling good.That is what ponies do,I learnt on an absolute cow of a Welsh called Zulu,cos it ate little girls,much later I found out there are nice ponies and horses out there.Ever since I have avoided the likes of Zulu like the plague!
 
Cair can go flat but not that quickly!
Check down the channel that runs the entire length of the saddle underneath.
If it is too narrow (yes even new saddles can be made with narrow channels!) then it can pinch his spine.
Most equines whether they are tiny or huge have a spinal column width of between 2.5 and 2.75 inches, (about 3 knuckles widths of the average adult hand) try to see if you can get 3 fingers/knuckle widths down the entire channel?
If not then that could be your problem, think of the horses spine as a road and a bridge over the road sits either side of it but not on the road, that is the same principle the bridge is the saddle, the feet of the bridge that come down either side of the road are the panels (the weight bearing surfaces of the saddle) and the road is the horse's spine. There are thousands of nerve ending across the horse's spine and the skin is not overly thick there either, any pinching even on a small pony can be felt.
Sorry for ramble but I hope it helps, any more advice needed just ask, that's what I'm here for, Oz :)
 
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Thanks for all your help and advice everyone, we really appreciate it, I have called the saddler and she is coming to do a refit, so will let you know how we get on, fingers crossed he will quieten down soon :)
 
I second what another poster said - after sorting the saddle/back I would see if a more experienced person could ride the pony a few times. Perhaps an older/bigger child at Pony Club? If it is naughtiness or over excitement then it's a habit best nipped in the bud.
 
Equinimity said:
I second what another poster said - after sorting the saddle/back I would see if a more experienced person could ride the pony a few times. Perhaps an older/bigger child at Pony Club? If it is naughtiness or over excitement then it's a habit best nipped in the bud.
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Thanks for your reply, was just wondering if I started getting an older child to ride him once a week to maybe iron out his naughty side would this help when Joshua rides him or would he revert back to taking the P lol

Thanks in advance :)
 
Have the saddle re checked as a matter of urgency.

Get Joshua to play games and work the pony on the ground lots, this will build confidence in the child and increase his leadership skills which are quickly transferred to the saddle.

Ideally the pony should willingly follow him anywhere on the ground with a long loose lead rope.

Welcome by the way.
 
If he is mainly bucking at the PC rallies, and the saddle turns out to be fine, I would see if you could enlist the help of a bigger more experienced rider to ride him in another group at the rally, obviously this would be ideal if it were before your sons ride.

I have a welsh section C, and it would not be at all out of charater for him if he had a child rider. Devil pony.
 
Just wanted to say thankyou to everyone for all your help and advice.

Joshua has had a lesson on Marmite today, we put his old saddle on and still we had big problems he threw Josh into the fence at one point, he was spinning walking sideways and was being very boulshy, our instructor feels that Joshua needs more of a confidence fiver and so sadly we have decided to find Marmite a new home with a more competent, experienced rider.

If anybody hears of any good little ponies for sale please let us know and thanks again for all the advice it has been brilliant :)
 
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