advice please

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rainer

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Hi I'm after a bit of advice I just want to do the right thing by our pony.
Charlie is lovely,sweet,not much fazes him,he's good to handle and he's just the best :)
He is only 5 and he's new to us.
What I want advice on is when he is being led just back to or from field he will not move! He just plants and you have to almost drag him lol
Also when he is being ridden I will lead him and he will plant or he likes to follow me.
When my daughter goes off lead its all she can do to get him to walk he hardly listens to her leg and just stands there looking half asleep lol ( he is quite laid back :p). Again he likes to follow me.
He only has grass,hay,carrots+apples,lives out 24/7,he's now got a salt lick and he is currently barefoot which seems to be going okay.
He is young and green and I think its very much confidence issues and settling in etc but any advice on the way forward would be great so I can do my best for him
Looking into lessons also for him+my daughter.
Is quite frustrating when he won't move lol even when I'm just leading him ;)
 
Maybe leading him off another safe horse would help. It sounds like it is a mixture of cheekiness/lack of confidence so having another horse walking calmly alongside him should make him be more forward. However, have someone else on the ground next to pony incase he decides to stay put but the horse you are riding decides to go!
 
Has he been ridden independently, been long reined properly or lunged? I would go back to basics with him, get him moving forward learning to listen to vocal commands and work on the leading. He may just be settling in but needs to learn ground rules now otherwise being a pony he will probably think he can do exactly as he wants.
Repetition lots of praise when he does what you want and building his confidence will all help, as will having a routine where he gets rewards for being a good boy. I would cut out the treats, apples and carrots, just the odd one when he really deserves it.
 
Thank you, we haven't had him long and the previous owners just had him+sold him on and I don't know what he did before that. We haven't lunged or long reined him and my daughter is trying to ride him independantly but he won't go. My daughter lacks confidence also so I think lessons and pony club are the way to go. I don't ride atm so I think perhaps find someone for her to hack him out with and me on foot :). Its good he's calm and ploddy but we want him to at least walk lol
We have been on a few hacks on lead rein and he will walk well a lot of the time once we get going and he will go well into trot with me running alongside. :) xxx
 
I would think he has done even less than you think, he may have also been unsettled with a few moves in a short time. If you could find a good instructor who would work on the pony, get him going on the lunge, if they are small enough do some ridden work as well as teaching your daughter, they could also get you lunging him so you could do a little with him in between lessons.

One problem with the quiet type of pony is that they are often just got on and ridden by a competent rider, because they are quiet and reasonably safe a lot of basic education is over looked, for your daughter to enjoy him and progress he will need that basic work put in by someone with experience, they will then be able to build up confidence as they go, at the moment the pony has none of his own so will not instill any confidence in your daughter while she is riding him.

Lots of work ahead but it can be very rewarding.
 
Thank you we have a lady next door who is an instructor and its a livery yard with school,I've emailed her asking about lessons and if we could use the school ourselves. My daughter doesn't have the knowledge or confidence to bring him on and he's so good natured and lovely I want to get him a good education :)
 
He is her first pony and I know he's young and green so perhaps not the best choice lol but he's got a great temperament and I wanted her to be able to fuss over him+love him and have fun more than anything I mean they won't be competing or anything only hacking+pc :) and learning xx
 
So refreshing to hear some nice, kind advice!!! Sounds to me as though perhaps the pony is just being a baby, and perhaps the education was not as good as you thought before you had the pony. Sounds as though you may just need to re-teach the leg aids, as it sounds as though the pony simply is not understanding, and so is then probably relying on the leader for direction. Lots of start stop transitions, with the leader at the side and with your daughter only using light leg pressure. As she asks for a walk, you walk on on foot and keep doing this until pony is understanding that just light pressure means to walk on. Gradually increase distance between the leader and pony, slowly dropping back towards the shoulder and away from the pony over a period of time until you can build up to being much further away. Long reining also a great idea, but start with a leader until you are sure the pony understands you. Good luck!
 
An NH or IH instructor would be able to help you with this, I know that Parelli used to have a DVD called "My horse won't go" (not sure if still available) and it works through all the exercises to assist with obtaining a forward horse. (Nothing difficult to do even if you have never done/never want to do NH stuff.)


When my horse was started he was a bit on the lazy side and planting was a way he tested me out. I found that lots of yields (which had been taught on the ground first) and then asked for while he was being ridden got him unstuck. The best yield to get a stuck horse to move is to disengage the hind quarters, that is, ask the horse to step one hind leg across in front of the other hind.

You ask for the horse to bend to say the left with his head/neck slightly, (pick up the left rein), and you use the left leg behind the girth to ask him to step his hindquarter across, once you have the horse yielding like this easily on an ask it is easy and natural for the horse to flow into a forward walk from that yield. My horse used to stop again after a few steps, so i would yield again. He soon learnt that it was easier to walk forward on an ask than from a yield to forward. It also removes the need to kick, kick, kick which is not effective and hard work.

This may not make much sense when you read it and am not that good at explaining something, but this does work.
 
Agree with the other posters that she may be less well educated than you think. Has she been taught 'to lead' properly with her head always at your shoulder? She may not have been. I always treat horses as though they have had no instruction and always start off at the basics on the ground with them. I think it helps reinforce leadership from yourself and also helps you to realise any gaps in their education.

A good session of teaching her about 'pressure and release' should see her coming in from the field better. Our little pony was 6 when we bought her and whilst she had been backed, she didn't really know what was expected of her when being led in. She would plant, move ahead of me or drag behind. Since I taught her how to be led properly she has been fine and behaves properly (most of the time!). Sometimes she does still plant - but as she positioned nicely with her head at my side all I need to do is give her a reassuring rub, apply a small amount of pressure to her headcollar and she will move forwards again because she has learnt to respond to pressure and release.

Hope that helps and makes sense! chuckle.

xxxxx
 
Thank you all so much for your advice I am a sponge at the moment lol absorbing it all :) charlie is the first pony we have owned and although I have experience+knowledge of caring for a pony its very different when its your own but very brilliant too lol.
 
Sounds like you are finding all the right answers by yourself - pc, lessons, a good instructor etc. You will get there. Pony may be a bit green, or may have decided that nobody knows enough to make him go! Ponies are clever little things.

Its always wonderful if you can enlist the help of a lightweight but experienced older rider too to ride the pony now and again. It did wonders with my son's first pony when my friend's 13 year old used to come and ride her a couple of times a week and gave the pony confidence and experience - kind of crossed the bridges before my son go to cross them a year later..

ps. ANY GOOD instructor will help you, not just a NH or IH instructor.
 
It's nice to hear of someone trying to do the right thing by their pony, it sounds as though the ideal situation is right next door to you, having the instructor view how you handle the pony would be your very best option, she can see what is happening and how you manage the situation the. Advice how to get the best solution. I have taught many first pony owners with 'quiet' young ponies and seen them turn into perfect first
ponies with a little help and guidance. I'm sure with time you will achieve lots with your new pony, take the time now and you will reap the rewards with years of fun and happiness :). Best of luck
 
The pony sounds uneducated. Stand by the shoulder/neck, ask him to walk on with a voice command and go to step forwards. If he doesn't come with you put your foot back and tap him behind you (reach your arm back , don't turn around) where the riders leg will go whilst repeating the command to walk on. Have someone tap him on the bum with a whip if necessary. Praise him the second he takes even one step forwards, this way he learns what you want. You shouldn't have to drag him around by his head, he should walk beside you.

You can do the leading with your daughter riding. At first use your voice as she uses a nudge of her legs, praising when he gets it right and moves. Gradually get him going off the leg by using 1) a nudge, 2) a nudge and a voice command, 3) a nudge, a voice command and a smack with the whip (behind the riders leg). He's not stupid and will soon learn to go the first (or at least the second) time he's asked. It's important to be consistant and also to praise when he gets it right.
 
Oh and if he moves then stops after a couple of steps, you go back to the beginning with 1) 2) 3), don't start smacking him every time he stops (which will be tempting if you get frustrated with it all!), it will sour him. As he progresses and realises you want him to keep moving, he will stop less and less often. Don't let your daughter kick instead of using the whip, either. As she kicks her whole body will probably move which will unbalance pony and cause him to stop, or she may jab his mouth by mistake as her body moves therefore giving conflicting signals.
 
This is common with young, green horses as people have said. What I did with mine (who is quite an assertive in your face horse but is laid back to ride in general). he would plant himself both leaving and going to the field. First of all, I did the usual "walk on" and flicked the lead rope behind me and he turned to me and gave me an extremely dirty look (I'd only just got him at this point and he looked like he might rear or strike out so it was ever so slightly scary). I decided I would stand a little out from his shoulder and pulled the lead rope slowly but very firmly until he had to move a front foot to get his balance - I then told him how good he was and went round the offside and did the same thing. Poor horse got so sick of this that after half an hour he decided it was less boring to come with me. I did not shout or hit, and did my very best to remain patient. I had to do this for about a week. I don't have a problem now - but occasionally if he does stop when being led, I just gently pull the lead rein and he gives in straightaway.
 
Thanks guys I had a good grooming session with him today before we set off to get my daughter from school as we only live just over a mile away :) I stood by his shoulder and asked for walk and flicked the end of the lead rope behind me if he wouldn't go.I praised him when he walked and if he stopped I went back and did the same thing again. He was really good and he was really good on the way back with flick on board he strode out well and didn't nap at all,he seemed a lot happier wen I gave him clearer instruction and he knew what I wanted and I praised him a LOT lol well done charlie! I felt a lot happier :)
 
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