Age old new pony nightmare

[Scarlet1]

Really needing some advice! We bought a 12.2 Irish pony last September through a dealer (who is a friend). She was using him for her children and they did pony club on him and he was pretty much perfect.
He was living out and being ridden on average every other day. Her children are good riders but had lost their confidence, he did a great job at building it up again. He was the prefect pony for my daughter who is very novice.
We buy him and move him to the yard where we keep our horse. Here he is stabled at night and the yard has c.40 horses. Initially he was out at night in during the day. Behaviour was ok but he started to be a tiny bit sparky. Roll on til now and he is literally like a coiled spring. Bucked my daughter off, is very excitable and basically a nightmare. He is fed non molasses chaff and pony nuts and hay.
Back checked, full work over and it was suggested he was a bit acidy (having a blank at the word). I bought a acid ease supplement no difference.
The dealer came out to see him and agreed he was like a totally different pony. She has offered we take him back to her yard, he lives out and we see if it is the yard.
Not really ideal to have two horses on different yards but ill try anything at this point.
The yard have been exercising him as my daughter has lost her confidence. They have said he is so ‘on one’ they have to hack him further to calm him down. I do wonder if this work might have the opposite effect?
I guess I’’m asking for ideas to try. He hasn’t been passed from home to home so I don’t think this is normal behaviour for him as no one would have him for their child at the moment.
He did hunt as do people at the yard and the hunt meet there on occasion could this be winding him up?
I’m finding this really stressful and feeling like a failure but I can’t see what else we have missed.

 

[DabDab]

Lots of things can upset a pony about a particular yard, and yes hunt meets would definitely be one of them, restricted turnout another.

As a starting point though I would take him off all hard feed (save for a smidgen of plain chaff if he needs something to distract him at feed time), as pony nuts are quite well known for being rocket fuel ?. Personally I would strip back the feed and give him two weeks of daily in hand/lunge work and then see what he's like. If still no good then take your friend up on the offer to have him back there for a while.

 

[Patterdale]

I would think that if he is off all feed and turned out 24/7 he would be a different pony.
Sounds tough. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[laura_nash]

That's a good offer from your friend. If you really need the pony at the current yard longer term, it would be worth trying a few things there first though. Obvious things to try:

- Stop the pony nuts
- If the chaff is anything except plain oat straw / grass then stop that or switch it (alfalfa can be rocket fuel for some ponies, although many are fine on it).
- If the hay is ryegrass hay try switching to meadow hay or soaking it or splitting it 50/50 with oat straw.
- If the grazing is fertilised or otherwise lush, that might be enough (especially this winter). Ideally a mineral analysis, but in the shorter term adding table salt and magnesium oxide to the chaff might help.
- How settled is she in the stable? If she's wrecking her bedding or.otherwise showing signs of not settling you could try switching to a different stable (if that's an option) or other improvements like a stable mirror.
- You could try switching up the exercising. If they currently just do slow steady hacks, a few fast blasts might help settle her. If they currently do fast hacks, maybe that's winding her up and just slow work would be better.
- When she is turned out, is she on individual turnout? If so, any chance she can have some company? If not, is the current company bullying her or otherwise unsettling her?

 

[KittenInTheTree]

Turn the poor animal back out in the exact same routine that he was perfectly well-behaved on for his previous owner, and stop feeding him processed rubbish. I suspect the word that you are missing is ulcers, not acidy.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Sounds like the pony is very stressed. If you are able to return to the old yard I would do it, otherwise you will end up with a pony that gets passed around through various owners.

 

[Scarlet1]

Thanks for some of the advice and I’ll ignore the rude one above!
To be clear he is being fed the same hard feed he has always had. He is out from 8-3/4 so not restricted but I appreciate not 24/7.
No I don’t mean ulcers, I have a horse prone to ulcers and am very familiar (unfortunately) with the word. Basically I was told by an equine acupuncturist that he thought he had too much acid in his stomach and put him on a supplement. This of course might mean he has ulcers but that isn’t what he said. He has been checked by vet, chiro, saddler and dentist. That all being said I’ll remove the pony nuts, I’ve never heard them being rocket fuel but I guess maybe a different brand might have been used.
He is led out of hacks from our horse so has to trot or canter depending on the pace as he is 16.2. The yard don’t ride him on hacks only in the school. He is in a similar amount of work as before but it sounds like soaking hay or changing it and removing the hard feed might be a good idea.
We do something with him about 5 days a week. Pole lesson (led), schooled by yard, hacked (led from our horse), lunged and inhand (lots of grooming). Any more and he’ll be super fit which I also want to avoid.
Although we have had horses for years having a pony has been a different kettle of fish! Especially when you put your child on said pony! Also lunging before riding has zero effect if anything it fires him up more.
Instructor has basically said to get rid of the pony which I’m loathe to do.
Thanks for the suggestions

 

[Scarlet1]

Just to clarify I don’t mean the grooming is the inhand work! I mean in addition

 

[Highmileagecob]

Thanks for some of the advice and I’ll ignore the rude one above!
To be clear he is being fed the same hard feed he has always had. He is out from 8-3/4 so not restricted but I appreciate not 24/7.
No I don’t mean ulcers, I have a horse prone to ulcers and am very familiar (unfortunately) with the word. Basically I was told by an equine acupuncturist that he thought he had too much acid in his stomach and put him on a supplement. This of course might mean he has ulcers but that isn’t what he said. He has been checked by vet, chiro, saddler and dentist. That all being said I’ll remove the pony nuts, I’ve never heard them being rocket fuel but I guess maybe a different brand might have been used.
He is led out of hacks from our horse so has to trot or canter depending on the pace as he is 16.2. The yard don’t ride him on hacks only in the school. He is in a similar amount of work as before but it sounds like soaking hay or changing it and removing the hard feed might be a good idea.
We do something with him about 5 days a week. Pole lesson (led), schooled by yard, hacked (led from our horse), lunged and inhand (lots of grooming). Any more and he’ll be super fit which I also want to avoid.
Although we have had horses for years having a pony has been a different kettle of fish! Especially when you put your child on said pony! Also lunging before riding has zero effect if anything it fires him up more.
Instructor has basically said to get rid of the pony which I’m loathe to do.
Thanks for the suggestions

The post was not intended to be rude. Your child's safety will obviously be your main priority - even your instructor has advised that you pass the piny on!

 

[AFB]

Some ponies really do take time to settle - will your yard allow 24/7 TO in summer? If so I'd hold off on any drastic changes and see how that affects him.

I would definitely in the meantime cut out calories - scrap the bucket feed and soak the hay. Energy in = energy out

Also you don't mention the size of yard he came from, your current yard of 40 is a decent size & presumably quite busy, he might just be a chap that needs a quieter environment, in which case do you prefer the pony or the yard?

 

[AFB]

The post was not intended to be rude. Your child's safety will obviously be your main priority - even your instructor has advised that you pass the piny on!

I don't suspect that was aimed at you - see post above yours...

 

[Scarlet1]

The post was not intended to be rude. Your child's safety will obviously be your main priority - even your instructor has advised that you pass the piny on!

I wasn’t responding to you! It was someone else. Sorry

 

[Wheresthehoofpick]

It's a rubbish time of year. All our horses are bonkers even the emotionally horizontal cob. Turn him out 24/7. Cut out the hard feed and see where you are at then. 7 hours a day turnout is very different to 24 hours.

 

[honetpot]

It's been a very funny year weather wise, I have a few ponies and they are just fed hay, and have not lost any weight, it's just been too warm, and here the grass is growing. Turnout not only gives them more exercise, but time to work out their place in the herd, and a pony that has been out with animals it knows will have to find its place, and that sometimes makes it them unsettled, and then they go literally in a box on its own at night, to stew and get anxious.
I never get a child's pony fit, unless they are going to do hard work like hunting, a fit fat pony, is usually like a child that eaten too many sweets. When our ponies went to PC camp they went with a few carrots, a bag of oat chaff, because if they have enough forage they usually do not need anything else. If you can not increase turnout, I would leave it until the better weather, and do some really long hacks, so it gets really tired, try a two days in a row, I find lunging just makes them fitter, and the pony will always have more stamina than a child. My children didn't really ride from October to the beginning of March, when you often can ride after school.
If you can get the dealer to take it back, I would do, just to try and reset it, and then try again in a month or so.
My children rode from the age of about six on their own ponies, with no surface, just using the village roads and bridleways, and you can keep them sane. Just forage, no rugs unless they are clipped, and equine company, it doesn't matter how small the paddock, or how muddy, they need, the larking about for their mental welfare. I used to have two Welsh A's that would spend an hour chasing each other tail, round and round in a circle, trying to nip each other. My grumpy 22 year old hates the others, until you separate them, and then he is so pleased to see the pony he has bared his teeth at every time he goes near a hay net, even though there are at least three to chose from.
Every perfect pony has a but, it's finding how to manage the but.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Might well be the yard. My TB mare was far more chilled out when I moved her to a much bigger, busier yard. She was like a different horse.

 

[oldie48]

Like others I think it's down to feed and turnout but just to add grazing varies a good deal in energy as does hay/haylage and it can make a huge difference. I've had 16.2 TBS that have been perfectly fit and well on a forage only diet. Also I'd avoid getting him too fit personally I'd rather have him in the field on poor grazing rather than being trotted on the roads and ridden in the school. Our first ponies were ridden two/three times a week in the winter and stayed perfectly fit enough to do their job without any silliness.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I'm another who would stop*all* hard feed and anything including alfalfa and turn out 24/7 if at all possible. I appreciate that having horses on 2 different yards causes problems, especially if you want to take them out together. Is there any possibility of moving them both to your friend's yard?

 

[Orangehorse]

I think you will find that a pro yard would not give him any hard feed at all. Also he would have been doing plenty of work.

Take him out for a few really long rides for days running, if you can manage it! This is what they do with the treking ponies when they come back from their winter break.

 

[oldie48]

Also it might be worth asking if the grazing has been used for cattle as the type of grass seed used can be very rich for horses. Just a thought but worth checking.

 

[Winters100]

Some sensible suggestions above. In addition you mention that the sellers 'children' were riding the pony, with more than 1 jockey I wonder if pony was getting more work? Is it possible that he had a couple of children bombing around on him and tiring him out, and that now with a smaller single jockey he is testing the boundaries? Would it maybe be possible to temporarily move him back and let those children ride him whilst also getting some help for your daughter? She might just regain her enthusiasm with a couple of older children to show her how it is done and egg her on? Good luck, and I hope that you manage to iron out these problems.

 

[Landcruiser]

Thanks for some of the advice and I’ll ignore the rude one above!
To be clear he is being fed the same hard feed he has always had. He is out from 8-3/4 so not restricted but I appreciate not 24/7.
No I don’t mean ulcers, I have a horse prone to ulcers and am very familiar (unfortunately) with the word. Basically I was told by an equine acupuncturist that he thought he had too much acid in his stomach and put him on a supplement. This of course might mean he has ulcers but that isn’t what he said. He has been checked by vet, chiro, saddler and dentist. That all being said I’ll remove the pony nuts, I’ve never heard them being rocket fuel but I guess maybe a different brand might have been used.
He is led out of hacks from our horse so has to trot or canter depending on the pace as he is 16.2. The yard don’t ride him on hacks only in the school. He is in a similar amount of work as before but it sounds like soaking hay or changing it and removing the hard feed might be a good idea.
We do something with him about 5 days a week. Pole lesson (led), schooled by yard, hacked (led from our horse), lunged and inhand (lots of grooming). Any more and he’ll be super fit which I also want to avoid.
Although we have had horses for years having a pony has been a different kettle of fish! Especially when you put your child on said pony! Also lunging before riding has zero effect if anything it fires him up more.
Instructor has basically said to get rid of the pony which I’m loathe to do.
Thanks for the suggestions

Even though the feed is the same, the turnout isn't. He's standing in on his own doing nowt for up to 17 hours in every 24, instead of being out and moving the whole time. I would cut the feed altogether if more turnout isn't an option - he is clearly burning far fewer calories on his new regime, so has energy to spare. To be honest he's probably bored too, or stressed, or both, if he's suddenly changed from full turnout to quite restricted turnout. I suspect the new regime isn't suiting him very well..

 

[Birker2020]

The post was not intended to be rude. Your child's safety will obviously be your main priority - even your instructor has advised that you pass the piny on!

I think she was on about Kitten in the Tree's rude response. I found that very rude too.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Even though the feed is the same, the turnout isn't. He's standing in on his own doing nowt for up to 17 hours in every 24, instead of being out and moving the whole time. I would cut the feed altogether if more turnout isn't an option - he is clearly burning far fewer calories on his new regime, so has energy to spare. To be honest he's probably bored too, or stressed, or both, if he's suddenly changed from full turnout to quite restricted turnout. I suspect the new regime isn't suiting him very well..

This definitely mine are completely different on 24/7 turnout especially in winter.