ChristmasPixie
Well-Known Member
Hi
I thought I better not hijack Shadowboys post any further and start my own!!
We have the sweetest 13.1hh newforest mare. Her passport would put her at 5 in the new year but our vet doubts the passport is hers and would put her a year younger. He vetted her when we first bought her a year ago and has seen her for a health check and vaccinations since. He said she is looking very well and is coping fine with the gentle workload we give her. He actually struggled to believe she was the same pony when he saw her 6 months after we bought her as she had improved in condition so much. She is ridden 3-5 times a week for less than 30 mins by my 10 year old daughter who is skinny as a rake. The previous owner bought her as a project to start and sell, but she dropped a foal
(v young?) so she waited to start her again once the foal was weaned and that's when we bought her. I am sure her growth has been affected by having a foal so young as since we have had her she has grown a couple of inches and is in much better condition. Could this have had a knock on effect to how fast she is developing mentally?
Our problem is the lack of forwardness!! She will normally walk out fine hacking or in the school, but is incredibly hard work to get into or to maintain a trot. She is improving slowley, my daughter can do at least on circuit of the school in trot now. If we pop a tiny jump up she wll happily trot in to and pop it, but tends to drop straight back to walk after. She will not canter in the school. Out hacking around our woods she will happily canter behind my exracer. She does have a habit of planting, and the only method I have found that gets her going is to get my daughter to sit very quietly, give her a minute to collect her thoughts, then firmly but calmly to ask her forward again. The waiting game seems to work, any pressure tends to make things worse and she will just go into reverse.
She is totally unphased by whips, which is nice in that she doesn't seem to have had a traumatic experience with whips being used, but irritating that they seem to have no effect at all!!
I have finally got her to the stage where I can lunge her at walk and trot on a small circle (15m) each way, but that is her limit so far. It has taken me a few months gradually building up from longreining which she accepted fairly easily.
The other thing she tends to do is to bend like a wiggly worm, generally towards the outside when in the school at trot. My daughter does give her a decent amount of rein and is gentle with her mouth, concentrating mainly of getting forwardness and rewarding it.
On a bad day the worst the pony will do is plant and give the odd tiny buck, but we always get through it.
My daughter also has regular lessons at a riding school on older ponies to keep her riding up to scratch. She is just starting to jump courses of 3' plus.
The pony has had all the relevent health, tack checks and all is fine. Am I just being impatient?? To be fair when i think we have already come on quite alot with her.
I have had young horses before which have turned out beautifully and I have owned horses for almost 20 years so not a novice, only in I have never been involved with the starting of a pony! It just seems a totally different ball game to the horses I have started!!
Any ideas to get her more off the leg or other suggestions?
I thought I better not hijack Shadowboys post any further and start my own!!
We have the sweetest 13.1hh newforest mare. Her passport would put her at 5 in the new year but our vet doubts the passport is hers and would put her a year younger. He vetted her when we first bought her a year ago and has seen her for a health check and vaccinations since. He said she is looking very well and is coping fine with the gentle workload we give her. He actually struggled to believe she was the same pony when he saw her 6 months after we bought her as she had improved in condition so much. She is ridden 3-5 times a week for less than 30 mins by my 10 year old daughter who is skinny as a rake. The previous owner bought her as a project to start and sell, but she dropped a foal
(v young?) so she waited to start her again once the foal was weaned and that's when we bought her. I am sure her growth has been affected by having a foal so young as since we have had her she has grown a couple of inches and is in much better condition. Could this have had a knock on effect to how fast she is developing mentally?Our problem is the lack of forwardness!! She will normally walk out fine hacking or in the school, but is incredibly hard work to get into or to maintain a trot. She is improving slowley, my daughter can do at least on circuit of the school in trot now. If we pop a tiny jump up she wll happily trot in to and pop it, but tends to drop straight back to walk after. She will not canter in the school. Out hacking around our woods she will happily canter behind my exracer. She does have a habit of planting, and the only method I have found that gets her going is to get my daughter to sit very quietly, give her a minute to collect her thoughts, then firmly but calmly to ask her forward again. The waiting game seems to work, any pressure tends to make things worse and she will just go into reverse.
She is totally unphased by whips, which is nice in that she doesn't seem to have had a traumatic experience with whips being used, but irritating that they seem to have no effect at all!!
I have finally got her to the stage where I can lunge her at walk and trot on a small circle (15m) each way, but that is her limit so far. It has taken me a few months gradually building up from longreining which she accepted fairly easily.
The other thing she tends to do is to bend like a wiggly worm, generally towards the outside when in the school at trot. My daughter does give her a decent amount of rein and is gentle with her mouth, concentrating mainly of getting forwardness and rewarding it.
On a bad day the worst the pony will do is plant and give the odd tiny buck, but we always get through it.
My daughter also has regular lessons at a riding school on older ponies to keep her riding up to scratch. She is just starting to jump courses of 3' plus.
The pony has had all the relevent health, tack checks and all is fine. Am I just being impatient?? To be fair when i think we have already come on quite alot with her.
I have had young horses before which have turned out beautifully and I have owned horses for almost 20 years so not a novice, only in I have never been involved with the starting of a pony! It just seems a totally different ball game to the horses I have started!!
Any ideas to get her more off the leg or other suggestions?
