Exercises to de-Thelwell a pony...

[Tickles]

I'm considering sharing a pony that looks more like a Thelwell cartoon than anything I've ever seen. Short neck, short dippy back, very cute & quite green. He is currently slightly overweight & unfit - a touch cresty and a wee bit chubby over the hind quarters, no sign of ribs... As far as I could feel (didn't have a chance to look from a distance) he doesn't track up at all in trot - takes lots of tiny bouncy steps.

Obviously not much I can do about conformation but I'd appreciate any tips you have on
- exercises that will fitten without exhausting (I'm about 60kg, he is about 14hh)
- anything to improve his trot

His canter is unbalanced so I guess we should only do that on hacks to start with and concentrate on walk & trot in the school?

 

[ironhorse]

Lots and lots of walking to start with, particularly if he's as unfit as he sounds! If you can hack out with a friend, this should give him some incentive to step out, and as he gets fitter, walking and trotting up long hills is excellent.
In the school, masses of transitions, again starting in walk if necessary, but you really need to concentrate on the hacking for the next month or so.
When he's feeling fitter, he probably will step out a bit more, but ground poles in trot can be really helpful for this - first of all spread randomly around the school and then in a fan shape with 4ft between the middle stripes of each pole.

 

[Tickles]

Thanks IronHorse, that sounds very sensible. I was a bit concerned about him being 'galloped' around fields when he hasn't been doing much for a while.

There is a slightly larger horse we could hack out with which should help (his usual companion is even littler and not exactly slim-line either!).

Presumably when we get to the 'fan' poles they go around a corner of the school?

 

[ironhorse]

Or on a circle anywhere in the school..if you've got enough poles, two or three fans of three poles in different places to give you a change of rein and a chance to keep moving around will be useful. You might need someone on the ground to replace any that he sends flying to start with!
Do take it steady... cobby types don't have the best lungs or tendons in the world and it's better to get them fit slowly than risk an injury...I'm sure you'll do a good job!

 

[Tickles]

Thank you!

Will post pics if owner agrees as soon as share is sorted - and hopefully some 'after' ones later on!