Feral pony taming... husband wanting to do it his way...thoughts?

[maya2008]

Pony is a companion only, she’s 2. She will now eat from a bowl held by a human, but that’s as far as it goes. Previous experience of humans = feral, then herded onto lorry at just 2yo, popped into a pen, herded onto another lorry, herded into a stable, kept in a stable, saw farrier and vet, wormed, fed and walked out once a day, cajoled onto our lorry, popped into a field with a herd who now completely accept her and look after her. Previous people were great but they only had her a couple of weeks, and the stress of the whole thing left her with a rather bald muzzle, which is now growing white fuzz as the hair comes back.

My husband wants to take the softly softly approach and gradually earn her trust, but only puts 20min a day into it with a feed bowl. She is curious and comes towards us eagerly, she likes him and will let him do more than anyone, but...it is all happening a bit slowly for my liking. What if she needed the vet, or we’ve made no more progress and her hooves need doing again?

So...

Do I do it his way, but take over and get it done faster - putting more time in, pushing her slightly more each time (she is often ready but he doesn’t take the next step).

Do I try to show him how to do it faster? If he’ll listen, that is.

Do I get him to make a corral, get her in there (with feed bowl) and do it the traditional way? We have stables, but they are not suitable for this - they need some work. I could put an adult, not accident prone horse in them, put it that way!

I can see his point that if she comes to trust us of her own choice, she will be easy to catch thereafter - and he is very attached and wanting to do it himself.

I also don’t need another that is attached to me...

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I wouldn't do it your way, but I don't know enough about your husbands way to advise that either.

Take it at the horses pace, work with her rather than forcing things upon her. She has got this far being feral, it's not a race.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I certainly wouldn't do it your way (force her) but you need to discuss with OH what the next step is going to be now that she happily comes to the food bowl, taking it at her own pace.

 

[Sleipnir]

She's 2. She's a companion. Why do you feel the need to push the process?

 

[paddi22]

if it's so she's comfy with farrier stuff, then pin a date for farrier in the calendar and work backwards to write out a series of goals in order that she will need to have achieved before that date (eg head collar on, being led, touching body, picking up leg). write out a plan so he knows step by step what needs to be done and that there's a rough deadline he has to hit (she will need farrier check at some stage anyway).

 

[[139672]]

I’d go with slowly. Years back we used to buy very young, pretty feral, foals from the Beaulieu Road sales. It was a slow process getting them to accept us being near them, touching them, eventually being able to put a rope over their neck, round it and head collar on. We did stable them some of the time to keep them more confined when feeding them from a bucket and gradually getting them used to being touched (started with scratching them gently. Actually had real problems with mine but in the end he suddenly changed and he ended up following me everywhere.

 

[Lipglosspukka]

She ideally needs a stable. A small pen in the field I guess could work as an alternative but loose in the field as she is will take forever to achieve anything.

 

[JackFrost]

I am not sure what you mean by the 'traditional way'. The best approach may be somewhere in the middle.
A small pen could help, but make sure she feels safe in it, not trapped. I have done feral horses just in a field. It has the advantage that it is very obvious if the horse is choosing to be with you and it gives the horse space to feel safe. Progress suddenly speeds up once trust is achieved. If you try to rush it now, it may actually take you longer, and you could be left with long term issues around handling.
This is a critical stage for her - getting trust and allowing her to let go of any previous traumas from forced handling. You really have to play it by ear and if in doubt go slower. It is a reality of feral horses that you may have difficulty if you suddenly need a vet etc. but that's not a reason to force it.

 

[honetpot]

I have an ex stray feral off the mountains in Wales, herded in to a round pen, then herded on a lorry, then I left him in a stable with another pony. He was in a fairly bad way, so he had to have the vet and the farrier in the first week, so pretty much the wall of death for both visits, and then just left him, with his pony mate for a week. Then made a small paddock around the stable, didn't really do anything with him, but six weeks later it was more a bit of a scrum hold with the farrier, then left him. By the end of the summer I could catch him in the field, and after that you would not know he had been feral, and like someone else has said, a bit too in your face.
I would leave your husband to do what he is doing and not interfere. It's a young pony, if it's in a herd and has an equine friend bring them in together, and don't push it. What you do not want to do is encourage the flight response, because once they learn to run over you, or through fences, it's much harder.

 

[[139672]]

Forgot to add, we used to have the foals in the stable in a small group, or pairs, matched up with ponies they got on well/best with.

 

[maya2008]

Today, she got the head collar half off - so my husband had to get it off the rest of the way. She panicked, flat out, reversing. He had to get the thing off, so had to hold her till she quieted, then managed to tug it off as undoing it wasn't going to happen. It wasn't a great experience for her. I don't want the farrier in 6 weeks (vitally necessary, her first experience gave her feet a go but they were obviously curled before) to be a traumatic experience. I don't want a vet experience to be pinning her down and forcing her if she gets hurt playing.

In a world where she had perfect feet that wore themselves, where she never got hurt....we'd have a year or more and I wouldn't care. The last time I did stable/secure pen (wood, not electric), it was hassle free and easy. Pony wasn't stressed (was with a friend) and I could catch, head collar, brush etc literally in days. She was leading comfortably around the yard, happy with the farrier etc in no time.

So I worry that letting him take months isn't the best thing for her. Maybe a (secure, wooden) pen he could feed her in would be a halfway point? Give her a break from the others, too...

ETA: me moaning about the lack of progress may have made him get his act together. He has just spent a LOT longer out there tonight for the evening feed...!

 

[windand rain]

I am a bit in between here I do think you need to take it at her pace to a point. I also agree that incremental progression is essential if her feet are bad. I know it sounds counter intuitive but sometime a light sedative can work wonders so she is aware can make choices but is not forced into anything. It is an approach I have never used as our ferals have all very quickly come round due to being in a herd of overtly familiar ponies but I do know some use sedation to teach new things like clipping, very light sedation that removes stress and still gives the animal choices can work. The idea is you take the edge off and keep up the handling until it has fully worn off which of course takes more than 20 minutes per day. This of course depends on very calm non challenging behaviour there is no point in stressing her if she fight the dopey feeling

 

[laura_nash]

Get a copy of "No Fear, No Force" if you haven't already. Maybe your husband would find it interesting too.

Unless she's hobbling I wouldn't stress the farrier, better to get her good in the long run than force it now. If she's really desperate maybe best to sedate her and get it done.

 

[paddy555]

I haven't read the other replies but I would get on and get the job done, ie headcollar on and pony leading around on it. The pony needs to be stabled to make progress. If you can't then make a 10 x 10 pen and keep the pony in there full time. If she will eat out of a bucket you are halfway there. I would expect to get this done very quickly (couple of days) and would then work around her with a hand on a stick once the headcollar is on and she can be led. .

I can see no point in delaying things. You make a lot more progress with ferals by actually "doing" something rather than pussy footing around which can take forever.
To me it is important that you can catch, halter, lead and handle any equine in case it is needed.

As for the farrier I had just about the worst feral. Not only was he not handled but he had been knocked around by men. `(he was around 2) he was totally terrified.
Once he was leading etc I started on his feet. I expected it would take a while just to stroke down his legs before I even hit the feet. I was wrong. His feet had been untouched. No one had messed with him there so he had nothing to fear. I had his feet picked up and I trimmed all 4 within an hour.

Ferals can progress very quickly.
Start by sitting on an upturned bucket in her pen/stable with a bucket of feed between your knees. If she eats out of a bowl move her onto a bucket. `Open up the headcollar over the bucket so when she puts her head in the bucket the headcollar is in place to draw up around the side of her face and over her ears.

 

[maya2008]

I haven't read the other replies but I would get on and get the job done, ie headcollar on and pony leading around on it. The pony needs to be stabled to make progress. If you can't then make a 10 x 10 pen and keep the pony in there full time. If she will eat out of a bucket you are halfway there. I would expect to get this done very quickly (couple of days) and would then work around her with a hand on a stick once the headcollar is on and she can be led. .

I can see no point in delaying things. You make a lot more progress with ferals by actually "doing" something rather than pussy footing around which can take forever.
To me it is important that you can catch, halter, lead and handle any equine in case it is needed.

As for the farrier I had just about the worst feral. Not only was he not handled but he had been knocked around by men. `(he was around 2) he was totally terrified.
Once he was leading etc I started on his feet. I expected it would take a while just to stroke down his legs before I even hit the feet. I was wrong. His feet had been untouched. No one had messed with him there so he had nothing to fear. I had his feet picked up and I trimmed all 4 within an hour.

Ferals can progress very quickly.
Start by sitting on an upturned bucket in her pen/stable with a bucket of feed between your knees. If she eats out of a bowl move her onto a bucket. `Open up the headcollar over the bucket so when she puts her head in the bucket the headcollar is in place to draw up around the side of her face and over her ears.

That is basically what I have done before. And yes, it takes days. Replace bad experiences with good and they are soon happy and all is well. No more fear, no more stress.

 

[little_critter]

if it's so she's comfy with farrier stuff, then pin a date for farrier in the calendar and work backwards to write out a series of goals in order that she will need to have achieved before that date (eg head collar on, being led, touching body, picking up leg). write out a plan so he knows step by step what needs to be done and that there's a rough deadline he has to hit (she will need farrier check at some stage anyway).

Take a look a Ben Harts website, Harts Horsemanship. He does shaping plans which guide you along tasks / goals to help you achieve a target (like loading in a trailer, being ready for a first farrier appointment, accepting tack etc).
His methods are very ethical and go at the horses pace.
I’m concerned that in trying to speed up the process you will overface the youngster and set them back to square one.

 

[Sandstone1]

Get a copy of "No Fear, No Force" if you haven't already. Maybe your husband would find it interesting too.

Unless she's hobbling I wouldn't stress the farrier, better to get her good in the long run than force it now. If she's really desperate maybe best to sedate her and get it done.

No fear no force is a really good book in these circumstances.

 

[Lois Lame]

I think let the husband do it his way with this one.

I'd also not ask him to build a yard if that is not his idea. His way is his way all the way, unless he discusses it with you.

Husbands need some fun, too.

 

[TPO]

Moving quicker doesnt mean using force.

Going back a fair few years but when I worked with ferals (they were genuinely feral and at most would have seen humans twice in their life for branding/vaccinating and then for weaning; so neither nice experiences) they were mustered in as 2yr olds and the next day we would get sent to work them.

Generally speaking within an hour theyd have a halter on and you could touch from nose to shoulder, sometimes down a front leg.

That would be repeated during the week so by the end they would halter, lead and pick up all 4 hooves. They have had approx 5hrs of time spent on them before getting turned away.

Some of the more ready ones would have been bitted, sacked out with saddle pads and been saddled.

Theyd get turned back out and brought in as 3yr old to repeat that process except this time they would all be saddled and ridden away. Turned away for a shorter time and brought back in to repeat, turned away and brought back as 4yr old to be work horses part of the stock camp.

Then they would do one or two "round" during the working season (our spring to autumn) and br turned away the test of the time. When I say turned away the paddocks were something ridiculous like 400 acres +

It doesnt have to be stressful or forceful. As paddy said a genuine feral is easier to work with because they have o bad handling experiences and they act like horse so are easier to read.

Personally I've always started at the shoulder the worked up to the head before haltering and I've made sure I can touch the horse all over that region with the halter. Then just on and off over the nose, flapping around the ears etc before finally fastening it. I've always had a length of rope attached to it too.

I havent read any of the handling feral type books but Richard Maxwells young horse book explains the training to lead process well.

I always had access to a round yard or pen so it was easier to teach leading from a sort of free lunging/circling exercise to then the horse being closer. They were all taught to yield to pressure (a finger pointed in their direction was usually pressure enough) so when it came to being close and leading it was pretty easy.

At that time we had literally hundreds at different stages to work with. Some were super easy and gave you false confidence about your horsemanship skills and some were tricky making you think you shouldn't be allowed near a horse again.

The first stage of gentling, haltering and hooves was attainable within that first week without any upset though.

 

[ycbm]

The first unhandled (apart from gelding) horse I had was delivered into a barn where I had wonderful plan to let him choose his own pace. When I still couldn't get near him after five days I ran out of patience, manoeuvred him into a chute, got a rope around his neck while he was trapped, and from there he was leading, being handled and happy to be caught within a couple of hours of training over a couple of days.

Slowly isn't always better, faster isn't always force.
.

 

[paddy555]

if you have a feral pony as in the first post on here. The pony is scared. Everytime the human approaches they are still scared, they eat the feed but are still scared to come much closer. Sometimes a tiny bit closer. This goes on for weeks. They are still apprehensive and scared for week after week.

Using the headcollar over t he bucket technique works for feral ponies. Obviously as TPO described a more advanced technique is needed for larger animals.

If you are working to get the headcollar on and pony leading quickly by doing something the pony has to face the fear. What happens? how awful is it for the pony? well it has to stuff it's face for quite a while this is going on. Most don't seem to have a problem with that. It has already learnt the bucket means food. It has to follow a bucket of feed around a stable at the end of a rope.

After an hour of this much of the fear is gone. Repeat and less fear. Within a day far from fearing it the pony can't wait for yet more grub.

This is a long way from cornering a frightened pony and throwing a rope over it. The pony is loose,, it can choose to come up to the handler with the bucket between their knees or not. It's stomach wins on that one. It has already trained itself that the bucket means food. There is no force. The pony can run away at any time.

 

[Lyle]

Honestly, sometimes you do need to put the pressure on for them to realise that it's all ok! TPO has outlined a great method, which sounds similar to what Ive used in the past on some pretty wild youngstock.
There are lots of methods to go about getting her used to touch, haltered etc, methods which use empathy and tact whilst also firmly making it clear what you are setting about to achieve. Basically, if she shies from your hand, each time she does that she is re-enforcing her own behaviour, so you are in the long run making the job harder, as the habit is more engrained.

 

[maya2008]

Thanks all, I will get him to read this. It is hard because I could do it (have done so in the past) easily - but HE wants to do this one, and I do get that. He is working harder now after yesterday’s wake up call and has already made more progress. She is quite forgiving for a feral pony - I deliberately chose the bold, curious looking one - which may save us in the end! I have given him the farrier date as the end point. We shall see...!!

 

[windand rain]

Feral are usually easy frightened by humans less so a truly wild pony can come round in minutes an abused one can hangups for years. I love ferals to be honest I might not be so keen if they were not in a herd of true human orientated ponies though