First bad session

[LHIS]

I am currently (with help from my instructor aka the walking horse oracle) bringing on my young loan pony. I'm mostly still doing in hand work, working on his manners, and building up my confidence (and his confidence in me) so when I come to ride regularly we're comfortable with one another.

I've been doing work with him on the bit recently, doing bit exercises (can't remember the fancy word for these.. think it begins with a 'B'?) and long reining off the bit with a roller.

He is a dream to handle, and a real cuddly pony, which is just what I need as I am susceptible to crisis' of confidence with bolshy horses.

Except for yesterday. I had him in a sectioned-off part of the field (4 other horses in there, 1 of which that was being her usual spooky self) and was trying to put his bridle and roller on him. I don't know whether it was because he just wanted to eat, or it was too warm to work, or the horse flies were bothering him (they were particularly horrid yesterday), but I felt like I took about 10 steps back with him. He wouldn't stand still, was running around me in circles, and generally being a bit dangerous. He has been known to go through electric fencing, and as he's young (5) he can just panic. On previous occasions when he's hotted up I've been able to bring him back down, but not on this occasion. He got me so worried that I ended up giving up and letting him go. I know this is the wrong thing to do, but I felt I was venturing in to get trampled territory and he could tell I was getting worried.

I now feel a bit useless and am anxious about my next visit.

 

[Charlie007]

Sounds like you have been doing a great job!! He is young and it has been ridiculously hot. MY guess would be that these factors along with the spooky horse caused him to miss behave. I would chalk it down to experience and next time act as if nothing has happened. It is more than likely he will test you due to his age. If he continues to be a bit naughty then perhaps ask your instructor for more help. Honestly he sounds very ' normal!!

 

[LHIS]

Thanks Charlie. I'm going tonight after work so I'll try my best to act like nothing happened, though might start on the dually instead of putting his bridle on straight away, just to make sure he's listening to me and ready to work.
I've spent 3 months building up a bond with him, I just hope little set backs like this don't put me back ten paces as I'm really keen to get on and get doing!

 

[Barnacle]

Just as a general tip, if you can see in advance that he isn't going to behave, don't even start working with him. You can do a whole lot more damage giving up on something than just not doing it at all. That's not to say you did anything wrong as you say you're normally able to calm him... Just, in future, if you think you can't handle it, get help from someone who can before you try so you're never in a position where you end up giving up on something.

 

[LHIS]

There wasn't any indication (that I noticed - not to say there wasn't at all) that he wasn't in the mood, though he did run off a couple of times before I caught him whereas usually he is very easy to catch.

I went yesterday evening. It was chucking it down and the ground was slippery and soft. Decided to do some jobs and see if the rain died down, whilst I was poo picking he came up to me in the field and just stood there looking at me. I said hello to him and gave him a bit of fuss and then carried on with my poo picking. He stood there for a good few minutes just watching. I think maybe it was his way of saying he'd like to do some more learning and he was bored of eating grass.

Sadly by the time I'd finished my jobs the rain hadn't let up and the ground was getting muddy and slippery, and it was starting to thunder, so I called it a day.

 

[windseywoo]

In that case it sounds like maybe letting go was the best thing to do at that time. However I would then have gone and caught him and carried on doing what I wanted to do, or a least get to a stage where you could tell him he was a good boy. if he had have trampled you or dragged you over then that would have been worse in the long term as he would then get the idea that he can use his strength against you. If you've been around horses for a long time you get to know when they're not in the mood (or maybe your not) and some times the best thing to do is just catch them, give them a fuss and then let them go. The fact that he didn't want to be caught when he's usually good was your indication! There's no rush, it will take as long as it needs to take and you'll have a horse that will do anything for you at the end. Good luck.

 

[LHIS]

Thanks - I did think that as I was saying that he wasn't keen on being caught (however he is a cheeky boy and at the time I just put it down to that). My instructor says the same thing - always end on a good note. I know I should have done, but by this point I'd lost my bottle with him and was a bit relieved if I'm honest to be letting him go.
Re. the learning that they're stronger than you - this is something that has been something I'm aware of recently, and I think we're just on the cusp of him wondering it, and me trying to not let his suspicions be confirmed. We (instructor & I) think he has been allowed to learn his strength before, which is why can he can have bulldozer moments. He is trained on a dually halter and this helps a lot in controlling him when he gets strong.

I'm in absolutely no rush, it takes as long as it takes, and hopefully I will have a cracking pony at the end of it. I hope that I'll have as a 'forever' pony (or at least that's my plan )

 

[windseywoo]

Sounds like a very good plan.

 

[LHIS]

Update for those who are interested...
Went this evening and finished the poo picking (so much poo!) and my pony came for a bit of fuss, then carried on munching. After I finished I got the dually and a long line and went to catch him.
He was full of it again and I followed him around the field for a good 35-40 minutes. I got hold of him about twenty minutes in, just as I was about to put the dually in he span around and legged it. So I carried on, and after much merriment (on his part) I caught him by treating his running around like a big open-field join up. Turned my back to him and he came over. After a minute or so of calming him down he did a bit of licking and chewing, and I popped his dually on. Hurrah! However, I had ran out of time so decided to use the opportunity to show him that being caught doesn't always mean working. I gave him some fuss and cuddles (he is a cuddly pony) for 10 or so minutes, then let him go. He looked a bit puzzled and walked with me to the gate.

 

[Gloi]

Can you take him anywhere out of his field and out of sight of his field mates to work him, it would probably make things easier.

 

[Dave the dog]

My Grandfather was ostler for an estate looking after teams. He would say 'Never beat them chase them spoil or bore them and you will have all your horses in the palm of one hand' Wise words that help me deal with my youngster'

 

[nato]

Do you have an arena or another space that you can work in? Working with a youngster in a field with 4 other loose horses is a recipe for disaster and quite dangerous IMO.

 

[LHIS]

I have access to a separate arena yes, we do use it regularly but as the field and yard are not one the same site sometimes due to time constraints etc it's not always possible to get him back to the yard and school.

I've continued my working with him and he's been back on good form - the incident that prompted me to create my post has been a one-off (so far). A few recent sessions with him have been with things I know that can unsettle him too - for example the flies, strong winds, scary bangs - and he's been good as gold. I also think my handling skills of him and understanding his signals has also improved.