Fun groundwork?

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HighlandRose

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Hi everyone! Im new here and was just going to ask for some advice. Tomorrow I'm going to the yard to start bonding with my new loan pony. She's a 4 year old highland pony and I'm going to do groundwork with her for the first week or so, aside from basics like keeping some space and moving away from pressure, are there any fun things to do on the ground that will keep us both busy and help us bond?

Also, I have loaned before, so while I do know a lot of groundwork exercises, I'm looking for particularly fun ones that will keep her mind active and thinking :)
 
Assuming she is broken to ride, why don't you simply ride her? That will keep her mind active and be fun for you both. Quickest way I know to build up a bond!
 
baran said:
Assuming she is broken to ride, why don't you simply ride her? That will keep her mind active and be fun for you both. Quickest way I know to build up a bond!
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She has been broken, but due to an injury has been off for a few months, so I need to ease her back into it instead of just jumping on :)
 
If you're looking for things to play with then you could gather up novel objects such as tarpaulin, one of those big gym balls, flappy bits of plastic, umbrellas, flags, bending poles/cones, poles on the floor to walk over or manoeuvre around, raised poles to step over (not high enough for them to be considered a jump) that sort of thing. I'd do a bit of getting to know her first and would start off with the less spooky objects on this list (eg poles and cones) and gauge her reaction. As well as hopefully being a bit of fun and building some trust between you it should give an idea of how she reacts when faced with new situations. All I would say is don't try to achieve too much in one session if she's not done anything like this before. If you fancy a change and she knows how to longrein you could build yourself a little course to steer around once she's used to the equipment. Also if you've got some safe, quite roads or bridlepaths then you could take her for some inhand walks / longrein her around them as, although definitely establish control in the school first before attempting this
 
Thanks very much! Thats some fab ideas :) She's pretty good with new things, but it would be great to introduce her to new things :) I unfortunately cant take her out on roads as the only road is a main road that cars fly down :/ I might start teaching her to long rein as well, as I could keep her busy long reining her over obstacles in the school and maybe around the yard. We arent too far from the campsies in scotland, So when she is backed, ill be taking her on long hacks up there to keep her fit and busy.
 
HighlandRose said:
when she is backed, ill be taking her on long hacks up there to keep her fit and busy.
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I am a bit confused. In your response to me, you said she was broken to ride. Now you are saying she isn't backed. Are you sure you know what you have taken on?
 
sorry, that was my bad, I had meant to say when she was back in work. she is backed, but when I've brought her fully back into work and worked on bombproof ing her a little, then I'll take her out long hacks.
 
What about clicker training? I have started doing this with my pony and he is 'getting' it albeit slowly. Don't overload him just do short 10/15 mins spurts. I too am new to this and am finding it great fun and more importantly a good bonding tool! Good luck and let us know how you get on ��
 
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