has anyone 'uncooked' a cooked polo pony?

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travelmad

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have a lovely lovely pony, she is fine when you go slow, really sweet temperament but goes crazy when she plays fast and cannot be stopped - like properly cannot be stopped, doesnt matter who rides her.

any thoughts?
 
I don't understand what you're asking. Do you mean you can't ride her as a polo pony? Or do you mean you can't ride her as a regular pony? If its the latter, there was another thread on here about the different methods polo ponies are schooled by and you can't slow them down by pulling on the reins.
 
she came from polo cooked - meaning when she plays other sports at fast level she becomes unstoppable.

what I was asking is if people have managed to overcome this. I have heard of people who have in the past by going back to basic schooling and checking the triggers for cooking the pony, just wanted to see other peoples stories.
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
I don't understand what you're asking. Do you mean you can't ride her as a polo pony? Or do you mean you can't ride her as a regular pony? If its the latter, there was another thread on here about the different methods polo ponies are schooled by and you can't slow them down by pulling on the reins.
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i'd be intersted to see - do you have a link - just did quick search and couldnt find it! i always slowed mine down by pulling on reins (ok and using body too - but def still with rein contact?!) i was a groom for a pro so not even boring patron ponies ;) i also played ladies tournaments on same ponies when pro was having a day off. saying that it was quite a long time ago :o so times may have changed
 
Not a polo pony, no, but a small ex racehorse. He used to bolt with people in the school. The key with him was to really lower your energy levels. He was worse with riders who were nervous and bolted with two people in the school, throwing them to the ground with centrifugal force. I am a very calm rider and managed to reschool him through lowering my energy levels and taking him right back to basics (as you have to with ex racers in any case). But with the wrong type of rider he remained dangerous. With me, and my sister, he was the best hack ever, safe and bomb proof. He made a good little dressage horse too.
 
If you want to play polo on her no. Lots of people spend huge amounts of time going back to basics but, in a game situation months of hard work is undone in seconds. If you are changing her career then yes have had ponies go into eventing, dressage and even riding schools.
 
Posey honey, sorry I don't have a link. Only remembered some girl who'd bought an ex polo pony and others who saw the video, who were commenting on the thread, said it was running through the hand and the more she pulled the faster it went, but pony didn't look to be naughty looked to be doing what it thought was the right thing. People posted some links on the thread to YouTube videos of how to ride a polo pony. I thought if the OP was in a similar situation it may have helped.

OP I've never heard of the term "cooked" and still don't understand what you mean, unless you mean its bolting or tanking off. What is the reference to playing other sports about? Which sports? Has the pony been retrained for its new job? Can you ride it in an arena in walk, trot, canter, straight lines and circles? Can you hack out at all paces and remain in control? Hopefully someone else can help you.
 
Have you thought about changing her tack? Many polo ponies are ridden in quite harsh bits so perhaps she's not respecting the bit fi you're using something softer? (I'm not condoning the use of harsh bits by the way, merely that you may have to play around to find a bit that she respects but is better suited to her new life)
Having worked at a polo yard myself we've always used rein contact to slow the horse down, and have never come across a polo pony where they don't respond to some sort of rein contact? Of course they are also highly responsive to weight and body position, and most of ours are trained to go off voice commands as well.
 
Not really sure either....but a previous ex polo pony I used to ride [and the only one to be fair], she was 'quick' to start with, and for the first 10 minutes it was like learning to ride all over again, but, once I got the jist of her 'controls', she was a superstar to ride. It was all reins and seat and vice mostly. It was brilliant fun...would go from walk, halt spin to flat out within a second and then just sit back and use voice and she'd stop dead. If I did a version of neck reining to turn, she'd be spinning on the spot. Once I got used to her it was brilliant fun and didn't have worries about being too hot, she was just incredibly tuned into the rider.
 
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