Help New horse bolting - Any advice

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tyler

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Hi I'm new and tonight I feel gutted my daughter. 2 weeks ago my daughters new pony arrived. He had come from a loving home that he had been in for the past 4years, he was backed as a 3year old and then turned away and he has been back in work for 8/10 weeks before we bought him hacking out, schooling etc. all done nice and quiet and relaxed. When we tried him my daughter tried him on an open field and then took him on a 1hr hack absolutely fine.

Since bringing him home we left him a week to settle went in a school one day and took him on his first hack on the Tuesday with another horse and he never put a foot wrong, went out asgain on the thursday and about 200yards from home he appeared to slip off the kerb with his back foot and next minute took two strides and leapt forward and set off cantering dorn the road, my daughter fell off and the horse found his way home alone (thank god! and my daughter was okay). She got back on him on the yard and he was fine then next minute he bolted accross the yard with her trembling she bailed off and was okay. We have gone back to ground work and took him out in hand and he was fine not very fazed by anything. Tonight walked him out and decided to lunge him on two lines at an area we tend to school he was fine on one rein then we changed to the other rein he instantly started to trot and wouldn't come back did 2 circles and set off back towards home I just could'nt keep hold. Can't bear to think what could have happened as he ran off straight down towards the road along the road and back home.

I am having his back checked thursday to see if there could be a problem there.

He really is a lovely pony and I am absolutely gutted, he is fantastic to handle (a little headshy) light to lead and a genuine nice pony, don't really think he has fully settled yet and I wondered if anyone else had experienced this with a new pony.

Sorry for the long thread!
 
What a shame - your poor daughter. You both must have got a terrible fright.
Of course check there isn't a problem with him.
He sounds a lovely pony and I would thinkn he's still settling in..
We have had several ponies and horses who have done this when they first arrived. We sort it by increasing their ridden work - spend lots of time in the school so that your daughter will start to feel more sure of the pony, and he with her. If she can get to grips with him in the school, she will stand a better chance elsewhere.
You have to get him more relaxed and preferably tired out!before venturing out and about. Keeping a steady pony next to him will also help him relax
Getting a new pony is always stressful, and he sounds a nice little guy who has just managed to give himself a bit of a fright! Hope this helps x
 
He's young and not that experienced, it sounds like the incident with the curb has really frightened him and he needs to regain a bit of confidence, especially with being in unfamilliar surroundings.

Do you have an instructor who could come and give you and your daughter some help?

I'm also wondering if when the pony gets slightly tense, your daughter gets nervous or tense (which wouldn't be suprising given the circumstances) and the pony becomes more nervous, resulting in a flight response. If he was backed by someone older, he might be used to them staying relaxed if he became worried.
 
Be safe your daughters life is precious.Phone the previous owner and ask them to come over and give him some work .Only work in an enclosed area and if you do not have one put him in livery for a while were the facilities are better.
How old is he and is your daughter experienced enough if he is young? Are you experienced at long reining because this post has really worried me.What are you feeding the pony ,has the pony been long reined on a circle before .Please get some good help before someone has an accident
 
It's possible he's done something to himself when he slipped of the curb. I know my horse runs from pain....when I had a saddle that was pinching her, she didn't buck or rear - she just wouldn't stop! I ended up running her into a fence as i was the only way to stop her. I changed the saddle and she was fine
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Your daughter is great for getting back on
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I hope you sort him out soon as he sounds like a nice pony
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Oh dear, what a worry. I echo what everyone else has said. You sound like an experienced horse owner and you are going down the right road by getting his back checked out. I would also get his teeth checked and saddle too - this will then rule out any physical problems.

As someone else said, what are you feeding him?

It does take some horses much longer to settle in than others and he has given himself a fright too.
 
Nervous children and young ponies are a really bad combination. I would urgently get a good, experienced small rider to bring him on and your daughter can have a play with him whilst this is happening.
He sounds like he's reacting quite normally for a pony which following being broken & turned away was only in work for a couple of months - then had a week off work in a new home and was then ridden by a nervous child. I may have read this situation wrong, in which case apologies.
 
Hi

Thanks for all your replies it makes you feel much better when you realise you are not alone.

The pony is a full up 14.2 and my daughter is quite an experienced teenager of 15. She competes/shows etc and is really a nice quiet rider.

I would love the old owner to come over but they are over 5hours away if they were closer I would go and pick them up myself.

I have tried some homepathic tablets from the homepathic lady and spoke to her again last night she feels he could still be grieving/or they could be some pain and when asked to work on the circle this has triggered it again.

He really is a lovely lad who I feel will be worth giving the time to, he neighed to my daughter when she went in the barn this morning and came straight to the front of the box. I am feeling he is slightly confused at the moment and needs like you have all said alot more time to settle. Unfortunatley we do not have facilities as we are on a small, quiet, secure yard. However, when it is dry we have a section of the field we can ride and school in. I have 4 horses so he is in a section of his own at the moment, 1 is in starvation paddock and the other mare and gelding are in together.

I can quite easily box though and travel to facilities.

Forgot to mention prior to the previous owner this pony was rescued from the Auctions as a yearling do you think the move could be a trigger?
 
Personally I dont think it is a settling issue, he just lacks education. If you daughter is not able to school him you need to get someone to re-train him - if your daughter is a competent rider you need to get her a trainer to help her along.

I suspect they did little with him a year ago and had a few rides to prepare him for sales - he just doesnt know very much.

The problem is likley to grow unless you tackle it now.
 
I agree with Sparklet, I think he just needs a bit of educating. He probably needs to build up confidence in himself and you, his new owners - after all he's had a big life change if he's been in the same home 4 years. If it was me, I would just do school work little and as often as you can, preferably in a proper school. You said he was good in company, so maybe a quiet hack with a reliable companion horse too. I'm sure he'll settle - he sounds sweet and temperament counts for a lot.
 
Yes sounds like a combination of lack of education and new surroundings. As everyone else has said schooling in safe surroundings with some experienced help. If there are days when you cant school (when its wet etc - as you have to school in the field) try doing ground work. I realy rate Kelly Marks book perfect manners. We use lots of the exercises wwhen everything went pear shaped with my 15 yo daughters new young horse. I allso use the excecises with the other horses in the winter when conditions are too bad to ride. The exercises in the book are relevant, easy to read, understand and apply, unlike some other 'horse hippy' books, If my 15 year old gets it I am sure yours will. Stengething the bond on the ground and imoroving suppleness and responsivenes can only help the situation.

Dont give up, its still early days. 4 months on and my daughter and her horse are just starting to get there.
 
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