Helping a Young pony balance

[Carlosmum]

As the title says, I have a new pony 5yr old, was broken early in year I believe, then turned away. Now he is with me I am re-breaking. He lunges and long lines beautifully and I have just got on board, we are walking around the arena. What exercises can I do with him to help his balance? I have some poles laid out so we will walk over those ( in hand) is there anything else or is it just time and patience. I am so excited for his future I want to do thing right and not push too hard.

 

[Nari]

Time and patience I'm afraid, particularly if you want him to find his own balance and not rely on the rider. It's old fashioned but I still think one of the better ways to teach them is to hack them out over a variety of ground on a long rein, slowly at first obviously. Your job is to sit quietly, his is to balance himself, a steady rider, and work out the footing. It will also encourage him to stretch and reach forward which is good for building topline without pressure.

 

[Horseysheepy]

As Nari has said above.
In the 90's I trained young horses with no access to school, so for polework we would replicate this by hacking out over differing terrains, through waters, gentle ditches. We called it 'finding their 5th foot!'.
It was fun as we would make the most of fallen branches to step over , and slopes up and over to help balance.
Not only did it provide the lifting of legs and freeing up their back muscles you benefit from with polework, it helps with proprioception, coordination and importantly, trust in their rider! It also makes them braver which is hard to gain in the arena.

 

[sbloom]

Thoracic sling work from the ground - I like Balance Through Movement Method but there are others. If you can help the function of the muscles and help the horse move better without them having to cope with a rider, they're better placed to repeat it with a rider on board. Irregular terrain on hacks, light seat, is definitely beneficial.

 

[maya2008]

Hacking, hacking, hacking and more hacking - off road, on all types of terrain. It is nice slow, straight work that allows a young horse to gradually build its strength carrying a rider. We backed two this year, and have basically just hacked out since (been in the school less than 5 times each). Both are now strong and confident, having built the muscle to walk confidently and trot evenly on all terrain (canter is also steady, but they are still building muscle and stamina). They move straight, are happy to be caught and eager to go out and see the world. I have been doing it this way for 20 years now, and I find the slower start reaps rewards that last for the pony’s ridden life - in attitude to work, soundness and confidence.

 

[SEL]

I wimped out of hacking my 4 yo this morning because of the high winds (trees throwing branches down) so rode him in my 2 acre field. Its ridge and furrow so hardly a level surface but he's expected to walk trot and canter and look after his own feet. I'm not fussed about where his head is at the moment because he's still quite weak behind - he just needs to go forward and not be too wiggly. We did a huge amount of walk hacking over the summer when the ground was hard and that got him used to going out on his own, traffic, cyclists etc.

There are poles and logs scattered around the field depending on what exercises I've been doing in hand with the horses and again he just needs to navigate these.

The lady who bred and backed him took him hunting a few times last season so I know he hasn't been babied over the ground and the more he gets used to different terrain the more balanced he'll be.

We do some in hand work because he braces through his neck but I've found I get more concentration from the saddle at the moment.

So in your position I'd get out of the arena as much as you can. I made the mistake with one of my others of doing too much arena work when she was young (there were reasons why hacking wasn't great) but it didn't do her legs any good.

 

[Carlosmum]

Thank you all, much as I thought .... patience. We will be out of the arena soon, just need to get him walking forward when I ask first time rather than trying to work out which foot goes where. Once we have made that first step he is fine and will walk and halt easily, off my voice. Hopefully we can hack round the farm soon before it gets too wet. I have a couple of people in mind for road escorts so we will try that soon too.

 

[sbloom]

He'll find it even easier without a rider. Do also have a look at TTeam bodywrapping to help with his proprioception.

Podcast by the lady who runs the groundwork course I recommend the most - https://podbay.fm/p/equestrian-perspective/e/1625155200

 

[Carlosmum]

He'll find it even easier without a rider. Do also have a look at TTeam bodywrapping to help with his proprioception.

Podcast by the lady who runs the groundwork course I recommend the most - https://podbay.fm/p/equestrian-perspective/e/1625155200

Without me on board he is fine! Thank you for the podcast info, have just added it to my subscription list. Will have a listen later!

 

[sbloom]

Without me on board he is fine! Thank you for the podcast info, have just added it to my subscription list. Will have a listen later!

Sorry, episode 11 might actually be the better one, same podcast

Absolutely, he would be fine, he's not having to compensate to carry a rider. However, the more I learn about how horses move naturally in the wild, and the musculature they can develop (especially the stallion and the in-charge mares) the more I realise how much we should develop them before sitting on them.