How to persuade a lead rein pony to go it alone? Advice please

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mulledwhine

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Sorry to bore, but I am at a loss :(

We bought our pony as a lead rein pony , he has his quirks, and was bored by just being lead around.

Mini MW is now wanting to get off and go, and he stands still refuses to budge without me or OH next to him :o

He is not your normal read rein pony, he is very forward going, and loves nothing better than to jump or canter, he does buck with excitement at the prospect of both, not really a problem to us, as he has developed mini a very sticky bum.

But, when he decides he won't go forward, she simply is not strong enough to make him, and he knows it :D

Any ideas? He is much loved, and when she IS strong enough they will make a lovely pair :) they are both as stubborn as each other, very well suited, but this is making them both very sad :(

So advice please
 
Could u pop her on the lunge ? And stay 4-5 meters away , so close enough if there is trouble but far enough so mini mw is 'riding alone' and u can still help encourage the pony without leading him ? ;) ( hope that makes sense :D)
 
I have not tried long reining him, I will give that a go, thank you.

I am nervous about lunging , as he normally goes around like a thin possessed when it is just me and him, I had thought about doing it with her on, but again nerves get the better, a very good idea though, I will give it ago but getting the steam out of him first , them get her on, thank you for your reply :)
 
I don't mean lunge her on a 20m circle .. Almost walk round with her ..like on a long lead rein ..maybe have a go at get the pony used to the idea before trying with mini mw ? ;) deffo have a go at long reins :)
 
I would also suggest long reining. Our little shettie x has only ever been a lead rein pony but in preparation for the children wanting to try off lead I have been long reining her. To start with she just planted, would refuse to go forward, would run backwards, spin round and generally be a pain in the wotsit. I had someone walk with her, then progressed to going it alone, she could still be a madam but I just perservered, not being too far behind and close enough that when she span I could nip back behind her and just keep asking. I use my voice to indicate what I want and she is getting there/
 
I long reined my daughters 11.2 to establish him going forward independently and then got her to ride him about 'following' me (which the pony was doing naturally thinking he might still be on the lead rein)...this developed both their confidence and I was able to just fall away gradually....turned it into a game to keep it fun and help with her steering...it has been a gradual learning curve for both tho...he had never been ridden off lead rein...and she hadn't either...she's since started riding off lead rein at her lessons, which has helped too.
:)
Cross-post...yes, I had a set of long reins but two lunge lines can work also
 
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Thank you, he will not know what has hit him:D training starts tomorrow.

Although saying that , oH is convinced he has an identity problem, and is convinced pony thinks he is a dog :D
 
I used to use a lunge rein as a leadrope and gradually let him go further and further out. I also did ride and lead with the pony, again letting the rein go longer and longer. We don't have an arena, so we used to put bending poles and gymkhana stuff along the drive, and they used to mess about on those while I mucked out. It all takes time!
 
mulledwhine said:
:D :D that sounds just like our boy, last night thought one of the hounds has escaped, it was pony rubbing around my legs :D, he also does a recall :D , perhaps I should train a send away :D
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:D:D:D
Having recently got my head around clicker training for horses instead of dogs (which is how I originally learnt it) I first had to clear my mind of trying to train the pony to sit!!
You never know, it could work! :D:D:D
 
Our lead rein pony who had only been a lead rein show pony was transformed into an off the lead pony club superstar by borrowing a tiny 12 year old child to ride her.She attended camp with the child,was hunted by her and was then ready for my 6year old to go off lead at Pony club.she went on to do mini show jumping and eventing with both my boys and older child was always ready to hop on and sort her out if things went wrong which was rarely needed after the first year.She turned into a real gem and taught countless children to ride.So if you can beg borrow or steal a tiny older child I think that is your best answer!
 
elizabeth1 said:
Our lead rein pony who had only been a lead rein show pony was transformed into an off the lead pony club superstar by borrowing a tiny 12 year old child to ride her.She attended camp with the child,was hunted by her and was then ready for my 6year old to go off lead at Pony club.she went on to do mini show jumping and eventing with both my boys and older child was always ready to hop on and sort her out if things went wrong which was rarely needed after the first year.She turned into a real gem and taught countless children to ride.So if you can beg borrow or steal a tiny older child I think that is your best answer!
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Yes, forgot about that, we did that too!
 
My 8 year old daughter is riding for a lady who has a lead rein pony but her children' are ready to come off, my daughter has been off the lead rein for 3 years now and rides alot of ponies for different people.
She's confident enough to school him so when he naps or doesn't respond to leg aswell she can get after him.
And lots of long reining as above . Also when you lunge do it with 2 reins so pony can't go like a bay out of hell!!
It can be done my daughters last pony was lead rein when we got him and I didn't have another rider then either and I used to long rein and regularly, she also used to follow other horses in the school to get him going forwards without a leader, and lots of hacking too.
 
elizabeth1 said:
Our lead rein pony who had only been a lead rein show pony was transformed into an off the lead pony club superstar by borrowing a tiny 12 year old child to ride her.She attended camp with the child,was hunted by her and was then ready for my 6year old to go off lead at Pony club.she went on to do mini show jumping and eventing with both my boys and older child was always ready to hop on and sort her out if things went wrong which was rarely needed after the first year.She turned into a real gem and taught countless children to ride.So if you can beg borrow or steal a tiny older child I think that is your best answer!
Click to expand...

:( have tried that, the girl we used quickly ot grew him, and struggled to find a new rider :( feel free to pm me if you know of anyone in the lincs area :)
 
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