Keep or return rescue pony

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Pink Gorilla

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I recently rehomed a rescue pony from a local charity. She is only 6, however the three times I tried her out she was so quiet and sweet to both ride and handle and only spooked in a mild sensible way at unusual things. They told me she needed bringing on by me before she'd be ready for my novice 10yr old daughter and could get a bit nervous and just needed a firm, confident hand and to be told not to be silly. However when I got her home she began getting more and more nervous. This is fine and gradually I have begun to build her trust. But the things I'm not happy about are the fact that she strikes out with her front feet, kicks out behind when angry or nervous and can be bargey in the field. As long as everything's quiet and calm on the yard she won't kick out and will be really sweet, but the minute she gets tense she will become defensive and start threatening to kick me. Then on the lunge she has been rearing, bronking (after previously being fine to lunge) and charging away from me. The three times she got loose she charged at me at high speed (I thought I was gonna get flattened), she jumped out the field I was lunging her in, and then when my livery offered to try to lunge her the pony pulled her over flat on her face. I keep telling myself that I've never broken or trained a youngerster (she is broken and schooled in the basics) and surely these are problems everyone faces right, especially with her being young and a rescue case??? But then I think I should send her back as she's definitely not fit for purpose. I wanted a pony club type pony for my daughter, not a project for myself. Plus I did say to them I'm happy to deal with green/spooky behaviour as long as the pony has a sensible head on its shoulders. This pony does not. I feel she majorly overreacts to situations that upset her, which I guess is understandable given her bad past. My point is that I can't make a decision, so could you please tell me what you would do in this situation?
 
I would send it back. If its a well run rescue they will want the best for the pony and its not working for either of you and its certainly not safe for a child.
I do not know why you got a rescue pony for your child but unless you know what you are doing there is no such thing as a cheap child's pony. A good child's pony should start at about £1500+ , it will have a known history and loads of experience. Its no use thinking she is just learning so I will get something cheap as she will outgrow it and I will loose money.
 
You don't sound confident enough to deal with this behaviour, the pony sounds as if she has not really done enough to prepare her to be rehomed however good she was when you tried her the move has unsettled her and you either need a pro in to help you or to send her back before she becomes worse, taking on a rescue is a gamble, if they have had a bad start they can revert very quickly, even a well started youngster can change when moving home.
If the rescue are nearby then the best step would be to see if they will send out their trainer to assess what is going on with a view to either having her back or getting you on track with her, if they are not willing to do this then sending her back may be the best option for everyone.

It sounds as if even if she had been fairly good it would have been a long time before she would suit a novice child, I have a 10 year old girl here at livery and there is no way she would cope with a green nervous pony, hers is 21 and can still be sharp enough at times.
 
This isn't a question of how experienced I am. I am very experienced with several equine degrees and having owned a very riggish ex stallion for 17yrs. My point is, despite really checking she didn't kick at the rescue centre (rubbing/patting all over, picking her feet up, being noisy behind her etc), she has now become quite feral since arriving at mine. I've just had a baby so don't have the time and energy for a major project. I have friends who have rehomed horses from this charity for themselves and children with great success and only mild teething problems (to be expected), so I think I was just unlucky. I'm just trying to decide whether the right thing to do is take her on as a project for myself (which I didn't really want to do) to free up room at the charity for another pony, with the chance that she MIGHT become a fab teenagers pony for my daughter in a couple of years. Or send her back and save myself a lot of stress and risk of injury when I have a 9 month old baby relying on me.
 
You did say in your OP that you had never broken or trained a youngster and to me that means you lack experience, you may have several equine degrees but that does not mean you are confident or capable of taking on a challenging youngster, IF you want to keep her for yourself and continue then I still think you require some help to get back on track as she is not behaving in a way I would expect from a well started youngster even a nervous one, you asked for advice and mine is to get help or send back, having started many youngsters the most difficult are the nervy ones, they are rewarding but can be extremely challenging for some time, years not months in many cases.
 
I would send back. My friend got a 5yo pony from world horse welfare and they did a tonne of work with the pony before it was allowed to leave to go to its new home. By the time it came to her it was ridiculously well handled, had been out on the roads, had tarps thrown over it etc. They were planning on it going to a kid's home but as my friend is tiny she took it on - home for life because she'll never outgrow her!

Even after the pony was in its new home it was checked up on and when there were some issues they would have had her back in a heartbeat. The 'issue' turned out to be her field sharer putting haylage in the field which was whizzing up the little mare and making her super spooky - but they chatted all of that through with my friend over the phone and 5 years on they are still going strong.

The whole point of the loaning scheme is that they are a safety net if things don't work out with the pony. Personally I would send it back and say that it needs a lot more work before it is child friendly - a responsible charity will do that work before re-loaning.
 
LincsLady22 said:
This isn't a question of how experienced I am. I am very experienced with several equine degrees and having owned a very riggish ex stallion for 17yrs. My point is, despite really checking she didn't kick at the rescue centre (rubbing/patting all over, picking her feet up, being noisy behind her etc), she has now become quite feral since arriving at mine. I've just had a baby so don't have the time and energy for a major project. I have friends who have rehomed horses from this charity for themselves and children with great success and only mild teething problems (to be expected), so I think I was just unlucky. I'm just trying to decide whether the right thing to do is take her on as a project for myself (which I didn't really want to do) to free up room at the charity for another pony, with the chance that she MIGHT become a fab teenagers pony for my daughter in a couple of years. Or send her back and save myself a lot of stress and risk of injury when I have a 9 month old baby relying on me.
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put your pride to one side, and read this post back again. I think you've answered your own question - you're not in the position to take on such a challenging pony at this point. Best to send it back if you can and reassess what you can cope with while you have a baby in tow.
 
is there any chance it's a change in feed/routine/turnout etc? If she getting hard feed? Sometimes mollasses or an allergy in feed cause make ponies go feral at times.


How long have you had her for? We get rescues in here and they definitely take a much, much longer time to adjust sometimes. Some of them don't seem to sleep properly for a while and as a result have very short fuses at times during the day if they are overloaded. I've had one be a nightmare for three months trying to kick me nonstop and then turn into the sweetest pet. I find with the rescue ones you have to take much, much slower steps with them. I always think of it like a bubble of comfort that they have - some i only lead out for walks for the first few weeks, some i just do handling. You just keep looking and seeing where their comfort bubble is and keep trying to expand it gradually. Your one sounds like she's very unsettled with the move and doesn't trust you. So if a noise or something scare happens her instinct is to protect herself.

First, i'd get someone who knows the pony well from the charity out to get their opinion. And i'd see what the pony is like with them and how they handle it. Then if you were to keep it as a project, get a good NH person out and work on handling basics. It can be really rewarding and educational to learn how to turn them around. But with a baby and kids etc it is a big commitment.
 
It does sound like you have neither the experience nor the time to get the pony going well enough to be suitable for your purposes.

I've previously fostered two young rescue ponies, and both of them took a while to settle in here and become confident despite having the sweetest of natures. They did come good quickly though, but I let them take it at their own pace.

Interesting that you mention the striking out with a front leg, both of mine did it when they first arrived. It was a sign of anxiety, not aggression. I made sure that I positioned myself out of harm's way, ignored it and within a couple of weeks it had stopped.
 
Sadly Equine degrees do not give you sufficient hands on experience, that comes from years and years of working with a variety of different equines. Over 25 years ago I learnt that buying a young pony wasn't the way forward for a nervous child - far better to find an experienced been there done that one for a couple of years. Everyone will have much more fun. Back to the rescue pony - it may well come good in a years time but it is likely to take a long time and if you don't have the time/facilities/help it may be better to see if the rescue will help either by taking it back or sending someone to help you.
 
The problem with them sending someone to help me is that she is an angel for days on end and then one day out the blue she will have a meltdown for no apparent reason and she really scared me and my daughter yesterday when she charged at me. My daughter no longer wants to go in the field with her, or wants me to go near her. They have come out to help before and sure enough she was on best behaviour. I just feel like maybe I'm giving up too easy, but I don't think I'll ever trust her round my daughter.
 
LincsLady22 said:
This isn't a question of how experienced I am. I am very experienced with several equine degrees and having owned a very riggish ex stallion for 17yrs. My point is, despite really checking she didn't kick at the rescue centre (rubbing/patting all over, picking her feet up, being noisy behind her etc), she has now become quite feral since arriving at mine. I've just had a baby so don't have the time and energy for a major project. I have friends who have rehomed horses from this charity for themselves and children with great success and only mild teething problems (to be expected), so I think I was just unlucky. I'm just trying to decide whether the right thing to do is take her on as a project for myself (which I didn't really want to do) to free up room at the charity for another pony, with the chance that she MIGHT become a fab teenagers pony for my daughter in a couple of years. Or send her back and save myself a lot of stress and risk of injury when I have a 9 month old baby relying on me.
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Well I have had experience of rescue ponies, young ponies and having children, one in a buggy and one in the oven and you would better buying, or loaning from a family home.
I bought a very well bred pony from the breeder to do lead rein, what a disaster, it was a little s***, lovely to look at, was nice when I when I handled it at the breeders but later became a monster for no real reason. You learn from your mistakes, send it back.
 
Thank you everyone. She's going back unfortunately. They didn't seem pleased, but I guess they won't be if one is being returned. Feel like I've messed them, the pony and my daughter around massively :-(
 
I think you've done the right thing, dont worry about 'messing them around' if they are genuine they will understand and I am sure your daughter trusts your judgement

For me a green pony is one thing but wild unpredictability and sudden mood changes are not something I would be happy with and I would also have sent the pony back
 
Think you've done the right thing. If you look around I'm sure a more suitable pony will turn up, plenty of people looking to rehome/loan an outgrown pony. Just need to check exactly what its been used for in the past and how its been handled recently. Also be careful of outgrown ponies where a child is very big/tall for the pony and has become very competent. I bought one and she turned into a fantastic pony but the first year was difficult because the child who had outgrown her had been having a whizzy time and it took a while for the new partnership to work.
 
FWIW I think you've done the right thing. You want to be able to trust the pony to look after your child and if its unpredictable then its a non starter. Put the feelers out in your local area and I'm sure something will come up.

I keep my horses on livery at a riding school and a couple of years ago they were given a little welsh type who had been in the field for a few years, but had apparently had kids on it before. We ended up having it PTS because one day it would be fine and another day it would look like it belonged in a rodeo. Vet, dentist etc could find nothing wrong with it and we couldn't risk the kids or passing it on to someone else & risking their kids. Funnily enough ex-owners didn't want it back.....
 
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