Lead rein pony help - am I being silly?

[Doormouse]

Long story but shortened version is bought a lovely 7 year welsh section a pony last April, was very overweight but otherwise sweet, kind and easy. Couldn't get the weight off no matter what I did, always footy although farrier swore no signs of lami, diagnosed incorrectly by vets as in foal, eventually with good new vet realised she had severe EMS. Told to give pony a very hard winter which I did. Pony back in a week ago, clipped her 3 days ago because I need to work her hard and felt she would be better without 8 inches of wool.

Worked her gently in the school in tack for a couple of days, foot perfect. Put my 3 1/2 year old daughter on her (who rode her all last summer) and went for a hack. Fine for the first 10 mins then started to rub on me and kick at tummy and swing head round as though she had a fly. Got more and more tetchy as the ride went on. Daughter a little worried as head swinging was quite violent as soon as I let her head go. Long rein the next day, not naughty but very sharp and spooky.

Put daughter on her again today just in the school, very good but quite busy and then she started the head swinging rubbing again. I sat on her, good as gold, then I free schooled her, she was immaculate.

I am now wary of putting daughter on as I really don't trust her but am I just being silly or do you think there is something wrong. Pony clearly feels better than she has for a long time which is lovely to see but not ideal for a tiny jockey.

Sorry so long, no wine sadly, have drunk it all writing this essay!

 

[Tiddlypom]

The recent clip may be a significant factor. How much coat did you take off? The pony could be feeling very sensitive on the newly bare areas, and getting ticklish.

 

[laura_nash]

Could the girth be irritating her? Does sound like there is a minor physical issue there, the kind of thing she can ignore when being worked harder (e.g. when you are riding her) but gets more and more irritating on a long, slow ride.

 

[Doormouse]

G

The recent clip may be a significant factor. How much coat did you take off? The pony could be feeling very sensitive on the newly bare areas, and getting ticklish.

Could the girth be irritating her? Does sound like there is a minor physical issue there, the kind of thing she can ignore when being worked harder (e.g. when you are riding her) but gets more and more irritating on a long, slow ride.

I did wonder about both of these, did take off a lot of hair and I suspect she has never been clipped in her life. Tried a new girth today but still the same, perhaps I should get a sheepskin sleeve for it. She was funny about flies last summer (never showed any signs of sweet itch) but obviously I forgave her because the flies are horrid here.
It could well be that when just tootling along with a small person she has more time to think about any discomfort.

 

[Tandr]

I would probably go with the clip and flies when my section a is clipped he can't be worked slow he gets really irritated he needs to do the majority in trot this year I'm not clipping him just trimming if that makes sense hoping he will be a lot better this year.

 

[rowan666]

if this is out of the ordinary ide be blaming the clip, of coarse she may jst not like kids lol on a serious note though sone ponies really do jst dislike kids, the shetland in my avatar hated them and wasnt keen on my bump when i was pregnant either! sometimes kids accidently pull on the reins/kick/give confusing aids etc?

 

[Doormouse]

if this is out of the ordinary ide be blaming the clip, of coarse she may jst not like kids lol on a serious note though sone ponies really do jst dislike kids, the shetland in my avatar hated them and wasnt keen on my bump when i was pregnant either! sometimes kids accidently pull on the reins/kick/give confusing aids etc?

It is completely out of the ordinary from last year when she was a saint but she clearly felt ill last year and now she feels great so hard to know if now she is well she does indeed not like kids. Having said that my daughter holds her handle only and her legs don't come below the saddle flaps so she can't actually do anything to the mare!

Eta she is brilliant with my daughter on the ground, very kind and will follow her around on a lead rein all day.

 

[WelshD]

If my section A is itchy he is a nightmare to lead and tries to itch himself and rub his bridle on me, he doesn't concentrate and gets agitated

Lunging, long reining etc are all ok as he isn't close enough to a person to attempt to rub

Did the pony have a bath after the clip, could he just be itchy?

 

[Doormouse]

E

If my section A is itchy he is a nightmare to lead and tries to itch himself and rub his bridle on me, he doesn't concentrate and gets agitated

Lunging, long reining etc are all ok as he isn't close enough to a person to attempt to rub

Did the pony have a bath after the clip, could he just be itchy?

She had a major bath after her clip and doesn't seem itchy. Having said that, when I clipped her I was astonished to find one ringworm patch, can only assume she caught it when she was in the cow barns for a few weeks when it was too wet to leave her out. It is only one spot and it appears dead as the hair is growing through it nicely. Have treated it with Imavarol just to be on the safe side, but it doesn't seem to be worrying her. Can't see any more patches anywhere. Current patch is high up on her bottom.

 

[teabiscuit]

Is this the pony you thought was pregnant? Off thread, I'm sorry but I've been wondering what happened for ages
Just re read the OP, question answered!

 

[Doormouse]

Is this the pony you thought was pregnant? Off thread, I'm sorry but I've been wondering what happened for ages
Just re read the OP, question answered!

No problem, as you have read she is fine. The whole thing was very confusing, we all believed she was in foal (including vets) then one morning we had a hard frost and when I went to check her she looked really ill. Very pale, tacky gums, breathing shallow etc. called second vet who thought like me that the foal must have died inside her and that we would loose her, did an internal, no foal! Vet was brilliant and we eventually discovered that she had severe EMS. One hard winter later and she is transformed!

Lovely to see her out of pain but not I suspect ideal for a toddlers pony now. Think I may need to find an older jockey for her to have some fun with. God knows how long she had been ill for, poor little mare.