Leading in a shank chain???

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Smurphy

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There is a young boy (15) on my yard who has a heavy cob pony who is very lazy (wallks at the pace of a snail) and greedy (will drag him all over the place to eat grass).

Now he has decide to lead him in a shank chain across the top of his nose which he doesnt use correctly, the pony now is starting to become aggresive because the young lad keeps yanking him around causing lots of pain, i have mentioned this to the lad but he thinks he knows best and just ignores my advice. Do i mention it to the parents or should i let them get on with it?
 
I'd tell the parents, after all it will be the ponies fault if the boy gets injured by an angry upset pony, and not the boys fault for provoking the pony. I know that the Dually headcollers (Monty Roberts) or the Parelli rope halters are good for horses that drag you, pretty foolproof to use too.
 
Yes I would mention it to the parents as it is an animal welfare issue. You will have to be very diplomatic about it though. The yard owner should also be involved if a horse under their management is being made to suffer.
 
I have offered my dually head collar and dvd to him but he dont know and wont learn to how to use it, he really is a spoilt brat and i would love to pull him around it a shank!!

Also we have a YO owner that knows nothing about horses and wouldnt careless so i think i will talk to the parents, but ill probably get called a know it all and a interfering cow, but at the end of the day im only trying help
 
Personally I have always found my horses hated chains/ropes over the nose so I have always used a dog chain under the jaw - less likely to cause damage but as effective as using a bridle. Over the years I have used this to great success and normally only had to give a couple of inital tugs to get the message through - behave or be uncomfortable.

I use a chain very occasionally on my young cob as he went through a phase of dragging my YO to grass and trying it on with him. Only took one tug and he now behaves and I have not needed it for ages. I keep it by the stable just in case in mucks around for the YO to thread on.

Try to see if he can at least use the chain under the jaw - through both rings of the head collar and then attached to the rope so it makes an unside down triangle. A small tug will get the head up and give control but is not as severe and does not risk damage to the face.

If he continues as is, then I would have a quiet word with the parents that you are concerned that the pony is not happy and may end up costing them a lot of money to put right.
 
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.....he has decide to lead him in a shank chain across the top of his nose which he doesnt use correctly....

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How does he use it incorrectly?
 
He does'nt release the pressure when the walks forwards etc, so the poor pony gets no reward and has no idea whats wrong or right and thats y he is getting frustrated and aggressive. I have no problems with shanks but it needs to used carefully as it is very harsh
 
Well I wouldn't say "poor pony". The thing needs to learn to behave correctly in a polite manner, however it sounds like it would benefit from having a week's inhand training with an adult who knows what they are doing. Mind you, having said that, some of these "bulldog" type ponies never do seem to get it through their skull that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable and although they will behave with a competent handler, often once the regular handler takes over again, the pony reverts to type.

Is the pony still dragging him around the place even when he leads it with a chain shank?
 
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