Long wwyd re kids pony

[eahotson]

As in 'too sharp' for a novice rider. As we made our own ponies with the thought they would end up as possible first ponies, they were ridden to be slightly less responsive, even when they could have been more off the leg, when the girls got older.
In the past I have sent ponies away because my daughters were not experienced enough to teach the pony a skill, and it always took them at least a week to go back to, what I would call child mode, when they came home. As the ponies went away not because they had a problem, their riders were surprised but not frightened. The last one I sent was a LR, FR which had started spooking to unsettle the child, foot perfect with an experienced rider, just not predictable enough for a wobbly child.

The art of bringing on a pony for a child IMO, is the adult, who should always be there supervising, being to control and engineer the situation, so the pony is never left being able to make its own choice, while the child is riding. It's a lot easier for them to learn negative behaviours, which reward them with less work, than correct it once it's done.
The attitude of the pony is often there when its 3/4, all you have to do then is make sure it never gets overwhelmed or given the opportunity to make its own choices.
We had very cheap ponies, usually bought on seeing them trot up on the road, my daughter was once told at PC that it was alright for her because she always had nice ponies to ride, but to make them nice and mainly predictable you have to put in the work, and that work is not going around in circles in an enclosed space, it's going out and about, and finding what, if any are the trigger points.

So back to the OP pony, I would be looking at what if anything has changed, or is its stress bucket just full and is it sour after the summer. The grass here is very green, and the poos sloppy, so that may be a factor. The child being stressed is riding with the handbrake on, so the pony is getting mixed messages. Then someone may have suggested a stronger bit, or most restrictive tack to control the behaviour, which makes the pony boil over to avoid it, or freeze, and now the whole experience of human contact has become something to avoid. Unless it is thin for this time of year, condition score of less than 3, I would not be rugging it or giving it any hard feed, and a carrot treat is in a bucket, when it comes in. If you can not turn it out 24/7, it comes in gets it carrot and gets left with its forage. I would only let the child handle it with direct adult supervision, where the adult is in control,and only ask what can be achieved safely.
When I was twelve plus, I rode for a dealer where we got a lot of cast off's, poorly trained or untrained ponies,(my mother had no clue of the risks) and most we managed to turn around, mainly by being kind,consistant, and making the work seem fun, keeping things short and sweet. The ones we had to admit defeat, were usually older ponies where various people had tried to sort them, and they had become so defensive and shut down to human contact, a slight trigger would set them off. So I would try the reset button on this young pony, and start again in spring,

You never made the mistake of thinking that because a young pony was very quiet it didn't need any more input and could be treated as a 10 year old been round the block, done that sort.I have for myself a very quiet little cob.She is lovely but she is very young and green.I knew I would need some serious help with her to get her where I want her to go which is why,at the moment,she is in horse boarding school where someone a lot more experienced than me is helping me with her canter work.I could see how easily things could go wrong without the necessary help/

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would try the pony with a confident jockey and see if it's the same if it is I would suspect its a physical issue and then it's a vet job, I think selling the pony how it is won't be easy as your daughter doesn't want to ride him so why would someone else's child.

 

[AandK]

I'm surprised how many people are saying just sell the pony. Pony was fine, so surely something must have changed to cause the current behaviour. Personally, I would not be able to sell on (assuming to another child/family) until I found the cause of the issue, pain or rider.

 

[eahotson]

I'm surprised how many people are saying just sell the pony. Pony was fine, so surely something must have changed to cause the current behaviour. Personally, I would not be able to sell on (assuming to another child/family) until I found the cause of the issue, pain or rider.

It is just a poor combinaion probably.Nervous rider and young inexperienced pony.If it was me and I decided to sell (and there is nothing wrong with this) I would send to a selling livery who had access to a very light adult or confident child to school on a bit ready for sale.I know of one in Shropshire that could do that.

 

[TheHairyOne]

My sister has a pony for her beginner daughter. He is sweet as a lamb with her child (8) - will canter/do poles etc but is under instruction. He is cracking with his tiny adult sharer - she has done hunter trials, dressage (high 60's) and all sorts. However, adult sharer has had to step back a bit so he has someone else to keep him thinner, 12 year old child from a RS environment with a non horsey mum. Pony is 100% fine until she takes it to the school, where in pony turns into a nappy little horror. She isnt quick enough or brave enough or effective enough to correct any undesirable behaviour and he is too smart and has learnt to just say no inside a month and a half.

This is not physical, this is pony temprement. He behaves like a horror she gets off and he gets fed. We cant 'fix it' for her as he doesnt do it with anyone else - and we have tried to replicate it! He also doesnt do it in her 2 weekly lessons.

Now if i was sharing id have given up, but the girl loves him so there is a plan in place to see if they can work through it together. Difference is in this case she really wants to...

And no one is more shocked than my sister and I about how horrible he is with her when still being good with everyone else (and her if someone else 'has control' of his decision making).

 

[Annagain]

I'm surprised how many people are saying just sell the pony. Pony was fine, so surely something must have changed to cause the current behaviour. Personally, I would not be able to sell on (assuming to another child/family) until I found the cause of the issue, pain or rider.

I don't think people are dismissing the possibility that there's a problem with him but to me, even if there's a problem that gets solved, it sounds like the trust has gone so pony and child will need to be in different partnerships. I'm certainly not suggesting they just pass the pony on without seeing if there's a root cause.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Confidence is so hard won and so easily lost. And the message that the pony would be fine, if only she 'just' .... will lead to a sense of failure. I think ponies can take advantage of nervous, novice kids, so I would not assume it's physical though obviusl bear that in mind. Napping, in particular, can rapidly escalate. Or can be nipped in the bud and never be an issue again. So I'm another who thinks you should sell, the winter just with the loan pony, and think again in Spring.

 

[maya2008]

Get a more confident child on to fix the issue (or at least try to, which will tell you if there’s pain somewhere). Either one you know or you could try sales/schooling livery. Better to sell a pony who is once more behaving nicely than one who isn’t.