Mare coming back into work

[newgirl]

Hi everyone,
Apologies, completely new to online forums & relatively new to the 'horsey world'! I have a problem, bought a pony for my daughter last Christmas on a family members advice & when she was reluctant to be ridden come Feb we took her to the vet & discovered she was 6 mths pregnant. Assumed that this was why she had unseated my daughter. Had the beautiful foal at the end of may & started to ride again recently. Each time we have taken her out she has been very nervous but has eventually calmed but has a tendency to rear which worries me greatly( my daughter is only 12). We have had her teeth done & are waiting for the equine physiotherapist to come out but have heard that if a pony has a tendency to rear then it isn't a suitable pony for a young teen. Would appreciate any advice. Thanks

 

[Tickles]

- Does your pony hack out alone or are you taking her out in company with other ponies/horses? (A lot has happened to her lately and she may need to take confidence form others)
- Where is she kept and what company is she leaving? (i.e. are you asking her to go from her 'safe' herd to new paces alone before she has had a chance to build up enough trust in you)
- Is your daughter nervous (or picking up that you are) when riding?
- Do/can you lead her (even if just past scary things)?
- Have you had the pony's saddle re-fitted recently (she will have changed shape with the foal so it could very easily be hurting if not)?
- Have you been fittening her up gradually? She will need to come back into work slowly. There will be lots of ppl on here with good plans for that.
- Do you have advice from people (yard manager/instructors) that know your pony?

Apologies for all the questions, they should help you get better answers!

PS:
A pony that rears a lot is unlikely to be suitable for many early teen (or other!) riders but usually there are reasons for it. So, you need to identify if this is fear/pain (the most usual reasons) and address it accordingly. In the mean time keep your daughter safe with hat, body protector and possibly only supervised riding (e.g. lessons in an arena).

Both the only pony I rode (briefly) as a child (we couldn't afford to keep it up) and my first horse as an adult have been known to rear. But they didn't when the problems causing it had been fixed. So, it can be done - just keep daughter safe for the time being.

 

[be positive]

It sounds as if you have bought a pony with an unknown history so it may be that she is just needing time to settle back to work or has a problem physically that need to be resolved.
You do not say how old the pony is but it seems that she is fairly green and inexperienced so it would be a good idea to get some professional help, an instructor that will school her or maybe send away for a short assessment to a yard, they would then be able to give a view on her suitability for your daughter but rearing is not to be taken lightly and it could be that she has done this before in which case you will need to reassess your position with riding her.

 

[newgirl]

Thanks so much for your replies, all advice & pov are welcome! Be positive, you are absolutely right, we did buy a pony with an unknown history and that's not a mistake we'll make again!!! We thought we were acting under good advice!!! She is clearly very green & I do believe that with loads of time & work she will develop into great wee pony, I'm just not sure that my daughter & I have enough time or experience at the mo!!! Tickles, thanks for your comments & questions, we are working through the list of poss probs eg teeth, which did need done, in fact don't think they'd ever been done & pony is 8!!!!! Physiotherapist is coming next week & once she has looked at back we can sort the saddle. I haven't let my daughter ride until we get all these things sorted & the plan will be to send her off for some training by someone more experienced than me!! Provided, that is, that there are no major probs with her back. Tell you what, it's a steep learning curve, this horsey business!!! Thanks again for your replies