Sol
Well-Known Member
Seeing as I seem unable to ever ride in the daylight, especially when someone is about with a camera, today I decided I'd be the one with the camera, whilst my boyfriend worked the pony!
We're currently attempting to improve Dimples's lifestyle a bit. He was my first pony, and we bought him back just over a year ago to live with my other two, as my Mum had to sell him previously when my parents split up, and I couldn't imagine him not spending the remainder of his life with us!
He's 20 though now, and to our knowledge, has never had any proper schooling, but certainly has a lot of issues/quirks. Some have been resolved in the time we've owned him, some haven't. He's somewhat unrideable, a bit of a horror, but he's a real sweetie really.
Currently he's having regular physio treatments, and does daily exercises & stretches, as well as long-reining & long walks (and runs... when I feel up to it - he certainly has more energy than me!). The big challenge is to eventually introduce him to polework. Currently we're working on long-reining over 1 pole, or leading over 2. For Dimp, this is a huge challenge & I'm amazed he's relaxed about this so fast, but he's very quick to decide that something is an issue, so it will be a slow process of introducing more poles, or raised poles, or trot over poles!!
Eventually, I'd like to aim to do some in-hand work with him, but currently the close-up work makes him more nervous & tense, whereas he is relatively happy long-reining. I'm also hoping to try some different bitless bridles with him - you'll notice he long-reins in a headcollar, for a few reasons. When he gets bored, or worried, he tends to set off like a train in his chosen direction, and I don't wish for him to be further worried by pain in his mouth. Also, he's incredibly fussy about things on his head! He isn't keen on a headcollar, but currently, it's the best we can do. I think eventually, when he is in a place to learn about the bit properly, and more relaxed about that work, I can use flexions & in-hand work to help him understand the bit & what it means, and I think he may even prefer this as there will be nothing on his nose. But for now, I think it would only make matters worse.
Anyway, some pics of the midget!
You might notice he's very sway backed & very weak hind & over his top-line - these are things we're working on particularly, as well as his mind-issues!
In a way, I'm very excited to concentrate on him more this year, he deserves it, and despite the fact he will never be ridden, driven or shown, I think he may actually go on to do quite a bit...
And I'm hoping that we certainly CAN teach an old pony some new tricks!!! 
We're currently attempting to improve Dimples's lifestyle a bit. He was my first pony, and we bought him back just over a year ago to live with my other two, as my Mum had to sell him previously when my parents split up, and I couldn't imagine him not spending the remainder of his life with us!
He's 20 though now, and to our knowledge, has never had any proper schooling, but certainly has a lot of issues/quirks. Some have been resolved in the time we've owned him, some haven't. He's somewhat unrideable, a bit of a horror, but he's a real sweetie really.
Currently he's having regular physio treatments, and does daily exercises & stretches, as well as long-reining & long walks (and runs... when I feel up to it - he certainly has more energy than me!). The big challenge is to eventually introduce him to polework. Currently we're working on long-reining over 1 pole, or leading over 2. For Dimp, this is a huge challenge & I'm amazed he's relaxed about this so fast, but he's very quick to decide that something is an issue, so it will be a slow process of introducing more poles, or raised poles, or trot over poles!!
Eventually, I'd like to aim to do some in-hand work with him, but currently the close-up work makes him more nervous & tense, whereas he is relatively happy long-reining. I'm also hoping to try some different bitless bridles with him - you'll notice he long-reins in a headcollar, for a few reasons. When he gets bored, or worried, he tends to set off like a train in his chosen direction, and I don't wish for him to be further worried by pain in his mouth. Also, he's incredibly fussy about things on his head! He isn't keen on a headcollar, but currently, it's the best we can do. I think eventually, when he is in a place to learn about the bit properly, and more relaxed about that work, I can use flexions & in-hand work to help him understand the bit & what it means, and I think he may even prefer this as there will be nothing on his nose. But for now, I think it would only make matters worse.
Anyway, some pics of the midget!
You might notice he's very sway backed & very weak hind & over his top-line - these are things we're working on particularly, as well as his mind-issues!
In a way, I'm very excited to concentrate on him more this year, he deserves it, and despite the fact he will never be ridden, driven or shown, I think he may actually go on to do quite a bit...
And I'm hoping that we certainly CAN teach an old pony some new tricks!!! 
I wouldn't believe his age myself, the only real difference is he's lost a bit of condition & muscle this year which previously hasn't been a problem, and he's a bit less tolerant of the others/doesn't play so much. Little things really, I'm hoping he'll be with us for a while yet.