Napping- companion causing big issues!

jisrbazun

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I have a welsh d on loan and knew she could be a bit nappy when I tried her where she would just stop and then try and turn round. This wasnt really an issue as i got her through it. I have ridden her out from home and although she was a bit fresh she only tried to stop a couple of times but was fine though was neighing for my companion pony a lot because he was doing his trolley, screaming and galloping non stop.

Due to the deep snow she hasnt done anything for a couple of weeks and has spent half of this week in, though they did go out into their turnout pen this morning and had a kick and buck and a roll although its not big enough for them to run around in.

I was going to go for a hack today and even before I had got her out of the playpen she was in with the pony he was trying to barge out the gate behind her, screaming and then galloping up and down.

She was fine to tack up and get on but as soon as I asked her to go out the yard gate and down the drive she was a bit nappy, it was windy too but the further we got down the drive the worse she got to where she was rearing, spinning and bucking when I put my leg on to send her on, kicking doesnt work with this pony so I wear spurs and only use then when needed, she then started putting her nose to her chest and trying to tank off home and then backing into things. I got off in the end before she decked me.

I also took her for a leg stretch the other day when they were in as the snow here was over 3ft deep and I couldnt turn them out ( i had tried but it was just too deep for them ) and halfway down the drive ( where she started today ) she just turned round and pi**ed off back to the barn their stables are in and as I had her in her headcollar I couldnt hold her.

I think my companion pony is the cause of her napping having deteriorated soo much, there is only the 2 of them and there stables are inside a barn where they can see and touch each other, the companion pony starts running round in his stable even when I take her out and tie her at the far end of the barn to muck out while she eats her breakfast ( my empty stable blocks his view of her ) and if he hears her leave the barn the goes ballistic and tries to jump out ( has done in the past so has bars up on his door that he cant jump over, and also has the option of shut top door ).

Im at a loss as to what to do next, shes a lovely pony and i dont want to give her back as shes perfect in heavy traffic and will do riding club stuff.

Do I take the companion away off the farm and leave her on her own a bit to see if that makes any difference? Getting a 3rd isnt an option until my daughter is old enough to ride and she is only just a yr old.

I also dont have anyone to walk down the drive with me as we have no neighbours.

Anyone any ideas?
 
My pony is out on loan.
But they are having similar issues!
Shes gone from a super pony
club pony to a naughty napping pony.

She had lived in a large group for 8 years to just one other mare. plus a gelding next door.

Think it maybe a hormone issue so we are having her scanned.
If not it could just be a separation thing.
 
Maybe I am asking a lot but my definition of a companion pony is one that is happy by itself for a short while so you are able to exercise the horse it is companion to. Why do you have this particular pony as companion is it an old outgrown/ retired pony or is it for your daughter? I think I might try and find a more suitable companion but this probably won't solve your napping problem.

I had a mare that would nap very badly on her own so what I did with her was get her used to hacking routes with another horse, then my husband came out on his bike (she was at her best this way!). Then I would pick a point on a track and aim to get her to that point on her own, she would plant, back up, rear, spin to get back to the yard but I would keep turning her on a tight circle until she went forward. The first time I took her I had to do this at 3 different spots but we got to my chosen point and we turned round. The next time we went slightly further and so on. Unfortunately I moved yards, had a bad accident and then sold the mare so I didn't get her out on a whole hack on her own but we did get to the end of the track with no more napping so I am sure we would have got there.

Do you have anyone who could come over and hack the route with you a couple of times or you could perhaps take her on foot, maybe riding back and getting on earlier and earlier in the hack until you can do it all the way round?

Good luck
 
are you able to ride in your field and school? How much schooling is she getting now and how much was she getting before you got her? Are you going to lessons?

My Sec D is the type that needs the discipline of regular schooling sessions and without it, she is a pain in ass. Not napping as such but just right on the edge the entire time. I have no facilities for schooling so am having to hire one every week at the moment and trailer out and make sure I keep my fw lessons up at RC.

eta i also shut my companion pony in with hay when i ride.
 
Tilda,
"Maybe I am asking a lot but my definition of a companion pony is one that is happy by itself for a short while so you are able to exercise the horse it is companion to. Why do you have this particular pony as companion is it an old outgrown/ retired pony or is it for your daughter? I think I might try and find a more suitable companion but this probably won't solve your napping problem."

When I first got him he was fine, particularly as my mare at the time only tolerated his presence, she then had a foal who he was best pals with. Unfortunately the mare had to be pts through injury and as the youngster was unbroken they werent seperated and the companion was very much the boss, due to heart breaking personla reasons I had to sell the youngster ( its still hurts me everyday knowing someone else has him but I keep incontact and she loves him dearly ).

The pony was then on his own and was awfull, he almost reverted back to being semi feral- was not handled well when i got him, and was very jumping and skitty, i didnt dare turn him out, i then got another one who turned out to be a fruitcake and a serial kicker and that went so he was on his own again.

When I got the welsh d he settled down again, she is very much the boss but she stands talking to him at the adjoining rails in their stables and lets him share her haylage in the field.

He was only ever got as a companion, he has dental conformation issues and isnt safe enoughto ride, he still freaks some days having his rug changed.

Yes she was in slightly more wore work when i got her but a combination of needing shoeing and bad weather meant i havent been able to ride her much ( had her about 6wks ) and i dont have a school and our fields are still under 2ft of snow.

There is an equestrian centre with in 10 miles that has a show on on sunday and I was thinkiing of taking her there to do some schooling and see if shes different away from him. The other option is putting him in some old stables on the other side of our farm and shutting him in ( he will jump out else ) and seeing if a couple of days on her own will make a difference.

I also dont really have anyone else to hack with either.
 
if you've only had her 6 weeks I would sit back and chill for a bit. The weather is pants at the moment and most horses are on their toes. If I didnt shut my shetland in when I ride she would be a pain and shout and pace - but once in the stable with hay she settles and munches til we come back. Chances are she needs to work her brain as well, so as I said, Id get to some lessons and hire a school. It may sound as if Im dismissing the napping, im not, but Ive found Sec D's are very good at 'finding an excuse' and pretending to spook, nap, tank or whatever just because they are feeling full of it. Take away that feeling by making them WORK and by work I mean use their brains and the reasons for general idiocy subside. they are like the border collies of the horse world.
 
Although I'm on a livery yard, my two are stabled on their own away from the other horses, so when I take one away from the others, the one left behind starts shouting. My little one even climbed over the door once. I got an antiweave grill with infill put in, so that she can't get out and the one which is left behind gets a feed ball filled with high fibre cubes. Whichever one is left behind now, is absolutely fine - they know that if they're being left they get a feed toy and have got their heads down playing and eating before I've even got onto the horse I'm taking out.
 
Poor companion pony. If its frequently had to live in solitude when & if it fits in with your arrangements its hardly suprising its got overly attached to current horse, & stresses when you remove it. Companion needs a companion of its own imo. Either get one yourself, get a retired/ young livery, or move to a yard.
As for the napping, that won't be helped by having the companion screaming after you. Sort that first & the napping should be easier to resolve. Perhaps getting an instructor to actually help would be a good idea & accompany you on foot. Spurs are for refined aids, not horses who are so dead to the leg that 'kicking doesn't work'. And no, keeping her alone isn't a cure, the behavior of your current companion pony should be enough to convince you of what a silly idea that is.
 
I don't think that seperatng them for a day or two will help, in fact it will probably make it worse. The easiest way to solve this is more company, is there no way you could get a little old pony to go in with them - something placid that daughter could happily bobble around and get used to over the next couple of years?
 
Actually I find keeping them at home makes them nuts. I have 4 so none were ever left alone but I found they still kicked off like idiots if their fave friend was taken away. So I then put the youngster in a field out of sight with some calves to get her used to being on her own, and the other three who are in work end up alone at various times which stops them being so idiotic over it.

I would separate the two of them for a couple of hours a day so they both get used to it, and take it from there.
 
Littlelegs,Poor companion pony. If its frequently had to live in solitude when & if it fits in with your arrangements its hardly suprising its got overly attached to current horse, & stresses when you remove it.

Thats a bit unfair, hes been on his own twice in 4 yrs so its hardly frequently, its just unfortunate that those 2 times were all within the same 6wks and it was no longer than a couple of weeks in 1 go.

Ive blocked their rails off so they cant see each other at all when they are in and have also removed his rails and put his top door back on so I can shut him in and he cant jump out, food and hay dont work with him unfortunately so he will just have to charge and rear, luckily he wont be able to jump out that way.

Hes silly because when they come in at night he goes straight to his box and she gets tied up on the end and has rugs changed, groomed, leg wraps put on etc before she goes to bed and that was the same routine with my other horses.

I dont have an option of having a 3rd full stop until my daughter is old enough to ride. I think they have just got to pally with each other as my loan pony has come from a large livery yard to me where other than dafy there are no other within sight or sound.
 
Whether it was intentional or not, the effect is the same. I'm not entirely sure what the relevance of a 3rd pony has to do with your child riding, just get a first pony type as company if you are concerned you may end up with 4. Or take on a livery. Sorry if you feel I was being unfair, but imo its unfair to ask a herd animal to live in solitude, & if you do you should seek to remedy the cause, rather than physically prevent the symptoms.
 
I have to say this is a tricky one. I fostered a pony for a while as a companion to my mare and he just could not cope being on his own when I hacked out. Thankfully it didn't make my mare nappy but I feel your pain if it is causing your mare to be awkward. I would be inclined to find a new home for companion pony where he will happier with a herd, and look for a companion that has past experience of being settled if left on own. I tried everything with my foster pony - mirrors, treatballs, letting him gallop it off in field, shutting him in stable with a grill. Nothing worked, he just got so upset and broke fences, doors etc. it wasn't fair on him.

If you feel you want to perservere you will just need to do baby steps - very short periods of seperation with different routines, him in stable, her in, bringing him out of field on his own. Good luck! And don't give up on your mare she sounds lovely
 
Did you say you turned them out in a small "playpen" for the first time in a while just before you rode? Most likely this caused your pony to get excited and worked up. Possibly best to put the companion pony in a loose box while you ride and ride your other one direct from the box as well.

And lead in a bridle. If they haven't had much turn out or exercise due to the snow, then they are going to be worked up.

And YOU have to be an assertive leader when riding.
 
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