Nasty riding school pony

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Amber_

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I work at a riding school part time and have done for a couple of years now and we have this mare called missy. She was born on the yard and has lived there her whole life. She's always been a nasty pony but she scares the life out of me! You can't go in a stable with her as she kicks and bites. I've been kicked by her before. It's never been a problem until I started working night shifts where I'm on my own at the yard most of the time. (Someone else is there too but only exercising the horses not on the yard with me) and when I have to tack her up to be ridden she's evil! I can't get near her and I don't know what to do!

When I try to tsck her up she spins on me and kicks out
Anyone have any tips on how to help me?
 
Tie her up outside while u do anything with her! Sounds like something is bothering her. I would suggest her saddle doesn't fit her properly.....
 
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Before all that mention to the riding school owners that you are struggling, see what they suggest. If the girls that have worked for me were having problems I would want to know, help and make sure that they were safe.
 
Dealt with several like this in different schools. Headcollar on straight away, even if you need a treat to get it on then tie up short so they cant swing round and bite. Then just keep out of the kicking zones and you should be fine.

Obviously there is something more going on with these ponies, worth mentioning to the owner of the riding school/ponies but appreciate you are not in a position to sort them yourself, so just do whatever you can to ensure your own safety :)
 
First things first, tie the horse up!?!?!

Second look at the tack if it is not fitting it will make her not want to get tacked up.
 
We had a mare on the RS where I did some teaching, who was notorious. She had been a broodmare and then it all went wrong and she was rapidly broken in and sold for riding age 7. Once you got a headcollar on her she was fine, but my god, she was absolutely evil in her stable. The yard hand who was a big lad, very experienced with horses and scared of nothing used to go in her stable with a pitchfork (no he never hurt her!) She was VERY hormonal and used to have to have injections every so often which I assume was long-acting regumate or something. The best method was to call her to the stable door and get a rope around her neck to start with but she knew what was what and would stand at the back of the stable giving you the evil eye and just daring you to open the door and go in with her. It was the same time that horse-slashing and interference was rife and we always thought it would be good to pop a few of the perpetrators in with her and when the banging and screaming stopped, hose out the remains and wait for the next one :)
 
Honey08's suggestion is best to go down first.

We had one that had sweet itch and she kicked and bit anyone that went near. I used to massage her, ignore her squeals and carry on brushing her and just spend time with her when I could. She got to the point where I could touch her anywhere and there was no reaction.
We kept her tied up with a haynet in stable, so that others could go in tack/untack her etc. To get her to door, used a treat to bring her head round, rather than being faced with hindlegs when door opened.
 
I used to ride a horse like your mare. She was a working livery horse at the riding school and she used to be quite snappy. But if you ignored the snaps, she was ok to tack up and ride. Just grooming would bring on the snapping and she once caught me on my side with a cow kick.
We had another mare who used to air snap when tightening her girth, and once I had to do a pony club test on her in the menage, and because she had room, she kept moving every time I went to check her girth.
 
I used to ride a horse like your mare. She was a working livery horse at the riding school and she used to be quite snappy. But if you ignored the snaps, she was ok to tack up and ride. Just grooming would bring on the snapping and she once caught me on my side with a cow kick.
We had another mare who used to air snap when tightening her girth, and once I had to do a pony club test on her in the menage, and because she had room, she kept moving every time I went to check her girth.
 
Poor poor pony. That's the sign of a very unhappy pony. It's the only way she can tell you she's sore or stressed.

For your own safety, as others have said, tie her up at all times you need to do anything with her.

And try to understand why she's so unhappy. There's probably very little you can do about it yourself (although it's worth mentioning it to the RS owner they most likely already know) but kindness and patience will get you further than fighting with her.
 
My mare can be like this and she has the life of riley! She is just an obstinate old bag that doesn't want to be caught, be groomed or messed about with or ultimately, to work. She is in fine fettle health-wise, and is happy to be fussed, she just wants things done on her terms - I've had her since she was 3 and she has always been the same.
I would agree with the others - tie her up short when you do anything with her, and keep out of the "strike" zone of feet and teeth. Do the girth up very slowly, one hole at a time, and fuss her after each hole. I would mention it to the owners of the place, just so they know your concerns and can have a look at the pony to make sure there's nothing wrong with her.
 
I used to work at riding school with a horse like that, she was really bad if she didn't know you, I used to go into her stable armed with a shovel! I had to use it once when she went for me but we got used to each other & I could muck her stable out with her loose in the stable with me.
She did evenually calm down enough to be in a normal box (she used to be in an internal box, behind bars). She hadn't had a bad life she was just very aggresive but she got better as she got older.
Don't put yourself at risk, no horse is worth getting seriously injured for.
 
We've got a couple like that at my yard. We tend to flick a long lead rope at the hindquarters so they swing them away and then catch them once they're facing us. We make sure the 'problem' ones live with headcollars on so it's just a matter of grabbing them. Then it's just good timing and tactically placement when tacking up etc
 
I have a horse that has feeding issues, everytime I go to feed him he runs around the stable with ears back, charges at door and WILL bite you. How I have overcome this problem is to gain the respect of the horse and not back down. By doing this I can now feed the horse daily by bucket and in doing so I assure the horse throughout whilst feeding by talking to him. Now, he see's me in a completely different light, he now trusts me. Some horses are genuinely scared rather than people labelling them as viscious, a horse will easily feed of people's emotions such as fright or fear, some will take the mick due to it and bully you whereas others are genuinely scared themselves and react with a defense mechanism.

I agree with others who say tie her up and definitely wear every bit of protective gear you have in there with her; hat, body protector, gloves, long boots etc.
 
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