Naughty Pony advice needed please

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Agent XXX999

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I have been asked to school a pony - because he was 'being naughty'. The kid has lost her bottle on him and WILL NOT come off of the lunge.

The pony is a 13.2Welsh. Even though I am not too heavy, I am a little tall (I am 5"9 and 9.5 stone, just to give you an idea)

So I have been riding the pony......

To be honest, on occasion. he does some really nice work. He can work correctly and when he does he listens and is attentive, however......

He seems to be a bag of nerves. Yesterday he spooked and ran off with me on him, with his head in the air. It took me the length of the school to stop him. He is easily destracted too - for example, he will be trotting beautifully, but whenever I ask for a forward transition, he rushes off (especially trot to canter) Downwards transitions are a problem too, he never wants to stop (even with me sitting really deeply, he will either do it, or just ignore the aids)

He also is very nappy - yesterday someone took there horse in and he had a huge fit and tried to nap to the gate.

Now. This behaviour I can deal with, it does not bother me in the slightest, however his owners daughter is 8 years old, and I am of the opinion that he is a danger to her (he has allready dragged her around the sandschool and broken her ribs)

I am taking the calm and reassuring approcah, however I am not sure what to do on two points

a) The running off, this could be classed as bolting I suppose.

b) Telling the owners I think the pony is not safe for the child to ride at the moment

c) Do I carry on schooling it so they can sell it...is it worth my time? If it was a big horse, you would think it was dangerous. The fact that it is a pony, and therefore labled as "a bit naughty" is not helping things.

So advice needed please.

I have told them to do lots of ground work with him in the meantime as he is very tense (probably because he is not ridden/worked and handled enough)

I cannot believe I am so stumped by a 13.2hh
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Lay down the law to the pony. As you say, this behaviour is dangerous but absolutely unacceptable in a child's pony.
Forget having him working correctly, you must establish steering first (schooling whip on shoulder, always turn away from his nappy side, never into it)
Forget canter for now, control in walk and trot is most important, the child wont need to canter it for a while yet. The good thing about ponies is that its easier to make things happen than with a horse- a horse can use its strength against you but a small pony cant.
 
I'm a novice, but we had a horse that rushed his canter and it was his back, walk and trot was fine, my friends horse also rushed and pissed off in canter, excuse my french and that was also down to a bad back, so I suppose you could check his back and teeth if this has not yet be done, if it has sorry I haven't got a clue, but as a mother I would value yr opinion and if you thought the pony was unsafe I would want to know, no-one wants to be overhorsed especially if they have already lost their confidence, hope this helps.
 
I couldn't see anywhere that you said how old this pony is? If he is a youngster it might just be ignorance that's making him behave like this. However, a friend of mine has a 7 yr old welshy and he is still like it at times, they are not always suitable as child's ponies really.
 
If you think it is unsafe for the little girl, then tell them so. Imagine how you'd feel if, unbeknown to you, she got on one day and something happened. I'm sure their priority will be the child's safety, and it is really then up to them to make a decision as to what they want to do with the pony - obviously you can suggest options. He sounds like a very insecure pony, how old is he?
 
The rushing off I can cope with but I do not think he is a suitable horse for an eight year old. What is rushing off with me will end up him bolting with her.

You are right, he is a very insecure 7 year old and not relaxed at all. Whilst I feel sorry for him I do think that his temprament is not good for a child. He is very sharp too, and very quick in his reactions. I think that the sharpness is due to underwork partly.......
 
Hi I ageee with Bex; if you don't think he's safe tell them, their daughters safety is more important, but I'm sure there's lots can be done for the pony given time and patience. Hope things come good.
 
I would discuss your worries with the childs parents. You coould go down the root of using a calmer, also getting back and teeth checked
 
The thing is I think he is a great pony....he moves beautifully, is a great colour (dapple grey with black mane and tail) and would probably be good with a stronger rider. I just dont think he is a pony that is for enjoyment - he needs to 'have a job' I think. When I am on him. he is great, aside from the naughtiness (which I know will come with schooling and patience)

I just think he is a danger to the child who has got him at the momemt?
 
you dont say if he has had his back/teeth/saddle checked - I think it would be worth suggesting the parents try that to make sure he is comfortable before writing him off. If all is ok though - surely the child isn't enjoying herself? It doesnt sound like it to me - so I think for her sake they would be better off parting with the pony. Whether you help them or not is down to you, really.
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The rushing off I can cope with but I do not think he is a suitable horse for an eight year old. What is rushing off with me will end up him bolting with her.


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I've schooled countless naughty ponies, some have bolted with their children, most just nap and drop shoulders. The principles are the same. It's not hard to child-proof a pony but it's very different from schooling a normal horse. He needs schooling from someone who knows how to deal with it at least 3 times a week and the child shouldnt come off the lead rein until the pony improves.

I dont think selling will help the pony at all and certainly it is worth no more than meat money if it's behaviour is that bad.
 
Tell them what you think, you'd feel terrible if anything happened to the little girl and you hadn't expressed your concerns to her parents.
I have a 13.2hh rescue pony thats ok when on the lead rein being led by myself, but only suitable for an adult or experienced confident teenager to ride off the lead as she is very, very fizzy.
There's a lot of ponies out there that are not suitable for children or nervous novices and as more and more adults are riding ponies these days it shouldn't be to much of a problem for the parents to find this pony an experienced home and get their daughter something more suitable that she can regain her confidence on.
 
a) It's not really bolting though is it since bolting is when they run and will basically run through ANYTHING in their way (ie. with no care for their own safety). For example, Ive had a horse bolt with me - he went clean through a barbed wire fence and still kept going....!! Id say he's either being a little shite OR he IS really a bag of nerves and is simply easily spooked and feels like he's needs to run from it. He needs to learn to control his nervousness. One of mine would gallop off if he got spooked however if he did this while schooling, as soon as I stopped him I would immediately kick on into a trot, on a contact and quickly begin leg yielding or something - basically I would act like nothing had happened and get his attention back ASAP. The last twice when he's tried to run off, he's run maybe 3 strides and then seemed to get control of himself, so it seems to work.

b) Are they watching you when you ride? ie. can they see for themselves how much of a problem this pony is? I think the fact that he's already broken an 8yo's ribs is reason enough to not let the girl back on it.

c) It doesn't sound like the horse is genuinelly nasty though is it? I would speak to the owners and say that selling it is the only option after you've schooled it. There are super-confident kids out there who hopefully could handle it better than this 8yo?
 
Basically, it sounds like pony is not suited to his life with this girl, girl is not suited to pony. Like you said, he probably needs "a job" to keep him busy - his mind would probably be more focused and his insecurities might improve.

They might be able to sell him to a feisty teenager?

What's he like out of the school?
 
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The rushing off I can cope with but I do not think he is a suitable horse for an eight year old. What is rushing off with me will end up him bolting with her.

You are right, he is a very insecure 7 year old and not relaxed at all. Whilst I feel sorry for him I do think that his temprament is not good for a child. He is very sharp too, and very quick in his reactions. I think that the sharpness is due to underwork partly.......

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Thing is once he's schooled and gets past that insecurity he'll be fine (probably)

Ty was a bag of nerves, my YO thought he was slightly evil but now admits it was just nerves and he got confused....if pony has had a young child who's not that knowledgeable then yes, it's going to probabaly get worse.
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If you have the time, then perservere for them.....
 
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Basically, it sounds like pony is not suited to his life with this girl, girl is not suited to pony. Like you said, he probably needs "a job" to keep him busy - his mind would probably be more focused and his insecurities might improve.

They might be able to sell him to a feisty teenager?

What's he like out of the school?

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Don't agree - if the parents are willing to reschool it and the child loves the pony and wants to make it work then I say reschool.

I never htought I'd be were I am with Ty now......
 
Parkranger you are a bit older than 8....and the situation with Ty is slightly different.

IMO 8 year olds need confidence givers and neither have the patience or the realisation to know that things will get better....

So I am going to reschool the pony and go from there with then. I am glad noone has said it is pointless, becasue I want to give the pony a chance (just dont want to take the chance with an 8 year old on his back)
 
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IMO 8 year olds need confidence givers and neither have the patience or the realisation to know that things will get better....

[/ QUOTE ] Definitely agree with you there! A bit of cheekiness can be coped with, but if this pony has already broken her ribs then she is bound to be a bit nervous, which will transfer itself to the pony and make matters worse.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Parkranger you are a bit older than 8....and the situation with Ty is slightly different.

IMO 8 year olds need confidence givers and neither have the patience or the realisation to know that things will get better....

So I am going to reschool the pony and go from there with then. I am glad noone has said it is pointless, becasue I want to give the pony a chance (just dont want to take the chance with an 8 year old on his back)

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Mentally maybe not!
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I know what you're saying but if she wants to carry on then maybe she should be given that option. Either way they obviously need help with it.

end of the day depends on the kid I guess - I had friends at 9 who would get on anything - I had a bit more self preservation so tended to vere away from those ponies.

What does the child say?

PS - I didn't ever know things would get better, I just tried at it....
 
PR - FF has already said that:

[ QUOTE ]
The kid has lost her bottle on him and WILL NOT come off of the lunge.


[/ QUOTE ]

So I think that finding her a nice sensible confidence giver is the way to go, and hope that the owners can find the existing pony a home with a nice small confident teenager.
 
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PR - FF has already said that:

[ QUOTE ]
The kid has lost her bottle on him and WILL NOT come off of the lunge.


[/ QUOTE ]

So I think that finding her a nice sensible confidence giver is the way to go, and hope that the owners can find the existing pony a home with a nice small confident teenager.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ahhh - sorry missed that!

Definately then, got to get rid of it and get something that's not so nervy.

x
 
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Definately then, got to get rid of it and get something that's not so nervy.

x

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OMG, PMSL - I meant the pony not the child!
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