New horse is scaring daughter - advice please

[Niddlynoo]

I bought Ozzy about 3 weeks ago and he has settled in well. He is officially for me but due to illness my daughter is riding him until I am a bit better. We dont have a school and I have bought him to hack. She has been riding him out with her sister on their pony and have had no real problems but she feels unsafe on him. He whinnies a lot, especially going past other horses (there are lots in the area) and she finds he trots like 'he's tanking off'.
I got a friend from another yard to go out with her last week and that seemed to give her more confidence, but can only do this on the odd occasion. I am going to pay someone to ride him out for me this week as I feel she just needs reassurance that he is not an idiot (the last horse I bought bolted with me and I got badly injured and I think that is playing on her mind).
I wouldn't mind, but her pony whinnies when his on his own, throws his head around and bucks like anything if he is in 'that' mood and she finds it funny!
I hope it just that Ozzy has a 'big' trot and she needs to get used to him, (she used to ride my old mare who was taller, better schooled but much more spooky so she has ridden other horses who I feel are more challenging)
Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[xxMozlarxx]

It's just a time thing isn't it? She knows her pony and what it will or won't do so she can cope but she is unsure of your horse as she is not used to it's ways. I don't think there are any quick fixes here.

 

[Littlelegs]

Like mozlar says, she knows her pony, its fear of the unknown. Could she perhaps spend time riding it in the field until she feels more confident with him?

 

[jeeve]

Ponies can take a while to settle in as well. Hope you are not out of action for too long. Sometimes ground work and flatwork can help give you more confidence /trust in the pony before she starts hacking again. Are you (or a friend) able to watch how the pony goes in the field /on a flat area, and gauge what is happening.

 

[D66]

Get her some lessons on him, she needs to demand more from him and then when he delivers she'll have more confidence that she's in control. The sooner the better because it only takes one big incident to make her afraid.
Good Luck.

 

[Ariana]

I guess it's really just a case of getting them to spend lots of time together. Does your daughter currently groom and feed your horse?

 

[Maui+Bec]

my pony did all that and still occasionally does but when I first got her I had that feeling of OMG whats she capable of. She used to refuse to leave the yard and just go backwards and when she trotted shove her nose in the air and the more I pulled the more she resisted. She constantly looked at everything and whinnied, shes settled down alot now and is alot different in herself (nearly a year down the line) she definately took a good couple of months to settle in and now after encountering lots of things I know how far she'll take a paddy and how far she will go when frightened. I think the best idea is to persevere and a bond will develop.. I definately can sympathise with the fear of the unknown because I was a bit daunted by my neddys behaviour at first. xx