Ponies missing each other;

[meandmyconnie]

Hi! So I am very sorry for how long this has worked out but please take the time to read!

I have just moved my dads horse and my pony, Shannon and Dusty, into our house. We have a large field split into a smaller one for two ponies, every nown and again when the weather is good (during winter) they go out for an hour or two. We have a sand paddock which is tiny which they mainly go out in at lunch. We also have three stables and a tack room that still needs doing up, so are using third stable for storage at the moment. We need to make the sand paddock bigger and less weedy as it is only just big enough to lunge in. For this reason we use the yards across the roads outdoor arena.

My dad is still very nervous so whenever we do ride (dad is very busy at work) I have to comply to his rules, which I am fine with. The only problem is Dusty is still very young, and a great jumper. I have suggested to my dad, maybe after half an hour he go home and I have some fun with Dusty (I am only 13 so you know). However, once Dusty and Shannon are away from each other all hell breaks loose, and I can't get anything done with her. They start whinniying and Dusty has bolted a couple of times stopping inches from the fencing around the arena. I'm upset because Dusty is deteriorating schooling wise and I can't hack because a; my mother is overprotective so I can only go up and down the lane and
b; because Dusty doesn't hack far on her own and c; The splitting the two ponies up problem. I don't know what to do! I feel like I am spending more and more time inside rather than with the ponies, simply because once they are groomed and mucked out and turned out I have nothing left to do!

Can anyone help???
Thankyou x

 

[Annagain]

Short term, rather than sending your Dad home, could you not just work around him? Park Shannon in a corner with a rug over her back and she'll be fine while you have a play over the jumps. It might even encourage your dad to have a go.

Having just the two of them means they will be very bonded to each other. The ideal would be another companion pony but if they're not getting much turnout it wouldn't be fair on an unridden companion - and it does sound like they could do with either more turnout or more exercise. It wouldn't necessarily stop this problem, but if they're only getting turnout now and again they need riding every day.

I know it seems that way, but your mum's not being over-protective, she just loves you and doesn't want you getting hurt. I can understand her not letting you go alone. At your age you never think "it" (a fall, an accident, even a flasher!) will happen to you but it could well do, especially if "all hell breaks loose" when Dusty is alone. What will you do if you're stranded on your own somewhere, hurt or in danger? I'm over twice your age and rarely hack out alone!

Longer term, what about joining Pony club (if you have transport) great fun, you get good tuition and you'll meet others in your area whom you could ride out with when your Dad can't?

 

[meesha]

Dad could even get off and stand holding horse just other side of arena fence then gradually move further away each time. You could also hack together and if you are confident enough and its safe lead him from your horse!

 

[laura_nash]

We have a large field split into a smaller one for two ponies, every nown and again when the weather is good (during winter) they go out for an hour or two. We have a sand paddock which is tiny which they mainly go out in at lunch.

Am I mis-reading this? If they are only going out for an hour or two occasionally in winter then you really need to be doing 1hr + work with them every day just for their basic sanity and this may well be most of your problem.

Assuming they are getting turnout or work, you need to put a plan in place to teach them to be seperated. If you search on here for seperation anxiety you should find lots of advice.

Essentially they don't know it is only for a short time, as far as they know they may never see the other horse again, they need to get into a routine of being split up for short periods so they can learn that they will be re-united afterwards. To begin with just take one (whichever is best behaved) away a short distance (e.g. down the lane and back) whilst the other is safely stabled and maybe distracted with some food. Keep the one you are leading busy to keep their mind occupied (back up, circles etc.) Try to time it so you re-unite them when they are both relatively calm (reward the behaviour you want). Keep doing this until they are fine with it, then extend the time and distance away. Ideally you want to introduce a time apart into their daily or weekly routine outside of their ridden work (e.g. stable one for dinner and leave the other in the field).

 

[meandmyconnie]

Hi everyone thank you very much for all your replies. I am going to go through each one and decide which one works best for the ponies. Now it is the xmas holidays I will be riding more so I will have plenty of time. Thank you for the advice on hacking alone, I now see where your coming from and I will try leading my dad. Also turnout wise they go out in the small sand paddock at lunch time to tea time, i, sorry if that wasn't clear before so they get turnout every day as when I am at school it is not possible for me to ride every day, because of how dark it gets. X