Pony afraid of children?

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Rhi81

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Hello, I am new to site and I'm a bit baffled as to what I can do next so any advice would be great!
I have a sec a just turned 4 and have just backed him I can not stress how wonderful and calmed nature and kind this little pony is he doesn't have a nasty bone in him. He has superb manners and is excellent on lunge and to long rein listen to all voice commands and is a true gem when I backed him again he was a star didn't put a hoof wrong hes a very brave sort and is much happier to go of leadrein than have someone walk with him I want him for my 7 year old son to ride and with his wonderful nature I just now they will make a great team but this is where the problem lies the pony doesn't seem to like children whenever my son goes near he pulls faces and put his ears back this he never does with adults my son has never done anything to him other than shower him with affection I no the pony would never bit or kick him and my son still happily grooms and leads and picks out his feet all with no problem accept the face pulling/ears back he goes in stable feeds muck out etc however the other day my son asked if he could have a sit on the pony now and as the pony has a wonderful temperament and had been happy carrying me I didn't see any issue with popping him on now for a little sit and walk around (please remember I am experienced and wouldn't of put my son on anything I didn't feel was ready) so my little boy all ready in hat on body protected I stood the pony along side mounting block I got on first absolutely no problem back to mounting block along comes my son and the pony moves away from block ears flat back pulling faces so my son stood there I circled the pony and my son went to stroke his neck and the pony shoot forward pulling faces my son climbed of blocked pony returned to jolly ear pricking self I again mounted him no problem so tried again as soon as my son stepped onto block ears back face pulling started this went on for some time I safely with one hand on child told him to ignore and just lay over his back the pony did not like this and shoot forward after sometime my son who was very good and calm at all times finally got the pony to except him standing on block stroking him and we left it on a positive note? sorry for the long story but my problem i where do i go from here i can not stress enough how perfect this pony is with adults but as soon as a child is near isn't happy at all? I no he has the potential to be a lovely childs pony if i can just get him to like children lol :D oh p.s hes been handling this pony for the last 7 months so the pony knows him and has a bond! Thank you for reading hope someone can help xx :o
 
You can use advance & retreat. You'll need someone else to help, so you can be sure that both horse and child are safe. Have the horse stand calmly somewhere he feels comfortable. Bring the child just close enough that he starts to show a little sign of anxiety / tension (this could be several metres away), do a nice slow out-breath yourself and if he sighs / relaxes, take the child away. Get closer & closer each time. I wouldn't let your little boy within touching / kicking / biting distance until he was showing no signs of aggression/ anxiety at all.

If he's reacting out of fear / defensiveness, another thing to try is let him follow your son (at a good distance), so it's not always your son coming "at" him.
 
This was puzzling me as I have started many ponies over the years and cannot think of one that had similar issues, although many have been tricky in other ways, the only thing that comes to mind is that the pony was happy to be handled by your son prior to the attempts to sit on when he was wearing the hat and body protector, does he usually wear these when dealing with the pony? if not I suspect it is the kit rather than the child that he is suspicious of and that you take a step back and get him handling him carefully in his riding gear, if he usually wears it then I am stumped as it seems totally irrational.

Sometimes equines react in inexplicable ways but there is nearly always a rational, to them at least, reason why they do as they do, it is finding the key that is hard when it is something so unusual and unexpected.
 
Thank you for your response the pony actually joins up with him quiet happily he's had him in the round pen and as I say will let him groom lead hold for the farrier without any face pulling when he wants to it just seems to be when he goes to get on him? my son ponies has been out in field with the ponies today and this particular pony was first up to him for a fuss and cuddle iv backed losts of childrens ponies but this has stumped me lol my som does handle him with his hat on but no body protector but today we tried bringing out my sons 2/3ft tall fireman sam teddy to sit on him :) and he was fine with me holding teddy but as soon as I went to put him on he shoot forward now when I mount this pony he stands beautifully and doesn't take a step until told so this shooting forward is obviously out of fear?? I'm beginning to the he just doesn't like little people lol x:D
 
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Do you get on with no help, as in no one around him other than you? it may be that he is struggling with two people being involved, try getting on with your son or an adult he knows by his head and see if he is any different, it may be that he cannot deal with being held while being mounted and cannot understand what is going on, it certainly sound like fear rather than naughtiness, could your son groom him from a step, mounting block so he gets used to him being up higher.
If you don't know his exact history it may be that in the past someone has just thrown a child on and scared him, people sometimes think can do this with small ponies without thinking of the consequences.
 
Thank you yes iv mounted him alone and with a handler but will try seeing if he will allow son to groom from a step �� As far as I no he was unbroken when I had him as a 3yr old but I can't be 100% that someone hasn't put a child on him? My other thoughts was that it was nearing his feed time he'd been worked earlier that day and he does have a one track mind when it comes to coming in for his feed maybe he was annoyed because we wanted to do something else with him and he wanted to go in for his feed?
 
Could it be that an unbalanced rider - although lightweight - causes him some discomfort?

I do think it's unlikely as I'd expect the weight of even a small adult to cause the discomfort too, but it could be that the saddle/child combination doesn't work quite right. You could get the usual checks done just to rule that out.

Do you know a slightly older/larger competent child that could spend some time with and riding the pony? Maybe if the riders gradually got smaller it wouldn't be so much of an issue.

Additionally, I'd continue with the teddy. Bucket of food/hay + teddy until he doesn't care etc.

I'm thinking though that it's more likely he was sat on by kids before you got him, and either they scared him or hurt him unintentionally or otherwise.
 
Thank you the child hasn't even managed to get as far as sitting in the saddle yet lol ;-) but we have worked on my child grooming and walking away before he shows any sign of uneasiness and this seems to be helping and we are in no rush to get him on and riding so they'll have plenty of time to make friends until the pony is happy I unfortunately don't have another child rider although I have thought of sending him away but I just feel he wouldn't benefit from being removed from home to somewhere strange having children stuck on him if hes not ready and theres still no gaurantee that once back home he'll except him so I think id rather work at home with him slowly and take him out inhand for a while hes still only a baby having JUST turned 4! x
 
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