Pony behavior?

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Breagha

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Looking for some ideas regarding my daughters pony. The Pony is now 6, we got her in December 2023, so had her almost a year and a half.

My daughter is only 6 and they have done so much together.....but she can be quirky and we think worse when in season.

So, this pony will walk, trot and canter around behind another pony all day long, however, occasionally when it comes to do things on her own, she will walk, trot slowly and canter can be hard to get. She will nap, buck and stop and kick out her back leg (only when having to do things on her own).

We've had the vet to her, physio, Saddler, farrier etc. We scanned her ovaries and there was no issues but as she gets more sensitive when in season, we decided go put her on regumate.

My daughter is getting stronger everyday to try and work through these episodes but need some ideas on how else to help.

If I ride my horse at the same time, she can nap towards her as well. (They share a paddock).

P.s we have had another rider on and she will still have these episodes.

Thanks
Frustrated mum!
 
Some ponies aren't confident alone, as she's still young it may take her time to develop her confidence away from other horses.
If you can get her working in the school with other horses and gradually work up to doing more independent work rather than following another she hopefully will improve as she learns to be more independent and also to trust her handler.
 
Thanks - we do this at home and obviously at pony club. She's done showing as well which she is really forward going in the go around.

We have been trying working on loads of different things, on her own, with my mate, with others at the yard but we don't have a lot of other horses she can ride with (small school plus big horses who need the space to school).

She is worth her weight in gold in so many other ways, it's hard to know when she is going to play ball and when she isn't.
 
Some ponies come out of the field at backing ready to go it alone, most take time and gradual exposure with a confident jockey, but a proportion of small ponies are seemingly bred to follow. And that is all they will ever do without protest.

Our small pony (under 12hh) experience has gone:
1) Gelding. Lead rein or follow or go first in the arena only. Spooky on his own in the arena though. You want him to hack alone? You have to be super confident because he will spend half of it trying to run home. I sold him on as a LR pony after 2 years here off lead because he is an actual angel on lead, will teach any child to ride, however scared or wobbly they may be. Off lead despite a whole summer solo hacking with a competent rider…he was never really safe.
2) Mare. Marched off down the road solo a few days after backing and never looked back. Hacked alone, went first, wouldn’t know a nap if you hit her with it.
3) Mare. Would go alone in field or arena with confident rider who she felt safe with. Slow though! Would follow like a dream out hacking. Sweet and so very safe and kind. LR/follow on pony. We had a gelding stay briefly who was much the same.
4) Mare. Sassy second pony. Will go on lead but prefers to bomb around the countryside having fun. Spooky if hacking off lead whether in front or behind. Jumps with enormous enthusiasm!
5) Mare. Will go like a dream until she gets bored then naps or ditches the child. Everyone loves her, but my son’s mantra when he was little was ‘Oh no not again!’ As he hit the deck having offended her…again.
6) Mare. Dislikes being on lead but will happily teach a child to come off. Angelic, sweet and likes to be in front.

I have two 12.2hh ponies. One likes to take the lead, the other will do but likes to follow if the option is there!

You have to remember that a pony ridden by an older child can take their confidence from the rider. Little ones can’t. It takes a special pony to be able to take charge alone and look after the child. They need to be adults themselves with some experience with an older child on board to teach them.
 
maya2008 said:
Some ponies come out of the field at backing ready to go it alone, most take time and gradual exposure with a confident jockey, but a proportion of small ponies are seemingly bred to follow. And that is all they will ever do without protest.

Our small pony (under 12hh) experience has gone:
1) Gelding. Lead rein or follow or go first in the arena only. Spooky on his own in the arena though. You want him to hack alone? You have to be super confident because he will spend half of it trying to run home. I sold him on as a LR pony after 2 years here off lead because he is an actual angel on lead, will teach any child to ride, however scared or wobbly they may be. Off lead despite a whole summer solo hacking with a competent rider…he was never really safe.
2) Mare. Marched off down the road solo a few days after backing and never looked back. Hacked alone, went first, wouldn’t know a nap if you hit her with it.
3) Mare. Would go alone in field or arena with confident rider who she felt safe with. Slow though! Would follow like a dream out hacking. Sweet and so very safe and kind. LR/follow on pony. We had a gelding stay briefly who was much the same.
4) Mare. Sassy second pony. Will go on lead but prefers to bomb around the countryside having fun. Spooky if hacking off lead whether in front or behind. Jumps with enormous enthusiasm!
5) Mare. Will go like a dream until she gets bored then naps or ditches the child. Everyone loves her, but my son’s mantra when he was little was ‘Oh no not again!’ As he hit the deck having offended her…again.
6) Mare. Dislikes being on lead but will happily teach a child to come off. Angelic, sweet and likes to be in front.

I have two 12.2hh ponies. One likes to take the lead, the other will do but likes to follow if the option is there!

You have to remember that a pony ridden by an older child can take their confidence from the rider. Little ones can’t. It takes a special pony to be able to take charge alone and look after the child. They need to be adults themselves with some experience with an older child on board to teach them.
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Hi, Thanks for the reply.

The Pony was backed in the September before we got her and has never been on the lead. She will hack out and isn't spooky in anyway shape or form. If I am walking out a hack, my daughter and pony can go out of sight in front of me.

It's hard to find a decent lightweight rider to get on the Pony as she's only 11'2/3.
 
Breagha said:
Hi, Thanks for the reply.

The Pony was backed in the September before we got her and has never been on the lead. She will hack out and isn't spooky in anyway shape or form. If I am walking out a hack, my daughter and pony can go out of sight in front of me.

It's hard to find a decent lightweight rider to get on the Pony as she's only 11'2/3.
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So she has had little experience in practical terms with a rider who can give her confidence and push her to succeed when she has a wobble. I would recommend you long rein her - she is then out in front and on her own with someone who can give her the confidence to face her fears behind.
 
maya2008 said:
So she has had little experience in practical terms with a rider who can give her confidence and push her to succeed when she has a wobble. I would recommend you long rein her - she is then out in front and on her own with someone who can give her the confidence to face her fears behind.
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September 2023.

My daughter has done a lot on her in the almost 1 1/2. They've done things on their on but she picks and chooses when she wants to do it.

I do long rein and lunge her and she won't put a foot out of line for me.
 
Breagha said:
September 2023.

My daughter has done a lot on her in the almost 1 1/2. They've done things on their on but she picks and chooses when she wants to do it.

I do long rein and lunge her and she won't put a foot out of line for me.
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Pony was backed at 4 and had 3 months with a competent child to lay the groundwork, build confidence etc. You then bought them for your then 4 year old child, presumably without there being any issues on viewing. Now your child wants to do more, but pony has picked up some bad habits through being unsure at times (or annoyed perhaps by a young child’s mistakes) and having a young child rider who could not help them as they needed. That is unfortunately the risk when you pair a just backed pony with a young child. Once they know an evasion and it’s not dealt with instantly and repeatedly, it will appear when unsure/fed up. My Shetland hadn’t run to the gate in many years when she went out on loan. Younger, less competent child? Off she went within a week. I had warned them!

Your only choice now is to teach the child to ride them through it. If she rides the pony through it and succeeds each time, it should diminish in frequency. Look at her riding too though - kids grow and become wobbly, their hands become unsteady or they flap around with their legs - check your child is not accidentally annoying the pony whenever pony says they’re not happy. My kids definitely went through phases where I 100% got the pony’s point!

In the long term, she’ll be a better rider for it. I hope you get it fixed soon!
 
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I think why there is often first ridden and lead rein is a lot of lead rein become very used to the comfort blanket of a human or they are following others in a basic manner. It’s why I see a lot
of saintly lead reins who don’t make first ridden when the child wants to become more independent. How food orientated are they? I think I would start clicker training and in very small steps so you can reward the positive and try to avoid escalating the behaviour as the pony is already saying I am uncomfortable about being on my own and if you carry on ignoring it and essentially going for bullying then it will escalate. I would look to add the pony onto a lunge line so you can distance yourself gradually and yet still train some life line if needed.
In your boat I would start in the yard/arena and ask daughter to ride away from you maybe 20m and if it’s good click and reward. From there you just keep building it up gradually and clicking when you have the behaviour you want. All done in walk. I also find circles really helpful on horses who lack confidence so would be building that in.
Small circles and then asking to go forwards with a click when they do. I would also be teaching your daughter the voice aid probably with a small schooling whip to tap and back up the leg for forwards as their legs are not often long enough so they end up flapping. Lots you can do but it takes a lot of time and you will need to be patient but should see a good result in a month or two.
 
Tbh what you are seeing is really to be expected from a young green pony combined with a young green rider.

It might be worth your while getting the pony educated a couple of times a week by a tiny adult. Then just stage managing a bit, what is expected from pony while daughter is riding.
 
ihatework said:
Tbh what you are seeing is really to be expected from a young green pony combined with a young green rider.

It might be worth your while getting the pony educated a couple of times a week by a tiny adult. Then just stage managing a bit, what is expected from pony while daughter is riding.
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It's hard to find anyone lightweight enough to get on her regularly. We have been looking/trying.
 
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