Pony being bolshy, right thing to do?

K

katymay

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 April 2012
Messages
576
Visit site
beep beep pony, sent other half off to get him from the paddock whilst I was bathing the kids, routine is that I catch him and put his headcoller on with his leadrope over his neck and let him in the long grass for 20 mins whilst I poo pick and move his electric fence, usually then just grab him and off we go for the walk back to the stable, well had a phone call from other half saying the pony was being bolshy, barged through the fence before he put the headcoller on him (OH too trusting I do it before I lower fence!) and when he later tried to catch him he kept turning his behind and double barrelling at OH, it was getting dark so whizzed down in the car, luckily mum was here for the boys, took the lunge whip with me, walked calmly over to him and he bronked and ran off, so followed him cautiously and he did the same, by this point I was seriously cheesed off with his naughtiness and cracked the lunge whip at him, didnt make contact, after he slowed down I walked over again and he turned his back and trotted off so I cracked it again, repeated this until he cantered back in his fenced off paddock snorting at me, put the electric fence back up and OH went straight in and caught him first time! now I dont mind a little bit of not wanting to be caught, lush grass and all that but turning his behind at us is not acceptable, may have been a hasty decision to chase him with the whip but it worked at that moment, what I would like to know is whether there are any better solutions to catching a pony who is being dangerous rather than resort to whips? dont want to use a food bucket as he shouldnt be rewarded for being caught as he knows the routine! thanks in advance
 
Honestly I think you may have done the best you could in the situation - you certainly didn't want to get kicked and you got him where he needed to be. If he's not going to be caught he may not be able to go in the long grass fr a while.

Someone might have a better idea than me though.

Paula
 
Sorry to hear you are still having issues with this pony. I did try and read this but have had a manic day and your post was rather hard to get through.

Anyway..... having read your other posts I really do worry about you, your boys, OH and the pony. It's meant to be a happy experience but it doesn't seem that way for you.

Where are you based? If you are near to me, I will happily come and give you a hand - I have experience with (montrous) ponies, small boys (although mine are somewhat larger now) and non horsey OH. xx
 
He sounds as if he is taking the p, I have just realised who you are:), if you need a hand or possibly boot camp at some point send me a pm as I am not far from you.
Some hard work and probably less grass may be the best thing for him, he may know the "routine" rather too well now and start to push the boundaries so I would stop giving him that time every day just once in a while until he is less opinionated.
 
In the situation I think you did what you had to do, it seems like he was being naughty rather than nervous, and your reaction may have put him off doing it again. Also you certainly don't want him behaving like that with your kids.

I think it might be an idea to just catch him then put him straight into his stable, as he might be bolshy because he wants to get to the long grass in the paddock, rather than because he doesn't want to be caught. Also there is nothing wrong with using food to catch a difficult horse, if it means that you will both be less stressed - I wouldn't want to feed a horse straight after it had been running around and refusing to be caught anyway so would rather catching was a bit more relaxed, if that makes sense.
 
You did what you had to do and it worked so I wouldn't stress about that.

Why are you reluctant to reward good behaviour? Behaviour that is rewarded is reinforced, so I would be tempted to catch him often, reward him and let him go so that he doesn't always associate getting caught with being brought in/worked.
 
I think you did exactly the right thing. Sometimes you have to show them you are really angry with them. I remember being unable to catch my pony once, and in frustration started chasing him round the paddock flicking the lead rope at him. He ran into the stable and waited for me! They do know when they have gone too far.
 
Thanks for replies,
He isnt kept alone anymore, he is turned out with a little shetland x every day and brought home to be stabled at night, he has no issues leaving his field mate and its his field mate that makes the noise when we go home and greets him with a whinney in the morning!
I think on this occasion he was thinking of his belly, he would eat until he popped if given the chance, and as he is only doing about a mile and a half of excercise a day he is kept on a restricted paddock and given hay overnight x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top