Pony hates yard owner

Kirstd33 said:
This situation goes from bad to worse, as YO has just called me to say that she cannot even catch him in his stable to turn him out this morning :( literally working at school worried sick, I cant get there till after school so have advised her to leave him in with plenty of hay and water and I'll get there ASAP. I'm going to get the vet out to check him over and then come up with a plan of action to turn him away 24/7.
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I'd bet good money on the YO having beaten or otherwise harmed your pony. Horses /ponies aren't stupid and they don't act like this for no reason.
I had this done to one of my horses and the bitch was even proud of herself when she told me what she was doing to him!

I think you need to move the pony ASAP I'm afraid.
 
nagblagger said:
Sounds like your pony is scared of her if he is trying to get away from her.
He will be ok in the stable for a day, so try not to worry. I would love to know what has been happening when you are not there, maybe i'm just too suspicious.
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This with bells on. His behavior is becoming worse and it's for a reason. If he won't even come to her in the stable then he is terrified of her for some reason. Please please look elsewhere for the sake of your horse.
 
To be fair horses sometimes get settled in a routine and it’s not necessarily that the YO has done anything wrong when catching in. I had one that I whistled and she came running, my partner laughed and said she was quicker at recall than the dogs.
Then when I had asked YO to bring her in she wouldn’t let him catch her at all and I know that he would never maltreat her.

However in OP case then not letting YO near it in the stable is concerning.
 
I am afraid I agree with others, I think your YO has either done something and frightened your pony or for whatever reason, doesn’t want him on the yard. You have not had any problems with your pony since you got him. The fact the whole yard has become involved suggests it’s possibly one of those toxic places you might be better leaving. Remember - just because she’s a yard owner does not necessarily mean she is widely experienced, or good at the job. Many years ago, I had a pony ruined by an instructor who was schooling him once a week for me. His behaviour became awful and one day someone from the yard called me and I had one of those “I think you should know what’s happening” conversations…. I won’t go into details but suffice to say, she ruined the pony. Now older and wiser, I have learnt to trust my own judgement. Trust yours. You love your pony and he sounds like he likes you. I would move at the very least stop her handling him, and I would be out looking for a field to take him too. Good luck, I hope you can resolve this ….
 
I was thinking about this thread yesterday afternoon. I narrowly missed getting bitten by my neighbours' dog who hates me with a passion. He is friendly with everyone else, even the post lady! I have known him from 8 weeks old & never shown him anything but kindness.
In this case I think it's because he is not very sociable with other dogs & I smell of male dog! A stranger to the situation might well look & presume I have abused him somehow.
 
So I finally made the decision yesterday to change him to being out 24/7 on grass livery, told the YO who was pleased and then the storm started! We got wet as otters pockets preparing the field by taping half off so he’s next to but not yet in with 2 mates and then the heavens opened and the wind started. So back into his stable he went for the night. The plan is for YO to take him down there this afternoon when it blows over. I now have even more questions about things as he’s had a stable and been on the yard since I bought him.

Firstly rugging he’s currently bib clipped and has a selection of rugs from a sheet to a good 150g rug - is this enough?
Feeding - he will have ad-lib hay in the form of a round bale weekly and he was also getting a handful of happy hoof and speedibeet for his vitamin E and joint supplement - is this ok to take him out the field to give him in a bucket. The field is a good 5 min walk from the yard so when I’m at work fern time he will only come up to the yard 4 days/week
Checking - another livery will check once daily and I will check once daily also after work
Riding - will only be 3-4 hacks a week now for the foreseeable until it’s light enough to ride in the evening.
I’ve bought him a field safe head collar to be turned out in so if there are any probs catching him in the new bigger field.

In view of his behaviour changes he’s having the vet out this week for a check over and also has the dentist planned for Friday even though he was done 6 months ago.
 
Kirstd33 said:
So I finally made the decision yesterday to change him to being out 24/7 on grass livery, told the YO who was pleased and then the storm started! We got wet as otters pockets preparing the field by taping half off so he’s next to but not yet in with 2 mates and then the heavens opened and the wind started. So back into his stable he went for the night. The plan is for YO to take him down there this afternoon when it blows over. I now have even more questions about things as he’s had a stable and been on the yard since I bought him.

Firstly rugging he’s currently bib clipped and has a selection of rugs from a sheet to a good 150g rug - is this enough? It should be, but just keep an eye on him. It may be too much. A bib clip won't really make much difference to his body heat, it just helps if they get sweaty while ridden.
Feeding - he will have ad-lib hay in the form of a round bale weekly and he was also getting a handful of happy hoof and speedibeet for his vitamin E and joint supplement - is this ok to take him out the field to give him in a bucket. The field is a good 5 min walk from the yard so when I’m at work fern time he will only come up to the yard 4 days/week Yes if he needs it
Checking - another livery will check once daily and I will check once daily also after work
Riding - will only be 3-4 hacks a week now for the foreseeable until it’s light enough to ride in the evening.
I’ve bought him a field safe head collar to be turned out in so if there are any probs catching him in the new bigger field.

In view of his behaviour changes he’s having the vet out this week for a check over and also has the dentist planned for Friday even though he was done 6 months ago.
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Definitely bring him out of the field for a feed. Monitor his weight and then adjust his feed and/or rug depending.

Can he be left in his stable and you walk him down to the grass livery field later after work? It makes me a little uncomfortable the YO taking him out.

He'll be moving more being out 24/7 so the exercise plan should work OK for him. Again just monitor his weight and behaviour and adjust his hard feed accordingly.

Are you still going to look for somewhere else? although it sounds like the YO will have little contact with him once he is out. Good that you can buddy up with another livery and share duties.
 
Kirstd33 said:
Yes, she has 2 of her own that are very placid, forgiving creatures and she handles another liveries pony there almost daily with no issue. I would say she has a brusque, no nonsense, time short manner that the others don't object to. Mine appreciates a soft word, a quick neck scratch and no sudden or loud movements. I am going to do some more ground work and leading practice though as i understand anyone should be able to handle him. Feeling very despondent over it and wondering whether he's not a keeper.
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Some people who have perhaps handled horses for years have terrible horsemanship, and her stiff stance, body language and anger will be seen by a pony before they even get near to them.
If they are not willing to learn its their problem, they will be even more annoyed that you can catch it, I think you pay someone who does get along with it to bring it in and let no one else handle it, or move.
I used to have a loan brood mare who was absolutey petrified of people, when you did catch her she would stand and tremble. As she lived with other brood mares I would catch them and just let her follow on behind to the stable yard, but I realise this is not possible for everyone, and it took two years before she trusted me enough to catch her in the field.
I worry that your ponies barging will become ingrained and and the cycle has to be broken. I would try and find someone who is a softy, you can be firm but fair, to work with the pony, so it realises not every human is a potential threat. Trying to teach people to be lose around a stressed animal is hard, again less has more effect, it may be something simple like they are hanging on to their heads, with too short a lead rope. What do people do when they smack a pony, they hold it close and tight.
As a child I rode on a very rough dealing yard, and the amount of people that think something needs a beating to'sort it out' and the animal just learns another way to not comply, not being caught or turning the bum in the stable are classic signs.
 
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Could you keep your stable to bring him into for an hour or so for a feed, rug changing and a check over? As far as I can see, the only things that will change will be that he's in a different field and he doesn't HAVE to come in so I don't really see why you can't still pay for your stable?

I doubt you'll need warmer rugs but you may need spares so you can swap them if they get soaked.
 
Nothing much to add as I agree with what has already been said. But just to be clear, I agree with dorsetladette I would be much happier if YO no longer handles him at all, can you manage to take him down to the field yourself? How was he with YO when you were there? Is he still flying around the stable to get away from her?

Is your stable still available to you or has YO by any chance already got someone lined up for it?;)
 
Just another update for everyone, I had a half day so had a lovely pony afternoon, my gorgeous boy galloped over to see me when I arrived practically out his head collar on himself, led like a lamb up to the yard from where we had a lovely chilled hour hack and then he had a feed ad went back to his new field with no probs. It feels like I have my old pony back so far so good. And yes the stable has been given to another full livery! Oh well I’m just glad to have my chilled boy back, just one question….feeding. After a ride him he had a big handful of happy hoof, is this enough for him now he’s out 24/7? He does have a lot of by in the field also?
 
Kirstd33 said:
Just another update for everyone, I had a half day so had a lovely pony afternoon, my gorgeous boy galloped over to see me when I arrived practically out his head collar on himself, led like a lamb up to the yard from where we had a lovely chilled hour hack and then he had a feed ad went back to his new field with no probs. It feels like I have my old pony back so far so good. And yes the stable has been given to another full livery! Oh well I’m just glad to have my chilled boy back, just one question….feeding. After a ride him he had a big handful of happy hoof, is this enough for him now he’s out 24/7? He does have a lot of by in the field also?
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Yes that will be fine. If he has access to ad-lib hay he might not need the HH. Just monitor his weight.
 
Kirstd33 said:
Just another update for everyone, I had a half day so had a lovely pony afternoon, my gorgeous boy galloped over to see me when I arrived practically out his head collar on himself, led like a lamb up to the yard from where we had a lovely chilled hour hack and then he had a feed ad went back to his new field with no probs. It feels like I have my old pony back so far so good. And yes the stable has been given to another full livery! Oh well I’m just glad to have my chilled boy back, just one question….feeding. After a ride him he had a big handful of happy hoof, is this enough for him now he’s out 24/7? He does have a lot of by in the field also?
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I am so pleased to read this update for you and your pony. How quickly this has turned around since the change of living arrangements. 🤔

The rapid improvement in your pony says so much to me about this yard and your YO. I would still be actively looking for livery elsewhere with stabling, as I am quite convinced your pony would settle elsewhere and be no more trouble at a new yard if he is being handled by sympathetic and experienced staff.

At least you now have your old pony back and plenty of time to look at other alternatives if you choose to do so.🙂
 
And the moral of this story is "Don't doubt yourself". You know your pony best - even if you have not had him all that long - and if he behaves well for you, you are obviously doing everything right for him. Just because other people might "know more" about the horse world doesn't make them relate any better or worse to an individual horse.

Well done you!!
 
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