Pony Misbehaving at Turnout

[BonneMaman]

A lad up our stables has been having some problems with his pony. The pony (13.hh mare) has been behaving very bargy on turnout.

Basically he takes her up to the field whereby she spins round and round him. He has bought a contoller headcollar and faced her towards the hedge but every time he goes to undo it she goes a bit mental and when he eventually gets the headcollar off she shoots off across the field like a racehorse!

Any ideas?

The lad is not huge - about 5ft2in.

 

[stroppy]

Is the pony out everyday? could be over excitment, is there another pony that can go out at the same time that is well beahaved? that may help if pony see's another behaving uit might chill her out, but spring is in the air and everything is a bot on its toes at the moment!!

 

[Booboos]

Sounds like the pony needs a bit more groundwork, preferably when she is not excited about going out to the field. For safety's sake he may want to distract her with a carrot as he takes off the headcollar, what happens after that is the pony's business as long as she doesn't buck or rear on top of the handler!

 

[Dolcé]

I used the badminton herbal treats to cure our very bargy haffy of this. She used to bolt as soon as you opened the gate. I began with giving her a treat as I opened the stable door so she didn't barge out, another as we crossed the yard, to keep her with me. As we entered the field I would turn her and treat, stand for a minute then treat again, take headcollar off then another treat and a rub. It only took her a couple of days to be completely in control as I turned her out, she is very food orientated. I gradually reduced the treats over the next week or so and kept up the one after removing the headcollar for a month or so. The behaviour has never arisen again.