Pony with Major Attitiude!!

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Darcy12

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Hi All

I've a 7 yr old, 13' 2" showjumping pony which has competed to JC level. Approx. 9 months ago she injured herself (poll) while jumping. After recovering from the injury she was initially reluctant to jump. I've worked patiently & frequently with her over the last 6 months (going back to basics if you like) but her condition has deterioated rather than improved as she now bucks & rears when I try to get her into canter. Medical checks (including back x-rays / womb scans) have shown nothing, re-schooling only had a temporary benefit. It seems that she has just developed an extremely stubbon attitude. Has anyone else had a similar experience? What could I do next?!!
 
Have you tried turning away for a couple of months? Seven isn't very old, so maybe a short break from any pressure would be good. Start to introduce ground work sessions and maybe just hack out at walk and trot until she's totally chilled with life.

Our Little Lad (13hh, 12 years, Welsh x) turned of from humans thanks to his previous life. We effectively turned him away, then reintroduced everything very gradually. Lots of hacking in company and alone, then diddy jumps (six inches). He will still test new riders, but nothing like he used to do and now if he stops at a jump, it's just a stop, it's not like it used to be.
 
Could it be that there is some pain somewhere? I completely appreciate that you have looked into this, but sometimes it's quite difficult to find the source of the problem.
 
This Happened To Our horse. She Hurt Her Tendons and was lame for a few weeks. We broght her back to work and she was so stubborn!!! She was such a safe pony but after she hurt herself she would buck,rear,nap to the gate and refuse fence after fence. We let her out into the field for 1 month. The Next month We brought her back to the arena and let her loose. She Started Sniffing the fences and we put them down to about 6 inches. Eventually she walked over it. Then we realised she was scared of jumping because thats how she hurt her herself! After a while she gained confidence and now she is back in top form! Hope this helps!!:)
 
Hi Mrs Mozart / Scotsmare / Booboos / Showjumpn_star

Thanks for your advice.

We haven't turned her away for any great length of time but we have given her a couple of weeks off here and there. We've also tried to vary the work including hacking out so that shes not getting board. One of the problems is that she is so unpredictable, one day you'll think you're making good progress and the next she'll be horrendous. She can also be like this when tacking up, throwing her head & rearing at times. Does this type of behaviour give any more clues??

We've checked poll, neck & back (physio & vet) but not her legs - could the injury last this long? She's obviouly hurt herself jumping and I believe this has put serious doubts in her mind but how to resolve this? The other problem is that the relationship with her jockey has really suffered, complete lack of trust now.
 
Hi Mrs Mozart

We've had the saddle checked but not by a qualified saddler. The reason for not progressing with this was that she'd previously been fine with the same saddle for at least a year before.
 
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