Rehabilitating an abused pony

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horsefixer

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I recently took in a severely traumatised 9 hh pony from a rescue, with the aim of rehabilitating her so that she has a chance of getting a permanent home. She is about 12 years old and has no physical problems. She was found 18 months ago, tied to a tree outside a school in Dublin, being tormented by children and impounded, to be put down. The rescue managed to get her out but have been unable to do anything with her, she wouldn't allow anyone to get within 100 feet of her. She has been with me almost 7 weeks and is now eating (or,to be accurate, "snatching") food from my hand, but is still impossible to catch. I haven't even tried, as I believe she would be further traumatised by any attempt to corner her. But I would like to move her on a bit now as her hooves are in need of trimming and she also has a mild eye infection. So I built a round pen and started "hazing" her 3 days ago. She has taken to this very well and already trots, canters and halts on voice command and is circling closer to me with each session. I had read that the rationale behind hazing is to lead the dance, so that the you are in charge of the "running away", and not the pony, and the end result of this will be that she will eventually come to me of her own accord and then I can start to touch her and get a lead rope on her. I would welcome opinions about this method.
 
Think that would work but as you have the pen how about sitting on the floor, difficult to get lower than a nine hand pony though, and try feeding her from there. may be a bit quicker if you need to get at the eye. needs treating urgently really but do understand your problems. find this usually works.
 
might try that. The hazing instructions said not to bribe them with food but I think I will, anyway...............u have to modify these methods to suit individual ponies i think. Thanks.
 
Well done you for taking her on :-). Sounds like you've made some reat progress so far - poor pony.

When you say 'hazing' do you mean a sort of join-up style like Monty Roberts??

I'd personally stick for as long as I could with the nice quiet offering food, sitting on the floor method BUT as she has taken so long, I'd also bring in another friendly pony and have that in with you, and spend time right on the floor but grooming/feeding the other pony, with a pile of hay next to me, etc - so she can see it's safe. However you are in for the long haul with that one, it could be several more weeks....

If the hazing is Monty Roberts style, I'd be quite nervous of doing it with such an extreme case. She already thinks that she has good reason to believe that you, as a human, are going to make her life horrible - so the 'chasing away' side could be quite detrimental. Obviously, completely depending on the pony, and you know her best and can see how she's reacting.

My own horse is extremely nervous and he used to be trained by a guy who did something like what you're describing. He did indeed react well as in he would walk/trot/canter on command, but he was doing it in an incredibly tense/fearful way. The slower approach of just spending time with him was what changed him.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on - do post whatever you decide and do updates! Pics?
 
No, the hazing is not Monty Roberts style, I've never been a fan. I just stand in the middle of the pen, with my hands behind my back, while she trots around me. If she attempts to stop and graze all I do is say "trot on" and move my feet, no hand signals or chasing. She is already making her circles smaller and I allow that. Can't see the point of chasing her away when my goal is to get her to come to me..:-) She is absolutely petrified of people, so the fact that she takes food from my hand is amazing and I'm not about to discourage any attempts to get closer to me. I might try bringing in another pony as you suggest....I have 3 others to choose from..:-) 2 of them are also rescues but they are very people friendly by this stage. As for pics, I created a FB page for this pony called Frances' Story, so that ppl could follow her progress and hopefully when she is ready one of those ppl will want her. You can find it here if u want to see how she's getting along https://www.facebook.com/francesshetland?ref=hl
 
Oh ok, that sounds sensible. Interesting, never heard that term before. Sounds like you're doing a great job - poor pony. Well done you! I've liked your page and will be interested to see how you get on, good luck and do keep posting.

I love that one of your ponies is called SuperMario, that's awesome.
 
I'm still working on the boots, one of them keeps coming off and, despite numerous adjustments I can't seem to fix the problem. However, I shall persevere. God loves a trier. Today his feet are much better, the rain has softened the soles so I've been able to pare off alot of dead material. Hopefully I won't suddenly see a coffin bone peeking out at me.....LOL. Glad you are enjoying the page, it's great fun..:-)
 
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