Rescue pony

[Ceejay81]

Hello- I am really keen to hear from anyone who has backed a rescue pony- good and bad! We have recently backed a rescue cob, age 12 who has been amazing. She allows my children who are all at different levels to ride her but I can’t help wondering how far we can go with her. She is understandably nervous at times and I don’t quite feel I can fully trust her without me by her side. Thank you in advance.

 

[laura_nash]

My daughters first pony was a rescue who was backed (by the rescue centre) when they got (and gelded) him - best guess around 15 yrs. He was apparently very easy to back and was fine as a lead rein, and pretty bombroof about lots of things like traffic, but I never trusted him enough to get off lead rein as he was still too nervous in some circumstances (e.g. if a man ran towards him, like a jogger, or someone shouted at their dog nearby). It didn't happen often, he was never dangerous, never bucked or anything, and he was far too conflict averse to attempt to get away from the lead rein. He tended to freeze up and shake and would take some time to recover. I always worried if he wasn't on the lead and one of these "triggers" happened he might decide to exit the scene.

TBF though I didn't really have the time to put into him to really work on those issues so he maybe could have got over them, plus my daughter isn't the most confident which didn't help. He unfortunately developed age-related soundness issues just as I was getting to the point of having more time, my daughter was getting older and more interested and I was looking at having to make a proper decision on whether he could take her off lead.

On the plus side he acted much more his real age than his riding age (so to speak) and was more like a normal 15 year old riding pony than a "backed 6 months" riding pony when we got him. He loved getting out and about and was very self-sufficient - couldn't care less about leaving his field-mate - he's the only horse I've known who would stride out going away from home and dawdle on the way back.

 

[Ceejay81]

Hi - thank you for your reply! We could almost be talking about the same pony. She has never done anything “bad” but the understandable nervousness she shows on occasion does make me reluctant to ask too much of her or like you say take her off the lead rein or be too far away! She has though been a delight and in the four months we have had her taught my daughters so much. I wonder if their past ever really leaves them. It’s amazing that they even allow us to ride them. Thank you again for taking the time to reply. X