Retraining a polo pony

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Busybee16

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I have just got an expolo pony on loan and I am hoping to event her this summer. She is a crosscountry machine but when it comes to dressage she won't accept my contact. I am against all training methods that force the horses head in but any advice would be much appreciated. 😊
NB. She is a highly strung thoroughbred 😂
 
I have retrained numerous thoroughbreds with this issue (many for eventing) and i never force the head down; takes approx 4-6 weeks for nice soft contact in all three paces (though may be up to 12 weeks if real probs in canter). Not much room to put the method here but: firstly - eggbutt snaffle with loose noseband.
Start on ground, walk circle and take up light contact on outside - keep contact at all times regardless of what horse does (must have sensitive hands to follow head tossing etc.). When horse accepts consistent contact plus stops and turns from rein aids without overreacting, then get on.
Choose easiest rein (one most likely to take an outside rein contact - ignore whether bends or not) and ride in small (10m max) circle and take up contact (light) outside rein and open inside rein.
Ignore all other horses reactions except -must go forward, must keep keep contact. Don't worry about bend or anything like that, as you can only teach one thing at a time and these come easily once contact established. Can use seat and size of circle to control speed.
Repeat endless times until good at walk on both reins (1-2 weeks?? but depends on horse - some only 1-2 days some longer). Use outside hand for consistent contact and brakes. Use inside hand for softening. Outside contact must be very consistent - i loop fingers through a neck strap to start with to ensure this. (recommend standing martingale if horse shows extreme reactions, just to protect your face)
Then repeat in trot (no jumping etc. till fixed). Need to give reins completely for transitions (1-2 strides) to start with.
This is a very brief description of the method i use (and a lot of it is by feel, as the horse also needs to learn the basic aids during this process) but it has worked on every TB i have used it on, and I have just done a Warmblood for someone else that:) violently reacted to contact following a bit injury (not from its current owner!)
Hope this helps.
 
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might be a good idea to try a double or a pelham with 2 set of reins (although not dressage legal it would give you an idea of how she goes in a bit with shanks). You could then ride her off a loose curb rein (that's how the French classical dressage masters used to do it :)). I am not super experienced in polo ponies but I have ridden a few and they all had a high level of dressage training and could do canter pirouettes and such but were ridden off of what would be a loose curb. They work a lot from the seat too, although you wouldn't want to put your legs forward to slow down in dressage, the horse might get used to something more subtle like putting the heel a bit more forward.
 
Thank you but I'm a softie when it comes to bits and I wont ride in anything harsher than a snaffle but thank you anyway😊
 
Busybee16 said:
Thank you but I'm a softie when it comes to bits and I wont ride in anything harsher than a snaffle but thank you anyway😊
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I know it gets said a lot but it's not the bit that's harsh, it's the hands. A snaffle can be very harsh, particularly a single jointed snaffle as if your hands come close together it forms a point that pokes the palate. But overall a snaffle will be moving around and applying more pressure than a straight bar curb used with a loose rein to control the collection and the seat used for transitions/changes of directions. What I am saying is that she might be better trained than you think (purely speculative from the polo ponies I have rode that would not need retraining to do prelim/novice tests, just aids applied slightly differently).
 
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