Summer update for anyone following the saga!

catembi

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As is the way with horses, it's been pretty much ups & downs.

The 'herd' has settled - if I bundle Tiffany the New Forest & Florence the Shetland into a stable together, they don't neigh while I'm out hacking. Summer is hacking v nicely alone, last time out only neighed once instead of once every 5 seconds (yes, seriously...!) and doesn't care at all about things like enormous tractor with telehandler on the front speeding towards us in a narrow road, lorry full of roof trusses, etc.

The massive crack in her foot is growing out nicely & she's sound. Barefoot & rock crunching.

The shiver is proving to be very slight, & I'm doing her feet pretty much normally, but keeping the back ones v close to the ground.

We hacked out last Sunday to try out the route to Keysoe EC. We did about 10k according to mapmyrun, including several canters and a bit of a gallop. She didn't put a foot wrong, especially since it's the first time we'd been that way. Then when we got home, she blotted her copybook by biting me extremely hard. Thank goodness I had a thick fluffy fleece jacket on or she would have removed a lump of flesh. She properly grabbed & held on, and my entire upper arm is black & blue, with teeth marks, and even through the fleece coat she has torn off some skin. FFS...!!!

O/h wants me to sell her, & tbh having been kicked in the face & bitten hard and on purpose, it's hard to keep making excuses for her. BUT it depends on how she jumps. I've jumped her in my improvised jumping lane at home up to about 3 ft, and there is plenty of scope & power, but I'm not very safe in a dr saddle. A friend took a mini video of us jumping. He sent it to me on messenger & if anyone can explain to me how to get it off messenger & onto here, I'll post it! :)

I am hoping to hack to Keysoe at the w'end & do a polework/jumping lesson, and we will see how we go. Maybe borrow a jumping saddle from a friend up there. Once we've started jumping properly & seen what she can do, I can decide. If she's going to affiliate easily, I will keep her & be very careful of where her teeth & feet are at all times. If she's not, I will sell her as a MW hunter. She was sold to me as having hunted in Ireland. I have a fair sized ditch on my property & she jumped that, even the first time, without a care in the world, so I would say she probably HAS hunted. I think it's all ditches in Ireland out hunting?

And I tried her in a hackamore up the field & she went nuts, so that's a no. Might wait til I've got my arena at home & then experiment with the other types of bitless bridle.

So, yeah. We are about to start the planning process for stable block & arena; going to get a lorry the week after next, having had a few false starts; hanging on til pay day & am then getting a jumping saddle if it looks as if we're going to need one! Little by little, I'm getting back in the game!
 

Rowreach

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That crack is growing out well!

I expect she has been put over a lot of drains over here, they'll be second nature to her. That and tunnelling her way through hedges out hunting probably, so I doubt bullfinches would be a problem either!

I hope your arm isn't too sore - deliberate full-on bites are not funny. You are now having to watch out for both ends!
 

SpringArising

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I'm really pleased things are currently going well.

One thing I will say is please don't put yourself in danger and keep making excuse after excuse. I made the mistake of doing that with my old horse (and many others...) and I ended up having some really nasty times. It's not worth it and although it might not feel like it when you have one disaster purchase after the other, there are horses out there with the whole package!
 

catembi

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Oh dear, I'm not very good at pictures!

She kind-of has an excuse for biting. They were all turned out, then she came back to say hello. I got a handful of grass nuts & was standing behind the fence giving them one each in turn. I was just reaching out to give the last one to Florence when Summer struck. So, yeah, shouldn't have been feeding treats. But even so, she probably shouldn't have nearly taken my arm off.
 

catembi

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Yeah! The picture doesn't really do it justice. There is a complete circle of very black bruising which comes out disappointingly badly in the photo. Thank goodness I had the thick fleece! I was dithering about what to wear & nearly went for the thin one, & if I had, I think we'd have had another trip to A&E.
 

Fiona

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Yikes cat :0 that looks sore.....

Where you doing anything particular with her when it happened??

If you copy your messenger video off onto your phone, then you can put it on HHO in the normal way (I've just been using fb to host my pics)....

Fiona
 

Fiona

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Sorry I've just read your latest reply....

When we went to try my son's LR pony, the ladies son was eating crisps, and as I patted the pony he lunged and nearly bit my finger in two.

However once we had a treat embargo, he never did it again.

Hubby's mare has also connected with him by mistake, when she's actually been trying to bite the pony tied up beside her.

FIona
 

Fiona

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I've got a Samsung phone, and when you hold your finger on the pic or video in messenger it offers options, one of which is save to device. Or if you open video full screen and there are 3 vertical dots in top right corner, click on them, and it will give the same options....

Iphone I'm not familiar with

Fiona
 

tda

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Few good points and a few bad!
If she can perform as you want, stay sound, then if, and only if you can change your whole way of handing to stay safe from feet and teeth then j would probably keep her.
Was just following a post on another forum about a pony that bites, it was a loan and it has now been sent back as the lady seemed to think it would learn not to bite with time (not food related) but I disagree, it is a permanent thing and What is the point. Of putting yourself in harms way. Should always be short tied when handling, when enterjng stable etc, and never ever trust the horse again x
 

ElleSkywalker

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I don't think I'd be too concerned about the bite as there was an explanation for it, ie the treats. Yes bad mannered of her but easily avoidable.

My sweet as pie NF pony once chomped me super hard on the kidneys. Bite looked very similar to yours and as it faded had teeth marks in it too. She did it because I was milk testing her (Which I'd done many times before and after) and I didn't give her the same warning as usual and took her by surprise. I've owned her since 6 months old and she's never bitten me before or since and as I knew the reason behind it although a nasty shock at the time was not something I've been worried about since as I knew how to avoid upsetting :)

Fingers crossed for you both on weekend 😀
 

F&B

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My first pony many years ago was very insecure around food. You couldn't rug him up or groom him whilst he was eating. I once dropped an apple that I was about to give him in the field, when I went to pick it up for him he flew at me teeth baring. Other than that though he had so many good points and I loved him to bits. He was completely bomb proof & I would have ridden him down the M6 if I had to! He stayed with me until the end of his days.
 

Myloubylou

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Owwww! Need to put arnica on that to take bruising down. My little mare isn’t that trustworthy yet but is getting bit more respectful.
 

CavaloBranco

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As Tiddlypom said, IDs are notorious for food obsession! Mine has never bitten but I only give a treat after a schooling session. He knows that it never happens outside of that. He is quite possessive of his food and always checks his stable out for hay when he comes in! I don't ever feed my 2 in the field, I'm sure he would be aggressive to my older horse so I'm even reluctant to put hay out.
You seem to be doing so well with your mare, being good in traffic is a major plus...
 

Asha

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Poor you catembi , that looks very sore . My IDs do love their food, but would never dream of bitting . The only time we have had an issue with aggression around food was wii my mare . She had only been with us a few weeks , I was putting hay out in the field , and she ran at me , and reared . So I ran at her with the wheel barrow , she clearly didn’t expect that . She’s been amazing since. You do need to nip this behaviour in th bud .
 

southerncomfort

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Lots of good advice above.

What I would say is that when our new pony kicked me badly in the leg I had lots of differing opinions. My family all said he was dangerous and I should sell him before he seriously injured me etc.

The problem is that those close to us understandably over react and can take isolated incidents and blow them out of proportion because they care about us.

I think you need to ask people to give you a bit of space and time to decide how YOU feel about her. Do you like her? Are you worried by her behaviour? Does she have the potential to take you where you want to go? Are you able and willing to change how you handle her to take in to account of her foibles? Or is she just seeming like way to much work right now?

In my case, I can see that their is a cracking little pony in there and he deserves a chance to show us how good he can be. I'm going to give him until next Spring and then re-evaluate.

I hope you can work things out with her but ultimately it's your decision to make. :)
 

maya2008

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I would work on her manners and assume no proper teaching of how to behave nicely on the ground has taken place. She sounds a sweet mare, so her appearing to be good may just be her nature rather than actual training. Whether you sell her or not, that needs to happen!

One of mine was a biting, kicking bully when we got her (she actually meant it and did it to get control). With consistent handling and telling off, she was fine within six months. Even now, sick and needing a lot of foot care, I just need to remind her to behave and she does. My friend's Irish import has needed similar training - arrived with no manners and thuggish tendencies!!
 

Mule

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That's a very nasty bruise, whatever prompted it, there's no excuse imo. Will you ever be able to trust her? Will you enjoy her? I understand you want to make the best of things but don't feel you have to stick with her if she continues being unpredictable.

ETA, she'll have jumped stone walls hunting in Ireland.

I just read back my post and I realise I sound quite negative, I just think she has inflicted far too many injuries on you in such a short period of time.
 
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only_me

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Ouch! That looks v painful! I’d chalk it up to the treats though.

She’ll have jumped drains, hedges, gates, walls and probably wire too if has hunted in Ireland. Billy’s first hunt ride as a 4 year old we jumped pallets/wire/ditches/hedges/banks (the smaller versions) - so she’s probably pretty good jumping country!

I’d just be careful of getting feet and teeth but just do strict handling etc, she’s probably used to being treated minimally but with strict boundaries.
 

MyBoyChe

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Ouch!! I think it depends whether her ability to do her job is more important to you than her temperament/behaviour. Are you going to be happier with a horse that you cant 100% trust than a horse that is a genuinely nice person but not up to the level of competition you want to achieve. I know it would be lovely to have one horse that does both, but that could take you a while to find and until you get to know them a bit you cant be sure they will do either. If its only you handling her and you can alter your behaviour aound her to take account of her "quirks" and are confident to do so, I would stick with her a bit longer and see how she works out in her ridden work, then decide whether she is the horse for you. Do stay safe though, keeping an eye on teeth and hooves at the same time is a skill!
 

MotherOfChickens

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jeez catembi-having been bitten very badly (twice by different horses, neither of which were mine) I'd not want to deal with it personally. I know accidents on the ground happen at both ends but they are pretty rare where I come from in a normal family horse. plenty of horses good with tractors that wouldnt dream of doing that, treats or not. my current pony is an ornery beast around food to the other one but he's always careful of me.
 

Clodagh

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I don't think you can blame her for either of those occurences. I am strongly anti treats around horses, especially ones from Ireland who have probably known hunger and tend to get food obsessed. She may well have been trying to bite the other horse, to get the food.
And a horse with a shiver will really struggle to hold their feet up and no one saw what happened, she was probalby not being nasty at all.
 

catembi

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Thank you all for your input! I agree that I can’t blame her for the kick as it was 100% shiver. When the behaviouralist was holding her back feet up with a soft rope, I could stand back and watch and it was totally shiver. I can do her feet fine provided that I treat her like I did my stringhalt ID, holding low to the ground. I am also getting the hang of positioning myself in the tucked in position.

The bite...I think it more likely than not that she was going for Florence but latched onto me almost by mistake. I have stopped kissing her on the nose! I think that she is more of a great lump with no manners than properly vicious. She does try to be affectionate. We will see where we are when we start jumping properly!
 

Cinnamontoast

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Hmm. I know my straight from Ireland horse didn’t have a clue what treats were when he arrived, had to be force fed a polo! Maybe she is insecure around food, maybe she was going for the other horse, but that is a serious bite. If you’d been in summer clothing, that would have looked like my leg!

Having been bitten by a friend’s pony, I’d be very wary round her now. It bloody hurt and I’d half skipped out of the way when she snatched at me.
 

Mule

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Thank you all for your input! I agree that I can’t blame her for the kick as it was 100% shiver. When the behaviouralist was holding her back feet up with a soft rope, I could stand back and watch and it was totally shiver. I can do her feet fine provided that I treat her like I did my stringhalt ID, holding low to the ground. I am also getting the hang of positioning myself in the tucked in position.

The bite...I think it more likely than not that she was going for Florence but latched onto me almost by mistake. I have stopped kissing her on the nose! I think that she is more of a great lump with no manners than properly vicious. She does try to be affectionate. We will see where we are when we start jumping properly!
Hopefully she is a just a lump with no manners, lumps can be trained. Her hoof is looking much better.
 
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