Taming a wild pony please help

[Luna Tallulah]

I have just rescued a bodmin moor filly which is arriving in a few days, She was hand reared as a foal but then turned back out onto the moor. Im going to keep her in the barn until im able to handle her but looking for any advice or experience of taming wild ponys, this is a first for me i've always had horses already broken in and ready to go, obviously i know there wont be any riding in the next 4-5 years but any handling, grooming general care advice would be great.
Thank you x

 

[fidleyspromise]

Get a copy of Sarah Weston's book, "No Fear, No Force: A Guide to Handling and Training Semi-feral Foals"
Do you have anyone experienced to help you?

 

[FinkleyAlex]

Do you have other horses? Treat her like a foal - I would chuck her in a field and get her used to observing you regularly interact with other horses near her so she sees you aren't a threat. Get her intrigued. Remember her flight instinct will be more than what you're used to with a normal horse. You could try taking in piles of hay so she associates you with food (positive reinforcement) then over time once she doesn't feel threatened by you you can try and make contact with her and get her used to being touched. I personally think a wild horse in a stable is asking for trouble - she will feel threatened and confined and is more likely to be on guard.

 

[Luna Tallulah]

Get a copy of Sarah Weston's book, "No Fear, No Force: A Guide to Handling and Training Semi-feral Foals"
Do you have anyone experienced to help you?

Great i'll get a copy, me and a froend share some land and we have 5 horses between us x

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I tend to agree with giving her company asap, it would be helpful if you can get a light foal slip [breakable] on with a short loop for catching. She will need wormed, probably Pancur, and this may be the only opportunity for months.

 

[Luna Tallulah]

Shes in a cow shed at the minute with a few other yearlings next to the cows, my only worry with letting her go was not being being able to catch her again and with 5 other horses around it would be a nightmare, my mare is very dominant so would worry that she'd scare her off completely if they managed to get in with each other so soon. The barn is quite big probably 5 times bigger than a stable and she'll be able to see outside so i thought this would be my best bet for a few days until i can get a safety head collar on her x

 

[Luna Tallulah]

I have a miniture shetland i could maybe put in with her.

 

[paulineh]

I agree with getting Sarah's book and yes if you could turn her out with your Shetland in a field on their own it would be good.

 

[Brightbay]

You might also want to get in touch with Dawn Westcott and have a chat about how she works. She's on Facebook and is very approachble. http://exmoor4all.com/tag/dawn-westcott/

 

[trottingon]

I wouldn't turn her out just yet, you'll never catch her again!
I'd leave her in the barn, let her see the other ponies being handled, and be patient, sit in her stable with hay and let her come to you.
Don't put her in with other ponies, that can happen in a few weeks. Be her main companion, her only friend and the one who provides her with food and water and she'll soon get used to you and being touched by you. Then turn her out in your smallest paddock until you can catch her easily, then consider turning her out with others, and let her make friends with them too.
This is what I did with my unhandled 10 month old colt when I got him, and I've never had a problem catching him, he's now 9yrs old and a well rounded young man.

 

[Dry Rot]

I was at the WHW round up at Dallas. Moray, where they had to sort out 90 semi feral ponies on 2,000 acres which the elderly ownercould no longer manage because of ill health. The WHW were gelding colt foals and yearlings, some of which were sold on.

I had a chat with a girl there and commented that buyers might have their hands full if taking on one of these youngsters. As I've posted on here before, she replied, "Oh, I have one. We were leading him, grooming him, lifting his feet, etc. within a week". She then added, "...but I did move into the stable with him!"

So there you go. Nothing can remain frightened forever.

 

[Sprout]

Another vote for Sarah Weston - she really is brilliant.

 

[fawaz]

Don't try and force a head collar on him/her, it will happen in the ponies own time and you won't be starting your relationship in fear. Just put in a small yard/stable/pen and just let the pony get use to being around. Have a sensible friend with the pony. Set up a routine where you go in to feed and stick around while they eat moving around the horses quietly picking poo/cleaning the quiet horses feet or grooming.
Crouch down near the pony when it is almost finished eating and look away/down. Stay in position till the pony finishes eating and moves away then leave. Move a little closer each time you are in there. Aim to do this 2-3 times a day and be at a distance where the pony is undecided if it should stay or walk off. Move closer as the pony becomes comfortable with your presence. Once you are close and the pony is inquisitively touching you quietly attempt to reach out and scratch its neck or shoulder. Once you get to the scratches your pretty much in!
Stand up a little while scratching bit by bit and work on touching a little more of the pony each time. You will get to the point where you can put your arms around pony with out it moving away. I then work on guiding the pony around with my arm around its neck/chest. This will help to teach it to walk on a lead. Introduce the head collar once you can touch all over ponys face. slip over nose and remove several times till pony is comfortable. I never leave a head collar on as it doesn't teach them anything. Once you can get the head collar on and off easily attach a lead.
One hand on lead one around pony's shoulders like you have been practicing gently guide pony around while putting a little pressure on the head collar.
Just slowly keep building on it! It takes me a week to 10 days to be leading really well and be easy to catch. Use scratches as rewards.

 

[fburton]

Get a copy of Sarah Weston's book, "No Fear, No Force: A Guide to Handling and Training Semi-feral Foals"

This is a really super book.

 

[MagicMelon]

I'd keep her in the barn until she was pretty tame around you, then I'd turn her out only in a small paddock (slowly making it bigger over time) so she can't just run off the second you let her out as that'll make things so much harder. I would just spend lots of time with her, just sitting in the corner of the barn and slowly sitting closer to her, eventually she'll wonder over and investigate. Then move on to slowly starting to touch her very gently etc.

 

[Justturnedfifty]

I have just rescued a bodmin moor filly which is arriving in a few days, She was hand reared as a foal but then turned back out onto the moor. Im going to keep her in the barn until im able to handle her but looking for any advice or experience of taming wild ponys, this is a first for me i've always had horses already broken in and ready to go, obviously i know there wont be any riding in the next 4-5 years but any handling, grooming general care advice would be great.
Thank you x

Hi there, I took on a feral pony a couple of years ago that turned out to be an untouched 7 year old Dartmoor Hill pony, which had successfully some how avoided the yearly round up/drift sales! He had been castrated but apart from that experience he was completely untouched. We initially stabled him with a handled pony who encouraged him to eat from a hay net, drink from a bucket and accept a handful of feed again from a bucket. After about 3 weeks we let them into a small paddock, he followed the other pony, and every night he returned with the pony. It took several weeks to get near him, but we started with a broom handle with a glove tied to the end, which we touched him with from head to toe, from ear to tail. We gradually got closer, until we wore the glove and we were touching him. We spent about 10 minutes twice a day initially with him, and groomed the other pony for equal time, so he got more used to our presence. We upped the time gradually but didn't over stress him. After about a month we could touch him, rub him, stroke him and we got a head collar on. Slow positive communication is essential, which was re-inforced by our handling of the established pony. We broke him fully over a 3-month period, and he has turned out to be a cracking pony. Good luck, the younger they are the quicker they respond.

 

[Cocorules]

Another vote for Sarah's book and for contacting Sarah herself for some guidance.

You mention that your pony was hand reared so this is an unusual factor. Hand reared foals can come with a unique set of issues and it is probably a very good thing that he has had time out with horses without people around.