Dry Rot
Well-Known Member
We have a problem child. Or rather a problem 4yo Highland gelding. Briefly, born on the hill in a large herd, bought and started on ground work by first owner at two, sold on a couple of years later (owner got divorced) to new owners. Bought by me as a project after a few months in that ownership (sold because of a change of employment).
The pony has been very spooky from the start, panicking at trivial things. Like suddenly believing the saddle is a threat and not wanting it any where near him. Fear of long reins. Etc. On the other hand, he happily leads across plastic, plywood sheets, etc. Five months on and we have done a lot of desensitising and are now long reining him quite well. Unfortunately, he only gets a couple of lessons a week which has contributed to the slow progress, but then I am in no hurry.
To date, we have been tip-toeing around him, pandering to his foibles, and calming his fears. Today, he took objection to the girl standing on the mounting block (half a plastic barrel) beside him in preparation to lying across the saddle for the first time and he started pulling back and doing mini-rears. This time I reacted by shouting at him and jerking the lead rope (plus a few choice words!), something I have never done before. That definitely seemed to calm him down. Once he had settled a bit, I stroked his neck, face, chest, etc. as usual. He does listen and is good with voice commands. We had a few more temper tantrums but I really need guidance. Living in the far north of Scotland as I do does not give me a lot of options.
Did I do right? I do not speak fluent horse yet, but I am learning! Is there anything else I should be doing? Frankly, I have come to think he isn't so much scared as behaving like a spoilt child and throwing a tantrum when things don't go his way. On the other hand, I am not anxious to have half a tonne of horse flesh landing on my head nor do I want to keep him just for his company and for mowing the lawn! Progress is just a bit toooo slow as things are, even for me.
The pony has been very spooky from the start, panicking at trivial things. Like suddenly believing the saddle is a threat and not wanting it any where near him. Fear of long reins. Etc. On the other hand, he happily leads across plastic, plywood sheets, etc. Five months on and we have done a lot of desensitising and are now long reining him quite well. Unfortunately, he only gets a couple of lessons a week which has contributed to the slow progress, but then I am in no hurry.
To date, we have been tip-toeing around him, pandering to his foibles, and calming his fears. Today, he took objection to the girl standing on the mounting block (half a plastic barrel) beside him in preparation to lying across the saddle for the first time and he started pulling back and doing mini-rears. This time I reacted by shouting at him and jerking the lead rope (plus a few choice words!), something I have never done before. That definitely seemed to calm him down. Once he had settled a bit, I stroked his neck, face, chest, etc. as usual. He does listen and is good with voice commands. We had a few more temper tantrums but I really need guidance. Living in the far north of Scotland as I do does not give me a lot of options.
Did I do right? I do not speak fluent horse yet, but I am learning! Is there anything else I should be doing? Frankly, I have come to think he isn't so much scared as behaving like a spoilt child and throwing a tantrum when things don't go his way. On the other hand, I am not anxious to have half a tonne of horse flesh landing on my head nor do I want to keep him just for his company and for mowing the lawn! Progress is just a bit toooo slow as things are, even for me.