VERY nervous pony

[ItsAllPoppyCock]

Hi All,

I acquired a pony last night. A 13yro Welsh Sec A mare and I don't really know what to do with her! She's so nervous, you can touch her but you can't even catch her in a stable, she just turns her bum on you (no sign of wanting to kick) and was nearly shot because of it.

She's a beautiful girl but somebody somewhere has seriously messed her up.

Do ponies like her ever come around? Will she ever be normal? I'm not expecting miracles overnight but equally I don't want pout her through months of rehabilitation or waste my time with her if she will never come right. Please be assured she will never be PTS because of it but would it be less stressful for her to just be a companion for example? If she was young I'd say it was just a time thing but she's 13 and by all account shes been this way for at least the last 3 years, since she had a foal.

Any advice would be grately appreciated. I just want to do right by her. She's clearly had a very traumatic life so far x

 

[Miss L Toe]

Try to give her a natural life, maybe in the long term use as a brood mare, but she will come round quite a bit as long as you just let her dictate the pace, just go in to HER stable quietly, if necessary, throw hay on floor at the door and the buckets, let her come to you, she needs a very stable routine to build up confidence.
She should let you rub her neck after a bit, then you can build up with confidence.
Don't worry about the back end business, it is a probably defence to rough handling in the past.
Always keep her with a friend, it will help if she is turned out with a small friend, she will probably come back in and go in to her stable without being haltered, but you can get a cheap leather foal slip which may help, it should break if she gets caught.

 

[TigerTail]

This book by Sarah Weston is excellent on how to approach feral horses, or ones that have been mishandled, it could be really helpful to you.

For now Id suggest simply spending time with her, starting off outside the stable so she's not cornered with a book, dont sit straight on to the door as thats pressure to her, and as she gets used to you move inside the stable etc.

Make sure she is getting turn out/ exercise as being stuck in will not help - if you cant catch her can you make a chute from her stable with cars/gates/ rope to the school/field?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Fear-For...2893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322818051&sr=8-1

 

[ItsAllPoppyCock]

Thanks both. If I can get her in the arena, do you think it's worth trying join up with her or given her state do you think this will push her further away?

Thanks

 

[CazD]

We have one that started out just like this. She was a rescue and the vet estimates she is in her mid twenties. Like yours, she couldnt even be caught in a stable without turning her bum on you. If you got too close, then she run at you with her teeth bared - I didnt hang around to find out if she'd actually bite LOL. We turned her out in a field safe headcollar with our other horses and she lived out with them. they get fed twice a day and i started by putting her feed bowl on the floor and standing back, just chatting to her. Gradually I moved closer and then started just putting a hand on her, then draping a leadrope over her. It took a good 6-8 months but she can now be caught and handled more or less like our others. I am more careful with her than with our others as i know what she is capable of but, having said that, she is pretty good. She will still turn her bum on me if she doesnt want to be caught but never lunges at me now. Ours is only a companion anyhow so I guess it depends what you are aiming to do with yours.

 

[Suziq77]

Thanks both. If I can get her in the arena, do you think it's worth trying join up with her or given her state do you think this will push her further away?

Thanks

I wouldn't. I'd just take it very very slowly and just get her used to you being around her at first.

 

[AshTay]

Time and patience.

My horse was like this when his previous owners acquired him. Apparently it was like wall of death round the stable when they went in to him and they spent a lot of time just sat in the stable with him and the bond he had formed with them was evident the first time I went to view him. When I first went in the stable with him he moved away and "hid" his head in the corner and wasn't happy with me being there. But the work they had put in had paid off and he did accept me and let me ride him.

He's come on leaps and bounds since then as I've carried on their work with him to improve his self confidence and he's a lot braver now and will let strangers (vet, usually, no other "strangers" on our yard) into his box without getting worried.

He was 4/5 when his previous owners acquired him so it might take longer with an older pony. Do you know if she's always been like that? Even before her foal?

 

[hannahc]

I agree with the advice to get Sarah Weston's book, and also that Join-Up would NOT be appropriate. If don't have any success or need more help, Sarah Weston is actually based in the New Forest and would come out to help you, she really is an expert in wild ponies www.logicalhorsemanship.co.uk and is also a lovely person

 

[ladyt25]

When I got my pony - he was 8 at the time - he was pretty nervous too, just wired. You couldn't tie him up, couldn't touch his head and numerous other things (ddunno why we bought him really! Lol). i found out some more about his past and a fairly local yard had had him (bought him from a dealer) a while before the people i bought him from had him. Prior to that he had been BSJA'd at a fairly young age (bizzarely a video that must have been passed from the owner at this time moved with him through all his owners).

Anyway, the yard said when they had him he would never even come to the front of the stable, just cower at the back. He did the same when we first had him. To be honest though it was just a time thing - he was neurotic about loads of things. 17 years later i still have him though! Lol. He is tonnes better and has wonderful stable manners - always has. However, he still habours some old habits and even now if he's in a stable not ties up and you go to brush him or something he will automatically 'hide' with his nose in the corner. I just continue withwhat i am doing or wait until he turns to me.

in the 17 years we have had him he has NEVER been beaten or had a bad experience in the stable but this is just something he alwyas does. he does have personal space issues though as in with other horses and I think he is a little claustrophobic as he hates narrwo spaces and when we first got him would not go in a stable that had no straw on the floor. You just have to work with them - be confident yet calm and don't make an issue of the behaviour. Let them come to you and just give them time to get used to you.

 

[rhino]

maybe in the long term use as a brood mare

Even if she has the most wonderful registered breeding I still think this is a silly idea, there are enough unwanted welsh ponies being sold for peanuts as it is, madness to breed more, especially out of a pony like this.

OP - she will come round, plenty of good advice here but it does take time. YO ended up taking on a completely feral shetland about a month ago, she had NEVER been handled and is now able to catch, lead and groom gently and is keeping my boy company in the school during the day as he is recovering from an injury.

 

[Miss L Toe]

Even if she has the most wonderful registered breeding I still think this is a silly idea, there are enough unwanted welsh ponies being sold for peanuts as it is, madness to breed more, especially out of a pony like this.

OP - she will come round, plenty of good advice here but it does take time. YO ended up taking on a completely feral shetland about a month ago, she had NEVER been handled and is now able to catch, lead and groom gently and is keeping my boy company in the school during the day as he is recovering from an injury.

I do tend to agree with rhino that breeding can be reckless, but sometimes it helps to give them a mission in life, rather than being a field ornament with no constant companion.

 

[Supertrooper]

My friends got a pony just like this, he is very nervous but once you've caught him he'll let you do anything but it's because he freezes.

He was fine as far as she knows until he was broken in. She took him on as a companion with the stipulation that no-one would try to break him in again.

He's a lovely pony, very cheeky little man. Some of it now is habit we think cause he is very confidant if you've got food. To be honest we just act as normal with him and don't creep round him xx

 

[Supertrooper]

Oh and he's a Sec A too!!

 

[ItsAllPoppyCock]

Thanks everybody. She is making progress, or I am! It took me half an hour to catch her in the stable on day 1, 20 mins on day 2 and now it takes around 5 mins and that's since Thursday, so either she is getting better or I am getting quicker!

It's very strange, she is almost like a normal pony once you've caught her... Just a little jumpy, she lets you touch her head and her ears, picks up her feet, likes a good brush but try and touch her muzzle, she freaks out! Any idea why this might be?

Thanks so much for all your advice. Nice to know there is hope and I won't be breeding from her! x

 

[Miss L Toe]

T

It's very strange, she is almost like a normal pony once you've caught her... Just a little jumpy, she lets you touch her head and her ears, picks up her feet, likes a good brush but try and touch her muzzle, she freaks out! Any idea why this might be?

x

Somebody has whacked her in the face at some time, and she has this fear ingrained, give it a few months and she will chill out.

 

[Gwena]

Or has been twitched in the past ?

 

[blood_magik]

my boy is like that - sometimes he decides that he doesn't like his brush or a boot and turns his bum to you.
I find that taking them out of their box helps, assuming you can get a headcollar on, as they have more space and feel that they can get away iykwim