Very scared pony advice?

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Kevo

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Hi all new on here had horse's all my life and as I'm getting on a bit now slowed down with competing and jumping and decided to take on rescue horses that are near impossible to rehome re train them and rehome them. Well all being well so far rehoming two to lovely homes! Getting on fantastic!
Any who iv now got a challenge on my hands.. 13h little cob looks like maybe welsh x . Only 3 but so petrified he's constantly showing the whites of his eyes. Cannot get near him. Tried to heard him into stable with lots of hay a feed etc. Very very high stable door and he jumped straight out as I was putting lock on it lol. Managed to get him to come kind of close to me and eat carrots that I throw on the floor. Just looking for advice on where to go next with him.. has anyone out there been in same position?

Thanks in advance :)
 
I had a Welsh D that I bought from a dealer, he was underweight and scared of life, the stable he was kept in was gross and the dealer kept a few metres of rope attached to his headcollar to get near him. We got him home turned him out in a field and couldn't get near him again to the point with a sedative you couldnt catch him but he was gaining weight. The best thing I ever did was put my mare in the field with him, he use to watch her coming over to have cuddles and food. I use to walk near him put feed on the floor and walk away, I stopped trying to touch him and get near him and gradually he'd come closer when I took his feed. Eventually he'd come over to sniff me when I poo picked and I'd give him a treat out my pocket and carry on poo picking. It took a long time but he started wanting my attention and I could stroke him. In the end before he went to his new home I could stroke him, groom him, pick his feet up, lunge him. It just took a very long time and he hated a blue headcollars it had to be green lol. Good luck it's worth it
 
Buy a good book and spend lots of time just sitting in the field with him, just ignore him and eventually he will get use to you and get inquisitive. Don't rush to pet him when he comes over as you might frighten him off, have some treats that you can gently give him. Lots of patience and he will eventually come good.
 
Have you got a confident uber friendly horse to turn him out with? I've bought a few unhandled youngsters and I used to just chuck them out in a massive field with my others. Used to take them about a week to 10 days to realise that people are fab. And from that point its easy :)
 
Try reading Sarah Westons book No fear no force. It's very good for advise on unhandled ponies.
Just realized that it's the same book recommended above!
 
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I can highly recommend Sarah Weston's book 'No Fear, No Force'. I took on a 3 year old New Forest pony who was untouchable and used the book as my manual for working with him. The strategies described and the ethos advocated worked brilliantly and he has become a confident pony who loves people, hacks, jumps, travels and shows successfully.
 
To increase his general level of confidence, when handling him, reward any good decisions by placing food rewards into a bucket near to him. This will encourage him to make more good decisions and help him to overcome his anxieties. Correct decisions that he can be rewarded for are things like standing still, looking in the direction of the handler, any movement towards the handler, remaining calm and relaxed whilst being handled.

Touch is not rewarding for him so avoid using patting or stroking to reward him as this may be perceived as a punishment by him. As well as using food rewards for good decisions, you can also use retreat – when he looks or moves in your direction, simply move away from him.

To help him to gain his confidence with people, the more time that can be spent with him without any agenda or pressure being placed on him the better. This may mean simply sitting and reading a book whilst in or near to his stable, spending time just walking around his field, doing other odd jobs/yard chores in his presence but without trying to initiate any contact with him at all. Ensure that you always have treats available so that if he does come to investigate what you are doing, you can place a reward on the floor for him to help him to build a positive association with people. Desensitisation to touch will be a slow and gradual process and will depend on him for how quickly you can proceed with this. It is important that this is a very slow and gradual process to gradually teach him that touch does not have to be aversive and he can be rewarded for remaining calm whilst being touched. Initially place your hand on a part of his body that he is most comfortable with, then remove it and give him a treat. Repeat this multiple times so that he starts to associate your touch with receiving a reward. It is very beneficial to also use a verbal marker to tell him ‘good boy’ when he has stood still for you to touch him so that he also starts to pair the words ‘good boy’ with the arrival of a food reward; in time the verbal marker alone will then become reinforcing for him because it has a positive association. When you are happy that he seems confident and relaxed about you doing this, start to slowly increase the amount of time that you have your hand on his body before removing it and giving him a treat. Repeat this multiple times and only increase the amount of time by a couple of seconds each time. If at any point he starts to become tense simply go back to the short touch and treat and then slowly build the time back up again.

Start this process in an area of his body that you know he is less worried about; his neck may be a good place to start. When you are able to hold your hand in areas of his neck for 10 seconds or more then start to place your hand on different parts of his body and work through exactly the same process again. Ideally this should be done in an area where he is free to move away from you if he would like to. If he does choose to move away, allow him a couple of minutes before then approaching and trying again.

When you are able to hold your hand still in a variety of places on his body you can then start to add in some motion by moving your hand along his body a short distance. This should again start with a very small movement and gradually build up to longer movements along his body each time giving him a treat. I've got over similar issues using the above method. Good luck

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