what would you do with this pony?

H

HayleyUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 July 2005
Messages
1,543
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
He's a project someone bought on the yard & the jockey lost interest so I got drafted in to ride the little monkey.
Hes 9, 13hh, native type who was a stallion up till last spring when he was brought in from the field he was semi wild in & backed.

Hes generally a bit sharp & nervy, quite spooky & a bit silly really with it.

He is quite a forward little thing when he wants to be, but he decides randomly to stop for no reason. We've worked through a few *issues* in the 3 sessions, napping, falling out through his shoulder, totally ignoring any effort to turn, dropping his shoulder & spinning round etc.. but today he hit me with a new one..

He was quite happily going well in the outdoor, not falling out, nice turns, not too shabby starts of circles etc & I was really pleased till all of a sudden he stopped dead. Now I'm not sure if it was a genuine "ooo whats that?" spook type moment or if it was his usual trick of "If I stop, she'll get off".. so I put my leg n & he ignored me so he got a little kick.. which he objected to and bronced! He had me off so I'm guessing he felt quite pleased, till I got back on..

He refused point blank to go forward, becoming tense and threatening to go up should I dare to put my leg on any more than a firm squeeze. I knew if he had me off again that'd be it & he'd do it time & time again.. and we'd get nowhere once he learned I came off when he did it. He's supposed to be a pony for a child to ride eventually, so absolutely can not have that behaviour. So I decided to sit there, and every few seconds ask him to walk on with my leg & a firm walk on. He ignored me time after time, so I sat and sat and sat keeping asking for about 10 mins till he eventually got bored of the game & walked on. Tons of praise and a pat everytime he moved off my leg & eventually he decided to play ball & walk and trot round quite nicely. So ended on a good note & got off.

Owner was very pleased with him at the end..but I just wondered if you guys had any other suggestions/ideas about the little sod.. Hes actually quite sweet when he works for you& isnt trying to evade/get you off.. little bugger!
 
Would you be able to longe? I guess he's had a load of that though... I was thinking if he gets the opportunity to stop dead on that then you can give him what for....

Also, if the owner is watching you and he does it (which I am sure he will the very next time you ride) can she pop over and lead him on? I don't know how effective that would be in the long term though.

Carrot on a stick?(or similar) I know that sounds daft, but reward and walking on would happen and there's your pleasant training sorted.

Then there's the Maxwell method, if the pony is vaguely "used to" the spurs and whip, Maxwell holds a stirrup leather round his wrist and for learned bad behaviour then it's a bit different, slip slap each side in turn, with your arm, behind the saddle, one side then the other, fast, really sudden and different! Shock him into a forward rush, if he's shooting forwards quickly enough he won't get you off easily that way.

Good luck!
 
Just sit and wait! Don't even keep asking him just sit there and he will make the decison himself to move. With these types "giving them what for" generally turns out far worse for you than them - 13 hands or not! Its not worth breaking yourself, particularly on someone elses pony! He will get bored eventually and stop doing it. Make sure you are not in a hurry and call the cheeky little so and so's bluff!
 
I have to say I agree with the sit and wait idea, particularly as it seems to have worked this time round. I would suggest keep going with it, you seem to have buckets of patience and see where it gets you.
 
Sounds like a typical newly backed to me, quite a few horses I've backed have gone through this sort of problem, they get a bit confused and bored and decide they don't want to do it anymore. I think you were right to just sit and praise lots when they go forward. I'd continue to do lots of transitions from halt to walk etc and use voice aids as well, and get it into him that when you want him to walk he does so. I had one horse that did very similer although if you asked him to walk on he used to reverse so, whenever he walked on I'd walk on 6 or so paces then ask him to stop then walk on, as he has to do it by command, not because he feels like it.

I'd may be do some ground work with him, make it fun and interesting, circles are good for them but, you wouldn't want to walk and trot in a circle all the time... doubt he does either. During this time you can introduce him to spooky things like plastic bags and umbrellas, this sort of thing he'll need to be bombproof to as a childs pony.

So carry on with what your doing, make it short and sweet, and basically make things as interesting and less technical as possible!!

Hope I've helped a bit.
 
you did absolutely the right thing, just stick with it. very naughty to bronc you off (and i must admit, one of mine did that and i gave him a good few smacks from the floor after i'd picked myself up, and he never did it again...)
waiting and asking nicely until he gives in is absolutely the right thing to do, so 10/10 for patient perseverence!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top