Pony Reform School?

city girl

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We have two sweet ponies that we got on a free lease from a friend who owns a lesson barn. Bugsy is a little sorrel Shetland, who was a naughty lesson pony -- bucked kids off, was impossible to catch, etc, and our friend finally gave up on him, and offered him to us on a free lease.

He and my 7-year old daughter were a perfect match. She is a tough little girl, and they quickly formed an understanding. She has spent the last year bombing around on him. She takes him over homemade jumps and canters bareback on him, and has had a ball with him.

But the other pony is another story. Jasmine is a black and white paint American Shetland, and is a total alpha. She has gone butt-to-butt with several horses bigger than she is, and always comes out on top. But she is also so confident and friendly. When you call her in the pasture, she trots over right away. Whenever anyone arrives at our house (or if we oversleep and don't get her her hay on time), she lets out a big trumpeting whinny. We love her, but no one rides her anymore.

My 11-year old son used to ride her, and it finally got to be too much for him. She pulls out all the pony tricks. Bucks, kicks. (not enough to unseat anyone, just enough to make it no fun to ride her). You want to go forward? I'm going backward! Her most recent trick was to drop and roll, while a kid is on her. That trick finally worked, and my son hasn't ridden her since, except for pony rides, with someone leading her.

But now my seven-year-old (almost 8) is sadly outgrowing her sweet little pony, and I'm thinking of letting her work on Jasmine. I think we've established that kicking and forcing don't work on her. I was thinking of trying natural horsemanship and joining up, etc.

Wondering if anyone has had experience or success re-training ponies. Can it be done?
 

vkalvacev

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I was in the same situation when I was 8. I had the task to "retrain" a shetland for my trainer and let me tell you - of the 5 that came in, one was great and did everything right, but this guy.. no, not a chance. I would want to get him to canter, nope, he would just trot faster. I want to stay on the rail, nope, lets go to the middle. It took a LOT of kicking to get him on the rail in that situation, but I never managed to get him to canter. Then again, I was bareback and didnt have any support (or not much of it) in my seat. I did eventually fall off when we passed a horse getting a lesson, and I think that was the last time I rode him (got back up, and just sat on him and let him walk around for a few minutes). If I was in that situation now, I think it is possible to be fixed, but I was only 8 then so I didn't really know all that much. Is there someone that is a little bit older and has a bit more experience that could help retrain the pony (that isnt too heavy of course)? That could possibly work, to have a firmer hand to get her to go. I think the main point is that anyone who rides her needs to be firm, not necessarily invoke pain at everything done wrong. If the pony wants to go back, I would just stop and release my grip until she stopped going against what my hands were doing. That way, she has nothing to revolt against if nothing is trying to move her forward. I think the main key is that when a pony does their usual tricks, it is expected that you will eventually get off and leave them be. You have to be able to let them do what they want, and then fix the problem and not let them get away with it. If she tries to pull his head another direction than you want, force her to walk in circles (literally pull the rein/her head to her butt and go around three times). I've seen a talented rider do that every time a horse misbehaved. If she tries to go down again, either be there in that situation and dont let her, or make sure the child is ok and then wait for her to get up but DO NOT take her back - get on again. If she has to do it 10 times, then let her do it but do not give up. Once she finally gets it into her thick pony skull that you are not letting her get away with it, things might begin to change. Be prepared for it to take a few hours out of your day, though, or else the problem cant be solved.

Im no expert but I hope somehow this may be able to solve your problem. Its what I would do in that situation and if one thing works, great, if not, then you can always try something else but it will always take MULTIPLE trials to get the problem fixed :)
 

michickenwrangler

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My 6 yr old DD and I got a 9 yr old Welsh last April. While the pony wasn't a "bad" pony, she was never really asked to do any work. So the pony has a bit of a stubborn streak and prone to suddenly turning 180 with no warning. Yet my daughter does quite well with her and the two of them are doing their first competitive trail ride in a few weeks.
 
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