Interesting thread digression, if I do say so myself.
I am going to point out here, by the way, that I will not be trying to teach this pony to drive. IF she passes her initial evaluation, she will go to someone who is a professional and be taught to drive by someone who knows that they are doing. Not me.
Gothedistance asked for more description around “worried,” which I am happy to give. When I got this pony, you couldn’t toss a saddle pad on her back without her throwing her head in the air and either flying forward or backward on the crossties. Same with her winter blanket. She was very, very green under saddle - she didn’t steer - I would have described her as backed, but not really broke. If I got off balance while riding, she would buck or bolt.
She was skittish on the ground and if you moved too fast while grooming, etc, she’d startle and pull back. I have no real history on her, but could easily imagine that she had just had not had much exposure to people and the things people do to horses.
Almost a year and a half later, she is CLOSER to being more “normal,” but still has what I would describe as a “heightened” fear response. For example, when I started working with her with the whip, I started in a grooming stall. When I first presented it to her, she raised her head in the air, held her breathe and backed away from it. The tension in her was obvious. But, she didn’t fly back or get overly dramatic - she just seemed, for want of a better word, “worried.” Maybe “anxious” would be better? Now, two weeks later, she still sucks in her breath and lifts her head, but there’s no drama. Just concern.
She did the same thing with long lining. Head in the air, eyes rolling, held breath, lots of tension, and then, she settled. No bucking, no bolting, none of the stuff she might have done a year ago.
Does she trust me? Not totally, even after a year and a half. But, to anthropomorphize even more than I have so far, she seems to give me the benefit of the doubt. :lol:
So, as mentioned, I am going to leave the whole thing up to professionals. If a professional says, bad idea, the idea goes away. If she thinks the pony might work out, and I can figure out how to finance it, I will hire a professional to do the training.
But I am tickled pink that I have an evaulation scheduled and again want to thank all the helpful folks on this board who got that going for me. Someday I will drive my wee children around - although by the time I get there, they may not be so wee any more. :lol:
