About arab crosses and the head fling

[findeight]

Combined with the stop and rear…this goes beyond a quirky head toss, sounds like a training problem. You put the rider best able to deal with it on the Pony, not your friend. You should see if the guy will work with you on the Pony or, maybe, find it another owner-horses are expensive and if you don’t get along with one but others do? Something to consider.

Been around a few German Riding Ponies brought over as show Hunter Ponies, positively spectacular in the ring but…under the right rider, not an average child, even if they were pretty good. Hence they aren’t that popular a choice over here.

I mean this in the kindest way…they are very German in attitude. Stubborn too. You click or you don’t and if they know you aren’t sure or are scared, you are in trouble. Obviously the guy is in tune with this Pony and has his respect while too many other riders didn’t command that respect from the Pony and created some obedience issues. Maybe that head tossing stunt too if Pony knows it bothers some riders.

[eternalbeginner]

The pony has a lot of character, but nothing unmanageable for someone who can ride or manage horses. He doesn’t rear anymore, he was at the school but he wasn’t being ridden, so I started lunge work with him about three years ago (I had my horse then so they were paddock buddies). Then sort of adopted him. He was hyperreactive to things, so I cut his grain ration and put him on a low-starch high fibre diet. I worked with him about strange things and he became more and more relaxed. But when the weather is bad and he has to spend a lot of days in the stall, then the antics of old days seem to come again. But he can be worked out of it in a few days. The only thing that has remained from his past is the odd spook and the fling thing while mountedd, and yes he flings his head a lot in the paddock, when excited and when being lunged, but only once or twice at the beginning of trot work while being ridden. But not with the new guy. I bought him about one year ago, after having taken care of him for about two years. I knew what I was buying.

Well, the vet-teeth expert came this week. Pony had an infection behind right wolf-teeth, so he cleared that up and the pony was on rest for two days. Today is the first day that he will be ridden after that. Let’s hope he continues to improve now that he is not in pain.

He needs a consistent rider I know that, and I am not in a situation to being this rider right now (still recovering from injury). But I don’t want to sell him either.

He is very obedient at the lunge, will canter from walk or walk from canter, will stop from canter at my voice. He will follow me to places he would never dare to approach alone or in another company. He trusts me. And I don’t want to fail him. Anyway, I still haven’t found the horse that can replace my beloved Hanoverian. So for the moment, pony will stay.