Calm Dead head, now High strung and Spooked?

[ragrobin4]

Hello, this is my first post.

My 8 year old daughter has been taking riding lessons for about 9 months.

I recently had professional trainer come out and work with my daughters pony. He’s a 12 year old gelding and has always been calm and basically a deadhead. He will only go where he wants, when he wants, and stop when he wants. (Stubborn, Yes)

That is why we brought out a trainer. First lesson: mostly meet and greet and flexing and getting him to move his butt over. She showed me how to do the exercises with him and I was to work with him every day until the next week.

Now he has become a high strung, spook at anything pony. He spooked when I picked a lead line off the ground.

I have asked my trainer and currently waiting to hear from her. So in the meantime, I wanted to know if his reaction is normal or could I be doing the exercise wrong and making him afraid of me.

[CHT]

guessing you are either:

• doing it wrong
• making the pony sore which leads to spooking behaviour. Some deadheads are actually just sore…usually foot sore…which is why they don’t want to go anywhere very quickly.

Possible you are just pressing a spoiled pony’s buttons though. Sometimes when a horse/pony is really set in its ways, it takes a big battle to break them of those habits. Might not be worth it if you want him to stay safe for your child though…the trainer may have to adjust their technique.

[roseymare]

Has your feeding regimine changed? Any new supplements? New salt/mineral block?

[Kwill]

So, his comfort zone has been invaded and he’s now finding he might be dependent on someone else to be the leader. Eek!! So he’s spooking because he is learning to rely on a leader, but does not yet have confidence in you as the one who is telling him what to do.

Think of it this way, he lived in his own little world, doing his own thing, and now he has to change his world view. So what else is going to kill him out there?, I am sure is what he is thinking.

Keep at it is my advice.

[roseymare]

Or he could just be trying to get the upper hand so he can go back to doing what he wants when he wants. LOL. Ponies can be smart critters…

[cnigh]

I would have his eye’s checked. He may have some degree of blindness if he is suddenly spooky.

[tbchick84]

Yup, he’s finally being asked to work instead of just go through the motions and he’s not thrilled about it. Spooking is his way of trying to distract you from trying to make him work.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

I think it’s very likely you’ve (unknowingly) contributed to the new problems. Horse training, especially ground work, can look deceptively simple. Putting it into effective use, however, takes as much if not more skill than riding. Your body language, timing, consistency and patience are probably not how they should be and pony is getting the wrong signals at the wrong time - a recipe to make many a horse agitated and flighty.

It might be more useful for you to have the trainer out to work with the pony while you watch and learn. Or you may need another trainer altogether. When you’re new to anything, it’s hard to know what you don’t know. It’s possible the trainer has given you poor advice. Lots of people teach without being good at it.

Additionally, if your daughter is having a hard time with this pony being so stubborn, it may be good for her to take some lessons on a more willing school horse. It can be very discouraging for new riders to have a really hard time with control. A horse that’s too quick and fast can be frightening, but one that just.won’t.move is also no fun. It might be time to evaluate suitability. Sometimes dead-head ponies are perfect for the early stages of learning to groom, lead and get through the basics on a lead line. But then it’s time for a pony willing and happy about participating in the next steps. :yes: