Difficulties with pony-pain, misbehaving?

[OceansAway]

Hi all, sorry for the length. I am bad at getting to the point! I’m always afraid I’m leaving out pertinent information.

This post is regarding my friend’s pony who was started as a 6 year old last summer, by the two of us. The pony has been good natured, but would occasionally display what we thought was a pony attitude, but nothing more than you’d expect for a pony who had sat in a field for 6 years with no expectations being placed on her whatsoever. For ease, I’ll separate this into lunge behaviors and riding behaviors, though there is some overlap. Please note, she’s not mine, so largely I have to do what the owner requests, so if something doesn’t make sense, it’s not necessarily my choice.

As for riding, some quirks I noticed right from the start were head-shaking when faced with anything she didn’t want to do, and trying to race back to the gate down the long sides. She also displayed difficulty with circling and sometimes even turning. She would pop her shoulders (especially the right) and shake her head, while trying to drag the rider in her preferred direction. She tends to be better if I use only my weight and legs, but will sometimes try and pull a fast one. She was started in a sidepull, and we eventually added a bit and nothing changed for better or worse. If the racing down the long side resulted in her breaking into the canter, she would shake her head and try to buck. I am a strong rider, so I could thwart these attempts and it would be over, but the real trouble began when kids began riding her after I stopped being able to come out due to health reasons. (Not my pony, so nothing I can do, though I know it’s obvious not ideal.) Pony tried laying down a few times, even without a rider, and would try and scrape the kids against the fence, especially when circling. She would refuse to move forward, twist her body, things that you expect when you imagine a cheeky pony. Because these kids are not super experienced, the pony would canter and buck with them, though it was inconsistent. Some days her behavior was hoof-perfect, and then the following ride, pretty rough. I recently began riding her again, and she’s understandably much worse, though I can manage it if it am really firm with her right away. Very recently, she started swinging her hindquarters to be the inside when tracking right, when I ask for an upward transition. I’m feeling particularly guilty about getting after her, because I am worried about pain, though there seems to be no pattern that I can discern, nor any overt lameness, and some days are lovely.

As for lunge behavior, she learned to lunge after being started under saddle, and not by me, as I was out of the loop at that time. I’ve started lunging her before I get on, because of the behaviors she had been displaying with the kids, and I wanted to examine her without a rider. She will shake her head when cantering, swing her butt in and kick out, and sometimes bronc. This also usually results in her racing around the circle in manic mode. Important to note is she has trouble taking the turns on the lunge as well, meaning the head-shaking and naughty behaviors occur the most when she realizes she needs to make a turn in order to prevent crashing through the rails last-minute. A lot of this is just physics; inertia has her on a certain trajectory and it’s work to change that trajectory once she’s charging forward, all on her forehand. She very much pops her shoulder out and seems to struggle, even though she’s tiny and the circle is large. The kicking out and broncing are what bother me the most. Once I really get after her, she settles down and the rest of the session is usually fine, but I feel guilty, as if I am shutting down her attempts to tell me how she’s feeling. There seems to be no correlation with saddle, no saddle, rope halter, no halter, bit, no bit, side-reins, no side-reins, etc. I’ve tried it all, and she is pretty consistent with her behaviors. It really all seems to escalate once I ask for the canter, but once again, it’s not completely consistent day to day.

I know I am making her sound horrible, but she’s actually not, hence why kids were put on her so early on in her training. She has perfect days, and days when all the behaviors come out to play. No correlation to heat cycles, though I have wondered about ulcers since it doesn’t vary based on equipment. To note, when the kids ride, they are riding in a lesson with a Grand Prix rider and trainer, not just tooling around on their own, but still…I know it’s not ideal. I have considered a bute trial, but not sure how else to approach this, since she’s not mine. I have started horses before, so this isn’t a new thing for me, though this experience is different than anything I have dealt with before. I would really appreciate any insight into the situation at all, so I can talk it through with her owner. Thank you all, in advance.

[SuzieQNutter]

For me when ulcers are ruled out.

The pony should be able to lunge in walk, trot and canter with a lunging cavesson and no side reins. That said you do not canter on day one, you work up to foot perfect in walk and trot first, and add canter when the pony is ready. She can wear a saddle to get used to the girth.

Once that is hoof perfect. The pony learns to lunge in side reins. Trot first, don’t ask for canter until the pony is ready. Side reins do not maim and kill ponies/horses. People who do not know what they are doing maim and kill horses/ponies with side reins. Side reins should never be used to pull in a horse’s/ponie’s head.

This will help the pony learn contact, submission to the bit and trust in the bit. The pony will work out it’s own balance and tempo.

When the pony is hoof perfect in side reins in trot and canter. (Never walk in side reins and always walk both ways at least a circle each without side reins afterwards) This means no trouble circling, not running in transitions, not popping shoulders, not swinging hindquarters, not head-shaking, not charging forward, not being naughty, not kicking out and not broncing. There should be no struggling at all.

Once she is lunging like an old school pony you can then get on her.

What you are describing, kicking out, bronking, head shaking can be pain, or it is a pony that does not understand.

With your lunging you use voice commands, you praise, the lunge whip is not used for transitions or to keep the pony going.

If you do not know how to lunge without side reins, then to me (and the SRS) we use solid side reins not elasticised side reins and you do not now how to use a lunge whip correctly, then get lessons and do not try to do it on your own. This is an invaluable skill you will always use in your lifetime with horses.

[Posting_Trot]

One possibility is that the pony simply lacks the strength and coordination to maintain a canter or perhaps even a trot in an even and balanced way.

The falling on the forehand at the canter would make her a little out of control at the canter even on the straightaway, but once she’s being asked to turn, she may feel (to herself) very precarious and unbalanced, hence the throwing the haunches inward and the bucking. (sometimes horses will buck to re-balance themselves).

I think, for the time-being, I wouldn’t do much cantering at all, either on the lunge or under saddle. Once she develops a habit of rushing at the canter, twisting and bucking, it may be hard to undo.

Instead, I’d focus on doing ground poles and cavalletti at both walk and trot, doing serpentines, transitions (walk-trot-walk-halt), some backing up (correctly, and don’t overdo it), purposeful walking up and down hills, etc. You’re really trying to build up not just her muscles but also her coordination.

In addition to bringing in a vet to check for pain (and you should probably check saddle-fit as well to make sure it’s not pinching her), you might think about getting a chiro or a bodyworker out to check for soreness, etc.

Good luck!