Fresh pony advice please

[gertie06]

Hi gang! Some of you may remember me from the post confessing my love for my daughter’s pony :-).

Well, while said pony is amazing for me, she’s being a reeeeaaaal challenge for my advanced beginner daughter. Over time, Miss Pony has learned that she can get away with a lot more when the kid is on her back. She’s just always so dang fresh for the kiddo. Yes, I know it’s winter, cold, reduced turnout, etc. That’s part of the issue for sure. But we need to get through this!

She’s currently getting experienced/pro rides 4-5 times per week, during which she’s usually good. She’s turned out for a few hours daily. We’ve had her fully checked over for any health or soundness issues. She’s had injections, special shoeing, massage, chiropractic, etc. She’s sound as a pound.

Aside from lunging her 30 minutes or Ace-ing her before every kid ride, what can I do? This is so frustrating (and sometimes scary) for my daughter.

[hoopoe]

I would reevaluate the diet and make sure it is not too hot. Some horses cannot tolerate alfalfa, for instance

is there a more advanced child rider in the barn riding the pony or just adult pro?

I would never Ace a riding horse, that can backfire, sedated is not = safe. It can actually make them hyper = reactive

are the other riders using a different saddle?

This may be a situation that you need to allow your pro to teach your daughter how to work thru. She may actually be training in the issue every time she rides and backs off. Thus the curse of the pony ( or any horse)

[findeight]

She’s been getting her own way for…years? The tendency to take advantage of weaker, smaller, less experienced riders is not going to go away in a few weeks or months. It takes time and patience and some money for untraining then retraining with consistent rides, it’s hard but part of the journey.

In the meantime, your DD should be taking lessons and riding other Ponies as often as possible so she can get stronger and develop her skills. She should be growing too, putting on a little more weight, that helps her strength and Pony taking her more seriously.

Im thinking, based on seeing over many decades this combination of new horsitis, winter, and the fact this is a better horse/Pony then the kid has had before? This should work itself out by next spring and certainly by summer. Actually been there myself with a new horse that was more then the previous one in size, step and ambition. Had to step my game up and let my pro fix the inevitable (in my budget) training holes, especially in winter. Figure 3-6 months with steady improvements in both along the way. And a few steps back as always with horses.

Pony is not evil, just a clever opportunist who has not been taught better. DD is needing to step up her skills and strength and needs to work on that. Don’t lose heart, you will get there if you stay on it.

[LovesHorses]

Is she fresh every time? Is your kid clashing her aids? Driving with her seat? Or just run her around tacked up before she gets on. The pony may need to get the bucks out with reduced turnout this time of year.

[x]

Some ponies are just too smart, and don’t have the temperament to do the beginners. They are angels with better riders, and terrors for ones that aren’t. A pony like that may not work for her.

[anon40672407]

I’d put your daughter on something else temporarily. I know you bought this pony for her, but she’s not there yet. Riding needs to be fun for her. Let your daughter advance on something else for a year, then try again. Lease this pony out to someone else, lease a quieter pony for your daughter.

[findeight]

Well…winter is a bad time with most horses and the Pony here is a pretty recent purchase. I’d give it the 3 to 6 months then see where you are. Recent Pro rides are not going to reduce the Pony’s value should you decide to move on but increase marketability and price. Trying to sell a Pony that needs work in midwinter will be tough and definately reduce its value.

Try to hang in there and get DD on some other Ponies until it warms up and the show season cranks up again.

[betsyk]

Sometimes it’s all in how you frame the problem with your daughter. Somehow you need to frame this as “I realize this is hard for you and frustrating, but if you can work through some of these problems you’re going to become a much better rider (blah, blah, blah).” Not knowing how old your daughter is, this will be a different conversation with a 7-year-old than with a 10-year-old. If every time she gets on, the pony feels like a powderkeg and your daughter gets tense, that’s not gonna work - but can she learn to walk around the arena enough times to bore them both to tears, then get pony moving? Have your daughter get on after someone else has ridden for 15 minutes? Put pony and daughter on the longe for the first little while? I remember a pony club person saying that zippy ponies teach kids to pull on their mouths and be afraid to use their legs, and sluggish ponies teach kids to be sloppy with their legs and reins. I wonder if your pony is trying to teach your daughter to use more leg and less hand? In the years when I was teaching a lot I could often watch the horse and see which issues to address first in the rider.

And, I agree with others that she could practice those skills on another horse as well. Some kids love the ones that feel like they’re dancing on their tiptoes, others absolutely do not and that’s fine.

[PNWjumper]

What’s the pony doing? Getting speedy, bucking, spooking, something else?

I ran into a similar situation with my daughter when she was 7/8ish. Her pony (which I also posted about on that thread, lol!) would just randomly turn left all. the. time. Sometimes tied in with a little spook, sometimes just because she wanted to go straight. He was also a little spicy for her and would really get to galloping when she just wanted to canter. It was so frustrating for her, and for me as well because I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I finally got on the pony in her saddle one day (we swapped - just for laughs so she could giggle at me looking like a jockey in her 14" saddle), and lo and behold, the pony did exactly the same thing with me that he did with her. Turned out that he’d been started by a tall adult and then worked with by me for the prior year…he had no idea what to do without a leg there to guide him. Well, he knew what to do, but he’s a naughty-type and figured she couldn’t do anything to stop him. I gave my daughter a left spur and taught her how to react THE SECOND the behavior started…and then I also had to teach her to get MAD instead of frustrated. Took many months of working on those skills before she suddenly had vastly more control in every aspect of the ride than she had prior. That turned the part where he’d get a little sassy into something fun rather than something scary as well.

With that being said, he never seriously scared her, just frustrated her to tears. If there’s fear involved, then maybe having you or another kid ride the pony for 5-10 minutes before she gets on could help?

[Gardenhorse]

@hoopoe

is there a more advanced child rider in the barn riding the pony or just adult pro?

I agree that it could be quite useful to try putting a more advanced child rider (or petite adult) on the pony periodically. Many of them get smart that they have to obey an adult (heavier/taller) rider, but can get away with things with a child. Having a small, competent rider can surprise them into good behavior for a while.

[Limerick2017]

Gertie06, define “fresh?” Is she taking off? Bucking? Or does she just get quicker and quicker?

[Denali6298]

Did you try anything that was suggested in your other thread? And please do not LTD or ACE the pony. It may not be a good match for your daughter right now.

[gertie06]

@Denali6298

Did you try anything that was suggested in your other thread? And please do not LTD or ACE the pony. It may not be a good match for your daughter right now.

Yes, we did. She’s working on the lunge, getting rides from more experienced kids, and working with a good beginner instructor. And we had her checked by a vet, chiropractor, and masseuse for any soundness or discomfort issues. Oh, and we put the kid on other horses/ponies as well.

The previous issues (transitions, balance, etc) did not frighten me. This freshness and bucking does. The cold is affecting her more than I expected. She’s not on any “hot” feed and she’s getting ridden dang near every day.

[gertie06]

@Limerick2017

Gertie06, define “fresh?” Is she taking off? Bucking? Or does she just get quicker and quicker?

At the walk and trot she is fine. When she canters, it gets faster and faster. Then she’ll throw in a little buck or two once it’s escalated. Letting the kid canter on the lunge line is ok; pony stays relatively consistent in that situation.

[PNWjumper]

Bucking is a tough one for a kid’s pony. I don’t know that I can add anything helpful beyond the fact that it might just be that your daughter needs to be a little bit older before the pony is suitable for her to canter in cold weather. Or maybe this is where you can teach some ride management lessons. Like she only gets to canter on circles and has to transition to the trot (or halt -> walk -> trot) before going down the long side.

But one other suggestion is to cut back on the number of days (or intensity each day) that the pony is worked. IMO, that’s why lunging to death never works long term either. All you do is put a fitness base on the horse that leads to more of the behavior.

[bluepece2]

Is this a consistent at the moment? My daughter’s pony is normally a saint but every so often (normally in the winter) he gets a big up his bum and will throw the kid off. I then normally lunge him, not to tire him but to let him get his “it’s cold” excitement out. He bucks 2-3 times…big ones and then he’s finished and can work fine after.

[luvmyhackney]

My hackney gets like that every once in a while…he’s actually bored to tears so he will liven things up with a little buck or a leap and a squeal. I have my 9 year old now canter him practicing counter canter, practice figure eights of various size circles with a simple change, and serpentine’s. We do simple changes as it means he has to slow down and change gaits. Gotta keep the pony mind very busy, they are smart little sh*ts.

[SLW]

If the pony really needs some sort of concentrate (grain) then only feed it at night after all riding is done. The workload you describe isn’t enough for a hefty amount of grain, IMO, if this isn’t an aged or infirm pony. Maybe consider a product that provides essential minerals and vitamins.

More turnout. 2 hours turned out out of 24 isn’t very much so dang I’d pull every string possible for more turnout overall or at a minimum on the days your daughter is going to ride make sure the pony has had a lot more turnout.

When your daughter canters have her transition to a trot sooner- IOW words less canter time to reduce the pony building up a head of steam and bucking. Canter using half of the arena, again to reduce the real estate provided to build up a head of steam.

As others have said this might not be the right pony for this time of year for your daughter. Good of you to be proactive.

[Limerick2017]

@gertie06

At the walk and trot she is fine. When she canters, it gets faster and faster. Then she’ll throw in a little buck or two once it’s escalated. Letting the kid canter on the lunge line is ok; pony stays relatively consistent in that situation.

Your daughter needs to get two steps ahead of the pony assuming she has a decent seat. Ponies can’t think of two things at once so have your daughter canter ten to fifteen steps, halt, canter a circle, trot, canter a circle over a pole, walk, canter twenty steps…you get the idea. Keep the pony guessing as to what she is going to be asked to do next. I used to print off basic dressage tests and call them out to my girls when they rode ponies in the winter. It kept everyone sharp and interested.

[MuskokaLakesConnemaras]

Increase the turnout as much as humanly possible.