As the proud owner of an ex polo pony i know exactly what you are talking about. I didnt let him go full out unless there was a wall i could steer him towards for the first 2 years of his rehab.
We hand galloped today (been together 10 years) and got down to a walk with no reins… can be done but you need to commit to the mental rehab that goes along with being fried as a polo pony.
Does anyone else here wish that horses could understand consequences like we can? Yesterday, the mare was a little gimpy…understandable, as she has really tender soles and she lost not one, but two shoes on our mad gallop. This morning I find her with some swelling in her ankles…she’s obviously pretty sore from our unplanned sprint down the very-nearly-concrete gravel road. I gave her 2g Bute and left instructions with my DH to give her another 1g this evening. She’s also got some scrapes/owies on the corners of her mouth from the bit.
Don’t get me wrong - I hate to see her sore. She doesn’t understand why she’s sore. I know that. But there’s a little piece of me that really, really wishes (even though it’s not possible) that she realized that galloping down the road made her ouchy, and have her think to herself, “gee, I never want to do that again!” 
Just a thought but if they were specifically selling her as a non-polo horse, she may have been mentally fried. Most of the horses in our club are sold on to other polo players if they’re not up to the current level of play (they’re worth a lot more $$ as polo horses than anything else).
If a pro had her and was having trouble with her, she may not have had the disposition for polo to start with. Having seen pros careen down the field on WAY out of control green horses, their version of a runaway and mine are fairly different. Some of the high goal ponies I groomed in college were sensitive and perfectly behaved for the first half of the chukker and then would “lose it”, turning into total runaways.
Hopefully it was a one-time occurrance but be careful!
I’m not a fan of ace either but try Calm and Cool. It works wonders and just takes enough of the edge off to deal. I had a TB that had been an event horse that I hunted several times. He just went beserk especially since we were supposed to stay in the back. “Back was not for him”!!!’
I put him on the C&C and he was perfect. Well that and a German martingale.
Actually the polo pony I referred to in my earlier post was a washout not because of mental issues or lack of ability, but because she was a pretty good bucker- not something polo players want in a pony! This does not seem to be the OP’s problem, however…
ASB- yes it would be nice if they always tumbled onto the cause and effect thing!
I feel your pain
ASB - I have a horse - not a former polo pony, but a cute little draft cross - who reacts similarly to the way your horse does when hunting. I have owned my girl for a year; I love her dearly and she suits me in every way (short, smart, calm at home, and very sure-footed) , EXCEPT that she gets so wound up hunting that I can’t stop, steer or reason with her when hounds are running and speaking on a line. When I bought her, I was told that she had hilltopped a few times with a well-known hunt in VA and was “good.” (Yes, shame on me for not trying her out in the hunt field - I tried but it did not work out for us at that time, and I needed a horse.) I am a whipper-in for our hunt and have not been able to effectively do my job OR enjoy myself yet due to these control issues. I also have health problems of my own which make me unwilling to fight with her throughout a second season to see if it will all sort out. I know that I should look for another horse, but selling her and starting over seems overwhelming. You have my sympathy and understanding.
The only thing that worked for me was to get up early and school the horse for a good 80 minutes BEFORE the hunt. Get him lathered.
I did this from the first time out until the 8th time out, and I was assured he’d be a good boy.
A tired horse just won’t act up too badly.
But then again, after a few weeks of that, I had a super-duper fit horse. But by then I knew how he was going to be in the hunt field, so it was fine.
A pooped out horse is a great confidence builder. Who cares if you have to go in early, you had a good experience.
A tired horse is a good horse!
where’s my crash dummy when I need it!??
I can’t say enough about a long hack to the meet sometimes. I hunted a green filly the otherday for her first hunt by doing an energetic hack to the further away meet. She knew something was up. She was pretty good all in all. Had her in a snaffle; wasn’t thinking so she got strong here & there but never passed anybody just fought me…head tossing, snatching reins etc. Didn’t stay out long.
Our biggest deal was when huntsman let the hounds outa the truck!! :winkgrin::eek::eek::eek: 40 feet backwards, spin, rear then froze!!! Bless her heart! She was askeert! Over it in a minute.
But really…don’t we ALL need crash dummies to hunt our greenies for us the first few times!!! Really! WHAT was I thinking!!! :D:D:eek:
I’ve seen many “yawners” at the hunt meet that were out of control when it came to galloping in a group of horses. Not many horses (or riders) get the chance to do controled galloping over uneven ground anymore. I try to start all my horses at home, doing trot sets with buddies in big open areas, then some controlled canters. If all goes well, we gallop on.
When I take them in the hunt field I try to really down play the event. I ride in the non-jumpng field and never get out of a trot. We always take them out in twos so they have a a barn buddy to reassure 'em.
No one wants to spend the time correctly starting field hunters anymore. I’ve had some that were stars after six hunts and others that it took an entire season to get them adjusted to the excitement. But we did a lot of work at home, flat work, conditioning, chiropractic work and good shoeing.
There may be a dozen different reasons that caused your horse to become unglued. Since it happened on the second hunt, I’d find a pro to ride your horse, otherwise you might find your self on a trip to the hospital or get banned from the hunt field.
My filly
I have a filly that has hunted a half dozen times or more and roaded another half dozen times or more. She’s always been a little excited and jiggy but not horrible. I took her up to help walk out hounds yesterday. She was still tied to the trailer when the huntsman let the hounds out. They surrounded her, she freaked, pulled back and galloped off. Yes wearing my good hunt saddle and bridle. We did not find her for five hours. Now I’m wondering how she’ll hunt next time. She was still pretty wound up when we found her. She was still wearing the GPS I had turned on already so we know that she went 9 miles. I spent two horse on a 13 hand pony looking for her and another two on one of the huntman’s horses. We finally found her by driving around in the huntsman’s jeep.
At least I know I have three other horses that hunt.
[QUOTE=Groro;4497479]
I’ve seen many “yawners” at the hunt meet that were out of control when it came to galloping in a group of horses. Not many horses (or riders) get the chance to do controled galloping over uneven ground anymore. I try to start all my horses at home, doing trot sets with buddies in big open areas, then some controlled canters. If all goes well, we gallop on.
When I take them in the hunt field I try to really down play the event. I ride in the non-jumpng field and never get out of a trot. We always take them out in twos so they have a a barn buddy to reassure 'em.
.[/QUOTE]
A polo pony should have this background. Galloping next to someone,running in front or running behind a group of galloping horses is the norm on the polo field. Trotting and cantering in sets while being ponied or ridden is also how we leg up our ponies. OP really needs to talk to a polo rider and watch how pony is ridden. I let an “equitation” rider take my calm little mare out in the ring one day. She had her side passing and bent up like a pretzel in 2 seconds because she didn’t understand the lightness of touch the mare had. I had to get her off before the mare exploded. btw this mare hunted when she was 4 and people could not believe how quiet she was about everything.
I do understand the necessity of a light hand with polo ponies. I’ve gotten more than one comment about not understanding light hands, seat aids, and a few about “show riders”. Please don’t mistake my main equine activity - showing - for confirmation that I’m a show-only rider who can’t handle something out of an arena. And please don’t mistake show riders as a whole for people who don’t have light hands and communicative seats. I am happy to hear suggestions, and will be trying some suggestions already shared, but please leave the digs at “show riders” out of it.
I hunted a half dozen other people’s horses last year, all with first flight, and they were not the steady eddy horses that one would mount guests on. Never had any issues. Got along with all of them and had a good time.
The mare lost it. I wasn’t in her face, no one was out ahead of her to “chase”, we were at that point in a group of three horses (ourselves included). Huntsman and hounds were nowhere to be seen or heard. We’d just stopped to go thru a gate, and we began to canter up the road. If that’s not a controlled setting during a hunt…I’m not sure how much more controlled of a setting you’re going to get while you’re out.
Yesterday I took my 4 y/o ASB out for the third time. He went out twice this past spring and we had a great time! He was fabulous, and I was thrilled with him. We were out over three hours, crossed everything, climbed around some really trappy junk in the timber, and went with the group, without the group, behind the group, wherever, happily. Much more enjoyable hunt than last Wednesday…plus we viewed three coyotes and some excellent hound work!
