Hi Racing folks!
How do you “teach” a horse to pony?
My OTTB gelding is recovering from an injury and I’d like to slowly start reconditioning him. I figured ponying him off another horse would be a good way to do it. Now, how do I go about it?
I have 2 horses: the 17h OTTB gelding and a 14.2h, 4 year old QH mare. She is fairly quiet, sensible and enjoys the “outdoors”. She, is however, very much at the bottom of the pecking order and he is the alpha horse in the herd. Am I asking for trouble ponying the “dominant” horse? I was reading on the endurance/trail riding group about respecting herd dynamics, but I don’t want to push the recovering OTTB too much too soon by actually riding him, and besides, the QH mare is a more enjoyable ride “out in the open” 
Any words of wisdom about ponying the hot head (but loveable) thoroughbred?
Thanks guys!
My advice would be not to try to pony your OTTB rehab horse off a horse that has never ponied before, dominant or not. OTTBs don’t forget their time at the track, and often the only time they would get ponied was in a race going to the gates. Your rehab horse is probably super fresh from being confined and could get mighty feisty with your mare - add in the memories from the track and you are just asking for trouble. I’m sure you can work out a plan with your vet to do the rehab without risking getting everyone hurt by ponying. That’s what most people do anyway. Handwalk to start, then tack walk, then up into trot, etc. If you want to teach the mare to pony later, go for it. But why risk injuring the rehab horse if you have to turn him lose for everyone’s safety? As I said, sounds like a bad idea right now.
Is he new to you or have you ridden him before? Do you have a ring and helper?
The easiest least stressful way to teach ponying is to ride together (no reason Ottb couldn’t be led in hand) I used to do half a lap then back to work just passing the lead rope to the rider. I was teaching at a barn with lots of parent boarders who wanted to take their lessoning kids out around the enclosed back field - teaching them how to safely pony. It didn’t take long and it sure helped me get horses exercise in the off season so ended up being a really good investment of time.
It’s easiest to teach them to pony when the ponied horse has a rider so you can let go if things go south. You can probably duplicate it somewhat by having someone with a lead on his off side. Have one person walk along side leading from the left and a safety person on the right. Hand him off to you on the pony with a strap, not a lead so if you let go there is nothing dragging on the left.
I would start in an indoor arena or enclosed area. If you had a helper you could attach two lead ropes on either side of the halter on your TB. The rider on other horse holds one lead rope & the ground helper holds the other. This way if Mr.TB misbehaves you can easily get him under control and/or make corrections. Eventually he can be weaned off of the second rope.
Fairly dominant horses make the best ponies, because subordinate horses tend to become defensive, and kick to defend themselves. Mares tend to be frowned on as lead pony prospects. Not to say that they can’t make good lead ponies, I had several who did the job well, but they are not the first choice in a pony prospect. Just because mares tend to be hormonal, and reactive to being touched by other horses, especially in the flank area.
One can’t say for sure whether this venture of yours is good idea or not, or whether you will have success or not. Most often the best plan involves only one of the three being green, not two, as in this case. Depending on the nature of the injury you are rehabbing on the OTTB, it may be a better idea to use some mild tranquilizer and ride the horse at the walk, rather than try something that neither you nor your potential lead pony have any experience with.
We need a Polo person to chime in. They pony 3-4 mares at a time, off a mare.
I’m not a polo person, but anytime I’ve ponied, I’ve just done it.
Here’s a couple of articles that might be helpful. Don’t laugh when you open the second link. Just remember an equine is an equine is an equine. :yes:
http://www.hyltonqh.com/Portals/hylton/Hylton%20images/Power%20of%20Ponying.pdf
http://www.diamondcreekmules.com/articles/812doud.pdf
Good luck with your training.
Having read Shammy’s links I guess we’ve gotten away with “just doing it”, because we spend a lot of time in the saddle and our horses are well broke to the leg and seat. This seems to be the first prerequisite whether mule or horse.
[QUOTE=merrygoround;7885147]
We need a Polo person to chime in. They pony 3-4 mares at a time, off a mare.
I’m not a polo person, but anytime I’ve ponied, I’ve just done it.[/QUOTE]
Ponying polo ponies is a bit different from ponying a racehorse. Polo ponies are ponied for convenience and fitness. Racehorses are ponied much faster and in a very different environment. I doubt polo ponies are ponied when a hundred other horses are on a track going all speeds in all different directions, or around tractors and starting gates. It is not uncommon to see a trainer ponying two horses out to the track, but not on the track, as there are too many other horses around and too little space to be riding three horses wide.
Personally I don’t get hung up on the mare thing, a good horse is a good horse IMO. I do agree that for the most part, it’s a matter of “just doing it”. The horses might not love it at first, that’s okay. Keep them focused on the task at hand and don’t accept excuses from yourself or the horses.
No experience with race horse ponying, however I have had plenty of experience with ponying young stock, as well as horses for exercise purposes.
I would never try to pony from a horse that is timid and/or low in the herd hierarchy.
They do tend to kick out in “defense” at the horse following close to them.
If there is no “herd hierarchy” you must consider the two horses in question and never try to pony from one that is timid, no matter how calm they are on their own (unless you are willing to take the chance of a kick to the horse you are leading).
“Bomb proof” horses who couldn’t care less are the best, but they can’t be timid :no:.
If you have taught a horse to lead properly you should have no problem
ponying! However, I agree that ponying a rehabbing horse is probably not a great idea. Too much can go wrong.
Thanks all for the super helpful advice! Point taken, I may wait until the fire-breathing OTTB is fully recovered from his injury before attempting this and will enlist a friend’s help to practice in the indoor!
and ps: on a totally unrelated topic, this is my all-time favorite mule (and yes, an equine is an equine 
!): http://www.horsenation.com/2014/04/02/show-donkeys-and-hunter-mules/
Polo person here, kind of late to the party.
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I’ve taught horses to pony before, and the way you do it is, in a round pen, at a walk, with the horse being ponied also being led from the ground by a sidewalker. The rider of the pony horse calls the shots, as in, “go left, in 3, 2, 1, left” and everybody goes left. Keep it up until the horse being ponied gets the idea. Then, the sidewalker lets go and the riderless horse is led. Do that in a round pen as many times as you need to until the young horse gets the idea. Baby carrots are a good idea…rider calls “3, 2, 1, whoa,” everybody stops, lots of praise and a treat. All but the dumbest of horses will get this in a hurry. When he’s comfortable being ponied in the round pen, go to an arena, and from there to the great outdoors.
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If the horse learning to pony stops cold, that’s what the sidewalker is for.
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Something else that is really helpful for some horses is to tie the learning horse to the outside of the round pen and let it watch other horses get ponied quietly in the round pen.
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You will want to carry a crop and not be afraid to use it. If the horse being ponied is being rude, trying to shoulder off the pony horse, etc. push it off with the butt of the crop. A good kick in the side gets the message across to especially rude horses (if I see the mouth open for a bite, that’s grounds for a kick and a holler from me).
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If your mare has never been the pony horse before, I would not teach both of them to pony at the same time. If there is another horse who’s done ponying that is a better option to start.
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Finally, if your gelding is very hot and nervous, there is NOTHING wrong with giving him just enough ace to take the edge off him before starting all this. The goal is a safe, low-stress, and productive session, with the main emphasis on SAFE.
