Trail Riding with Naughty Ponies

[GrumpyMare]

I finally have a super calm Rocky Mountain mare to trail ride after sitting and just watching my son ride for the last year and a half. My son wants to trail ride with me so much, but his mare is a typical pushy pony who just wants to eat when she sees grass or even bushes.

She will yank the reins out of his hands and he just cries (he is a tiny 7 year old). In the ring they are great and he will keep her under control well, but he just loses it outside of the ring. She is a very strong mare, I struggle to lead her when she wants to graze. I am working on her ground manners regarding grazing and leading, but I can’t get on her and fix the grazing issue under saddle.

He already rides with a dressage whip and we have tried grazing reins. I thought about ponying her from my mare but imagine she will just yank on me.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[PonyTales]

Sorry … That must be very frustrating for you & great disappointment for your son. Don’t give-up though cuz it’ll be worth the effort in the end

My friend has similar situation as you. She does pony (the pony) off of her horse. Initially it did take some time to practice with the pony. First she started to pony (the pony) w/out a rider. Then she put an experienced older rider on the pony for the first few trips w/a rider. Her pony was very naughty when she started to pony him off her mare. At first after he figured grazing wasn’t an option ~ he would put some energy in trying to escape. It took several months of persistence, but now he ponies like a pro.

• I often wondered if a grazing muzzle would help ?

[Doctracy]

I would pony the pony or have somebody more experienced do it for you. If the pony is 12 hands or more, find an experienced small person to take her on the trails for a few weeks. I’m 61" and Ive fox hunted on a small for an entire week. We also had a staff whip who did very well on a very small Welsch. My point is, somebody with experience, not a kid, should be dealing with bad habits of ponies. Naughty ponies and young,inexperienced children will only get worse. We don’t put beginner riders on ill-mannered or green horses, why does this happen so often with ponies and our precious children?

[gypsymare]

Anti grazing rein. It’s a common problem:

http://www.doversaddlery.com/anti-grazing-device/p/X1-1243/

[LSMarnell]

You need an anti-grazing device. It doesn’t allow them to root their head down and snatch the riders reins.

http://www.jefferspet.com/products/kincade-anti-grazing-strap-color-black

[LSMarnell]

How did the grazing reins not work? I have used a set similar to this and had success.

http://www.jefferspet.com/products/kincade-anti-grazing-strap-color-black

Ponies are smart. Getting an adult to ride will fix them- until the kid gets back on!

[Doctracy]

True but you cannot expect a 7 year old beginner to train a pony, which is why many ponies get bad reputations. I showed out of a barn with several smalls and they were all well behaved. They were ridden by small adults at least 3-4 times a week. They did beautifully with their beginner children since they received plenty of tune-ups in-between. From the sounds of it, OP and her son are very new to horses. I recommend help from a trainer or experienced adult rider.
Ponies are smart. They need training and reminders just like horses. Too often, because ponies are too small for most adults, they are never really trained. Especially the smalls.

[dazed]

What about something like this? A friend bought one for her naughty pony and it didn’t take him long to figure out that grazing wasn’t an option with it on. The strap meant to go around the poll was a bit short though.

http://www.chicksaddlery.com/page/CDS/PROD/GG8528

[GrumpyMare]

I did have the pony in training but the rider is injured and unable to ride for some time. I am an experienced rider, but feel I would be too large on the pony, she is 13.1 and I am 200lbs.

Like I said, she is very well behaved in the ring, it is just outside around grass that she becomes pushy. I am not letting my son “ruin” the pony. I do quite a bit of ground work, including ground driving with her, and paid an experienced teen to ride her 1-2 times a week. I am looking for a new rider to school her, but haven’t had time to network yet to find the right person.

[pdq]

Any thoughts or suggestions

Yes. Take two pieces of baling twine. Take one piece and tie one end to the right side of the bit, then cross the rest of the twine over the top of the neck and tie the other end to the d-ring on the left side of the saddle. Tie the second piece of twine to the left side of the bit, cross the twine over the neck and tie the other end to the D-Ring on the right side of the saddle. The twine should be loose enough to have a soft loop while the pony is holding its head in a natural position, but instantly be tight if the pony drops its head below the withers.

This will prevent the pony from stretching down to get grass because the twine will instantly correct the bad behavior on both side of the bit straight back and upwards - as a rider’s hands would do - without impacting your son’s handling of the reins. Ponies are smart - it won’t take more than 2-3 times and the pony will figure out they can’t get the grass without being immediately corrected.

Ponies are also smart enough to know who is on their back when the corrections are being done, so it is best to keep your son in the saddle so that the pony recognizes that it is your son doing the corrections, and will learn to yield to his control, not some other pony jock.

And yes, at 200 lbs you are too heavy for the pony.

[BeeHoney]

What happened with the grazing reins? Usually they work great.

I agree, you might need someone to school the pony for you a bit, but OTOH ponies are generally very savvy about figuring out who is on their back. The good news is that ponies often just “give up” and behave themselves properly once they know the jig is up and that their rider can make them behave. So, even if you can’t fix things right away, time is on your side–soon your son will be big enough/tough enough to make the pony behave.

I agree that kids shouldn’t be put on bad ponies, but wanting to urgently stop and graze is a pretty common moral failing among ponies.

[SuzieQNutter]

I agree wholeheartedly with pdq.

[2enduraceriders]

When my daughter was that age she was starting to ride a couple of my horses. When in a ring she had no problem but on the trail she lacked the strength to be able to fully correct the horses. The problem was solved by changing to a bit with some shank to it for trail riding. All the horses were light mouthed and responsive, she just needed the little extra leverage to make up for her lack of strength. She and the horses were very happy with the situation after that.
It sounds like your son is in the same situation. At his age he lacks the strength to pull his pony’s head up. It sounds like he rides well enough to have soft enough hands to be able to use more bit when on the trail.