I am looking for some resources. I started riding again about a year ago after taking break for 15 years and it feels like I never stopped 
I have a 12-year old daughter who has been riding and shows occasionally. We have one horse and one pony at home - they know their job and are just wonderful. We recently came across a medium pony - great attitude, good manners, very sweet (kids can groom her for hours), but a little “wild.” She is broke to ride and has been ridden western and bareback but can be a little strong (no bucking or anything like that). She is 5 years old and has never even lived in a stall or had a bath. She is coming to live with us this week for some time and we really want to “start over” with her. It’s been a little while since I worked with such a green horse - do yo have any good book recommendations that might be a good refresher? Thanks in advance!
“The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book” by Linda Tellington-Jones.
Pony club manual gives you a refresher in a lot of basics, tools and equipment. The DeNemethy Method is one I recently re-read for help with a couple green horses with longeing.
Riding with Life - Lessons From the Horse: Melanie Smith Taylor & Jamie Caton
Storey’s Guide to Training Horses has always been one of my favorites as well as 101 Ground training Exercises.
Any of Mark Rashid’s books are amazing and very helpful. You could also have your daughter read You and Your Horse, How to Whisper Your Way Into Your Horse’s Life by Dani Daley Mackall.
I had my 10 year old sister read this one and it has helped her establish a bond and some basic training with her new pony 
Even though her big sister is a professional trainer 
… she likes to do things on her own sometimes. Plus, its good for the younger ones to learn some things by reading and putting it into practice without adult help, just supervision. It helps them feel more accomplished that they helped train their pony too.
I’m sure i’ll probably remember some others here pretty soon but those are the best ones I can think of off the top of my head. Have fun!!
Oh, and if you ever happen to need any advice on anything, feel free to contact me anytime. You can PM me here or e-mail me at inclinedtowhisper@gmail.com
Ponies can be quite a challenge! I personally enjoy working with them a lot, they have a lot of spunk and tend to be quite playful lol.
The first horse i ever trained for someone else was a shetland/welsh cross mare. She had a habit of bolting and throwing any rider they put on her, but she had so much potential as an amazing hunter/jumper. They gave her to me as a challenge since I was the right size to ride her, hoping I could get something out of her. She only managed to throw me twice (physics says when you’re cantering at high speed and your horse hits the breaks… the rider tends to keep going lol!) First time I’d ever fallen off in my life.
But 9 months of training and physical conditioning and she was ready for the show curcuit, several first, second and third place ribbons later… We managed to kick some butt in her first show, and the rest is history.
You just gotta figure out how to funnel all that adorable, mischevious pony energy into something productive.
Another vote for THE ULTIMATE HORSE BEHAVIOR & TRAINING BOOK: Enlightened and Revolutionary Solutions for the 21st Century by Linda Tellington-Jones. This is a lareg book, 8.5 x 1 x 11.5 inches, with 322 pages full of photos and illustrations, published in Sept 2009. It can be purchased from Amazon.com, for $11.97 used. You can read the 81 reviews (4.5 out of highest score of 5). Chapters include an overview of her training philosophy and methods, behavior and training issues from A to Z, how to guides, ground exercises, ridden work, and case studies.
You may also want to look at another book by Tellington-Jones, GETTING IN TTOUCH WITH YOUR HORSE: How to Assess and Influence Personality, Potential and Performance published April, 2009. This is a 6.5 x .06 x 9.5 inch book of198 pages with lots of photos and illustrations. Available from Amazon, $8.91 used. Discusses learning how to evaluate equine character; introduces you to equine personality, teaches you equine personality analysis, how your horse’s health affects his personality, discusses soreness and pain, how health and environment affect personality and behavior, and matching horse to rider for optimum results.
I have an extensive library of equine behavior and training and how-to-ride books including authors Sally Swift, Jane Savoie, George Morrison, Mary Wanless, Alois Podjhasky, Wendy Murdoch, Paul McCreevy, and many many others who firmly believe in non-confrontational, non-forceful, non-anxiety producing, pain free, positive rewards to help you build upon a firm foundation for a partnership between you and your horses based on TRUST.
I capitalize the word TRUST. You have to earn the horse’s trust by being willing to take as much time as is required, with patience, and with knowledge and understanding the anatomy as well as the psychology of horses.
