Training ponies

[Rae89]

I have a very quirky stubborn little pony at my place, and I need some ideas. Said pony is maybe 14 hands, and her owner is a 13 year old girl with parents that know nothing about horses. My opinion the kid needs a different horse, something she can learn on. But parents don’t want to buy, and kid “loves” pony so much…

So the parents decide to send pony to me. Here is the issues:
They bought the pony for jumping, It has gotten to the point that the kid can’t jump it, let alone hardly ride it. The pony is hot hot hot! They turn a corner and are cantering to a line, the pony starts bouncing up and down which leads the kid to start bouncing in the saddle, making issues worst, and upsetting sensitive pony. There is also some grabbing of the bit and bolting at jumps. Single fences sometime can be managed, but lines are not possible.

This has expanded into the kid having trouble on the flat with said pony. Pony just gets quicker and quicker and quicker and little girl can’t do anything about it other than circle. But it usually ends with pony getting in the up down canter and kid bouncing all over the place. Both parties are upset by this.

I have rode the pony off and on since they bought it, I can make it go fairly well. It tried to do the cantering in one spot thing, and I have the strength to push it forward into a canter while maintaining some contact.

Pony has been quite hot since they bought it, but has gotten worst and worst with the little girl. Teeth are good, chiro done.

Hopefully this is enough info to help you answer my questions

So I have had the pony for a month, as I said earlier I can make the pony look decent and go around. But I need to try and make pony suitable for young girl. I realize a month is not that long but hoping others have some ideas I can try.

Problem 1 Takes a very strong half halt to get a reaction from pony. This thing has a mouth of steel, so I have been spending a lot of time trying to get it softer. I put a nice light snaffle in her mouth and we bend, and we halt, ad we have done a million transitions, but it still wants to be stiff and go as fast as possible with its nose in the air and its head up. I don’t feel like I am getting her any softer, still takes a lot of strength to do a downward transitions

Problem 2 Pony will not keep a pace. Even at the walk, I half halt to slow down to a reasonable speed pony listens for a brief moment then back into speed walk. This happens at trot and canter. It certainly has gotten better in the last month, but not what I would call ideal. So the kids hangs on the ponies face, and pony learns to lean on bit and round and round it goes making the problem worst.

Problem 2 The jumping has gotten a wee bit better but again still not suitable for a 13 year old. I have been incorporating jumping into our flat work almost everyday. I jump a fence or a line, or a gymnastics. Then it is back to trot working on lateral movements, or transitions or whatever. I have been careful not to just concentrate on the jumping, never letting the pony think she knows whats coming next. But she can still be so chargie to the fences. The kid would never hold her… when she does it to me I immediately make her stop and and back up, then we start over jump fence and halt repeat a dozen times then maybe if she is good I will let her jump through the line. But come out the next day and the pony will do the same thing…

I just want it to relax and slow the **** down!

ANY IDEAS?? HELP

[findeight]

Problem #3 is the kid will get on and undo any training, not her fault, she doesn’t know better

Problem #4 is a month is not long enough to train Pony and teach kid basics.

Dont take it personally, some things you can’t fix and if you do, won’t stay fixed.

[Redlei44]

As usual, I agree with findeight. Ponies are no different than horses - making up a beginner mount (esp. for jumping) takes a lot longer than a month, and that’s with one that doesn’t have baggage. 13 isn’t really that young, there are plenty of “pony jocks” out there younger than that - it’s about skill rather than age. Maybe if you can keep the pony for a year, and provide a more suitable beginner mount for the rider in the meantime, the pony might turn a corner as the rider gets more skilled?

ETA: The kid may love the pony, but it’s hard to imagine that she wouldn’t love having more successful, less nerve-wracking rides even more. Which is why I think it might help make a case for them getting a more suitable mount if you can get her on a good citizen lesson mount. But don’t take this on as a personal problem - you do not want to be in the position of promising to “fix” the pony and then making little progress, and the kid maybe gets hurt in the meantime. I would be 100% (tactfully) transparent with parents that you have serious concerns about suitability/safety and can promise nothing in 30 days, if you haven’t already.

[mzm_farm]

One thing you can try once you “fixed” the pony (think 6-12 months - always take longer to re-train then just train), is teaching pony to wear side reins when ridden and giving lunge-line lessons to kid to learn to ride from seat/leg vs. hand. Went through a similar process with a pony I bought for my kid (issues known prior to purchase) - pony would be SUPER for me, challenge kid on lunge-line, to now pony mostly super for me AND kid, even though kid still makes mistakes. They are now off the lunge-line, w/t/c and a hop now and then. I still get on the pony frequently before/during/after rides to tune-up or work on new skills.

As far as exercises to slow down - circles have it! LOTS of various sizes and changing directions.

Easiest and most cost effective solution - buy a suitable mount!

[x]

If she is really that hard mouthed and it takes alot in a snaffle, move up to something else, such as a pelham, because just using more force on a snaffle isn’t helping her get softer. In my experience, a pony this hot is very, very hard to retrain–often can’t be done, but if it can be done, it takes a long, long time. I have often wondered if clicker training would work on these types, but have never tried it. The very best thing would be to find a different pony for the kid. The kid can’t learn on this pony, and will develop bad habits riding this sort of pony.

[paintedpony]

Bottom line is: pony is not a suitable mount for the child. Your task is to help the child and parents acknowledge this.

Do you have a suitable pony for the child? I recommend that you put child on a willing and co-operative mount for a month. Praise progress at every opportunity. Point out how Dobbin would not let them do this, or how Dobbin would have behaved. Make sure your speak to child and parents at each ride. Discuss progress and successes, and how Dobbin would have behaved/responded.

After a few rides, have a private conversation with the parents. Something along the lines of “I need to be brutally honest with you. Dobbin is lovely, and if he had come into rider’s life in a couple of years, they might make a great team. At this stage of learning, I see no future in this match. I want the best for your child, and must be responsible in how I recommend you proceed. I believe your money will be better spent in leasing or purchasing a more suitable pony.” I then would highlight your observations when child is riding another mount. Make sure you discuss the previous conversations and observations.

[LaurieB]

My thoughts:

1. Stop jumping the pony until you get the flat work figured out.
2. Remove all grain from the pony’s diet.
3. Give the pony as much turnout as possible, preferably 24/7.

You’re dealing with learned behavior so it may now be impossible to fix, but maybe those three ideas will help somewhat.

[Showbizz]

As you know, pony isn’t suitable.

If by chance you get the pony suitable, a 13 yo would have outgrown. I’m surpirsed a 13yo hasn’t outgrown a 14h pony yet.

Since parents won’t listen, keep chugging and do your best. I agree with a pelham. You don’t have anything to lose - pony and kid are already a mess.

[BK6756]

I agree with everyond else about getting a more suitable pony if that’s an option, but I’ll tell you the thing my trainer had me do that helped me with my TB gelding that always wanted to speed up and drag me around. If he starting speeding up without me asking him to, he got one chance to respond to a half halt. If he didn’t respond or immediately sped back up, he got a one-rein stop turning into the fence. I had to do this MANY times over a couple months, but he finally figured it out and can now go around at a relaxed pace.