Naughty pony

[jenn1617]

Sorry for the length of this but i want to describe properly the problem i have - would appreciate views of anyone with similar experience.

My son has a 13.2 who 99% of the time is as good as gold. However, when he is not good it is really frightening for my son. Today we went cross country schooling and my son rode his 12.2 while I rode the bigger one. Both were really good so we swapped (I am quite small so can ride both!). All was fine until he trotted the pony away to bring him round to a fence. I took my eyes off him for a second and my son was on the floor. This has happened a few times now and my son was terrified (again). I got on the pony and trotted him slowly a bit further away and he threw me off. To describe what happens - he drops his shoulder and then whips round. He can get my son off with the shoulder drop. I nearly sat it but once I had lost my balance he kept moving until I was off and then just stood there. I was a very confident rider when I was younger but am not as confident now although not a complete chicken. It was quite scary. I smacked him hard and rode away slowly again which he did. We had a break for a couple of hours and then i trotted him round the course again (side by side with my son on his little one) and all was fine. We have only had this pony for 6 months - he was sold as a safe pony but I suspect he has done this for a while as he is good at it!

My dilemma - I could persevere and hope that we get past this - I suspect the more successful the pony is at decanting his rider the more he'll do it. He doesn't do it on a hack at home but will in the school or at a show/pc rally. My son can ride his 12.2
for a while but will need to move up as he is growing. If this happens many more times I think it will finish my sons confidence and possibly put him off riding for good. He enjoys it but can be put off by bad experiences. If I can't sit it then i cant see my son managing.

Or - cut our losses and sell the pony to a more confident rider who can sit it. My son is losing confidence and the pony knows it! Finding a buyer may be difficult but I would declare our problem.

Or loan the pony out to a confident rider (I don't know anyone and would be reluctant giving to a stranger).

I know there is no black and white solution - I'll think it over and not rush a decision but in the meantime would appreciate any comments others may have. We have had some lessons but that's not helped as if he does it my son won't get back on without being led or similar.


Thanks

[sageandonion]

How old is pony? is it just in exciting situations? how well schooled is he on the flat?

[nia2311]

You may have to consider re-schooling the pony with an experienced person small enough to ride him, but able to get these bad habits out of him. It sounds like a learned habit which is fairly commonly picked up in kids ponies who are allowed to get away with it. Before you bought him, most likely he ditched his jockey, but instead of them getting back on, they untacked him, and chucked him in the field. Which to him is a reward, basically, for being naughty. If you son is getting put off, I would look at getting someone in to re-school and ride him through it. He must NOT be allowed to finish a session having chucked someone on the floor.

[jenn1617]

Pony is 8, yes usually happens in exciting situations but also can (but not always) if he is asked to go away from others. He is reasonably well schooled and normally obedient.

It can happen after 5 mins, an hour or anywhere in between.

Thanks

[watchbank]

Oh i feel your pain! I had a pony how you describe and the only way i could tackle it was to set her off into a trot when i felt her going to do it and just keep trotting her away for about 5 minutes, stop and stand still and pat her... and eventually she realised that if she tried to drop her shoulder she was made to work!! She soon passed it off as a bad idea and didn't do it ever again and she went on to be a successful child's pony, winning numerous ridden shows and now a happy broodmare ... hope you get past it! Remember ponies are sent to try us and he will try you for every inch but just keep at it! x

[jenn1617]

Thanks - I have done similar but as my son gets too scared to do much when he gets back on i have lunged him quite hard for 5 minutes. He's basically fairly quite lazy so that was definitely a punishment but the real deal would be the rider getting back on - I guess lunging is better than letting him off with it and it becoming the way he gets out of his work.

[judyh]

It sounds as if the pony is going to shatter your son's confidence.
Keeping boys riding is not easy, I would not let him ride the pony unless you can get a good, confident person to school this habit out of it.

[Sasha]

If you are unable to sit on the pony when it goes then your son won't be able to! Tbh I probably would consider cutting losses and selling with declaring to any potential buyers.
1- this pony seems like an accomplished ditcher, who may always do this
2- your son is your priority, his confidence and safety come first.
3- if he is throwing an experienced adult off whenever he likes then I think this is a long standing issue which you have to decide if you have the energy and stomach to win the war!

Good luck

[Kaseyleigh]

My advice would to be put someone on him thats a confidant experienced rider and when he does hes dirty trick he needs a good 3 strike's behind the saddle as a sharp shock i know it sounds cruel but its rather the pony or your child at the end of the day and this pony obviously knows what its doing so that would be my advice everytime he does it 3 strikes behind the saddle so he will associate that everytime he does it hes going to get a good wack.

[gillwales]

cut your losses

be honest when you sell on

find a pony your son will enjoy

good luck x

[jennipenny]

Just out of interest does he buck or anything ? Or just drop his shoulder ? And spin? X. As said above I would cut your losses ! X. Your sons confidence and enjoyment is much more important ! X my pony learnt this habit as a youngster quite a lot of people now her around us for her "ditching"skills ! X and her name thelwell says it all ! X she's now 16 and will ditch you whenever she feels like it ! X no pain issues ect ! Just because she can ! But she IMO is the best pony on this planet as she tries her heart at everything ! Just can be a monkey so
Etimes x what I think I'm trying to get at is some people love a quirky pony and you would probably find him a lovely home ! And maybe not loose to much money and if u wanted find you son a bigger version of your 12.2 x. Fingers crosses you get everything sorted ! X x. It's deffinatly a tough one. X x

[jenn1617]

Thanks

He doesn't buck he can do a wee skip forward at times but my son doesn't really worry about that.

It's mainly a dropping of the shoulder followed by a twist/spin. Happens v quickly - when we bought him I noticed the rider rode him on a really short rein - I asked her to ride longer which she did and all was well - as I say he doesn't do it often.

I'm really torn about it as my son adores him - when I broached the subject of thinking about selling it broke his heart. That said I agree with all the comments about my sons confidence being much more important and I wont compromise that.

He's quite a bossy pony in the stable and needs firm handling - he responds well to that and my son will do that happily. I have some hope that he would respond to a strong rider bossing him when he does this but my son is not at that level yet and of course there are no guarantees.

I think I pretty well know what I need to do!

Thanks

[jennipenny]

hope you get it sorted what ever you decide ! x the only other thing is as people have said get a bigger jokey who isnt phased by this or lessons x such a difficult situation to be in especially when your son obviously loves this pony to x weve got a little LR pony on our yard who is a LR PONY and will not go off the lead without being a little madam and has booted her jokey of several times but her 6yr old jokey loves her to bits and although she can come of the lead on a different pony she will not let this pony go x really feel for you x if you were anywhere near me i would of offered to lend a hand x anyway hope you get a solution x x

[speedysally]

get back and teeth checked, there's clearly something causing him to do this? hope you get it all sorted :-)

[jenn1617]

Appreciate this post is almost two years old but thought I would add to it just in case there is anyone out there with similar issues as we had. Also I was having a moment of reflection after a really good day.

Original post was about a naughty pony who was managing to get my son off with a drop and spin move.

We went back to basics, changed instructor and have worked really (really) hard to get my sons position, balance and confidence sorted. This pony and my son are now an amazing combination - today they flew round a sizable cross country course with total confidence in each other and in complete harmony. Very occasionally the pony tries it on but these days he doesn't get anywhere so generally doesn't bother. My son actually laughs when he does. My sons confidence is restored and I am so glad we stuck with it. Not always the answer I know but this time it paid off.

[robrocks]

What a lovely ending for all with hard work truly paying off, well done.

[larkhaven]

Thats brilliant! Well done to you and your son. This is areal achievement, and you have given a chance to a pont which would have gone from hand to hand without your help. I only read this post because I was SO annoyed by the title as I dont believe ponies are 'naughty'. They make mistakes through misunderstanding, usually because of poor communication from rider. Otherwise the unwanted beviour is because of pain or fright. You have proved the point beautifully. WELL DONE!

[jenn1617]

I see and agree with your point regarding the title. Originally written at a very worrying time so not as objective as I should have been. Thanks for your comments.

[waspblue]

Very well done to all of you, I hadn't read to the end of the thread before I liked the two posts regarding selling him, purely as a safety issue for your son, I am so pleased for all of you though as it's a long hard battle and worse when you have to take a childs safety into consideration too.

Good luck for the future.

[Pepper]

What a result! Well done, and so lovely to receive an update. Often wonder about outcomes on here, makes me want to go back bad edit a post I made a year ago lol!