Help needed please

[widdybank]

Hi we have just bought a pony for our daughter,who can ride very well.the pony is 4 yrs old,when my daughter try's to get on her she backs up really fast,when she does get on she won't walk all it wants to do is trot..then it goes round in circles,once she gets it back home it backs up again and just will not stand still.
Any help would be great.thanks

[mirejaal]

THis pony is very young, do you know who broke her and how much she has done? Sometimes ponies are only backed and 'ridden away' so she may not really be established in her schooling.
Maybe try doing some lungeing/long reining work and establish voice commands to begin with, without a rider. Once she has done this, put your daughter on her and reinforce your daughters aids with your voice commands. Teach her especially the 'stand' command and 'walk on'.
In the meantime just walk her out on the lead with your daughter to establish a calm relationship between them, as this can so quickly break down betwen a young pony and a child. On the lead you can reinforce the stand, and walk on without any danger of a fight. Good luck.

[aliwelsh]

it might also be worth getting an instructor or someone else who has a lot of experience with ponies to have a look at her to see if she is suitable for your daughter

they could then 'diagnose' the problem which could be anything from badly fitting tack to the pony not having been trained properly in the first place

i've found it very helpful myself in the past to have an 'expert' involved when things go wrong - often they have seen it all before and can advise you on the way forward

[widdybank]

Thanks mirejaal,we got her off a lady not far from us,she told us she has been out all the time in traffic,hacking out,and was very quite in all ways,my daughter tried her at the yard and she was no problem at all??I have contacted her and she said to get a bubble bit? I just don't want my daughter to get hurt,or loose her confidence.

[widdybank]

Thanks aliwelsh,we got a lady who is a very good rider to come and see her,she watched my daughter on her for a few mins,then the day attempted to get on,she was nearly on when the pony took off and chucked her off,she got straight back on and took it for a short walk with no problems.

[mirejaal]

Of course you dont, and to be honest a different bit is unlikely to resolve a running backwards and non standing problem. I agree with the last post to get some help from someone who really knows CHILDRENS ponies, as the training of a pony with child is so very different from training an adults pony or horse!
Where abouts are you in the country? We have been showing at County level for some years now and there are some terrific producers of childrens ponies out there who could help you , and also some very good home produced yards with people who could just give you some support with this, or even with an older jockey who could help out for a while.
It may be just a settling in, establishing 'who is boss' situation, or it could be more sinister, and no one can really advise without seeing the pony. Poor you, its horrid and so disappointing for you.
PM me if you want some names in confidence, or i am happy to post if thats ok. What area are you?

[widdybank]

That would be great thank you so much for your help. We are in county Durham. Many thanks

[mirejaal]

Hi where abouts in County Durham

[widdybank]

Barnard Castle area

[ilovenatives]

Have you had the ponies back , teeth , saddle checked ? What bit are you using now ?
I wonder if something has happened to scare the pony before you got her
If you are sure it is not a pain issue then as suggested above lunge/longrein and then put your daughter on but on the lead rein for now . Just take things slow for now so as not to damage your daughters confidence .
A severe bit is the last thing the pony wants at the moment .
Good luck

[sensation]

As well as what has been said i am going to play devils advocate and say this pony and owner combinaton doesn't sound suitable. The pony sounds scared to be honest and at 4 years old I think it is too huge a responsiblity to expect the pony to be "quiet in all ways" and look after a child. I would look at getting something older before your child loses confidence (which speaking from experience is very hard-if not impossible to regain once lost) kids need a good, confidence, building first pony. The pony also needs confidence as the pony is a baby.

Akternatively you could send the pony away to be bought on by a professional but this will not be cheap. Even if this is done I still think 4 year olds should be allowed a margin for error as they do not have life experience.

Good luck!

[Deleted]

As you probably all know, I specialise in breeding ponies for children, not all ponies are bred this way and that is when you run into problems. I would go back to the person who sold you this pony and explain - how long have you had it? I always say if my ponies aren't suitable they come back. I can honestly say my young ponies go on and do a great job as you will see if you look on my website - yes ok, you pay what they are worth but they do go on and do what I say! I really don't think age has anything to do with it - you will get saints and devils wether they are 4 or 14.

[sarahp]

I can see both sides - I too have bred "old heads on young shoulders" ponies that are quiet and reliable as 4yos, but not all are. Personally I'd much rather have the former, but the pony needs to have been correctly broken and schooled, and you do need the right adult to help get them together, you can't just leave them to get on with it - not that I'm suggesting the OP is, just agreeing that a young pony is not necessarily a bad idea for a young child.

[casper15]

Some ponies do that when they are cold backed? when your daughter gets on the pony she could stand up in her stirrups for a few minutes whilst being led/walking round just to loosen your pony up abit then they should be alright

[nici]

How old is your daughter and how big is the pony? Is this your daughter's first pony of her own? I know you said your daughter rides very well, but what ponies is she used to riding? There can be a huge difference between riding a long suffering riding school pony, which has had to put up with a variety of novice riders for many years and is therefore tolerant with riders of all levels, and riding a novice baby which has only been ridden for a matter of weeks or maybe months, possibly only by one rider.

I do think you need to get a decent instructor to help your daughter, and sooner rather than later. You also need to get the pony and tack checked out - babies change so much in their shape and in their mouth, so it's essential to make sure the tack fits well and pony's teeth and back are ok.

I hope you get things sorted out. Personally I love having young ponies as I'd rather work with them at the start of their career, but we always start them ourselves, so we know the training they've had and where they're up to in their training.

ETA: The seller's advice to "get a bubble bit" is worrying, and would definitely make me think that short cuts have been used in the pony's training, and the pony needs to go right back to groundwork basics and start again. Hopefully not too much damage has been done through the short cuts.