[Vengeance]

I meant to start working with Pony a few weeks ago, but stuff came up and I could never get out there...

So, now that I seem to finally have some free time, I can actually get out there and work with her... but perhaps a little backstory of her history first.

My cousins bought Pony as a three year old for their daughter when the girl was two, so we’ve had her for a year. She is, as her name suggests, a pony. She’s a buckskin Welsh/Shetland cross or just Shetland, we’re not for sure. I’m just going to say she’s a Shetland.

Pony was advertised to my cousins as a ‘kid-broke’ three year old mare (she’s now four and a half, as she’s a year older than my gelding) that was at her mature height and had no vices. When they got her home, we realized that they’d been lied to and in truth, Pony was just barely halter-trained, didn’t tie but lead ok, reared when cross-tied, reared when tied, period... and had only had a saddle on once or twice and had never had a kid on her back and had never had a bridle on. She also had never had her hooves done and didn’t know how to pick her hooves up and had never been dewormed.

Since she wasn’t trained, my cousins didn’t want much to do with her and after their daughter lost interest in petting her, they put her in my uncles pasture and quit messing with her.

That was a year ago. No one has messed with her much besides running her away when she got too near because she developed a biting habit. She’s grown, too... she’s about a hand taller than she was when my cousins bought her.

Anyway, I’m going to mess with her to get her a little more tame because she’s for sale... She has never seen a farrier and has never been dewormed, but she’s not bad off. Her hooves are alright and she’s fat. However, my first plan on action is to deworm her, which I’m doing tomorrow, as I’ve got to buy wormer for my two and my cousins have given me money to buy wormer, some feed for her, and a salt lick for her pasture (she’s pastured with an Arabian mare and they’ve never had access to a salt lick that I can remember).

So, her vices/bad qualities now are...
~ She bites... very mouthy
~ She kicks, rears, and bucks
~ Sometimes she acts like she’s going to run over you
~ She strikes
~ She’s extremely disrespectful and is almost always in your space
~ She’s extremely herd-sour
~ She’s the herd leader and I think she thinks that people are part of her ‘herd’
~ She cowkicks when you touch her sides near her hindlegs most of the time... not every time, just the majority...
~ She sometimes kicks if you walk around her butt like you would a normal horse... you have to give her a wide birth
~ She hates dogs...
~ She doesn’t pick up her hooves
~ I’m not sure how she does with dewormer... I’m anticipating a fight, though, when I go to deworm her tomorrow...

Her good qualities are...
~ She’s extremely easy to catch and likes to be petted on
~ She halters and leads fairly easily
~ She ties (as far as I know, I’ve only tied her once recently and that was to brush her for about fifteen minutes) and will stand patiently for about five minutes before she starts pawing/striking, though if you reprimand her, she will quit for a while
~ She likes being brushed
~ When leading her, after a while she seems to start to understand the ‘respect my space’ deal
~ She seems to have a good mind
~ She’s willing... for the most part

Now, my questions... where exactly should I start? It seems like I should do something she does good, and kind of incorporate that into training the ‘bad qualities’ out of her, but I’m not very sure... I’ve taken on a big project (alongside another big project... helping my friend with his ‘new’ horse...)... but both ‘projects’ go side-by-side and will benefit each other...

Also, I’m buying feed for her tomorrow... I only have Access to FRM feeds, so which one would be best for her to have? I’m aware that she’s extremely fat, but winter is coming and she will need the feed.

Oh, here’s a few photo’s of her... my cousins daughter Makenzie named her ‘Daydream’ the day they bought her, but I’m calling her ‘Pony’ now, as it suits her more.. and it’s easier to scream/say ‘Pony!’ in a disciplining voice than it is to say ‘Daydream!’. Also, this thread is posted on two different forums, as I need all the advice I can get... Thanks for reading and helping!

[PiaffePony0412]

oh my.

I would just recommend lots of ground work with this pony until she learns some serious manners. NO biting. NO kicking. NO striking. NO exceptions. If you are preparing this horse for a little 2 year old, you need to spend a lot of time with this horse before little Makenzie goes anywhere near! It can be done, but it's going to take time, time and more time.

This pony obviously has no trust or respect for you, so you are going to have to earn it. Once she realizes you don't mean her any harm and you aren't going to take any of her BS, she will start to mellow out- but that still doesn't mean she will be ready for a 2 year old. You may have to accept the possibility that this will never be a 2 year old's pony. I have known some rough riding 5 year olds, but toddler's not so much. I would maybe even separate her from the herd so her only socialization is YOU, so she better make the most of it and be nice.

So my biggest advice? Be patient. Second biggest? Seek out a trainer if you are uncomfortable/unconfident with this pony.

-Piaffepony0412

[EVOO]

Regular work with a consistent individual will resolve most of her issues in time. Be firm, make no exceptions, even tiny infractions need to be addressed.

As for the feed, no she won't need it. Extremely fat is an understatement. She is morbidly obese. Get a straight vitamin/mineral supplement and move her to a dry lot. Soak and drain her hay before giving it to her.

[Vengeance]

oh my.

I would just recommend lots of ground work with this pony until she learns some serious manners. NO biting. NO kicking. NO striking. NO exceptions. If you are preparing this horse for a little 2 year old, you need to spend a lot of time with this horse before little Makenzie goes anywhere near! It can be done, but it's going to take time, time and more time.

My cousin Makenzie is three now, nearing her fourth birthday. She's no longer interested in Pony.

I was thinking I could try lunging her... but maybe I should start with just tieing patiently with no pawing/striking/trieing to cowkick while she's groomed and leading properly without trying to bite.

This pony obviously has no trust or respect for you, so you are going to have to earn it. Once she realizes you don't mean her any harm and you aren't going to take any of her BS, she will start to mellow out- but that still doesn't mean she will be ready for a 2 year old. You may have to accept the possibility that this will never be a 2 year old's pony. I have known some rough riding 5 year olds, but toddler's not so much. I would maybe even separate her from the herd so her only socialization is YOU, so she better make the most of it and be nice.

I don't take any of her BS... but other people do and have in the past and she's learnt that she can get away with it, I think. She's for sale for about two hundred, but my cousins aren't going to get that much for her unless she's gentle on ground or possibly trained. I want to get her to that point so they don't have to end up and take a mere fifty dollars for her. I actually kind of like her... in an odd sort of way. Right now, we can't seperate her from her 'herd' (which is only one other horse) but when some other of my cousins move their horses that we're keeping for them in our main pasture, we were going to see if we could put Pony's herdmate in the main pasture with the other horses and leave Pony alone.

So my biggest advice? Be patient. Second biggest? Seek out a trainer if you are uncomfortable/unconfident with this pony.

-Piaffepony0412

Thanks. I'm pretty patient, but I do get upset every now and then and can get kind of rough... I try to keep in mind, though, that I don't need to get upset and I've gotten a lot better about my temper. Surprisingly, I don't feel uncinfidant/uncomfortable around/handling Pony. I really feel that I can do it if I keep alert and patient around/with her.

Regular work with a consistent individual will resolve most of her issues in time. Be firm, make no exceptions, even tiny infractions need to be addressed.

As for the feed, no she won't need it. Extremely fat is an understatement. She is morbidly obese. Get a straight vitamin/mineral supplement and move her to a dry lot. Soak and drain her hay before giving it to her.

I'm going to try and work with her at least three times a week, four if I can make it... as I also have my own horses, plus I'm working with my friends mare about twice to three times a week and my weekends are always full nowadays.

She won't need the feed? Even during winter when there's no grass? We don't have any dry-lots... but her pasture isn't that grassy right now... all the grass is dieing in both our pastures. Right now, she's on straight pasture grass, no hay, no nothing...

[EVOO]

No feed. Soaked hay and a straight vitamin/mineral supplement with no added junk. If you can't take her off pasture muzzle her. Yes, even now.

[amor2429]

I wouldnt tie her up for long if she starts misbehaving, but im not sure, some horses just hate being tied up and cant stand it no matter how much you try to train them.
When i tie up or pen my horse he gets bored easily so i put a bag or something for him to play around with while im grooming.

If she can lead, she can lunge, but dont bore her.

[jbrown]

I'm picking up a mustange this weekend who is 4 and bites and is really rude. Shes a beauty though. I would be willing to video some of the ground work with her and send it to you. Let me know! Good Luck!

[Vengeance]

I just got back from seeing Pony and her herdmate, Nightmare. Pony came right up to me (as usual) and followed me around (I think she thought I had feed or something, as that's usually the only way we can catch Nightmare and we usually catch Nightmare and Pony sometimes gets a piece of bread). She tried to nip my arm, and I popped her on the muzzle lightly and reprimanded her verbally... she didn't try it again, but lipped at my shirt a little and refused to move until I raised a hand like I was going to smack her across the bum... then she whirled around and trotted a few strides away, though at first it seemed like she was thinknig about kicking and thought better of it. I picked one of her hooves up and she was ok... not very balanced or anything, but she didn't try to jerk away, just kinda pulled a little then calmed down.

I also messed with Nightmare... for a horse who you can't hardly catch with feed, she's let me catch her twice now without no type of feed or treats. I picked up her front hooves... she's really good about it... just kiss and say 'up' while running your hand down her leg... she jerks her hooves up really fast and just gives them to you, though I'm not going to try her back hooves for a while yet... last time I tried I very nearly got kicked.

[prettyqtrs]

Lots of basic groundwork. Start with the most important issues- basic leading, giving her head to pressure on both sides, yielding/disengaging hind and forequarters, overall handling and touching/grooming everywhere, picking up hooves, etc. Start from the beginning, pretend she is a foal/weanling that is just learning everything and go thru step by step and work on basic ground manners. And very importantly absolutely no biting/kicking/striking/etc.
I would get her at least managable so she can safely be seen by a farrier and trimmed regularly, kept up with the de-worming, etc.
Good luck. Cute pony...its a shame nobody put the time and training into her from the get go, I'm sure she has a lot of potential once she has some regular handling and is taught some manners.

[SWRerider]

It sounds like you will do well with this pony, who is to -die -for- cute, with what seems to be patient , regular handling. Just keep working with the feet for a little better each time.
Ditto to EVOO, you must not give this pony any grain or products with grain. If the grass is going dormant for the winter, just give grass hay.