Sitemaps

My poa has a habit of not wanting to "ride off" from a standing person without fighting ,2007-11-24 21:18:38

I have had wonderful answers about showmanship that helped ALOT! This same pony likes to "socialize" with people and has the best ground manners but does not want to leave any standing person when it goes to ride off in a arena or trail once away is fine, please help!

Answers:

When the conversation is over, ask the person to walk away and leave you and your horse where you stand. If he turns to walk with the person, reign him the opposite direction or pull him back to stand. It will take a few tries, he may want to follow, but by turning him the opposite direction and asking him to walk or stand, he's learning that he can't follow everyone. By making him stand where you are left, he's learning that it is possible to separate. Having them walk away as opposed to you trying to walk away makes the separation quicker and you aren't fighting him to leave.

---

horses are herd animals and if yours is an only horse- she may just have separation issues. does she stop/stand/then move on willingly while riding her just outside of her corral or stall? if she is just sour, do not give in, be firm and insist she move forward and away. practice riding up to a person or horse-stop and wait a few minutes-then ask them walk away, while she is still standing where you stopped. ask her to remain standing as they go one direction- then you turn her and move away in the other direction. reassure her and make her see that separating from her "herd" is no big deal. next time you ride up to someone, try getting a short distance away and lead her up to them. when remounting to leave lead her away a few feet, then mount up and ride away- could be she has trouble distinguishing between work time and "spoil the pretty pony" time. cannot blame her- i too would rather socialize than work. good luck

---

Ahhh, good question and common problem, especially in horses used for equitation classes. In equitation you normally all stand in a row and then one at a time step off to do your pattern. If you are at the end of the row you could have easily stood in one place for 10 minutes or more, and your horse gets very comfortable! Plus, who wants to wake up and work!