New Shetland pony kicks - what do I do

We bought my 4 year old son a pony to ride (tied) behind our horses. The first day, I was putting the saddle on him and when I went to grab the straps, he swung his butt around ank kicked me. My husband came and worked with him about the area he didn't like me touching and was able to put the saddle on him. We put my boy on it and led him around. He did fine. About an hour later, we were walking though his pen and he turned around real quick and kicked my little boy in the face. My boy left the ground and did a flip. We took him to the hospital, but nothing was wrong (THANK GOD!).

Today, he says that he wants to keep the pony (we had decided to get rid of him). We told him that he can never be in the pen by himself and he agreed. I'm still soooo scared to have my boy (or even myself) around a "horse" that kicks like that.

Can anyone tell me what I can do to break the kicking?

THANKS!

Not all ponies kick. But Shetlands are darn smart, and most know every trick in the book. Owning a pony is no different than owning a horse. If you don't know about them, then don't own one. They require a lot of care, and a lot of knowledge. I got my first pony just before my mom got her horse, but I was 10 years old. You got a pony to lead the kid around on? So you bought your child a dangerous "toy"?

Would you consider owning a cougar without knowing how to handle one? It is going to be very hard to break that habit if you don't have a decent amount of horse experience. I have found most Shetlands to even be hard to spook, which is what you would want to do to get a horse not to do that. You have to pay attention, and when you see them maneuver to do it, you have to scare the pee out of them.