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New pony, need riding advice2007-11-24 21:19:18

Hi everyone! We just got a pony a few months ago who we are told is broke to ride. She was given to us by my aunt, is 5 years old, and is a shetland cross. She hasn't been ridden in around a year, and is up to date on hoof trimmings, shots, worming, etc. We've saddled her up and walked her around the yard several times, and have tried to ride her. Only thing is, when I got on and tried to get her to move, she just stood there like a rock! Won't go anywhere, lol, even with my husband trying to lead her. We are using the same bridle, saddle, everything that the previous owner used and gave to us. Please give me some suggestions as to how to get this pony back to riding again!

Here's a picture of her :)

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r308/...

Thanks in advance!

Answers:

My first advice would be have your vet out again. A prepurchase exam (a basic evaluation) probably wouldn't tell if she had back pain since its a basic exam. If you have a lunge line lunge her in a circle at a walk, trot, and canter without any tack on in both directions. If she moves particularly stiffly or refuses to pick up the correct lead at a canter or if she bobs her head up or down at a trot she probably is in pain. If that checks out clear she may be confused by your weight if she's only used to children. When my wife was little she had a 3 yr old paint mare that nobody else could ride because the excess weight freaked her out but if you put a child on her she was fine. If she doesn't show any sign of lameness walk her around the yard in tack. Then add a 50lb bag of feed and keep walking her (it shouldn't fall off at a walk but don't go any faster) and keep adding until she refuses to budge. If she'll tolerate 100lbs without a fight and walk then likely she's just being stubborn if she won't tolerate any weight she probably just doesn't understand. If she is just being stubborn thats easy to fix. On the lunge line she needs to understand she must go forward you just use a lunge whip and don't touch her with it but say walk and move it towards her until she does, then ask for a trot (move it towards her a little faster and say trot) when you want her to slow down point the whip away and say easy while pulling on the lunge line you should do this for at least 2-3 weeks working on transitions because stubborness is basically a lack of respect for the herd leader (in this case you). Don't over do it start with 15 minutes work maybe minutes of walking in either direction and and 2.5 minutes trotting in either direction then build up add a minute of each on everyday. Once she has figured out walk and trot word associations you can get on her. Have one person still hold the lunge whip and another person riding. Have the rider say walk and the person with the lunge whip move it towards her then same thing with trot. Hopefully after this she'll figure it out. If you want results you probably need to work with her 5 days a week for 2 months. You can probably make her go by kicking her with spurs but you may well not get the reaction you want. If you want any other information you can email me and I can provide you with my wife's email or screenname for yahoo messenger. That was just an overview and if you don't know much about horses you'll probably need a much more in depth description but I didn't want to waste my effort explaining every detail if you weren't interested in this method.

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Beautiful pony.