"Hi, we have a retired pony who used to be lovely to handle in every way, but unfortunately got tangled up in his New Zealand rug in the field, possibly from the horns of his sheep companion, which we have now split up from him. However, now he is very difficult to catch and trying to handle him is a nightmare. He is very frightened of any contact, especially on his hind quarters. He also will not lead or go into the stable. Do you have any advice on how to coax him to trust being handled again? Very grateful for any help with this. Gill."
H&C blogger and Intelligent Horsemanship founder Kelly Marks replies: "I am sure this recent entanglement has unsettled and unnerved your pony, so my suggestions would be to start with some ground work where you could begin to regain one another’s trust and build up his confidence. Having someone approach your pony whilst you are holding him on a loose line can help reintroduce people approaching for being caught; if he starts to move away, you can influence his choice to stay. With allowing him to stand some distance from you, you can also begin to start encouraging him to catch you, turning your body on to an angle and lowering your eyes, you can begin to draw him to you.
Working him in a Dually Halter would help your pony fully understand the behaviour you wish more of and the behaviour you wish less. The Dually works by closing down when the horse is doing what we don’t want to encourage and opening when the horse is doing what we do want to encourage. This is how horses learn what is right as they seek to be comfortable. His worry associated with his quarters can be helped by desensitisation with equipment such as the false arm.
The unwinding exercise is also very useful for horses and ponies that have concerns with their quarters. This teaches them how to release themselves from a pressure in this area of their body and find themselves safely back with you. These exercises can be found in my first book ‘Perfect Manners - How you should behave so your horse does too’.
At Intelligent Horsemanship we have over 40 Recommended Associates (RAs) all of whom have trained intensively with me. They are able to offer owners home visits to help with worries and concerns that horses and owners may be experiencing and giving a huge amount of support. They will look at the whole picture, discussing the routine you have with your horse, showing you more exercises and how to make a useful tool kit of desensitising equipment. A full list of the RAs can be found on my website. The link is below.
I have a further selection of educational books and DVDs which cover a broad spectrum of horse psychology, problem solving and building confidence amongst much more. All of my books and Dually halters are available from our online shop along with information about the educational courses that we run through each year.
Kelly Marks."
You might also be interested in…
Cached: no
LATEST ASK THE EXPERTS
Cached: miss
