Nappy 'N' Naughty! :eek:

[beth_agnew]

Hi Im Getting A new Pony For Christmas! He Is A Black Roan Cob and 13 And His Name is Samson! But He Has A Couple Of Vices!

1.He Is Nappy :rolleyes:

2.He Is Spooky (When I Try To Get On Him With One Foot In the Stirrup He Will Bolt and Gallop Around the School!) :eek:

3.He Won't Put The Bit In His Mouth! :rolleyes:

4.He Won't Respond to The Leg or Whip/Crop :rolleyes:

5.He Always Drifts off the Track!

So Please Help Me! It would Really Help!

[beth_agnew]

Please Help Me!!

[HappyHorse13]

First of all, you need to DESENSITIZE that spooky pony! NO pony SHOULD EVER behave like that! There is NO EXCUSE for a pony to act like that, unless it is afraid of you.

So, introduce your pony to EVERYTHING and get it used to someone mounting it.

Have someone hold the pony AND DO NOT LET HIM MOVE A HOOF! If he does, start all over AGAIN! This will teach the little naughty pony to STAY PUT.

When your pony doesn't listen to the aids, PERSIST, PERSIST, PERSIST. Do the aid harder and harder and harder until the pony responds. Do not hit or scream at him! That will get you nowhere.

Get a professinal trainer to help you. A pony like that seems extrememly dangerous.

[beth_agnew]

:) Fankoo Happyhorse 13! I will ask Pippa To Do some Traning tommorow. But one Problem....I usaully use my Aids Harder when he does not Respond and then He will just Buck and Gallop Off!But....All this Minght be Becouse He was Abused when He was a Foal untill 4 years-Old But I went out to his stable Before And I managed to Put his New rug On YAY! this is a start of a Beautiful Frendship!lol ;)

[Skip_n_Hide]

Right then forth time lucky... i keep writing good long posts and everytome i nearly finish my compo goes blu... its a long story!

So... anyways...

This time its going to be a list... my laptop has really got me angry now!

Firstly... building up trust with your horse from the ground will help alot as he is new to you and his new surrounding may be scary!

Teeth- Get them checked... if they are ok it may be from a past experience like someone hitting the bit on his teeth quite a few times... he wont like it... so assossiating it with something bad... tickling his tongue at the side of his mouth might help... or many horses dont like a cold bit so warm it up in ur hands first... put something tasty on the bit like mashed up apple...

Spookyness- Like happyhorse said... desensitise him... there is many different methods for doing this... but whatever you do it WILL take time and will require alot of patience!

Napping- Im no good at napping advice... im sure ur instructor will be able to help you with trainin methods, etc.

Lack of direction- Well... if he has not done alot of work in the school he wont know about being on track, etc. you wont be able to help with this problem until he is responsive with you!

Hope some of my random dribble helped lol...

Toodles for now x :p

[beth_agnew]

Kk skip fanx for the advice. sometime when I can't put the bit in I get a carrot and place it behind the bit that always works!

[moodymare]

Good advice from happyhorse and skip.As happyhorse said persist with him.
A horse I was riding called Hally spooked the other day whilst I was riding him. Someone shut a gate at it just made him jump a little, I talked to him gently and had patience with him then he calmed down and was perefectly behaved the rest of the time I rode him.
My nan says to me:
"patience is a virtue"
Me:
"virtue is a grace"
My Nan:
"Grace was a little girl who didn't wash her face!" lol she makes me laugh, anyone else have wacky nans? lol
Your friendship with your pony will build over time, and he will start to respect you. :p :)

[Skip_n_Hide]

Dont rele see ma nan much... she talks forever though... so does my mom... pfffft... so i only really ever go over to my nan and grandads to see the cat lol... He is only like 6 months old... i had him to stay over at myn when he had his injections when he was like 3 months old! love him to bits! :p

[moodymare]

My nan found an abandoned kitten she doesn't know if it was abandoned by it's mum or a person. My grandad found it in the chicken run that they have, my nan brought the kitten home and called her Chick! he he. Kittens are adorable and the younguns and the older cats too they are all cool cats he he! :cool:

[miss martinrajus]

aww he seems pretty durn sexy. napping is when they just stand there right?

[Windschild]

ur new pony sounds like the way Moondancer was when i first got her. She would bite,kick,shy, runaway, and not move when I was trying to lead her. God i went threw heck an back, and she was MY FIRST pony and I had alot to learn.
The best advice I can give u honey is try,try,try again. It takes time for the horse and you to see this eachothers way. U must try to understand the horse dont know u, it needs to learn to trust u. Some horses need to know exacally who u are before they will allow u to tuch them. But donr give up. I am glad I did not. I mean with molly I had all her voices to deal with and all her feet problems. When I first got her, i felt like there was no hope. Buit i did not give up.
U can do it.

[aub TVF]

Beth,

It sounds like you and Sampson have some homework on your plate... I will try to address all of your concerns as best as I possibly can...

First off... He sounds green... Nothing wrong with that other than you might consider that you have a patient training couple of months if front of you... I myself have always loved a challenge with a horse/pony... : )
1. Nappy? Assuming you are refering to his coat? If it bothers you enough, body clip him.. though you might want to ask your vet for some seditives as I am guessing he has not been clipped before... If this is an avenue that you choose... Be Carefull even if he is groggy... Clipping can be very dangerous... If not... Double blanket him and groom him as much as possible... Oil in his feed will also help to smooth and shine his coat if you go with the latter.. (one cup on Canola oil a day does wonders)
2.Spooky? Spooky is o.k. often times this comes from a legitamate fear you can work with that... but the bolting when you get on him is a pressing problem... I might suggest that you lounge him first so that he might not have as much energy to spook when you get on him.. Take it really slow when you get on... and make him stand while you are on him until you decide otherwise... A simple, simple exercise in obiendence... As to how to address the spook... If he is "looking" at something... you always turn him away from the spook... A lot of the time with bad habits such as these I find that keeping your horse/pony busy will keep them distracted as not to seek out a spook... But... if he does spook... Do not get after him... Simply continue on in what your were training, and/or riding... With the thought I will not make a big deal of the spook... making the "game" much less appealing...
3. The bit in the mouth... Practice... Practice... Practice... A good tactic is to put your fingernail in their gum to encourage them to open their mouth... This works very well. You might also consider having your vet check his teeth in case they need to be floated...
4.Responsiveness to leg and/or crop... This is a green thing... You just need to be patient... Start with the leg... training what that means... You might use a cluck as well... A crop is an artificial aid... It sounds like you need to stick to basics for awhile to teach him the fundamentals... Leg... Go... Hand Whoa... Having said this... Be so sure to priase if he is good...
5.Drifting off the track? Again this is green... Work on 4. and with that include steering... You should in fact never be on the track, lots of lateral work... Starting with something as simple as a lot of circles moving on to serpintines and figure eights.... Your ring track has nothing to offer you exept for teaching your horse to balace on the rail... The ring is solely a training location... Use it as a tool... Take all of your training time to teach.... Go, Whoa, and steering... Another training tool for steering is long lining.... Look this up on line if you need more guidence... I highly recomend this trianing tool...
Agian... I find a green horse a challenge... But with that thought in mind... I am a firm believer that good horse training has the base and fundamental of patience... Take your time and be clear in your training... so often we want immidiate responses, and conseqently become clouded in our trianing.. Go out every day with one simple ackomplishment in mind... One... Not twenty... This I have found is the best way to lead to progress...

Happy Horse Training...

PS Never be afraid to ask for help... If only to brainstorm on these forums... Knowledge is always your greatest help...