Pony naughty on group hacks

[kelstemialil1]

Hi,

My 9yr old daughter has a Welsh section b, 12 years old that she does all pony club rally's with. We have had him just for a few months and they are doing really well. He hacks out lovely on his own but on two occasions now in a group hack he has bolted from the back to the front of the ride, side steps, spins. We had an incident at Xmas time which was in a trail ride with approx 20 other ponies so I could see why this might have happened but today the same thing happened in a group of 6. I see mainly problems with hacking alone but haven't seen anyone else with the group problem? Any advice appreciated. X

Some ponies just get very, very excited by group rides. Has the pony done much of this kind of thing before you got him? If he is inexperienced in company you may need to bore him with it. Try and find a stronger rider than your daughter who can calmly and firmly put him back in his place when he misbehaves, and get them out doing this as many times as you can. Don't make any of your group rides too interesting for him, so if you can send him out on long boring walks and trots in company so much the better.

We've been teaching a young pony how to behave in company this year, and back in September I would not have sent my 9yo DD out on him in a large group. After a winter of trotting at the back out hunting with a useful teenager on him my DD was able to take over the ride at the end of the season and we are looking forward to a summer of fun rides.

It's not much fun being carted off with when you are little - a 9 yo generally doesn't have the skill or strength to deal with it, so the pony is never corrected and thinks this is acceptable, and the child gets more nervous and can feed this back to the pony who in turn carts off even more. If you can get a bigger rider to break the cycle before it gets ingrained it shouldn't take long. And if that doesn't work you are in the unfortunate position of deciding to either change ponies or be extremely careful about the events you go to.

The easiest thing might be to make sure he's at the front of the ride.

We have a lovely section B. He can be fresh in company so to help a bit we Lunge him before the hack to get a bit of the bant out of him. when riding out we Keep him up behind the lead pony/horse because he dosnt like to feel he is being left behind.
If he gets a bit jumpy she tucks him in behind my cob.
TBH you have only had him a short time so they will still be getting used to each other and need to build a bit more of a relationship so that he listens to her more and she gets to know his little ways and that there may be nothing behind his naughty antics (that he won't hurt her).
Do you know his past? Our boy was hunted and gets excited in the open and can give a cheeky buck. It was enough when we first got him to reduce Dd to tears (she was 8) but 2 years on nothing he does phases her.

Thanks for replies, I know all 3 of his previous owners and he's done everything, was used for hunting at some point. He is an absolute saint on his own or one other rider. We will try putting him behind the lead rider next time I think. X

Sounds like he is getting a bit excited and your DD hasn't figured out how to calm him yet. It might be worth your DD working on speed control, varying speeds and half-halts in the school. Also choose a special spot for his next canter like an uphill bridleway and pop him lead file.

Thanks for the advice guys x