Help! Pony rearing in horse box.

[Spero]

hello, non-horsey mother of horse mad child here. You were all very helpful a few years back when my daughter started off on her adventures by loaning a pony - we have now got to the stage where she has her own pony and I have a 3.5 tonne van to transport him.

we got him a few weeks ago and have taken him out a few times and its been fine. he was a bit tricky to load on one occasion but perfectly fine once we got him in.

however today we tried to load him to go to a show and once he was in he started rearing up and got his front legs over the bar and then his hoof stuck in a hay net which was frankly terrifying. We gave up on the show idea but tried again this afternoon but he did it again. He calmed down as soon as we went in the back with him; it seems to be the prospect of us leaving him alone in the back that started him off.

My daughter is now in floods of tears saying that if a pony is like this, there is no cure, they will never be able to travel, there is nothing that can be done etc. I have done a bit of googling and read frankly scarey things about hobbling which I don't think I want to try and sound dangerous in themselves.

so I just thought I would ask if anyone had any tips or suggestions. Part of the problem may be that he is just so new, we don't know his quirks yet. I have messaged his previous owner and asked if she has any tips but I don't think she ever travelled with him on his own.

O and thank you justnippingin - it is sometimes really hard being the non horsey mother of a horsey child as I am sure other MHMOHC would agree! I feel I am just waiting for something awful to happen - for her to get seriously injured or the pony to get hurt.

But it is all she has ever wanted to do since she was 7 years old and I am continually impressed by her patience and hard work. So I see it as my job to help and encourage her.

thanks to everyone who took the time to offer some helpful advice, it is really appreciated. She is upset but not because she is some arrogant spoilt child who sees a pony as a toy - she is upset because she is really disappointed. Her previous pony went lame and had to have box rest and significant treatment over six months so she could only ride him for very short periods while building him up. She had really hoped for something different this time. Fingers crossed.

Being upset is an entirely normal reaction. She had her hopes up and got disappointed. The lesson here is that set backs are a normal part of horse ownership. Just when everything is going great, something goes wrong. It's the morning of the big competition and you can't catch the horse, or it comes in lame because it's lost a shoe, or it refuses to load for the first time in 10 years, or you arrive at the competition and you have learnt the wrong test, or the horse freaks out because there are flags everywhere...the list goes on and on and on. Life with horses is full of set backs BUT equally many, many problems can be overcome. You will be surprised how quickly the right professional will sort out a loading problem. A lot of it is about confidence and timing. Ideally he can teach you the skills to continue reinforcing the lesson.

Don't be sorry, and I am not invalidating your past experience, I am talking to your dds expectations of a newly acquired animal, which you wrote, including her overly-dramatic reaction, which I had hoped is certainly not the way she behaves around the pony itself!!! From what you've said, it doesn't sound like it.

It was a simplistic comparison because of what's being expected of, what is basically a flight animal, and trust needs building, she's done a whole lot more than I would have asked of a new pony in that time.

Hi Spero - another non horsey mother of a horsey child here - shall we set up a NHMOHC club?

I too am constantly on edge that something’s going to go wrong ... we’ve already had emergency vet call outs because of a nasty cut on his hock and dd can similarly catastrophise when things don’t go exactly to plan.

I hope you manage to get your loading issues sorted - we’ve just bought our own trailer and although dd’s horse has always travelled perfectly up until now I’m sure he’ll have a few surprises in store for us ...

I would look at loading as a long term issue. Get help initially. Load him every day. Feed in the box then unload. Then start loading, feeding drive round the block and unload. Keep loading and unloading and short trips gradually building up. I have always travelled to shows alone with my horses and would expect to spend 6-8 weeks to get them to be a reliable traveller. Always worth the effort as it is impossible to load a reluctant traveller on your own.

Pleasedontdothat - yes PLEASE to a NHMOHC club. i have been informed what my future looks like (if we can ever get the pony travelling) and it looks very bleak indeed - staying overnight at shows is a possibility and apparently we can sleep in the van

Box of Delights - I have phoned your horse whisperer and hopefully he is coming this Sunday at 12.30! I will let you know what he says.

Pleasedon'tdothat - i think on agenda for first meeting of NHMOHC club must be 'decoding' all the phrases that horsey people use that mean very little to me - such as 'touch of stallion' which is what the vet said about this pony (and then reassured me he was a safe pony)

Spero first item on agenda of club - don't have to go along with anything!
You really want to support your DD but sleeping at shows!
Touch of stallion seems a bit odd to say combined with safe pony! As they are just contradictions really. Referring to stallion behaviour, is about the challenge to manage (not all stallions!) But they are strong and willful and can be unpredictable, this doesn't make for a safe pont. So, I'd take it with a pinch of salt, and one to raise with the whisperer on Sunday. I really hope it works out.

Your DD is a touch of the stallion though from what you're saying, and may be the reason for pony reaction.

I get that she's keen and excited, but she needs reigning in a bit.

Sorry Shriek but we are going to have to agree to disagree. I don't think taking a pony out once a week on short trips was inherently a bad thing. I certainly don't see my daughter as some kind of spoilt princess who does what she wants and consequences be damned. I will go to the shows and I will suffer because its only another few years and then she will be off living her life and I will look back on these days and miss them.

I will see what the horse whisperer says and take it from there.

But I am not finding these constant digs at my daughter really helpful. I know what she is like - she is really disappointed but she is not an idiot and doesn't treat animals as disposable or as machines.

That’s great Spero. He is a really genuine guy. Do post back and obviously best of luck.

In Spero’s defence, I know plenty of kids who buy a suitable pony and get on with going out. Not everyone has a problem and if you happen to buy something that turns out to be an experienced, straightforward PC pony asking it to go out in week one, two or three won’t be an issue.

I think the snips at what must be a very disappointed kid are ungenerous at best. You don’t know that ‘it just needs to settle’, it might have been a bad traveller with its previous owner.

Spero is getting a pro in in the early stages, hats off to her for doing the right thing.

Yes indeed! Hats off, and I totally agree.
I truly do want to dig at you OP. You two last posts come across very differently, in one expression some kind of shock or perhaps resentment at the expectations of having to sleep in van overnight and so on, you don't have to, is all I'm saying, as you didn't say that it didn't bother you and that you were prepared to go to those lengths until the next post.

Yes, some ponies will fly with anything, but having that problem develop can be directly attributable to the change and not being chance to settle in, you said yourself about her absolute melt down, claiming its 'never' going to work.

I don't get why 'very disappointed kid', either, this is an attitude of selfishness rather than concern for pony and is part and parcel of working with animals. OP described it like she'd literally thrown her toys out of the pram, hence my response, this is an animal...

So, no, I have every respect for what you are doing here, but the animal needs to be front and centre. You have come for advice, and got help from the whisperer, so good on you, my concern is for the pony.

theboxofdelights no you don't know anything, you cant from anything other than going through that ourselves, but its not exactly a stupid guess is it! Having just bought a new pony it wouldn't be stupid to given it time to settle in and expect it to startle at new things?!?!?
If its bulletproof and guaranteed good at boxing, you might still reasonably expect a little less confidence in the hands of strangers. Its to be expected, and no not a stupid thing to expect.

There are many that treat these animals horribly, and are surprised at the results they get, and that's not a pop at OP either, that's an observation of events and competing, and knowing many young girls around ponies

• I truly dont - I changed that twice and it still went through!

I don't get why 'very disappointed kid', either

Are you joking? How excited would the OP’s daughter be to get her own pony and a lorry? I know I would be.

How disappointed would I be if things didn’t go to plan and I had to address problems rather than go out and enjoy him? Quite.

delights
Disappointed was not dds reaction, that's why I said that.
Her reaction was not that at all!
Utterly disappointed dd gets upset, disheartened; this was all anger and throwing not toys, stropping. Really different, which is why I said it.
Yes completely expected to be disappointed that things weren't going as expected, but things son go as expected with animals, good learning through wise animals!

Shriek, those words are all your own interpretation of the OP’s posts. Anger, throwing toys, stropping. I don’t read any of that and none of it is productive is it. How do you think you are helping exactly?

Hoping the horse guy can help.

I'm not the only one seeing that, but probably best leave it lie now, rather than derail over it, as everybody's posts are interpretations of her words also, and mine wasn't stupid or highly unlikely. Its easy to see that from the words used.

I really hope the boxing gets sorted, and I'm sure it will!

It's worth getting the lorry checked over if you haven't already. My friend's pony was a brilliant traveller, until one day when she really wasn't.

When she was unboxed there was a hole in the floor under one of her hoofs. Could have been awful!

The floor was replaced and there wasn't a problem again!

Tyre pressures being down can also cause an uncomfortable ride.

The problem is any hint of we'll take you out if you kick up a fuss and they milk it

Horses don't try to milk things. They just react. If he started to be a problem to load the chances are he had a bad experience whilst travelling and he remembers that. It could be a variety of things. I would not take partitions out - my horse travels much better with more to lean on.

Get professional help from someone kind who will nonetheless provide clarity for you and your pony. Not Monty Roberts style trainers as that is just dominance dressed as kindness. This is fixable - I've known several bad travellers who have come round. But it does need experience and patience to get it right. Look at it from the pony's point of view. He doesn't know you. He does not know where he is travelling to or how long he will be on the lorry for. From his point of view he could end up at another home, he could end up anywhere, he doesn't know. He's not rearing because he's naughty - he's rearing because he's confused and panicking.

Cali - nice to hear someone seeing Monty Roberts methods for what they are: negative reinforcement. Nothing kind about it.

Ellen - as soon as someone talks about dominance or join up I just swipe left. Much prefer the approach of people like Lucy Rees and anything genuinely horse-centred that tries to understand their psychology thoroughly.

@Spero - we’ve only got a trailer so if dd goes to overnight shows we’ll be sleeping in a tent - sleeping in the lorry seems like the height of luxury 😂

I’m happy to be a taxi service for the next few years as it’s not going to be long before dd’s out on her own - and this is something which we can share in a way - there aren’t that many girls in their mid-teens who want to spend as much time with their mums as mine does...

I’m assuming Shriek doesn’t have a mid-teens dd so doesn’t realise how up and down they can be ... when something goes wrong, it’s the end of the world and will never be right again ... when things go right they’re on their way to Olympic glory 😉. It’s not being a spoilt brat, it’s just being a teenage girl with all the emotional turmoil that entails. We’ve been very lucky so far in that dd’s horse is chilled about everything other than clippers so he happily wanders onto the trailer and then spends the entire journey munching hay in a contemplative manner, but I’m prepared for him to change his mind, probably on the morning when we’re trying to get to a show..,

I hope the horse guy can help

And yes, a horsey glossary would help me interpret things horsey people say 😬

Pleasedon't, you can get things like this, though they're hideously expensive www.tent-box.com/uk/

These things have a more realistic budget packashack.co.uk/