Pony has bitten !

[Laurenh2503]

any help or advice ?

im experienced but never had to deal with a situation like this before.
we brought my daughters a new pony 6 weeks ago after my eldest outgrew her perfect Shetland.
she’s a 5 year old Welsh section A
wgen she first arrived she was as quiet as a mouse & my Mare was vile to her , biting attacking so spend a few weeks separate fields & boarded stable front so the couldn’t reach each other to settle. A few weeks & they were fine, my mare settled & they were best friends.
the past week or so new pony has definitely shown some dominance & chased my big mare off the hay, coming out the gate 1st …
nothing towards us so far.

jump to today … my daughter led her pony out & I said just let her eat some grass there while I get my horse.
As my daughter pulled her head up to walk to the field she bit her on the shoulder ! Like a nip not a vicious attack … but still scared my 6 year old.
I was leading my horse so couldn’t get there very quickly but obviously too pony off her & tugged her rope & backed her up a few paces.
turned them both out, again my big mare is wary of her & looks like pony is not top dog !

any advise or help in dealing with this as obviously I don’t want it to happen again.

pony is not given treats at all !!

only fed from a bucket when stabled.

Thank you 🙏🏻

You have to show this pony it is not top dog. Lead your mate out first. Make pony fall in behind. Feed your mare first. Separate if necessary.

Uh-oh. Pony needs some manners and fast.

I agree with the above and also do you know another horse you can spend time with with pony who is known to teach youngsters manners?

I totally agree !

I’m just looking for a behaviourist who can come out & show me the ropes so I can sort her going forwards.
the way my Mare was at first & how quiet new pony was I did not think we’d be here. Unfortunately it’s only us on our own yard so no other horses to help.
Watching some training videos, ordered a rope hater & hopefully find a behaviourist.

I definitely think it’s manners & respect. When my daughter asked her to come up from the grass pony said no ! So that is definitely a NoNo !
our perfect Shetland was a darling so she’s very used to a pony that does everything as expected.
I do want my daughter to learn too & have confidence so some groundwork lessons should be good for them .. & me x

I’d suggest the pony is settling in and trying to be top dog and needs taken down a peg.

Maybe your daughter carries a whip wirh her and is prepared for this naughty behaviour the next time. Dont hit the pony in the head though, Youll make him head shy.

You could do it first so your daughter has an example of how to sort out cheek if he bites again. Hit the pony on the shoulder once immediately after he bites and shout “no” loudly at him and stamp your foot (horse language for Im pissed off).

😂 Cheeky little shit.

Smack on the nose straight away with a loud verbal reprimand. Not hard, as noses are sensitive. More of a swat or bop but be sure to make contact. Same thing as for kicks, always smack the offending leg and reprimands must be immediate or they will not connect them with the behaviour.

This sort of boundary pushing is very common in ponies. You just have to check them on it immediately and not allow it to escalate. They're a lot of attitude in a tiny package and absolutely will run with it if they think they can get away with it.

Elbow to meet approaching mouth before teeth appear is my method. Surprises them. You do have to keep a strict eye but can usually tell when they're about to, so lead yourself for a week or two, and nip it in the bud before it's a habit

Thank you all.

I worked with her last night with a flag on a stick & made her back up, move, disengage hind quarters, drop head with pressure. I
took her onto the grass & everytime she tried to dive to the grass I flapped the flag to the ground, her head came up & I praised.
definitely respected me a lot more & turned out last this morning, walked out pretty & didn’t attempt grass once.
didn’t try & rush out of her stable past me or push me at the gate when taking her headcollar off.
will continue with this training now & get my daughter to lead with the flag.

she’s been such a lovely girl from day 1 & hopefully get her back to that with some respect.

Not sure ive ever heard about working with a flag on a stick. As long as it doesn’t give problems with other things in the street that may potentially look like flags and make the pony spook it should be ok I suppose. Working on handling sounds good though.

Once they know who is the boss they are fine. Well mostly, mine was - but needed a reminder annually when he thought it time to challenge authority again 😂

We use a flag (or a carrier bag) on a stick as a desensitisation tool. I would avoid doing anything else like this until you’ve spoken to a professional.

That’s worrying actually.

You sound as though you're doing exactly what she needs OP, putting in some boundaries.

If you ever need a behaviourist I found Ali from A2i Horsemsnship extremely helpful. He is lovely and his methods are very gentle and humane, but he has an insane way of getting into horses' heads and connecting with them.

Sect A’s are pocket rockets, they are not the type of child’s pony that’s dead behind the eyes. Ours would like to nip when he’s feeling impatient but I can tell when it’s coming and just say no, as soon as he knows I’m on to him he changes his mind, no aggression just cheeky. Sounds like the ground work you are doing with her will help, no judgement on the flag stick I don’t know anything about that training method but I’ve seen the man who does something similar on Facebook reels, usually dressed up and dancing 🤣, appeared to be more of a desensitising / positive reinforcement training tool than to cause them fear but like I said I know nothing about it. Not a fan of going straight to hitting the pony like others have suggested seems like killing an ant with a sledgehammer, will be effective but is it necessary? Good luck I hope it works for you 🩷

Thank all.
issue resolved, Pony has had plenty of ground work lessons & knows who’s boss.
no force or hitting needed !

last thing we want is a scared nervous flinch pony.

she is definitely a strong minded Welsh A mare so keeping up with the groundwork & keeping her manners in check is working well & needed.

she’s not nasty ! Just cheeky & had found her feet.
now she’s being her quiet subjude self that we saw when we brought her.

You sound like a lovely owner 🥰. Enjoy your new friend.

The flag on a stick approach isn't worrying at all if you know what you're doing, and surely better than making contact with a whip. Energy and intent - horses easily know the difference. If I wave a bag on a stick around my Arab when I'm relaxed he will ignore it. If I raise my energy and smack it on the ground when he goes to dive his head down for grass, he takes notice but is not upset.

Anyway - never treat this pony by hand and never let them graze when they are on-line. Consistency and fairness are important, so that you don't confuse them, and no 6 year old can be expected to deal with that. With time and good handling the pony is likely to return to being sweet for a small person to deal with.

Chasing your horse off the hay - feed hay in at least two locations, or even three, with a decent gap between them.
Some of the advice on here is really sad - never smack a pony on the face... and there's a level of anthropomorphism that is not helpful. I'd recommend looking into Think Like a Pony (a lot of material and on-line community) and Elaine Heney's Listenology for Kids. Both very good sources of information on how to interact with equines fairly and with an understanding of how they tick.

I must admit that I am left wondering who thought that a 5 yr old Section A was a good idea for a 6 yr old's first ridden.
I'm glad that order is now restored though.

Yes, not an obvious choice for sure. 🙂

Sorry, I can't edit my post - but I don't think Op said her daughter is 6. My comments still apply to any child handling a pony that needs a bit of awareness around them and a bit of training.