I train all my horses to both pony and be
ponied. Neck reining is a must. My 6 year old Anglo Arab is now
elected to be main pony horse. I have had her pin ears and threaten the ponied
horse. An immediate growl and slap on the neck nipped that in the
bud.
One thing I think Bonnie missed....might be a good
idea first to get horse used to a rope under the trail...you don't want this to
happen in a dangerous spot when the ponied horse ducks behind and the horse you
are riding gets a good goose under the tail
A
lot of people think ponying is all about controlling the led horse. So much
has to do with the "pony" horse being under control. My tips
are;
1.
Pony horse must be well trained to neck rein and go well in some sort of
shanked bit or hackamore that is appropriate to neck reining. Snaffles just
don't work well with only one hand on the reins.
2.
The pony horse must be very manueverable, forehand, hindquarter turns and
side-pass or leg yield. To insure immediate obedience to leg cues I use a
blunt dressage spur that just gives me a harder heel. If the pony starts to
crowd or step on the led horse I want to be able to immediate move the pony
away, like now. If the pony gets snippy or threatening I have only my legs and
voice for correction. A slap with the side of your leg against the pony while
growling gets the message across. If pony is too spooky of jumpy to correct
then you probably should be on another horse.
3.
Do wear gloves every time!
4.
Don't pony with just a halter and lead. Put something firmer on the led horse,
a stud chain wrapped around the nosepiece of the halter and all the way
around the nose or a training halter that tightens when the horse pulls back.
Don't delude yourself that you can hold a 1000 lb horse if it pulls back.
That's about the time the pony horse goes the other way. Being able to slow
and control a bolting young horse is importent too. Use a fairly long lead, to
have room to play the rope out to a suddenly silly goose of a horse. Use a
round soft lead or a good leather lead.
5.
Do not take turns around a horn. Every tug on the rope hits the pony's withers
and could turn your saddle.
6. I
did have to carry a long dressage whip a few times with one young horse that
balked at crossing mud. talk about a lot in your hands!
Bonnie Snodgrass
-----Original Message----- From: Jennifer Judkins
[mailto:jenjudkins@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003
7:39 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC]
Teaching horse to pony
Hi all, looking for some advice. I'm retraining an ex-racehorse and
would like to introduce him to trails by ponying him off my experienced
anglo-arab, Manny. I have triied this in the arena twice. Things
go well until Manny (the more dominant) starts giving Canon (the ponied) a
hard time (ears pinned, butt checking, etc.) and Canon lags behind or just
plain stops. They are out together all day and stalled next to each
other. Will they get used to this riding arrangement or am I asking
for trouble? I would appreciate any thoughts, insights or
experience. Thanks.
BTW, WAY TO GO HOWARD! Love the story. I would ride with you
anyday! I too. love the adrenalin and joy of going fast!
Jennifer.
