Please help my pony's very bored and when shes bored its me she goes for?

Question

Hi my pony is very bored as she cant be ridden for a few weeks as somebody broke her saddle and so im having to lunge and free jump her but shes getting very bored by this each day - i was thinking about join up but last time I ended up giving up as she kept going around for ages & was really panting & sweatin. She takes out boredom by runing towards me in the field and grunts with her ears back and will try to kick me. If anyone has any more ideas about what to do with her on or off the lunge i would be very grateful or any ideas n what to do with the kicking in the field- shes never done this when she was being ridden.

P.S. When she is tied up she kicks and bites - does any one have any ideas what to do to help - she is a very spoilt and well loved family pony so nothing too mean

Also I ride her every day and she bucks rears and bolts off when I ride, it isnt really a big dea as she did this with her previous owner who had her 3 yrs but if anyone has any ideas on how to stop this x

Answer 1

Ok this sounds like a spoiled brat pony. You need to lower her grain because too much will give her too much energy. When she tries to bite or kick you you need to smack her, i know it sounds mean but if you keep letting her kick and bite you won't have fun with her because you can't trust her and the whole bond between horse and rider is trust. When she runs towards you in the pasture you neeed to go get a halter. Put her in the round pen and work her but off by making her go in circles, when you are riding if she bucks, rears, or bolts you need to grab your left/right rein and pull her head to your foot and make her go in 15 little circles until she's calmed down. If she throws you off get back on and force her to do circles again. Try join up again and ask a question about it on answers and there are many people who know how to properly do it. This time don't let your pony stop, keep doing it untill she does the chewing motion. If you have no idea what i'm talking about you didn't do join up right. You may love her to pieces but you cannot let her get away with these things, they can become dangerous and deadly in an instant. You may need to get a pro trainer to come out and teach her some manners. You HAVE to be tough with her, you CANNOT baby her and let her get away with these things so sometimes you may need to smack her and show her who's boss because if you don't do anything she will turn into an evil little pony who you are scared to be around! Try PLEASE, i just want you and your pony to be happy as a pony owner and its loyal pony so i don't mean anything bad. Good luck!

Answer 2

Here are my ways of stopping boredom in my horses...

1) Stable toys. You can also use some varieties in the field too. Just fill with treats and go! Also if you can't find a stable toy just put a soft football in her field. She'll love playing with it!

2) In-hand stuff. Take her on walks around the local area, with her in a headcollar and lead rope(if she's unpredictable then a bridle.

3) I think join up would be a really good idea for your horse. If you have a round lunging pen, that's even better!

Hope that helps and good luck with your horse x

Answer 3

A join up would probably be great for her.

and i would suggest stable toys.

maybe put new and different twists and tricks in to her rountines.

Answer 4

I don't think that her attacking you is because she's bored. She was doing all these things with her previous owner, so she has a lot of very bad habits.

She has terrible ground manners, so I would start by working on that. You don't have to lunge her to work on those, either. Get a trainer to help you, because this is getting worse.

Don't feel sorry for her for this bad behavior and decide that it's because she's bored. She's getting more used to doing whatever she wants to do. She's been mean to the other horses, and now she's decided she can be mean to you, too.

Get a trainer to help you now before she hurts someone. Every time that you interact with her and she gets away with this behavior, she's going to get worse.

And yes, is IS a big deal that she "bucks rears and bolts off" when you ride her!!! I'm sorry, but your attitude about this not being a big deal has everything to do with the problems that you're having now. You let it continue and she just keeps getting worse. I'm not sure why you've just now decided that it's a problem, but it's been a problem all along.

Answer 5

Well WHat iv'e been told is never let the pony get  that way in the first place. I was told by my teacher, if she points her ears down at you when  on approach then you   raise your voice and give it  a slapp not hard but to tell the pony that i don't like that. other words of your pony kicks at you throw your halter at it scream stomp your feet if it trots  or jogs away from you chase after it at a safe distents so that the pony knows whos boss. It's very dangerous to let a pony kick at you or charge. at you, makes me feel like you need to  punish your horse and don't give it attention when its acting in a negative way towords you. My great Grand father    for what i was told always got on the horses if they would kick and bite  and other negative thinghs that horse would do. But  one day  he got to close and got kicked in the face by a horse ever since then he had a crukid smile on his face but he has long passed away. O ya  Sorry for my poor english, it's hard to type fast.

Answer 6

I don't know what kind of it your using on her, but maybe you need a tougher one. If you stick with it and show her who is boss, she will eventually have to give in, even if it takes a while.

Answer 7

Obviouly bored and tired of the same routine. CHANGE IT! take her out for a walk. Stop and let her eat on the grass, See some new place. Load her up and take her somewhere when you go. Find her a toy (balls work well) and play with her. Not to sound bad but when a child misbehaves a good spanking works and it works with horses I have had. My pony was very mistreated and would kick at every opportunity. I had to spank her a few times and the kicking stopped. She used to run away and hide and WOULD not let you get close much less catch her. Now she follows me everywhere like a dog and doesn't kick. Put her with another well behaved horse (I did this too) perhaps she is LONELY and desparately needs a companion to solve her irritability. Did she once have friend and maybe they were separated? Horses grieve and have feelngs. A equine companion might be a BIG HELP for both of you. A lifetime of horse ownership has taught me this. Separation of horse friends causes attitude problems. After a 21 year friendship my mare laid down and died 6 months after her FRIEND was euthanised, he was 31, and his health had deteriated quickly. Basically I lost both when I lost one. The background on this horse could help solve her behavior problem. Honestly I  don't believe there is one solution. Try a few of these. If looking for a companion; horse check out some of the horse rescue organizations who often have horses who would make GREAT companion animals. I currently have a 29 y/o POA I bought when she was six. The mistreated pony (also a POA) I spoke of is 16 and they are so BONDED it breaks my heart to think what will happen if the oldest one dies. However they have had eight good years together. I wish I knew a family with little kids who would take them  because they are so GOOD with little ones. I guess I will just keep feeding them so they won't end up at the slaughter house.  Good luck and you can email anytime.

Answer 8

alright. she's thinking that shes the boss and your just a little thing on two legs who isnt nothin! you work the horse. lunge her how you are doing. mix it up! make her lope stop turn around and trot,walk then lope again. have her just over small things like logs or a barrel on its side. make her side pass by lining her up against a wall and holding your hands up by her eye and shoulder and gently 'hit' her until she moves her front end. then move down by her butt and do the same thing. obsticles and things like that should keep her pretty occupied. gfet on her bareback. that willl build alot of trust and will help with her coming after you. do barrels bareback even if you just walk through them. push big sticks in the ground and do poles SLOWLY because they won't knock over that easy. do things different. don't just barrel race but use the barrels to jump over/walk around/ do circles around. different things. when she comes up to bite you ( keep a lead rope on her and hold her the first few times. everytime she bites you. do something back. in the wild horses don't just stand there and let each other bite them. they fight back. kick her back. she needs to respect your space. don't let her in unless you say its okay ( by reaching out your hand { breaking the 3 ft barrier between yourselfs to pet her}she wont bite if you keep her out of your space. kick her kinda in the chest area. if she comes over to bite you through your hands up and walk towards her. make her move away. smack her ( lightly)if u must. i gues you don't want to have a lead rope on her while doing this. its better that shes not attched to you. go throught he same process if she tries to kick.and the bucking and bloting is a big deal. she thinks she boss.. first esstablish the ground work i told you about. and then if she rears/bucks put her in five circles ( you can do this by tightening one rein {lets say the right rein for example}  and squezzing with the leg on the same side. back her up and make her do a whole bunch of work. also for bolting off. once she does this do a one rein stop and put her in a bunch of cicles work her and back her up.. i've had horses just like this all my life so if you have any questions please feel free to email me at [e-mail]

Answer 9

you could ride her bareback, its not that hard, and you just ride like you would. its not a big deal like some people say it is.

Answer 10

Are you giving her treats such as sugar cubes? My sister had a pony that would run up on her like that for sugar. I went out one day with a broom and nailed him between the ears with the bristle part. He never did it again. I did get him hard enough to really hurt him but it did shock the tar out off him.

As many problems as you have with her I think you might consider letting her go to a trainer for a refresher course and then not let her fall back into those habits again. At the rate she's going some-body's going to get hurt!!

Answer 11

get her some toys to play with.  borrow someone elses saddle if it fits her,  graze er in hand. let her loose in the school (indoor or outdoor.