Should i do this? What is another option?

Question

Ok, so you know how people chase horses around in an arena whith like a whip, or towel, or something, well, I want to try it. I am a VERY expirenced horse person, but im still a little nervous. My pony is an overwieght shetland/wlesh cross. Recently, my mare had to be put to sleep, and now my pony doesnt do anything. When we had my mare, they both ran around, and bucked and hopped and had a good time. But now, she just sits in the barn all day, doesnt eat, but doesnt get any exercize. Shes too small for me to ride on a normal basis, but she needs exercize. Should I get a whip and get after her?

Answer 1

chasing after her with a whip isnt th best option so try and find an alternative if you can

is it possible to find a smaller person to ride her for you?

Answer 2

People who think chasing with the whip is bad, it's not. It's called 'free lunging.' you let the horse in the ring, loose, and then you have them run around, the whip is just there to make them go. You don't hit the horse with it. I use it to hit the ground to make that 'sharp sound' to get my horse to go, incase he's hyper.

I'd say if you want to free lunge her, go ahead, just don't make her go too long, you can also try normal longing, that might do some good.  

Answer 3

yeah don't worry about it i started doing that when i had VERY little experience with horses. Horses know enough not to charge someone with a whip in their hand  

Answer 4

well i would give him the hay and not the grain. but i wouldn't use a whip because that get to knowing that if they here the crack of a whip they will run if someone is on them or not. and if you are on them they could take off on you and you could fall off. Use your hand this way that will just pic up a faster gait and not a full on gallop. A professional horse trainer told me this when i was helping him train one of the horses.

Answer 5

Just chasing your horse around with a whip sounds totally random. How do you think the horse interprets that? I don't think they view it as fun, they probably think you are insane.

I would do join-up in the round pen if you want to control them running around. Its a PRODUCTIVE way for you to get some exercise out of your horse. Check out my blog entry and video for some tips.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 6

"I'm a horse person." Yet you want to chase them around with a whip? What type of horse person are you?!!? My answer is no, and you should be ashamed if you do.  

Answer 7

Do you mean free lunging?  There's nothing wrong with that, it's essentially just lunging without a lunge line.  The point is to get your horse moving and listening to you, so make sure you're actually keeping an eye on her and asking her to do things as opposed to just making her move.

Answer 8

No - that's not actually "chasing" with a whip that you're probably seeing - and if it is, don't emulate it.

It sounds like you wish to give the pony interaction and something to do since she hasn't any friends now.

The "join up" process could be something fun and good for both you and her.  In this process, you work with the horse at liberty and watch for signs of it's submission to your leadership.  The process involved you sending the horse away from you to an uncomfortable spot and allowing them back to the comfort of your company when they are properly focused on you.  This is often done using a rope, whip, anything that will cause the horse to move away from you without hurting it.  A whip-type tool is often used as a cue to make your arm seem longer and to emulate the length of the horse's neck when communicating with it.

I would suggest you purchase some materials on line or get some videos my Monty Roberts who is the person who brought this process of gentling wild or problem horses and establishing humans as leaders to them.

Don't chase the pony around for exercise though - she won't see it as that, she'll see it as you being mean to her and trying to drive her away.  Working at liberty or lunging on a lunge line for exercise is much more productive than simply chasing her around and requires no more effort physically on your part.

Answer 9

how about instead of chasing her with a whip, you play games with her or lunge her. dont chase her around and scare her into running. make it fun

Answer 10

maybe you should lunge her ,or take her for a walk, she sounds like shes fretting so be nice.have you thought about selling her to someone who would love her and give her exercise that she needs. if you have seen monty roberts he does it , but its not for exercise its for something else which im sorry i cant remember .

Answer 11

Its called free lunging...

Easiest way is to attach a plastic bag on the end of the whip and just shake it..

Or a milk gallon, half filled with rocks and shake it.

Either one will move your horse without you having to run around chasing it.

EDIT-ok my bad I apologize.. Pull her off the grass at night and only allow her to graze during the day or vise versa what ever works for your schedule.

Answer 12

I am sorry to hear about your mare.

I think your pony would love to play with you but instead of chasing her around with a whip I would bring out a beach ball or pool noodle and play with her and train her at the same time let her run around and allow her to use her curiousity to exercise her mind as well as her body.  You could also lunge her over small jumps or poles.  It sounds like she is grieving and it will be a great opportunity to become closer to her and build a relationship with her.

As for her feed the hay/grass is more important than grain if she just needs to maintain weight hay or grass along with a mineral block is all she should need.  Also if she has hay she can eat when she feels the need, and can munch the natural way a little at a time.

Good Luck!

I see your edit now and assumed since you said she was in the barn all day I thought she was locked in.  Since this is not the case and she just has a run in shelter and is on grass I would suggest you either remove her from the grass either during the day or night, if this is not possible I would suggest buying a grazing muzzel so she still can eat but over indulge.  You could put her in the areana during the night and turn her back to the pasture during the day to try and regulate her diet or what I do is I have electirc fencing to control the size of pasture and regulate I move the fence daily so they have food but cannot over do it.  hope this helps

Answer 13

Maybe you should try lunging as opposed to running madly after her? This may teach her to not come to you when you want to catch her....if you do decide on this method, i would recommend if you ''chase'' her for a little, slow her down, put down you whip and go over & pet her, let her know you are still a safe person & if she will let you, pick up with whip and try running it over her neck & back so she knows it wont hurt her...I personally would say lunging is a much better idea though!

PS: Why isnt she getting any HAY?? Is she out on pasture for the summer???

Good Luck!