Help with Pony

I meant to start working with Pony a few weeks ago, but stuff came up and I could never get out there...

So, now that I seem to finally have some free time, I can actually get out there and work with her... but perhaps a little backstory of her history first.

My cousins bought Pony as a three year old for their daughter when the girl was two, so we’ve had her for a year. She is, as her name suggests, a pony. She’s a buckskin Welsh/Shetland cross or just Shetland, we’re not for sure. I’m just going to say she’s a Shetland.

Pony was advertised to my cousins as a ‘kid-broke’ three year old mare (she’s now four and a half, as she’s a year older than my gelding) that was at her mature height and had no vices. When they got her home, we realized that they’d been lied to and in truth, Pony was just barely halter-trained, didn’t tie but lead ok, reared when cross-tied, reared when tied, period... and had only had a saddle on once or twice and had never had a kid on her back and had never had a bridle on. She also had never had her hooves done and didn’t know how to pick her hooves up and had never been dewormed.

Since she wasn’t trained, my cousins didn’t want much to do with her and after their daughter lost interest in petting her, they put her in my uncles pasture and quit messing with her.

That was a year ago. No one has messed with her much besides running her away when she got too near because she developed a biting habit. She’s grown, too... she’s about a hand taller than she was when my cousins bought her.

Anyway, I’m going to mess with her to get her a little more tame because she’s for sale... She has never seen a farrier and has never been dewormed, but she’s not bad off. Her hooves are alright and she’s fat. However, my first plan on action is to deworm her, which I’m doing tomorrow, as I’ve got to buy wormer for my two and my cousins have given me money to buy wormer, some feed for her, and a salt lick for her pasture (she’s pastured with an Arabian mare and they’ve never had access to a salt lick that I can remember).

So, her vices/bad qualities now are...
~ She bites... very mouthy
~ She kicks, rears, and bucks
~ Sometimes she acts like she’s going to run over you
~ She strikes
~ She’s extremely disrespectful and is almost always in your space
~ She’s extremely herd-sour
~ She’s the herd leader and I think she thinks that people are part of her ‘herd’
~ She cowkicks when you touch her sides near her hindlegs most of the time... not every time, just the majority...
~ She sometimes kicks if you walk around her butt like you would a normal horse... you have to give her a wide birth
~ She hates dogs...
~ She doesn’t pick up her hooves
~ I’m not sure how she does with dewormer... I’m anticipating a fight, though, when I go to deworm her tomorrow...

Her good qualities are...
~ She’s extremely easy to catch and likes to be petted on
~ She halters and leads fairly easily
~ She ties (as far as I know, I’ve only tied her once recently and that was to brush her for about fifteen minutes) and will stand patiently for about five minutes before she starts pawing/striking, though if you reprimand her, she will quit for a while
~ She likes being brushed
~ When leading her, after a while she seems to start to understand the ‘respect my space’ deal
~ She seems to have a good mind
~ She’s willing... for the most part

Now, my questions... where exactly should I start? It seems like I should do something she does good, and kind of incorporate that into training the ‘bad qualities’ out of her, but I’m not very sure... I’ve taken on a big project (alongside another big project... helping my friend with his ‘new’ horse...)... but both ‘projects’ go side-by-side and will benefit each other...

Also, I’m buying feed for her tomorrow... I only have Access to FRM feeds, so which one would be best for her to have? I’m aware that she’s extremely fat, but winter is coming and she will need the feed.

Oh, here’s a few photo’s of her... my cousins daughter Makenzie named her ‘Daydream’ the day they bought her, but I’m calling her ‘Pony’ now, as it suits her more.. and it’s easier to scream/say ‘Pony!’ in a disciplining voice than it is to say ‘Daydream!’. Also, this thread is posted on two different forums, as I need all the advice I can get... Thanks for reading and helping!

Get her on a diet and start working her in a saddle on the lunge line/round pen/or arena.It would work best if you lunged her in the pasture is she is herd bound to help her get over it. I would start with giving her apple sauce in a syringe before you try de-worming her (so she learns thats its okay and she will look forward to it)- so you dont end up fighting her and end of not getting any in her. Start carrying a crop with you when you are around her to repermand her bad behavior when she is tied and what not. Dont give her any feed, she doesn't need it, she is a pony and like you said fat so she could easily founder.Also get a rope halter because when she pulls back in that she will learn that it will cause pressure on her nose and poll telling her to quit.

There are a ton of ways to approach each and every "vice/bad qualities" you listed - some will disappear on their own after she is taught how to treat humans, what is expected of her and how she should behave…but since the most pressing issue is deworming her I'd suggest you simply mix the dewormer with a bit of molasses and mix that up in some grain and feed it to her. You can always work with her later on that…after she learns proper behavior toward people. Personally, I'd separate her from the herd - I mean ALONE - and start her as if she knows nothing and go from there.

She's really CUTE!

We dewormed her today. My best friend helped hold her... I really was expecting her to put up a fuss, but she did so well... I think it helped that the wormer was apple flavored, though... and she didn't really know what we were doing, just that we had 'food', lol...

I just got back from seeing Pony and her herdmate, Nightmare. Pony came right up to me (as usual) and followed me around (I think she thought I had feed or something, as that's usually the only way we can catch Nightmare and we usually catch Nightmare and Pony sometimes gets a piece of bread). She tried to nip my arm, and I popped her on the muzzle lightly and reprimanded her verbally... she didn't try it again, but lipped at my shirt a little and refused to move until I raised a hand like I was going to smack her across the bum... then she whirled around and trotted a few strides away, though at first it seemed like she was thinknig about kicking and thought better of it. I picked one of her hooves up and she was ok... not very balanced or anything, but she didn't try to jerk away, just kinda pulled a little then calmed down.

I also messed with Nightmare... for a horse who you can't hardly catch with feed, she's let me catch her twice now without no type of feed or treats. I picked up her front hooves... she's really good about it... just kiss and say 'up' while running your hand down her leg... she jerks her hooves up really fast and just gives them to you, though I'm not going to try her back hooves for a while yet... last time I tried I very nearly got kicked.

She really needs to start being trained from ground zero. I would not put a saddle on her until she leads, ties, stand, etc. She also needs to know basic voice commands such as walk, trot, canter, whoa. These can all be taught on a lunge line or in a round pen.

She is overweight so go slow with feed changes and excercise.

Ponies are very smart and normally turn around very quickly as long as you are consistent.

Good luck!
Kay

I'm not planning on putting a saddle on her... we don't have anyone to train her to a saddle and I'm probably too heavy for her (I weigh 145 lbs...)

I have no round pen, but I do most of my lunging in the pastures or on a flat area of ground. I've never lunged in a round pen.

Alot of good, solid advice here! Pony sure is a cute thing!!