He is a six or seven year old pony of an unknown breed, he isn't gelded, he's bratty and pushy, kicks bites andd throws a huge head tossing pawing fit when he doesn't get his grain quick enough.
First thing: Is there a reason that he is not gelded? Since his breed is even unknown, I am making the assumption that he is not worth anything to breed because his blood lines are not even known. Gelding him will help with the behavioral issues. Plus, with the horse market flooded the way it is (hopefully it will get better now with the re-opening of horse slaughter), there's no good reason to keep him a stud.
He was given to my friend from a breeder, who passed away. He was three years old. Since then he has been turned out in a small pen wwith very little handling.
So he's had 3 or 4 years of just "being a horse" and having this bad behavior reinforced. No, it's not a death certificate, but it sure it going to make it harder to fix the behavioral issues because it is long-standing.
I offere to work with him (they want to sell him) because I was at her house when they were feeding and I was SHOCKED at his disrespect. He's halter broke only. He's super cute, and with a lot of work could be a super horse. So, I was thinkinglooooots of ground work. Some tips for gaining respect? And building muscle, especially on the topline. Thanks!
Would they keep him if you work with him? Or would they still sell him in the end anyway?
What is your experience working with problem horses? Because that is essentially what this is. The owner's clearly don't know how to handle him and continue to let the problem go uncorrected. And it's a long-standing issue and while it is not impossible, it will not be easy to change his bad habits. Just be sure you are fully aware of what you are getting yourself into.
So the owners need to be in on this too. Because if you go and make progress with him, but they still allow him to do his bad behavior during feeding or what have you, your progress will be set back.
He needs to learn manners. He needs to learn that humans are the alpha leader in the herd, not him. So YOU control when he gets his feed and how he responds to you with it. Not him.
Whenever you reprimand him for bad behavior, you have only 5 seconds to respond. Any longer than that, and a horse will not correlate the action with his bad behavior. So you have to be quick and consistent.
Don't allow him to nip or bite (if he does). If he tries, he should think the world is going to end for the immediate 3 seconds following. Some people will tell you never to hit a horse, but I personaly have no problem giving my horses one smack on the nose to "bite them back" if they try to bite me. Accompanied by making yourself big, loud, arms, body, for 3 seconds to show that that was NOT the correct behavior to bite. After 3 seconds, go back to whatever you were doing like nothing happened. This is what I do with my horses and the ones I train, and NONE of them bite. They've learned.
Always make him keep his space outside of your bubble. Imagine if he was a big 16-hand horse instead of a pony. It might be cute if a pony pushes into your space, but a larger horse can do damage. Treat him as if he were a large horse and he needs to respect your space at all times and not crowd you. Consistently is key.
In general, he should be taught to move away from pressure. It's helpful to train this with lunging and round pen work, because you can also teach them to never turn their hindquarters to you. It's disrespectful.
He just needs handling, work, consistency, time, and cooperation from everyone that handles him. If the owners don't want to do this, then I suggest they just sell him because you working with him, and then them un-doing it, won't help matters.