I have recently purchased a 13.3h 8 year old Arab X Connemara Mare pony for my 10 year old daughter. She is a lovely pony in good shape and was previously liveried in a riding school environment where she was used for lessons.

She is an excellent ride out, 100% safe in traffic. However when is comes to lessons with my daughter she is very reluctant to go forward in trot (She is not even phased by a crop!). She will trot no problem if you lead her, although she will throw her head in the air in protest.

Do you have any suggestions or tips to help?

Hi there Peter,

One of the snags with buying a pony that has been used in a riding school is that they often become desensitised to the normal aids. This is because they have to learn to cope with novice riders whose legs constantly bang on their sides, with unbalanced riders that wobble about on their backs and novice hands that pull the reins and make their mouths hard and numb. They also switch off mentally because of the shear drudgery of going round in circles day after day. Add this to the fact that horses are herd animals, and do not live alone or roam alone in their natural state, and you can begin to understand why A) Your pony doesn’t want to go back to doing what it probably hoped it had escaped from and B) It is now expected to go it alone having spent a long time playing follow the leader!

Some ponies/horses have very little self confidence and are born followers, and it doesn’t matter if it’s another horse leading or a human. But with careful schooling from an experienced rider and trainer, the pony could learn to be more confident about moving away from people or other horses. But once a horse had been made dull and unresponsive to the aids, it is very difficult to change this. Check that she is comfortable in her tack, (as head shaking is often a sign of back problems or an ill fitting saddle) make sure that the rider isn’t hindering her forward movement by using the reins to balance with, and is sitting nice and still. Make sure that the aids given are clear and correct, and at the right time.

Training for the pony with a more experienced rider might also be beneficial.

Hope this helps,

Sharon Shinwell.
Dip Couns. Dip HP(NC)MNRHP.CCC