Question

Question

Snipper   QUESTION: Hello!
I volunteer with two Shetland Ponies for the owners, who provide little but necessities for the ponies. I have a few questions on handling on of them. But first I will give you the ponies' background info:
The owners have had the horses for over 10 years, but they are not horse-savvy at all. Snippers, the oldest at 20, is a 8+ hands bay with arthritis in his back legs. He is currently not being treated for it. Toughy, younger then Snippers, is a 9+ hands pinto with no health problems. Toughy is a child's dream pony, he has excellent manners and leads beautifully, he could be a showmanship pony!
Snippers, on the other hand, is a classic stubborn pony. He has absolutely no training, completely refuses to lead a single step, and I recently experienced his lack of ever having a bath in his life. I am shocked at the owners by this.
Their life is basically the necessities: a pen with half the area shaded, their manure raked into a pile in the center, and a messy water bin in the corner. They are fed very well, I always bring them apples and I feed them some grass growing next to the pen. They have grooming tools which I use, but they are old and dirty, and one halter/lead rope which is rock hard (Hopefully we will be buying the ponies some new tools soon!) The have no corral, wash area, or anything but necessities.
The owners are an elderly couple who run a garden where the ponies reside. They were very thankful for me, a teen eager with horse experience eager to help out, volunteered to groom/handle the ponies. I absolutely love my job, but it is VERY difficult to work with Snippers, so I have some questions you might be able to help me with.
1) Can you tell me any tricks to get Snippers to START walking when on his lead? I have tried circling him, which worked at first but now he just ignores me, distracting him, enticing him with food...This pony won't budge. I don't haul on him (Tug of war is useless on 500lbs+ horses!) but it is frustrating when I need to groom him and he won't move. Oh, and on top of that, he nips for attention.
2) How should I react when Snippers tries to nip me? I'll be working with Toughy and have to keep an eye on Snippers, who'll nip me anytime I'm not aware of him. Nothing hard, but a pinch hurts! And he is used to being hit on the nose from his owners, because the minute I whip around to scold him he is trotting away, head high. He ENJOYS it! ;)
3) This is about Toughy: What requirements are there for Showmanship Ponies? He is seriously an amazing pony and I want to possibly get involved with some shows with him.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!
P.S. I am completely willing to buy any tools to help with training, the owners told me they will pay me back for buying pony supplies.
-Sarah


showmanship pattern   ANSWER: Hello and thanks for your question.
Lets start with Snippers. I would buy a long dressage whip or lounge whip, halter him up and when you go to walk him forward either give a few clicks with your mouth or say "walk on" and if he doesn't move, tap him on the rump with the end of the whip (while you are still facing forward) and ask him again to walk on. You must start off with little light taps 3-4 of them on his rump, then if he still doesn't move, add a little more strength, tap a little harder to each tap (while saying walk on or clicking) until he moves. Once he has taken a step or two STOP tapping his rump, tell him he was good and pat him on the neck or give him a treat. You will have to practice this for a while. Soon he will learn that when you ask him to go forward if he doesn't he will get tapped with the whip and he will not like it. As for nipping while you are working with Toughy I would tie Snippers up, that way you won't have a distraction. If he nips you while you are working with him jerk your lead rope hard and tell him no. He will learn to respect you with time.

Now Toughy. I am do not know what requirements are for Shetland Pony shows, but in open horse shows (open to all breeds) you are likely to have to do a showmanship pattern. You also need a clean leather Halter and leather lead rope to show (the pony must be clean and clipped up and you should be in show clothes). You and your pony must be able to walk, trot, set up, do turns on the haunches to the right (also called pivots), and back up. Pivots are when your pony will set a back foot on the ground and plant it there while he is turning to the right, you can have a 90 or 180 or 360 degree turn depending on what the pattern asks. Setting a pony up means that you ask your pony to set all four feet up in a square. Two front feet together side by side and the two back feet side by side.

It would look like this (the O's are hoofs)

  O  O

  O  O

I will attach a showmanship pattern for you, it will not be the same at all shows but will cover the basics. You should also go look at this site on youtube-  Tori and mikey in pony showmanship at AAYHS 2011   the website is:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeFy27GzfKI    they did it very well. Thanks for your question!! Best of luck and let me know if theres anything else I can help you with.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello, its me again!
So I had a long talk with the owner about the two ponies. They told me the history of the ponies and I was informed wrongly at first about them.
So the purchased Toughy and Opal (their old white pony) as a pair and quickly discovered that Toughy was a stallion and Opal was pregnant (they were not told this). They sold Opal's baby and had Toughy gelded. Opal died just a year ago because she was put to sleep from really bad arthritis. Toughy was an adult when they purchased him, so he has an unknown background. Apparently it was a good life for him since he is so well trained, and I am working with teaching him to 'set up'. I guess Toughy is the older one at over 20, the told me. Yet he is in better condition than Snippers.
Snippers was a colt that was put up at a charity auction and didn't sell. Toughy's owner bought him when Snippers owner practically begged them to.

So Snippers was raised with no experience/training whatsoever. The owner confessed she knows nothing about horses and when I told her I wanted to train Snippers she laughed at me, saying "Gonna teach him to roll over?"
A little frustrated, I explained I was going to teach him ground/halter manners (which he SHOULD have learned as a colt!) Snippers is currently between 14-16. The owner welcomed the idea of using the lunge whip and actually said there may be a round corral to use nearby. He seriously needs to learn manners: I couldn't convince him to lead for me at all so I didn't get much grooming in.
1) Do you have any knowledge on arthritic treatments? Snippers has really bad arthritis in his knees, shoulder, and overall legs. He put his ears back and bared his teeth agressively at me when I tried to lift his legs to pick his hooves. He did this for every leg.
2) Do you know anything about teaching small horses to pull a cart? The owners thought it would be a great idea that, if I taught Snippers manners, I also taught him to pull a cart. I have driven pony carts before and I said I would try.
3) Please can you give me tips on manners/handling when I use the lunge whip with Snippers? Just overall anything I should know. I need to know what to do about Snippers respecting me: He just comes up and nips whenever he feels like it.
Also, the owners told me that they were told when they bought the ponies that they were 'miniature horses' and something like type 5? I know a lot about horse breeds and I didn't know miniature horses had types like Welsh Cobs. And I they look like ponies rather than small horses, but their conformation is really nice. (but maybe its just that they are fat).
Thanks so much for everything! And I am working with Toughy on learning to set up :)
-Sarah

Answer
Hello and glad to hear from you again!
Well lets start with arthritis supplements. I use a glucosamine / MSM / chondroitin combination supplement for my horse with arthritis. It is specific for horses (you can get it from your vet or I use www.horse.com to order all my horse products from supplements to tack) its a little expensive but its well worth it. It really does help with pain and inflammation. You can also go on that website and look at their pain management products. I also like to rub in my horses legs with horse linament such as ABSORBINE. It feels good and helps quite a bit before and after workouts or when the horse is stiff and sore.
A pony is a little more sturdy then a miniature horse. There is class A and class B miniatures. A is under 32 inches in height and B is 33 inches plus (but I think they can only go to 40 inches) . A miniature looks more like a very small Arabian, with fine features. Truly I don't think it really matters weather they are ponies or minis.
As for teaching ponies OR miniature horses to pull a cart its not too hard. They first need good ground manners, the must be able to walk, trot, back and whoa when asked before you can really do much. You begin with ground driving them. You have them fitted in a bridle with long lines (really long reins) and you will walk behind them teaching them to "drive" while you are behind them. It takes some time for them to get good and used to it. I ground drive mine for a month before harnessing them up. Then they must become familiar with having a harness on them. You harness them up and then ground drive them some more. Then it comes to getting them used to pulling things such as tires, logs etc before you introduce the cart. You have to have a person help you introduce the cart. Your helper should walk the cart beside, behind, infront, bounce it around them BEFORE you try to attach the cart, this again takes time. You can get more info or write me when you have all your ground driving done and we can go through more steps on cart training.
Handling the whip is something you need to feel comfortable with (it will take practice). While teaching him to walk keep the lead line in your right hand and the whip in your left that way you can reach around behind you to tap him on the rear while you lead him. I would keep a short whip with me while working around him that way if he comes to nip at you, you can reach out and slap him on his nose or shoulder or rump (but NOT hard). I think that tying him up while you are working would help too (unless you are working with him). Anyway keep in touch and let me know how things are going. Thanks again!