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I Ride Ponies asked in PetsHorses · 9 years ago

Horse gets nervous when other horses leave?

Hey there, My pony gets kinda nervous when the other horses leave her, and I'm wondering wat to do about it?

Shes not nervous when SHE leaves them, not at all! If I'm riding or leading her shes like, "Oh, we're leaving? Cool! So are we going trail riding? or for a lesson?" And shes like, totally chilled and walking away calmly, not turning to look back at the other horse which may be calling and pacing or anything like that.

And if I'm on a trail ride, and I want to canter, and the other rider does not, shes like, "Ok, Sure!" and just pops into canter and canters away from the other horse easily, not trying to slow down or anything, and when I want to stop I just stop her, turn her around and canter back and she doesn't try to race back at all. (Tho keep in mind that I am cantering for about 200m before I pull up and ask her to canter back) So shes really good there.

And if we're on a ride, and my friend loses her dog so she has I ride up into the gorse and bush to look for it, and my horse is left standing there, shes like, a touch nervous but shes not panic or calling for her friend or anything and she just stands and waits or walks around a bit while we wait.

And if m friend goes on a ride and I don't, and maybe I go up and groom her by herself or whatever and shes like, a touch nervous, but once again, shes still listening to me and stuff.

But if my friend takes her pony on a trail ride, and the reason I'm not coming on that ride is because I'm at a friends or whatever, and she goes and takes her horse outta the paddock and leaves mine there, without anyone to be with her and comfort her, then she gets REALLY nervous, and she runs up and down the fence line and my friend finds it really hard to get her horse away cause then her horse will start getting herdbound too and big panic situation!

And when m friend told me that my horse was REALLY bad when she went to take her horse out of the paddock, i was so shocked cause she never acts herdbound when i ride her or anything so yea.

Any how, I wanaa know how to fix it. Do ou have ant ideas.

5 Answers

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  • Stasha
    Lv 5
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Eric's pretty much right - it's not something you can really fix with your pony. She's reacting naturally to her herd leaving her. Since she's good whenever you're riding or handling her, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If she's being disrespectful when your friend tries to take her own horse out of the pasture, that's something specific you can work on.

    Other than that, it really seems like it's your friend who has the training problem. Her pony needs to learn that it's ok to leave, even when the heard leader is hollering. A possible quick solution could be stalling your pony when she tries to leave, but the root solution is going to be more training for your friend's pony.

  • farson
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    Please do not tie whatever to the stirrups. That is asking for an accident that may turn out to be being steeply-priced and putting your horse out of coaching for longer than you possibly can have spent on floor work. The answer to desensitizing a horse (and any animal) is floor work. A horse has to believe you one hundred percent. As soon as that relationship is about and stable, a horse will face something with you, even though it scares the heck out of her. Why? Because she trusts you. On the bottom. Lunge her (no, don't put her on the lunge line and crack the whip). Lunging is good for all horses to get used to. She must be good at both instructional materials at a walk, trot, and canter. Additionally she should be competent to perform inside of turns to alter path with little greater than you switching which hand the road is in and inquiring for forward movement. Introduce your horse to new objects. Let her investigate on her own, slowly, at her percent. If she doesn't wish to contact it, do not make her. Make it a game. If she is scared, you play with it. Make her get . Make it so she wishes to play with it since it looks like you are enjoying it. Show her it is now not large and horrifying. Repeat this with different objects. Quickly distinguished and new sounds and points of interest won't scare her. She can be curious. Until she is to that point, i might no longer put anybody inexperienced on her until hunting season is over, and by and large even after that unless she is safe. I am now not certain in case your scholars do groundwork with the horses, but I extremely advise it. In my first classes, it took me 5 lessons before I even got on a horse. Riding is about making use of the matters you work on on the bottom to if you end up within the saddle.

  • Eric
    Lv 4
    9 years ago

    She is naturally a herd leader. What this means is that she expects other horses to follow her, and it upsets her when other horses go off on there own. You can't fix that. In her mind, other horses follow her, not the other way around.

  • 9 years ago

    every horse is different

    my one mare (just sold) was nervous around other horses very timid

    my horse of 9 yrs, goes with me solo riding away from stables prefers to ride solo

    took some time but she recognizes me as the "herd" leader when I am with her

    when your horse is left in her field by her friend, that would make her nervous as they are herd animals, used to being with their herd

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  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    its natural for a horse to be like this, considering they are herd animals. i know a lot of horse like this and they never really do settle down. try taking feed up to her or just helping her to calm down. horses dont like being on their own naturally and need company most of the time.

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