From: Donald
As a new horse owner of a Chincoteague pony, and wanted to ask you also about saddle breaking a horse. I notice in one of your letters that you suggested to someone to wait until the horse is 3 years old before riding. I'm sure this also holds true for ponies. My Chincoteague pony is 20 months old and is about 13 hands high, but is expected to be a large pony at 14 hands (taking in consideration of his mother and father are large ponies).
OK, I have no problem waiting until he's 3 to ride, but is there any pre- trainning I can do?. For instance this past fall I've been getting him used to a saddle blanket, and this spring I was planning to just set a saddle on him, and this comming fall was going to get him used a bit. I didn't want to hit with everything at once. I thought over a long period of time it would make it a lot less of an impact on him. Can you offer any suggestions, it would be appreciated.
I also would like to ask one more question. This pony is also very loving, he'll come up to me and cradle his head in my arms and just sit there for several minutes. But now he's starting to take a peace of clothing, like my jacket, into his mouth, (not chewing) he just holds it for a while. I want to break him this before he gets a peace of me in his mouth, but I didn't want to break him of his effection for me. Any suggestions??
Now, for the answers. Yes, it's much better for the horse or pony if you wait until it's three before you begin ridden work. But don't worry, there is a LOT you can do in the next 16 months! There's a lot that anyone can do with a horse that's too young to ride.
You can teach your pony to lead, to tie, to halt, to back one step at a time, to step sideways one step at a time. All of this will be very useful when he's a riding horse and you take him somewhere in a trailer. You can teach him how to load and unload from a trailer, and if you don't have a trailer, don't worry -- you can practice by leading him onto and backing him off of a sheet of plywood on the ground. It's a tiny step up, but it IS higher than the ground, and it feels different, smells different, and sounds different. It makes a wonderful beginning to trailer-training.
You can teach your pony to stand quietly for the farrier and for the vet -- this will make him welcome wherever he goes, no matter who has to handle him. If you plan to have him shod eventually, you can practice by holding each foot after you've picked it out, and banging on the underside of the hoof wall with the back of the hoofpick. Not hard at first -- just tapping, enough to make a noise and a little vibration. If he gets used to that, he'll make no fuss when he gets his first set of shoes.
You can teach your pony to be calm when he hears clippers (hang them outside his stall and let them run while he eats for a week or so). You can teach him to be calm when he FEELS clippers -- turn them on and run them up and down his neck, but use the BACK of the clippers instead of the front. That way there's nothing to cut or pull the hair, and he'll get used to the noise and vibration.
You can teach your pony to be calm around other ponies and horses, even if they are trotting or cantering. You can teach him to pay attention to YOU and not to the others -- talk to him, pat him, scratch him where he's itchy. You can take him for walks and let him get used to going wherever you go -- on the road, in the field, up the hill, through the water. Keep his attention on you, keep him happy, and he'll learn to trust you and follow you and feel secure wherever you are. Let him see (and hear and smell) cars and bicycles and trucks and all sorts of farm machinery -- and other animals! If he's going to have hysterics when he sees a pig or a cow, this is a good time to start getting him accustomed to such sights.
You can even combine parts of his training by taking him to a show and just walking him around the grounds so that he can see everything.
When he's two, or two and a half, you can start to longe him using a pony/Arab sized cavesson and a 30' longeline and a longe whip. This wil be a lot of fun for him, and for you too -- get someone who is good at longeing and good with horses to help you learn how to longe a trained horse, and how to teach your own. Since your pony will already be in the habit of listening to you and paying attention to you, it won't take long before you'll be controlling him from 30 feet away, and he'll be waiting to hear whether you want him to walk, trot, canter, stop, back, or reverse.
On the longeline, indoors and outdoors, you can teach him, train him, make him stronger and more supple, and eventually get him used to doing it all while carrying a saddle. An empty saddle won't hurt a two- year-old horse -- just don't use it every day, and when you do use it, be sure that it FITS. A thick soft pad will be enough to make the horse comfortable if the saddle "sort of" fits and no one is sitting in it, but when it's time to begin ridden work, you'll need a saddle that fits well. But wait until then to buy one, unless you already own one -- your pony's back will look VERY different in size and muscular development when he is three.
You can also introduce him to the bit when he is two -- find one that fits him, and use the simplest headstall you can find, or a bradoon carrier if you have one. When he's used to wearing the bit, you can put the headstall on first, then the longeing cavesson over it, and longe him as usual (NEVER from the bit!).
Eventually, when it's getting near to the day when you'll get on for the first time, you might add a pair of sidereins (adjusted long) for a few minutes of each longeing session, but only for trotting and halting. This will teach your pony that he CAN go forward comfortably even when he feels a little pressure on the bit.
Now, about the busy mouth. Horses and ponies are very oral -- their lips are extremely sensitive, and they use them the way we use our fingers, to investigate thngs. Colts are much "mouthier" than fillies, so you are right to be concerned for future behaviour.
You can certainly cuddle your pony -- you SHOULD cuddle your pony! But you don't want to endanger yourself, or allow him to learn a behaviour that might endanger someone else, or even endanger the pony. Very often, if a pony is allowed to chew or even mouth its handlers clothing, it will try to chew or mouth the clothing of other people as well. And not everyone will assume that this is just a curious, sweet pony -- some people will automatically assume that the pony is about to bite, and will punish him. He'll end up confused and worried, and perhaps, eventually, even head-shy. It's better to avoid that problem from the very beginning. He can learn that it's fine to nuzzle you, but he is NOT to open his mouth. It will help if you don't hand- feed him treats. Don't worry about hurting his feelings and losing his affection -- it won't happen if you discipline him the way his mother would. Mares discipline sharply, sometimes loudly, often painfully, but always quickly and fast, and they usually warn the foal first. A foal that's pestering mom will get an angry grunt or squeal -- you can say "NO!" sharply, or make a "WRONG ANSWER" buzzer sound. I like the buzzer sound best, because it works REALLY well, and the horse can't possibly confuse it with "WHOA." If the foal continues to pester its mother, the mare will give it a quick nip -- a real one, with teeth! The foal occasionally loses a bit of hair or skin, but it learns the lesson, and it does NOT lose its affection for its mother. If you discipline your pony in this way, he will have NO trouble understanding you, and he will quickly learn what he needs to learn, without losing any of his affection for you.
Do you think this will get you started? I think you have enough to work on for a year or two.... ;-)
Good luck!
- Jessica
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