Roly, George, Ripple and Louie

I have now visited Simon and Emma three times. It is a real pleasure to see the progress they have made with their lovely herd of four. Each of the ponies has a different story to tell, and they are all very individual characters. Simon and Emma are having to adjust their energy levels and body language according to who they are working with and what level they are working at. All four ponies live out together, in large paddocks with a field shelter and supplementary feed when necessary throughout the winter months.

Roly is a pure-bred 3 year old Fell pony. He has been with Emma and Simon since early December 2012, prior to which he lived in a herd environment at a stud farm in Cornwall where he received minimal handling. He came to them as an entire colt, and since I first met him we have made a great deal of progress (listed below), including that he is now gelded.

* Acceptance of headcollar through a combination of advance and retreat work and clicker training. Roly can now easily be caught in the field with minimal fuss.

* Desensitisation to touch over body and legs, through advance and retreat work with a feather duster leading onto acceptance of touch with hands. Roly is very wary of his back legs being handled and the next stage is to thoroughly desensitise them using the feather duster and the hand on the stick, before we move onto using our hands. We want to ensure this is completely consolidated before we begin to ask him to lift his feet up.

* Improved understanding of pressure and release, and leading off the headcollar.

* Work over unfamiliar surfaces including a blanket, tarpaulin and poles.

* Greater awareness and understanding of personal space, using bodylanguage. Roly is very typical of a young colt, in that he continually explores the boundaries of acceptable/unacceptable behaviour. Simon is naturally very laid back, and has had to really raise his energy levels and use big body language, making his requests as black and white as possible, to ensure Roly understands personal space and respects humans as leaders. We have had some wonderful moments where Roly has completely relaxed, with lots of evidence of licking and chewing and perfect stillness as he learns to accept touch.

Accepting the headcollar

A lovely rub between the eyes

Walking around the tarpaulin before approaching

Walking over the blanket/tarpaulin

Advance and retreat with the feather duster

Accepting touch with the feather duster

Leg handling

 

George is a 14yr old gelding, and has been owned by Simon and Emma for 2 years. George has previously been in an equine college and it is suspected that he may have been ridden pretty hard and may have sore hocks. On my first visit Simon and Emma described George as 'leader' of the herd, and felt he may suffer separation anxiety when asked to leave his companions. They also told me he can be fidgety, anxious and rears on occasions. Many people have suggested it may be sensible to consider selling George, as he can be a real handful....

George running across the field having broken free whilst leading

George rearing

The first time I met George he was extremely distracted. He was reluctant to stand still, and demonstrated huge surges in his adrenaline levels. We introduced a feather duster to him at the beginning of the first session and his reaction was pretty explosive! He was very fidgety and had a poor understanding of personal space, quite happily standing on top of his handler and ignoring requests on the leadline. He was far more concerned about what the rest of the herd was doing and was clearly quite anxious to be separated from them.

Simon has done a great deal of work with George, including;

* Lots of leading work, including changes of direction, backing up, walk trot and halt transitions. This has greatly improved George's understanding of personal space.

* Practising the 'L' for leather groundwork. This has been great for improving concentration, manoeuvrability, suppleness, responsiveness, body language and timing.

* Desensitisation work with unfamiliar objects such as feather duster, plastic bags, tarpaulin etc.

* Walking over and through various obstacles including blankets, tarpaulin, tyres, poles.

* Long lining in the field and on the road.

* Lots of work of a long line, increasing the time that George will stand still for and encouraging him to respond to body language.

A happy and relaxed George, longlining down the lane.

The difference in George is wonderful to see. It is clear that he now views Simon as a leader and is happy to trust the responsibility of the herd's safety to him. He is no longer anxious to be separated from the herd, and comes in happily from the field. His head carriage is lower and his eye and jaw are soft and relaxed. He stands still and concentrates on the task in hand rather than the other horses in the field. He will stand calmly and accept touch all over his body from the plastic bag, and confidently long lines out on the road without so much as a backwards glance to his friends in the field. Simon is happily looking forward to further building on the trust and confidence that he has already made huge progress with, and hopes to one day consider horseback archery!

Ripple is a 10yr old Fell pony mare. She came from the same place as Roly, but lived in a different herd. She has also been with Emma and Simon since December, and is due to foal in around a month. She has probably had a foal almost every year of her life, so knows what she's doing, but it's all very exciting for Emma and Simon, who want to ensure the best start for their new arrival.

I have never met such a gentle and good natured, unhandled pony. Ripple is incredibly naive and has no idea at all about personal space, leading or pressure. However, she accepts people very willingly and seems desperate to please. Simon and Emma are going to be doing little and often with her, as she has never had any training at all, and is very heavily pregnant.

Louie is a 15year old Fell pony gelding. He has been owned by Emma for 3 years. There is some unknown background history, and we know that Louie has been roughly treated in the past. The yard that he came from labelled him 'dangerous', although Emma witnessed him being booted in the belly to get him to 'walk on' whilst he was there. Whilst on this yard, his management routine involved him being stabled for most of the time, with little social contact or natural light. Emma says he is a completely different character since they brought their fields and moved him to live with their other horses, living out 24 hours a day.

Emma and Louie have a good relationship, so the work we do is all about finishing touches and subtle improvements. Slight changes to body language and energy levels, and greater self discipline with regards to personal space and standing still will further instill Louie's regard for Emma as a worthy leader. We use exercises such as 'L' for leather, leading transitions and long lining.