Who Would've Thought Ponying Would Be So Much Fun?!

Before I tell you all about what I did at work last week, I just have to share the first colt born on the farm this year! I had to take this picture with my cell phone, so the picture quality isn't great. He is a clients baby sired by Valentino. This is one of his first trips around the farm. Isn't he the cutest thing? He is so sweet!



Last week, one of my responsibilities was to train 3 year olds to pony. Even though we are a show facility, we train all of our horses to pony. The reason for this is to get the horses used to being next to another horse, especially when the horse being ponied is between the wall of the arena and the horse doing the ponying. This gets them used to being up on the rail with another horse right next to them, so when they are in a class, they will be used to that feeling of being pinned in, which does happen in the show ring.

I ride a 19 yr old 1/2 Arab 1/2 Saddlebred gelding, retired multiple National Champion English Pleasure (Saddleseat) horse. I have ridden "JJ" once before I started ponying. He is a fun horse to ride. His canter is to die for! This is the only horse we use to pony horses from. He knows his job, and he does it well. Plus all horses love "JJ"!

The first day I started ponying, I had the other groom get four 3 yr olds ready to pony. I brought "JJ" in from the pasture, groomed his fuzzy butt and tacked him up. I took him into the arena to warm him up to make sure his mind is on me and not all about the get up and go. He only gets ridden to pony now, so he can be fresh at times. I walk, trot and canter him a couple times around the arena. He actually bucked a couple times when I first asked him to canter. Silly! I am sure he was just feeling really good! Once he is warmed up, I ask the groom to get my first horse. I was wondering how this was going to go since none of the horses have ever been ponied before (oops, except for one).

My first horse is a western horse "Pleasure". She immediately stuck her nose in "JJ's" mane and was in love. We walked. Then trotted. Then cantered! "Pleasure" was loving it! We ponied all over the arena in both directions at different speeds. My next horse is a hunter "Elvis". He has been shown and actually had been ponied before, but he had been pinning his ears at horses in the show ring, so he was on my list. He did really well, and did not pin his ears at "JJ". My third horse is also a hunter "Lou". She is a clients horse. She started out well, but started rearing at one end of the arena. I had to get her under control and every time we passed that part of the arena, she would rear up and freak out. Come to find out later, that the guy that was saddle breaking horses was having an issue with her at that end of the ring. Great. We end up working it all out and I had her ponying at the "scary" end of the arena just fine. My last horse of the day is another western horse "Ann". She was so unsure of what was going on and had that "What the heck" look in her eye the whole time. I was literally dragging her around the arena. I finally got her trotting along side "JJ" and I stopped on a good note with her.

The next day I ponied four more horses. They all did really well too. One of them would rear when we passed the dryer vent that comes into the arena. I forgot the dryer was on, but the horses need to get used to it.

On the third day, I ponied four more, three being repeats from earlier in the week that I felt needed to get back out again. "Lou" with her rearing issue and the second time out, NO REARING AT ALL! I was very happy with her. She obviously forgot about the "spooky" end of the arena! "Elvis" was fine the first time, but since our hunter trainer said he had been pinning his ears at horses in the show ring, I wanted to make sure I got him out again just to make sure he understood it is okay for horses to be close to him. And finally "Ann", the one who nearly tore my arm off from having to drag her around the arena. She actually started out really good, she still looked at us funny, but I wasn't having to drag her. I even got her into a trot quicker this time and she was moving along really well for awhile, then she slowed to walk and I was back to dragging. Goodness horse, your killing me here! Do you realize that my arm is dead tired from dragging you the last time? I ended up getting her to move off the pressure of the lead, a little. Once I got her walking without dragging, I stopped.

I had so much fun ponying! "JJ" is a blast to ride and even the 3 yr olds that I thought were going to be nightmares to pony, actually did pretty well! My boss told me yesterday that he heard (he was on vacation last week) that I did an excellent job ponying and he wants me to pony once a week. I think it's a great idea.

Also what I am planning on doing is training Fritzy to pony. So eventually I can use her to pony Chance. I would love to pony Chance on a couple easy trail rides someday before I ride her on the trails, but I have never ponied a horse on the trails before. What I worry about is the horse I am ponying getting away. If a horse gets loose at work, it isn't a big deal since we are in an arena. But out on the trails? That is a little scary! I guess there is a first time for everything, huh?

There is something I forgot to mention. I keep forgetting, silly me. Remember that Synovial Cyst I have on my finger? A few weeks ago while I was lunging Chance, I forgot my gloves. Didn't think too much about it, I didn't feel anything too terrible. Later when I was in the house, I went to rub my finger and it was flat. Hmmm... okay, so I pushed on it and it felt like there was still something there, but the big lump that used to be there, GONE. It hurt a little bit, in an odd painful kind of way. Well, apparently it popped. I still have a little pain from time to time, but nothing like before and thank goodness that awkward lump isn't there anymore! So hopefully it won't come back! It sure makes handling horses much easier and with less pain!