OMG she's ruined

[ellies_mum]

sorry to whinge but all my hard work gone, my poor little monster has been destroyed.
Been away for 4 days and she been wrecked.
I thought i could trust a 14yr old girl to look after boy was i wrong.
Here's me thinking it would be nice for the girl to do something with horses and get paid for it.
Turns she has only been once and that was to turn her out i nher indoor leapord skin print rug, my rugs ripped and my pony is impossible to catch. After an hour of rattling the feed bucket and then just putting it in her stable for her to eat and then me to pounce on her and shut the door. She tried to kick and bite me, when i got on her she just ran, thought it was funny at 1st but then realised all schooling has gone to waste.
It gonna take another month of pony treats and bribery.
wish me luck

x:mad:

[HaveABanana]

What did they do?

I let some girls look after Mojo while i went away for a few days and when i came back, she was totally off of her head. Half rearing and plunging. she nearly dragged me onto the main road.


Em

[chev]

If all this girl did was turn up once and turn her out, why do you think she's undone all your work? It's awful that your rug's been ruined (I'd be sending this girl the bill to replace it) but four days turnout won't ruin a pony or undo schooling. It certainly won't encourage her to bite or kick, unless she tended to do that to begin with. Some can be a pain to catch if they're out when they're not usually, but I don't understand why you're blaming this girl for the schooling issues.

She'd be getting a bill for a new rug though :mad:.

[jinglejoys]

Have you tried "Join up"?

[ellies_mum]

she's ruined because i had been encouraging her to canter on the right leg and little things like that, but for her to pick up on it she needed practise everyday, we was getting there but she seems to have just forgotten and only knows how to run. i think the girl must have attempeted to take the rug off because 1 surginacle was undone and leg straps twisted and pony only trys to kick if you have done something she doesnt like like taking rug off in a bit of a demented fashion, ahe remembers and then goes for you next time.
x

[rocklanenancy]

Dont worry shes not ruined! And im pretty sure she wont have forgotten how to canter on the right lead either, believe me ponies dont forget anything! more likely that she hasnt been ridden for a few days and shes feeling lively. also she may have been naughty for the girl and took the mick a bit, and now shes trying it on you. This has happened with my pony before and its easily sorted out. Out of interest what is she fed on? and how many feeds a day does she get?

Nicola

[Wally]

Chev has a very valid point here!:)

[Yann]

Unlike humans horses have excellent memories, your pony won't have 'forgotten' a thing just because it hasn't been ridden. Schooling and ground manners are two different things entirely, it sounds like you pony has managed to take advantage of this girl and is continuing to try it on with you.

A shame about the rug, did this girl actually know what she was doing round horses?

[Bay Mare]

Originally posted by ellies_mum
It gonna take another month of pony treats and bribery.
wish me luck

x:mad:

I agree with the others. It's highly unlikely that she's been ruined in just 4 days.

Pony treats and bribery isn't exactly the way to get good ground manners either! If you have to bribe her to behave then it is probably a good idea to start from the beginning anyway to earn her respect and hopefully have her behaving better in the future when you're away.

It's a hard way to learn a lesson but in future you should check that anyone who looks after your pony knows what they're doing. Turning out in a stable rug is a very basic mistake to make. Sorry to be harsh but you need to take some of the responsibility for this too so you can't just blame the girl who was looking after her.

[eventerbabe]

sounds to me like a combination of high spirits and bad manners. she will definately not have forgotten what you have taught her, i rode my boy for the first time since 4th december yesterday and he was an angel, did everything i asked him. if you are really struggling then get an instructor in to help.

i have to agree with Bay Mare, you are partly responsible, you chose this girl to look after your pony so must shoulder some of the blame. when i go away i make sure the person looking after my 2 is experienced, its usually a pal whos a BHSAI. did the girl ride your pony? if she didn't then i don't think she's to blame for the schooling. sounds like a pony with a lot of attitude whos been allowed to have her way too long i'm afraid :(

[ellies_mum]

where my pony is kept there is a house next to it went to have a little chat to the man who lives there . i asked him about ellie and he said she had been out a few times, i was a bit reluctant to believe him so i rang my friend who was also pooping down to make sure things were going smoothly and she said she gone to check in the afternoon and she wasnt in field or stable and tack was. friend, julie waited until the girl returned and found a very sweaty muddy ginger pony and a hot sweaty girl, when julie asked her where she had been she said she had had been taken of with on the westwood when asked how long she had been out she blushed and said sheepishly 2 1/2 hrs. I had asked her not to take her out on the westwood because i no ellie can be really strong and takes the mick unless you ride her forward and strongly. ellie wears a happymouth as her mouth is a bit delicate because of previous owners the girl was wearing spurs aswell someting i no ellie hates and had changed the bit and used a pelham, curb chain and 2 reins and ellie's has cuts round her mouth, nothing a bit of petrolium jelly wont heal but still.

x

[chev]

This story is nothing like the one you first posted.

[ellies_mum]

its the next bit i found out today

[Bay Mare]

Originally posted by ellies_mum
ellie wears a happymouth as her mouth is a bit delicate because of previous owners the girl was wearing spurs aswell someting i no ellie hates and had changed the bit and used a pelham, curb chain and 2 reins and ellie's has cuts round her mouth, nothing a bit of petrolium jelly wont heal but still.

x

Where did this girl get the pelham from? She doesn't sound like someone who who have one in her collection OR spurs!

Didn't you notice the cuts before now?

I didn't see your other post when I first answered this one.

The answer to this is that you need to work on ground manners with your pony as she was obviously having problems even before you got this girl to look after her. Putting the blame on other people isn't going to help you sort your pony out. The responsible thing now is to learn a lesson from all this and get someone to help you to work with her.

[westley_jacobs]

I agree w/the others, your horse,well its IMPOSSIBLE to be ruined in 4 days,and besides its YOUR fault for not seing the girls capabillities BEFOREHAND, not the girls fault, it sounds like the girl doesnt know alot, and certainly cant look after a horse for 4 days, you should have checked first!

edited to say: and besides if u were so worried about your ponies schooling and stuff, why would you risk leaving a incapable youngster there? this doesnt sound right...

[chev]

2 reins and a curb chain is the correct way to use a pelham.

I'd also be wondering how the people you've spoken to have managed to give you such different stories.

Echo Bay Mare. Sorry.

[hApPiNeSs]

it all sounds a bit dramatic for 4 days of unexperienced handling.

are you sure something else hasnt happened? i dont know what, it might be a possibility

[shandy84]

I think you may find that you're so emotionally involved you may be missing a few things (not surprising I would too in your position)

she said she gone to check in the afternoon and she wasnt in field or stable and tack was. friend, julie waited until the girl returned and found a very sweaty muddy ginger pony and a hot sweaty girl, when julie asked her where she had been she said she had had been taken of with on the westwood when asked how long she had been out she blushed and said sheepishly 2 1/2 hrs.

Was this in hand then as you say her tack was behind?

I had asked her not to take her out on the westwood because i no ellie can be really strong and takes the mick unless you ride her forward and strongly.

Sounds like deep down you know ellie was too muc fr her ad unfortunatly have been proven right

ellie wears a happymouth as her mouth is a bit delicate because of previous owners the girl was wearing spurs aswell someting i no ellie hates and had changed the bit and used a pelham, curb chain and 2 reins and ellie's has cuts round her mouth, nothing a bit of petrolium jelly wont heal but still.

Could it just be ellie is misbehaving because of her past and the change in carers has unsettled her a bit, Bramble changes attitute back to her wild type when I go away for a few days, soon get her sorted though.

I think I would be wary of judging too harshly you admit yourself you horse isn't easy, would it not have been better for her to have had a holiday too?

[CBay]

I know it can be really difficult to find anyone reliable to look after a horse but I would never let anyone ride any of mine without being there. Are you saying that the first time this girl rode your horse was when you were away? Bet that's something you won't do again.

[notpoodle]

@ elliesmum: i am sure she will be back to normal soon. and dont be too harsh to the girl - i am sure she didnt do any of this on purpose and is probably mortified and guilt-ridden, anyway.

julia
x

ps: i was VERY lucky when i went away for christmas - a friend offered to do angel for me and it all went smoothly :)

[ellies_mum]

@ notpoodle: she usually rides about twice a week i asked her if she thiught she could handle her otherwisw friend would of. she helps with all the normal, yard, ,feed duties usually goes well. she has aplogised and we are back to normal, but have told her she wont be lookin after her next time.
x

[notpoodle]

glad to hear it didnt end in a nasty fall-out :)

julia
x

[Keepsmiling]

I know your very angry about the indoor rug getting torn, but in my honest oppinion this girl sounds far too inexperianced to look after a pony on her own in the 1st place. And as you mentioned your pony is not the easiest to handle/care for. Horses that are handled by one person most of the time do tend to try there luck when a stranger comes into their lives to see if they can push the boundries, and to me this seems to be the case hear. I think that the girl sounds to have had good intentions at heart and was just taken advantage of by your pony (maybe she changed the bit as the pony was becoming unruly and she felt it would give her more control). And now that you are back the pony has spend however many days getting its own way and it attempting to continue to do so. In my oppinion its nothing firm symapthetic and consitsant handling would not cure. As for the canter situation when a horse has not been ridden for a while they can be a little unbalanced and this will show up in the canter transition by rushing and striking off on the wrong leg this can also be the case if they are a little over exited !! Some schooling in walk and trot, bends,serpentines + Circles as well as work over trotting poles would all inprove bend +Balance.

p.s i would however request payment at least in part for a replacment rug

Keepsmilingqueen xxx ;)

[arnie11797]

glad you sorted it out with her and will not be letting her look after your pony again ;) but i would definatly ask her to pay for the rug love abbi&barney xxxxx

[Waltzin]

its unfortunate that you had such a bad experience, but i think its something that can be difficult on both sides. Over christmas I was looking after my friend's dressage horse, and he really didn't go too brillantly for me. I was very frustrated, until I realised that it was unrealistic for me to expect to get on him and for him to perform as well for me as he does for his rider. Probably, when his owner got back on him she could feel a slight difference.
I know there is no excuse for the negligence, but it can be daunting too look after someone elses horse when things aren't going your way

[hApPiNeSs]

nothing to add really except that i dont think that you should charge her for the rug. she was doing what she thought was right and an accident happened.

she was trying to do you a favour by looking after your pony, after all ;)