ditch or ankledeep mud?

[notpoodle]

pony is in a new field which is a bit of a pain (as per usual ...). to get to and fro the bottom end of the field with her, i have two choices ...

1. cross a little ditch with a tiny stream running through it. down side is that pony has a habit of jumping the ditch cross country style which isnt all that safe when im leading her, as she might either accidentally jump into me or send me flying on the leadrope ...

2. wade through very deep and firm mud that is basically a selection of hoofshaped deep holes in the ground and a bit of an assault course :rolleyes: im worried pony will end up tripping up in it!

what do you think is the safer option?

julia
x

[fizz-tally]

use a long rope & go via ditch,teach her to wait for you to get over 1st then to follow.
i did this with sirocco to teach him to jump ditches,worked well for him:D

[notpoodle]

thats what im doing with the ditch anyway. i go over first and then conjole her over (she can be reluctant on that one! BUT seeing i find her in the bottom end of the field she must have gotten there somehow ie. leisurely crossed the ditch without me!), im just worried she's going to land on me one day. she wont clamber through it like the other horses (theyre not quite as daring as her!), she does mule-jumps :D

julia
x

[fizz-tally]

make sure your way out the way,reason for long rope,sure she will get the idea,just wear a hat too:D

[Drummers mum]

Lol!:D

How about wear a hat and ride it bareback?!?:p

Only a suggestion!:D

[shirley]

Teach her to come when you call her name!!!!

[notpoodle]

she does - but so do 10 or so other horses, which is not what i want because then half of them try to get out of the gate with me :D

julia
x

[Drummers mum]

I know THAT feeling very well and some of them are such a pain and then Drummer won't squeeze through because he thinks he's going to get a nip!:rolleyes:

[notpoodle]

yep, same here .... or she decides that she cant possibly abandon her boyfriend who is busy trying to squeeze through the gate with us :rolleyes:

julia
x

[AnneS]

I had the same problem and it actually happened that Ginger jumped into me. :rolleyes:

It kind of solved itself when I started longreining her. When we now come to a ditch I take the reins very loose and let her jump first. This is a bit risky too, because it can happen that the horse bolts after the jump and you end up in the ditch. :eek:

You can do it with a halter and a very long rope too, just send her over first and teach her to wait at the other side.