naughty pony, OFF that grass

[notpoodle]

the shame!! angel has always been well behaved and was NOT a grass snatcher (ever since one initial argument 5 years ago out of which i emerged victoriously).

now she's living out muzzled (no muzzle discussion please. it works well for her, end of) and is a very good weight. nice

now, the schooling area is made of ... grass! its alright once im actually on her (then i can prize her off the floor), but getting into the school (through a lovely area with lovely long delicious grass!) and getting her in position to mount is proving rather tricky! last night i found myself getting rather het up,l telling the ponio off with some choice language, even flicking her on the bottom as to get her away from the grass because its downright rude and she's eating 23 hours a day so the one hour i ask her to do something, she should bl*y well listen and i dont appreciate getting dragged from grassy bunch to grassy bunch. she is certainly not starving (she also gets hay and a feed when she comes in and is by no means emaciated!) either!

now, do i get a daisy rein for a while or does anyone have any other ideas? (she is well behaved in all other ways, i don't think there is a dominance issue either!)

Julia
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[shoniedaspony]

Cheat, and get on before you go into the grassy area?

Or maybe you just need to have that same argument again, each time you go in, until she gets the picture it just isnt allowed...naughty angel! If it worked in the past, then maybe she just needs that message reinforced again?

I love hearing about her, cos she is such a character

[Alice1992]

Awww Its quite funny to imagine though someone getting pulled around from patch to patch by their horse which couldnt care less about their ownners frustration

Hmmm maybe you could let her have say 5 minutes of eating time beofore you ride her, as yummy grass is probably very hard to resist. :P And then be very very firm with her say not let her get her head down at all after her time is up. If she wont get her head up and drags you on the ground would it be possible to ride her along the grassy bit to the schooling section? You could let her get her head down for her 5 mind and then move her on after her time. This would be easier for you to manage then proba if she doesn decide she doesnt want to listen.
After you have schooled you could give her another 5 minuts or more if you are feeling lovely depending on how well she came away from it in the first place and get her into this routine. This might stop her from thinking she HAS to eat all of the grass now because she doesnt know when she will get to it again and make her more willing to give in and shcool as she knows she willl get a reward for it?
People are probably gonna be like ahhh no thats letting her get her own way but i think this could work Goodluck.

[notpoodle]

nope, there's gates to close (school is down the road from yard so have to lock up yard gate, do numberlock on school gate, then open next gate, then rope off schooling area), several in fact

[shoniedaspony]

Originally Posted by Alice1992

Hmmm maybe you could let her have say 5 minutes of eating time beofore you ride her, as yummy grass is probably very hard to resist. :P
People are probably gonna be like ahhh no thats letting her get her own way but i think this could work Goodluck.

I'm afraid I'm of the zero tolerance approach- work time is work time, so my horse needs to get a grip and accept that- yes the temptation is there, but manners need to be too.

I think you really need to reassert (like you did previously) that this isn't at all acceptable- once she has got her head down that first time, and nothing has been done about it right away, your previous lesson will be somewhat lost.

My friend managed to teach her pony to wait to be 'offered' to graze, but getting him moving around her if he tried to stop and eat, then letting him stand. Once he stood nicely she would pull up some grass and offer it to him, and after that he was allowed to eat.

Perhaps some kind of boundary like this might be good-so she knows when she is invited to eat?

[notpoodle]

agree, 5 mins eating time won't work with this particular specimen. and horses have no concept of what 5 minutes is (apart from that she spends ALL DAY eating!) so i guess it would be very confusing for her to be allowed to eat one minute and the next get shouted at. so i'll go with the zero tolerance ... do you think a daisyrein would help at all? or do i persevere with the shout/drag/flick approach and frogmarch her through the grass without her having the chance to even lower her head?

[shoniedaspony]

Hmmm...

A daisyrein which is so short that she can't reach the grass will be counter-productive, as you need to be able to still teach her that it is undesirable, rather than she just can't reach it. I think a daisyrein will only help if the grass is so significantly distracting for her that it is a constant battle. Use of it can't replace your reaction if she does try to eat, but may in the mean time stop you getting dragged quite so much...?

I'd be (in a non-violent way, obv) going all guns blazing if she does try and eat, and really get her moving, indicating that eating in the environment is really hard work.

I'm guessing the problem is made worse by the fact you have to stop in the grass and do gates, so your whole attention isnt on her?

Perhaps it is worth re-establishing that she can't just eat when she feels like it once you get into the first strip of grass, and then she might be more respectful when she has to stand and wait at the gates?

[shoniedaspony]

Oh, and where is a picture of the gorgeous girl?

[notpoodle]

yes it is exactly in the moments im faffing with the gates that she will literally dive in there. i feel quite bad about yanking on the bridle like that (it seems to have no effect mind you!)

and heres a picture, a random one - angel being GOOD!

Julia
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