My pony sits down when being ridden...HELP

[xkatiex255]

So I had my pony from 6 months old until she was 8 when due to family, work and other commitments I didn't have time for her and eventually had to sell her. Prior to this I did try and get someone suitable to take her on part loan and within 6 weeks my pony had learned that if she just sat/lay down mid walk/trot then she wouldn't have to do any work. I was mortified as I had backed and broken her and had never had such a bad mannered situation. Although when I rode I would push her forward, stay on her back and make her get up etc I didn't have time to school it out of her properly.

I then lost touch with her for 5 years but have recently found her and as fate would have it her current owner started at uni in September and no longer has the time for her. She asked me would I like to buy her back and as I have always regretted selling her I immediately said yes. However when discussing her vices the girl who owns her mentioned that she sits down when being schooled but is usually OK when hacking.

This I know to be the fault of those sad 6 weeks on part loan. Does anyone know of techniques I can use to correct this? I want to be ready for her when I get her back next week and I need some good correction methods in my mind. Some people have said smack her with a whip, give her big boots in the side. I can assure you that this does not work and my pony is 14 now, I don't want to go down that aggression route as she is bigger and stronger than I and if she loses respect for me I'm up the creak without a paddle.

She does also stable barge but I've bought a Dually halter in anticipation of this so I can teach her kindly. Other than this she is good to handle so I can't think of groundwork that would stop her from sitting down when she is being ridden. Surprisingly she doesn't do it when being lunged.

Any advice would be nice. Thank you

[kathryn]

Hi Katie. my suggestion would be to keep your sessions really really short to begin with and really vary your schooling sessions so she never knows what is coming. Start off perhaps with some in hand ground work before you even begin to the ridden work. Get her used to the dually and work through all the foundation exercises. this should also help with the barging. You have to be consistant with your training though, so how your mare behaves in the school in hand should be how she always is with you- so leading in from the field, to her manners in the stable. Be quick to correct her and she will soon establish those basics. With regards to the sitting down behaviour, I don't think there is any quick fix here. I think once you have done some ground work, perhaps go on to do some long lining as it will teach her to go forwards, and you can really have so much fun. I spent a year longlining my 17.hh youngster who is 3 and half before we backed him lightly. We basically longlined in a round pen doing pole work, small jumps, transitions, lateral work, getting all the basics right and making sure I could control him and then started longlining around our fields ands progressed onto the roads. I never tire of this and it really is so so good for working horses of any age as the tecniques used when longlining are transferred to the ridden stuff- like the rein aids and steering, and you can even teach them voice cues and such. I'm not a great lover of lunging to be honest, and don't do it at all with any of mine - I think you can achieve better results longlining and it is better for them physically as you are supporting them on both sides using 2 lines, but if you don't want to do all of this pre - ridden work, and go straight onto riding her, I would suggest that work her for literally 5 mins the first time, and see if you can pre-empt her sitting down- so do 5 minutes of steady transition work- so halt to walk, walk to halt- lots of circling etc to keep her thinking, but then get off to reward her after 5 minutes, and take her tack off and give her a good rub etc.. the getting off is the reward for being good. then the next time you school her, build up to say 10 mins, and then do the same- lots of different things to keep her mind occupied, perhaps some poles, and then again before she has chance to sit down, get off her , take her saddle off and give her a nice rub over etc. you can build on this pattern until you are up to say 30 mins of schooling. To be honest short sessions are always better anyway as horses do learn just as much in a good quality 10 min schooling session as opposed to 30 mins in a bad session where you are both getting frustrated. I hope this all helps, but something like this will take time and patience to work through as it is learnt behaviour that she has developed so you need to replace the pattern she has learnt with something new- so just keep her sessions fun and short, and then you will also enjoy helping her through this.

[xkatiex255]

Thank you for your advice. I love longlining to be honest so I will definitely take that on board. It was always fun when I was breaking her and did loads of work on it.

Maybe lots of short sessions would work as she'll love the fact she's not having to do a lot and I'll just build it really slowly. I've got loads of time to dedicate to her so I'm hoping that will help.

I'll let you know how I get on and thank you once again for your advice and taking the time to reply x

[ruthp]

My friend's horse did this when he first started work - he would be going perfectly well for a while, and then suddenly sit down. He never showed any signs of discomfort, so it took us a while to work out that he didn't like his saddle. After much experimentation with different types of saddles and numnahs she found something that he was happy with, and no more sitting down.

The original saddle was not a bad fit, but it was a dressage saddle and he simply didn't like it. Since she switched to a GP he's never sat down again.

So, just a suggestion - check that he's absolutely happy with his tack, and if you can, try some different saddles, particularly different shapes. As I say, my friend's horse never showed any signs of being unhappy with his saddle - no objection to having it put on, or to mounting, but after a while he'd just say he'd had enough and sit!

[xkatiex255]

Ooh that's interesting. I will try it but I don't think it's that as it was the same saddle I'd rode her in for at least 12 months and she just began doing it with the loner. I'll give anything a go tho

Thanks for the reply x

[lisap]

Assuming that she's not trying to express discomfort or pain, but that she has learned that sitting down gets her out of something she finds boring, I'd let her sit down, get her back up, get back on and carry on for a few more minutes before calling it a day. Over time (and it might take months), she'll learn that sitting down isn't getting her anywhere, so she might well just give it up. In the meantime, agree 100% with others who have said keep the sessions in the arena very short.