Post by widget0694 on Nov 13, 2017 13:01:24 GMT 1
Hi Everyone!
I am at my wits end with my older chap he is now 19 and is a 14.2 coloured pony who was obviously very badly treated in his very young years as i have now had him for 15 years but knew him for 2 previous to that!
He is a nervous boy at new things but 99% of the time we have found a way round this - lots of using the Dually to help with loading - now we don't even need a leadrope!
However, we have to go down a track which passes a field of donkeys to get to any off road hacking - for the first month to 6 weeks of using the track everything was fine he would go past no problem at all alone or in company. And all of sudden one day decided that it was terrifying and he wouldn't even go in the direction of the 'donkey track' to the extent he was shaking and letting out the most awful sounding snorting noise! since then even if i try and do a loop round the woods before we venture near the donkeys he turns himself inside out!
It doesn't seem to matter if he is ridden or led or on his own or in company! (although we can get near if i ride and someone leads - although this is not very practical as i can't always get someone on foot!) He will spin, rear, buck, try and bolt basically he will do anything he can to make sure he doesn't go anywhere near the donkeys!
Does anyone have any advice on how i can start to overcome this sudden fear. Also should mention - nothing happened during the 6 weeks when he was ok to scare him? It also doesn't seem to matter if the donkeys are in their field or not!
Thanks for reading!
I am at my wits end with my older chap he is now 19 and is a 14.2 coloured pony who was obviously very badly treated in his very young years as i have now had him for 15 years but knew him for 2 previous to that!
He is a nervous boy at new things but 99% of the time we have found a way round this - lots of using the Dually to help with loading - now we don't even need a leadrope!
However, we have to go down a track which passes a field of donkeys to get to any off road hacking - for the first month to 6 weeks of using the track everything was fine he would go past no problem at all alone or in company. And all of sudden one day decided that it was terrifying and he wouldn't even go in the direction of the 'donkey track' to the extent he was shaking and letting out the most awful sounding snorting noise! since then even if i try and do a loop round the woods before we venture near the donkeys he turns himself inside out!
It doesn't seem to matter if he is ridden or led or on his own or in company! (although we can get near if i ride and someone leads - although this is not very practical as i can't always get someone on foot!) He will spin, rear, buck, try and bolt basically he will do anything he can to make sure he doesn't go anywhere near the donkeys!
Does anyone have any advice on how i can start to overcome this sudden fear. Also should mention - nothing happened during the 6 weeks when he was ok to scare him? It also doesn't seem to matter if the donkeys are in their field or not!
Thanks for reading!