How to Get a Pony to Ride Out Alone
Some ponies and horses will only leave the barn or stable area in the company of other horses. They can be barn-sour or herd-bound. Barn-sour is defined as a horse or pony that acts up whenever it is ridden away from its pasture or barn area, according to trainer John Lyons. Herd-bound is a similar behavior, but is connected with leaving the other horses of the barn or stable, not leaving the facility. The training to overcome these conditions is identical.
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Instructions
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Ride the pony in an enclosed pen or arena near the barn with one of his pasture mates tied nearby. Work through a series of turns, stops and other maneuvers. Use the training to relax the horse and get his focus on the maneuvers. Look for the horse to drop his head in concentration as a sign he his paying attention to the training rather than his buddy. Increase the difficulty of the training maneuvers.
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Leave the enclosed area once the horse is relaxed and concentrating on the training session. Ride a short distance, 10 or 20 feet, from the barn or his buddies. If the horse raises its head or acts up, return to the training arena and repeat the process of working through maneuvers to relax the animal.
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Continue the cycle of arena training and riding away from the barn over several days or even weeks. Extend the distance you ride away from the barn as the horse shows signs of relaxing as you are riding away. The goal is to reach the point where the horse remains relaxed and does not act up as it is ridden completely out of sight of the barn and his pasture mates.
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Tips & Warnings
Training in a round pen is always advisable, according to John Lyons. Any training facility will work. Use any training maneuvers or patterns the horse or pony is familiar with. Expect to work the horse up to three hours per day for several weeks. The number of necessary training sessions will be determined by how the pony responds to the sessions.
Never spur or whip the horse to make him leave the barn. Also, work with the horse until you get a desired response, such as moving a little way from the barn without acting up, before ending the session. Putting the horse in the barn or pasture immediately after it acts up trains it that this is the proper behavior to get what it wants.
References
- Photo Credit pony mit pony image by Otmar Smit from Fotolia.com
