Reacting to the wild ponies - help needed!

[sarah]

I am starting to have a bit of a problem with my pony, and would really appreciate any advice or suggestions.

He is an 8 year old New Forest, very sweet natured, laid back chap. In his previous home he was hacked out on the New Forest too, so he is used to seeing the wild herds.
We got him about May, and he has been ridden by my daughter and myself, both in company and alone.

We had one incident early on, when some wild ponies around us suddenly took off in a stampede, and he took off with them - that seemed like a normal reaction to me as he was hacking alone at the time, so he just went with the herd.
Then on another occasion, some wild ponies in front of us trotted off down a hill, shouting and disappeared, and he did an enormous buck and started to canter after them, but I managed to pull him up quite quickly - again, I could understand if he found that rather exciting, even though he had my daughter's pony with him at the time.
Yesterday, my daughter and I were out together, we had just had a trot, and he felt really calm and relaxed, a foal some way ahead gave a gentle little call, and my pony immediately became very excited and tense, but I could sense from the other wild ponies around that they were not going to kick off, they were all just quietly grazing, so I wasnt bothered at all - the foal gave another little gentle call and without warning my pony launched into the air as if he was jumping a five bar gate and did the biggest most back breaking buck I have ever experienced. Sadly, I dont have the rock solid seat that you have Avril, or probably many other riders, and I was stranded in front of the saddle, lying up his neck with my hands braced behind his ears - very dignified dont you think!!!!
Somehow I managed to heave myself back into the saddle, and we carried on. After a bit we had a canter, and he was calm, no bucks, not strong, really lovely, but as soon as we came near some more wild ponies he was unbelievably excited, the tension I could feel in him was incredible, but the wild ponies were just calmly grazing, not giving off any signals - sometimes you can feel a "tension" in the wild ponies and that is when they are likely to kick off at any moment, but not yesterday.

So, my dilemma is how to deal with this behaviour - his reaction to the ponies is now coming out of the blue, so its not a case of seeing a stampede kicking off and riding strongly in the opposite direction. I know some people, if they are anticipating a problem will put the horse into a fast trot to keep it occupied and listening, but with ponies scattered literally everywhere, I would have to spend the entire ride in trot and I am too old and worn out for that!
My HMS ( joint condition ) means riding is very painful at the best of times, but coping with bucks and other antics leaves me doubled up in agony.

He is living out, and on no hard food yet, and I really dont think its high spirits in the usual sense, as he never does it going in to canter, when most will if a bit excitable, nor does he buck in the school, only when around the wild ponies.
Teeth and back/saddle are fine.
Our ponies are kept at home, so I have no RI/yard owner to help me.

So, any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[avril]

Poor you, Sarah! That sort of reaction is never nice. It must be one of the biggest challenges a horse can face other than meeting wild pigs. For some horses it's all too much, they feel they just have to react.

If we were putting a horse forward as being suitable for such an environment, it would be one who doesn't find group situations overpowering. They would often be older having spent many years galloping about en masse, which doesn't happen so much today.

The best solution would be to find a fearless young rider to actively seek some wild ponies and go galloping off with them, and when the bucks came, to ride them and kick on. After a few months you would no doubt find your pony couldn't be bothered with the excitement anymore. Alternatively you might find someone experienced to go out on the long lines and drive him around and amongst them.

Perhaps you could dismount and manage him better from the ground. It's a tough one, and experience for us has shown that the best "cure" is to front the issue and address it, and hopefully come out the other side! Otherwise it's plan B, avoidance tactics, we make sure we're somewhere else before the fat hits the fan so to speak.

[sarah]

Thank you so much for your advice Avril - riding on the New Forest is amazing, but dealing with the wild ponies when they take off in a stampede, or when your pony gets over excited by them is certainly a challenge!

I think I will see if I can find a fearless young rider to try and ride him through this, as you suggested, as a few too many handstand bucks and I will be back on my crutches!

[angie]

Hi Sarah,

I hope things start improving soon. I'm no expert at all, but is a small bit of the problem to do with you tensing up/getting anxious on seeing the wild ponies, and then your boy is reacting to your nerves? I'm sure he is affected by them anyway, but your uncertainty in him, and vibes about the wild ones could also have a bearing on the situation. Just a thought. But your idea of getting someone confident to ride him in a similar scenario is a great idea, keep us posted!

angie and ella x

[sarah]

Good thought Angie, and certainly, when a stampede kicks off around us the adrenalin certainly starts pumping, but on Friday I can honestly say that I was completely relaxed, riding along on a loose rein chatting to my daughter when he suddenly exploded.

I will let you know how things progress, and if I can find someone to give me a bit of help to work through this that would probably be my best solution.

Fingers crossed, on with the parachute! ;D