I get why some pony training programs are the way they are. I get why professionals have to set timelines for horses. They have customers who expect certain results at certain points in the training. I get why some ponies flunk out of training in those programs. I truly get it. I also get why some ponies and trainers don't always hit it off. We have had ponies in our barn that I just didn't like. They pushed my buttons and/or raised my frustration level to a point where I just didn't want to work with them anymore. I've said many times over the years that life is too short to spend time working with a pony you don't enjoy. Which goes with something else I've said, a pony that doesn't work for one person might be just what someone else is looking for. This is truly no fault of the pony or the trainer/rider. It just is what it is. People have personalities and ponies do too. Matching those up can be a bit of a trick.
The hard part comes when you have a few good ones in a row. By good, of course I mean easy. Because some of them are just easy. They want to learn, want to work, want to be with humans. The good ones make training ponies like a cake walk. If you haven't had a good one, you probably didn't keep training for long. The good ones have a low fight or flight response. They just don't scare easily. The good ones learn things quickly, only need to be shown a few times and RETAIN what they learn. They are the kind you can pull out the next day and move on to the next thing because they don't need to be taught twice. Sometimes the good ones need a little encouragement to go forward, but they wouldn't dream of bucking, rearing or harming a human. Ah... the good ones. They are what every person who has every trained a pony dreams to have.
But then there are the hard ones. These ponies are often also wickedly talented but they just need to be convinced to use their talents for good, not evil. These ponies aren't evil, don't get me wrong. I say that as a figure of speech. They can be a lot of different things, but most of the things they are usually fall under the category of "reactive". They have learned to rely on their survival instincts and horses survive by doing two things - fight or flight. Most will choose flight first - so this results in bolting, dragging their handlers, running through fences etc... Horses are big strong creatures. Even the ponies that I work with, are big and strong. If they don't choose to be with us, they can truly choose to be a long ways away. People need to remember that I think. Any time a pony walks quietly beside you they are choosing to do so.
Which brings us to fight. IF a horse/pony feels trapped, they will fight when their reactive brain is engaged in fear or frustration. This might be trapped in a pen, trapped by saddles or bridles, trapped by ropes, you name it. They have many ways to fight off a "predator" and these are not limited to just biting, kicking, bucking or rearing. I've had ponies use their bodies to slam into me or run me over. I've had ponies try to squeeze me against the wall. I've had ponies use their heads to hit my head (or try anyway). There are many ways a horse/pony can fight using their body and let's be honest, if they truly want to hurt us - we are in big trouble. But MOST of the time, and yes I know there are some exceptions, they just want to get away and are using their fight response to get us away long enough for them to revert back to the good old flight response.
These are simply MY observations and interpretations of horse psychology. I do not consider myself an expert or a trainer. You could disagree with me and I would probably think you're right over me. I've worked with several ponies over the years but nowhere near the level of people that do this for a living. IF you are having trouble with your pony, don't ask me - consult a professional! Why do I go on and on about my observations and what I've learned about horse psychology? Because I hope it better helps you understand and empathize with a tough to train pony. While some ponies are naturally more willing to give up the fight, others are not. They are SCARED, not mean or evil. They just need more work to get over their fear and be shown that they will not be eaten by us - their predator. They need to learn that we will not put them in danger and that they can look to us tiny humans as their herd leader. The kind of leader that will protect them from danger so they don't have to be so worried about it all the time. Once they trust that you will protect them and that you have got them in the scary time, they can relax. It's a wonderful change to watch come over a pony. Yes, the easy, good ones are wonderful. But knowing that you got that scared, reactive pony to a place where they can rest and relax is a pretty satisfying feeling too.
Our current reactive pony is Smoothie. She has been an eye opener after having Pepper, Elsie, Invy, Nugget, Kisses and even Reba. They were all the good, easy kind. Well, except for the needing to convince them to go forward part. That was always a workout. Smoothie is more of a Charlie or a Kenya type. She needs to be convinced that people aren't going to hurt her. She needs nearly constant reassurance that she's a good girl. I really wish I could get paid for the amount of times I say "good girl" to her when I'm working with her. It has been so rewarding to watch her reactive brain slowly turning off and her thinking brain showing itself and more and more often. Lately, I've caught her chewing and relaxing a foot from time. That's huge. She still has her moments when she loses her mind and goes full fight/flight, but those moments are farther and farther between AND shorter and shorter in length. But it hasn't been "easy".
There were a couple times when she ripped the rope out of my hands when she was scared by me asking her to lope on the lungeline. Especially to the right. *sigh*. I'm hoping we are past that one, but I also know that if she is far enough out of her comfort zone for some reason, that option is still lurking in the back of her mind. There was the day it took me 45 minutes to catch her in her dry lot. BOTH of us were very frustrated by the end of that session. There was also the first time I was getting her used to ropes around her back legs and the rope slid up by her stifle. Boy the fight or flight got activated that day when she took off bucking and snorting for several strides.
But for each of those instances, she came back to me eventually. For each of those instances she could have done something much worse, but stopped herself and went back to her thinking brain. For instance - the first time she ripped the rope out of my hands and got loose - not only did she rip the rope out of my hand; but she knocked over a gate, broke a chair and could have been in the next county without me having a chance to catch her. But you know what she did? She got past the gate and turned to face me and stopped in the open arena doorway. The day she freaked out about the rope around her legs? She bucked a few strides away and then stood and waited for me to come "rescue" her. The day she made me round pen her for 45 minutes? She trotted around me beautifully and faced up like a good girl, she just couldn't contain her flight instinct to let me put the halter on.
At the time I wasn't seeing these events for the true miracles that they were. Smoothie choosing to come back to the thinking world is a big deal. Smoothie choosing to see what the humans have in store for her next is a big deal. Smoothie progressing from half wild pasture pony to saddled up and ground driving is a big deal. We've had Smoothie just over 30 days now, just think where she will be in another 30 days. Her timeline is not the timeline I had hoped for, but she is setting her own pace and keeping me in the loop about how it is going. I think I'll listen.
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