Resistance to the bit.

Nelson has been really mouthing the bit and this has been slowing our progress. He is in a sinmple eggbutt snaffle, very fine and light. I have resorted to using a running rein on the outside rein and the lunge through the bit and back to the sircingle. That has been very effective and allows me to have a soft or active inside rein. He has worked really well, he gave me a tiny buck today but then I just rode through it. Which is great because I really had my confidence knocked about by the 16hh loony Ace (who I sold). He has a really nice trot and I am very happy with his transitions.

Nelson comes back into work!

Nelson has had the Winter and best part of Spring off to grow up. Also because I was frantically busy at work. The resignation of the Farm Hand left me to do both jobs, then I had Senior School Certificate duties marking end of year exam papers so effectivley I was working 3 jobs for awhile there. So my life will be a bit slower for the next 7 weeks which will give me a chance to focus back on the horses. They are fat and unfit so this will be slow. I am glad Nelson had time out though. He has just turned 3 and needed to grow up a bit more. I do not like how many ponies are out showing every weekend as a 3 year old. I have been looking for another pony for a long time now and have seen many sour ponies that are simply over it. Nelson still has a silly, happy look on his face and canters up to you every time you are in his paddock. Cantering is his thing, he rarley walks anywhere! He also neighs every time you open the front door.
I will get some pictures as he is really filling out well.

So he does not like clippers...

Really, this pony has been super great. Worming, teeth, farrier, floating,catching etc....Nothing has fazed him, until now. I tried clipping his furry little face so I could get a bridle on without pulling whiskers. He was fine with the sound and liked the vibration on his nose. However, when I clipped and it made the buzzing fur coming off sound he stuck out with his front feet. Very athletic and very naughty!
So, I tried again, same result. Anyway I had to use a twitch, which I have not had to use for many years. He stood well and we made much fuss with lots of carrots involved afterwards.

Bit of a hitch.....

So, 9yo girl rider was on for the second time and all was going well. Happy, happy, joy, joy, rainbows and puppy dog tails.

Then pony spooked badly and 9yo fell off. Pony did not freak out, just stood there. Which was very lucky. Anyway after deciding there were no broken bones she hopped back up and went off again. Took a bit to get her to trott again but she did and she was tougher for it.

It is difficult as a parent to get kids to do stuff with the realisation it might hurt them. It was a genuine spook from the biocycle outflow and any horse would have done it.I usually have it turned to the orchard when on the arena but forgot.

So, do I persist?

If she wants to ride yes. But, I will not force her to ride.

Stop Press! The girls ride him already.

Nelson has been going so well that the girls had a ride. First on the lunge at the walk and trot and then around the arena at the walk off lead. Nelson really seemed a bit confused that I was on the ground and one of the girls was on him instead, but he went through some bending poles (good steering) and over some trott poles. The 9 yo was so pleased with herself and really started to bond with him. Nelson just loved the additional attention. He is certain the universe revolves around him! I will get pictures next ride as I left my camera at work!

Family Snaps

So here is proud Mum (chestnut) and Dad (Bay) and even Nelson's half brother (top)! He comes from a family of stunning ponies.

Baby Photos

No pony story would be complete without baby photos. So here is Baby Nelson. Isn't he a cutie!

Pony comes Home!

Nelson has been home now for a couple of months and in that time we have ridden around the arena and out in the paddock. I have been concentrating on walk/trot/halt transitions and getting a steady headset. I don't want any form of collection but he was really flinging his head around so I put a martingale on him and that really helps. It was not teeth, he had his teeth done already. So I am up to ride 16! The little lady who will take over the reins will hop on after ride 30 if all has gone well. Fingers crossed!

Time to Ride!

So, time to ride the little lad. He had not put a foot wrong for 5 rides with "Girl Breaker". Here he is with me on his 6th ride, he was a bit unsettled with the bit, but rode forward well. He might even make a kids pony yet. But he is only 2 3/4 so I don't want to push him. We even did a little canter (accidently).

Off to the "Breaker"...

So I decided to send Nelson to get a few rides on him. The only time I have broken a bone was off a 13.2 hh pony, so I was a bit nervous. Let's face it ponies are really hard to sit on. There just is not that much around you. Anyway, Nelson was away for 3 weeks, came back with only 5 rides and left a hole in my pocket that was larger than what I paid for him. I really appreciated the girl's efforts but think I should have done it. I could have waited until my holidays and bitten the bullet. So, one nice thing was the girl took lots of photos for me. So here he is, getting used to stuff. He is a really nice moving pony who is very sensible.

The long search for a pony.....

We finally found a pony for the girls. Little "Herbie" (Pictured to the left) was not with us for long though, he died of colic. This was only 4 months after we found him. He had been neglected in the past and damage from worm burden was the likely cause. So again, we were looking for a pony. We searched and searched. I looked at many ponies but nothing fit the bill, until Nelson.

I liked that he was young and I knew he had never been neglected, better still he was in our price range. He had a kind eye and a cheeky disposition. So many ponies seem to be around the many thousands of dollars mark! He is even a registered Australian Riding Pony and Arabian Riding Pony.

The picture above is the day he arrived, he had been gelded only the month before and had very limited handling. In fact after putting him on the arena on the second day, I could not catch him. So began the road to getting Nelson to become the kids pony I had hoped for.