Mind your manners

Having a pony who’s polite on the ground and easy to handle makes caring for him sooo much easier. Whether you’re leading him around the yard, picking up his feet or climbing on board for a hack, knowing he’ll do what you ask without a fuss is guaranteed to boost your confidence and make day-to-day pony care stress-free. So, I’m going to show you how to create the politest pony on the yard!

TOP TIP

Always wear a helmet, gloves and sturdy boots when doing any kind of groundwork with your pony.

Pick it up

It’s super-important that you can easily pick up your pony’s feet – and that other people can, too. This will make your farrier and vet’s jobs easier because he won’t fidget when they need to trim or check over his hooves.

1. Start by standing next to his shoulder, facing away from his head.
2. Run your hand down the back of his leg and squeeze gently below his knee to ask him to pick up his foot.
3. If he’s reluctant, you can lean against him slightly to help.
4. Remember to give him plenty of praise when he does as you ask.

For the hindleg, the process is the same except you run your hand down the front of his leg instead – this will prevent you from getting your arm caught if he were to kick out. If you’re really having trouble, ask your yard manager to have a go and see if he’ll do it for someone else – they can then show you what they did to make him pick it up.

Check out December PONY for more of Meg’s top tips on how to create a polite pony – on sale now!