This little man looks like someone took a Clydesdale and shot it with a shrink ray!
Benny belongs to a friend of a friend who needed some help bringing him back into work, and I’ve been lucky enough to have been appointed as the official crash test dummy. Benny’s young rider made an “unexpected dismount” about 9 months ago and hasn’t ridden him since, so now his owners are hoping to sell him to a more experienced home. First though, he needs to remember his manners.
We met for the first time yesterday and spent some getting to know each other. Benny is a friendly little fellow but I quickly learnt that he has a rather obstinate streak when it came to lunging. One rope burn later, we agreed to try a different approach!
Instead we focused on some basic in-hand ground work. Walking around the paddock without pushing against me, and then moving away from me when I applied pressure to him. Lots of carrot treats were had as he started to understand what I was asking.
Then we moved on to some actual riding. Benny is tiny and even with my short stature, I felt quite ridiculous sitting on him! He was very nervous to begin with and definitely had a few naughty thoughts early on, but a firm squeeze was all it took to discourage any serious silly business. After a few more laps around he began to relax so we ended the ride on a good note and let him free for a well deserved roll in the dust.
I’m really looking forward to doing more work with this little pony. It’s going to be a learning curve for us both but I hope it will also be a rewarding one.