Thanks for those tips! Thankfully my green horse used a crupper when he was in training so he has no problem wearing one. I have never tried it on my mare. I have a double snap leadrope (a snap on each side of the halter) that I use for extra control, I may make a shorter one for ponying. I still have to figure out the whole dressage saddle ponying thing because my green horse does not neck rein. My mare leads well and is non spooky so hopefully she will be a good influence and behave herself.
Ya know, it seems really wrong to ride the Arabian and pony the Paso Fino! What a waste of that smooth ride. I think that it will be the safest though...;-)
I will try it in the pasture this weekend and see how it goes. I might have hubby take pics for entertainment purposes.
To: brio_gal@xxxxxxxxxxx CC: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:28:39 -0400 Subject: [RC] one butt two horses From: rides2far@xxxxxxxx
>>>Ok, so I am thinking this ponying thing sounds good.
The main thing you need to decide before heading down the trail riding one and ponying the other is what to do when you see the big spiderweb at face height just ahead. Next decide how you will alter all your shirts & jackets. You'll be needing to lengthen one sleeve soon. :-) I've never wanted 2 horses fit bad enough to pony, but I have done it to get a new horse out on the trail and to keep my daughter's horse fit when she was off at camp, and the time he was dealing with a girth rub.
P.S. I recommend a crupper. It keeps the pony horse from clamping down quite so hard on the rope when they get it under their tail and start spinning.
P.S.S. Repeat after me: "I WILL turn loose of the horse I am ponying before it's too late...I *will* turn loose of the horse I'm ponying before it's too late....
P.S.S.S. On a serious note...the Parelli thing where you make a horse back up by wiggling the snap can be very handy to teach the ponied horse. When they start crowd to close you can back them off.
P.P.S.S.S. If forging isn't a problem I prefer to have a rope hooked right to the halter so that the ponied horse doesn't have that big snap swinging under his chin the whole time.
