Hi. Festive season was quiet but great. If I were in your situation I would put Winter & Beros in with Himself & take Tears out for a nice walk to let the initial excitement, or not, calm down. That reduces the chances of anyone, including you, being knocked flat. Cheers, Jo.

Thanks Jo.
They have all met over the stable doors, Tears is next to her, we had to build her a new stable so left the end of the shed up, its got a couple of nose sized holes so they've met through them. Tears is a dragon she winds everyone up then buggers off & watches the fun from afar with this look on her face that's like "nothing to do with me", she's always done that!!

Hi everyone. This maybe long winded.. So Winter is still separate from Himself, they were all in together for a time but Himself started to cause problems!! Poor Win had her near hind ripped off and her heel cut with him playing around, he did this twice although I'm not bothered about the shoe her heel was really sore, so I split them again. That healed up so I put over reach boots on her hinds and left them in together during the day only, splitting for overnight so I could remove the boots.. Then he decides that he can jump on her like a stallion (he's not a rig), she has strong seasons so now they are both on Agnus Castus, but still split for the moment.
Have taken her out riding a couple of times, with issues for the first half mile or so, she's changed shape so the saddle was starting to pinch, that's been sorted, so I had the bright idea of leading her out in the Dually. Which means I can give her time to look and if necessary touch whatever she's nervous of, I'm thinking I will do this all this week and take her out under saddle at the weekend, maybe get someone to walk with us to give her a confidence boost if needed.

Hi. Slow is fast. If Winter likes a person to walk with, go with that. If not, leave it. Whatever it takes. Meet her needs. Humphrey wasn't happy with the surcingle so we went elasticated over girth & thick pad - much better! We've only got 5 days before he goes for training & he's forgotten so much. I'm working hard to give him a head start - there's only so much 1 person can do in a field with his babies butting in. Clearly Moley wants to be a pony trainer when she grows - she grabs the dually training rings at every opportunity! That's fine but she needs to learn to respect individual space. She's 13 months old & is still a baby. Hence why I'm sending Humphrey away for training. Kirk, the 2 year old, is at the same point as Humphrey & having so much fun with it! The more I push him, & Moley too, the better he likes it. Working in the field with his family is no problem for him. Just goes to show we're all different! Don't be afraid to try change. Cheers, Jo.

Hi Jo, I had a thought last night about leading Win out past her issue areas, then get on her and take her along lanes she knows, to try to give her some confidence, then hopefully she'll realise that she can go straight out without a worry. Walking with her when she's confident is more of a jog for me jeez can she march on!!

Well I tried my idea out, got on her a bit early,she was happy following a couple of cyclists, but 2 went past us in the opp direction, she got a bit confused so lead her to the end of the track, I had my right hand holding both reins resting on the pommel, walking by the stirrup. Got on at the other end and had a lovely ride out up lanes she knew, even went past the scary tarpaulin on the roof without a second look, so progress there. Got off before we had to go on the main road thought that would be nice to let her chill out a bit.

Great stuff Tiggy...nice to see her progressing

Yeah, just had a friend offer to come out on her bike with us, Winter will follow anything so hopefully this will help as mate can drop back ever so quietly and leave her in front, but still there if needed. Anything to make life easier for us both.

Hi. Perfect solution! And you have a safety net - if either of you fall off the other is there to deal with the situation. Happy hacking. Cheers, Jo.

Winter's braver than she thinks, took her out yesterday, same procedure, walked with her about half a mile or so, jumped on about 40 feet earlier, dealt with the gate off the track. Up the road, which she knows, then in my infinite wisdom decided to go a different way, she dealt with it and thoroughly enjoyed herself going somewhere different, slightly sticky moments with a motorbike turning into a drive behind us, a little jog and took a min or 3 to settle, then she wasn't overly sure about a bridge, it has very low walls, a car obligingly came along going our way so followed that over. So all cool, jumped off her about 150yards from home, loosened everything off and wandered the last bit. So pleased with her, she goes a little introverted at times, but I just keep chatting away to her, lots of rubs and praise, seems to be helping, me probably more than her but whatever works...

Hi. Sounds as though you've cracked it! Rome wasn't built in a day & you've found ways to let Winter expand her comfort zone. This horsey stuff requires intelligence on our part. Cheers, Jo.

Hopefully, whatever works for her, I'm lucky that she'll follow anything. Going to take her down the road to have a look at a sign that she's taken humbridge to, will find a quieter time of day.

Progress update, being as its muggy weather, I decided that Winter can go a different way, so instead of going along the track, we went straight on and over the bridge.. Which took a while as Himself doesn't like Win going out bloody animal, so as we got to the bridge he let rip and she wanted to go home! He can be such a nightmare. Anyway we got over that idea and over the bridge, I found a gateway and jumped aboard. Well we weren't going to go, got herself into a right paddy, bit of growling and a old fashioned pony club kick off she went happily.She's pushing her boundaries to see what Ill let her get away with especially now she's had 6 months to grow and mature and boy has she!! Once she's going she loves it, although she slipped on a manhole, faffing around wanting to follow a guy out walking his dog!

Took her out the following day no issues when I got on, but wasn't happy about people working the other side of a hedge, she chose to back past it instead of towards home, she gets a bit panicky going backwards, so a gentle saw again just to get her attention, she turned around and walked off calmly. So lots of progress.

I'm using no artificial aids on her at all, she's walking out like a pro most of the time. It's getting her attention back on me and what we're doing that is awkward.