Hi Hollyberry!
I do not know if it would make a difference. What I am wondering about is would the pony notice your eyes on eyes on the blind side? Maybe this would be a good question for Monty's weekly newsletter in the "Ask Monty" section.
Let us know what you are doing and what effect it has! Would be very interesting!
Have a nice day and keep safe!
Jasmin

Hollyberry
Horses have problems seeing straight ahead and straight behind but good side vision. I have shown against a stallion that had one eye. He was a beautiful horse and some judges placed him first and other judges would not place him at all. This horse trusted his rider, as most horses do, to keep him out of danger.

I would go ahead and do a join up with the pony, but you may need to compensate your position to keep driving him around when the blind side is near you. The more trust you build between you and the pony the more willing the pony will be to work with you. As far as making him settle with children join up my r my not help since the pony still needs to be able to trust the kids. If children are taught how to behave around horses and ponys the better connection they will have with the animal.
Kids and ponies are similar in nature. They both don't have a lot of patients and can get bored or frustrated quickly!

Maybe having the children do a join up with you and the pony so they can see how their body language and breathing signals the pony

Good luck and had fun with this project
Cheers

Years ago I had several riding lessons on a one eyed horse, he was one of the riding school favourites and so used to being in the indoor arena that he knew every inch of it - you would hardly know he was blind when riding. You just had to be very careful when standing on his blind side to let him know there was someone there, talking to him and stroking him on the neck.

Thank you all for all of your comments. We plan on moving her to my place and I will start working her in the round pen. I have to wait because we are in the beginning of a winter storm warning so it won't be til next week but will give an update on her progress and mine.

We brought Belle (shetland with one eye) home on Monday. I tried join-up with her but she would not go to the right for me. She would run up into the corner of the pen and stand and look at me. No matter what I did she would just stand and stare at me. She would go to the left beautifully and I even got 3 of the signs she was interested...inside ear, smaller circle and a little licking and chewing, but she would not put her head down. So we are still working on it. It is cold and windy today so have decided that I will work with her more on the right side and getting her to trust me that I won't let anything happen to her on that side. Will post more later.

Hollyberry
You are not listening to your pony. She can't see when she goes to the right safely in her mind so she stand and looks at you. I don't know that it is imperative that she goes both left and right to achive join up. Try just going to the left to get join up and once you get her trust you can start working on the right hand movement. You have a real challange with a one eye pony and you are to be congratulated in giving the pony a chance to be a horse. The one stallion that I competed against that had one eye was exceptional in that he trusted his rider to keep him on the rail even though he could not see it. If he was alone he would always circle with his good eye viewing the edge of the arena.
Keep up the good work your pony is going to appreciate your confidence in her

Cheers

Hi Hollyberry
Dont know if this will help but I have just started to work with a 1 year old who blind in one eye and almost blind in the other.
I have been leading her with my arm gently on her neck and teaching her the words right and left as I turn the circle.
As she grows more confident I lenghten the lead rope and use my voice instead of the arm.
She is responding really well and starting to listen intently to my voice. Building the trust with her and getting her to know my voice and commands seems to be helping her to realise that she is not alone, and can rely on humans.
I hope this helps.
Sandie

Thanks Sandra,

I will give it a try. That sounds like a good start. I know that she needs to learn to trust me so she knows and understands that I am not going to lead her into danger on the one side. My daughter rode her in a friends arena the other day and they both did v
ery well. I was proud of them both.

Holly

Thats brilliant Holly, well done to you and your daughter. Maybe your daughter could say the same words as you as she rides her and then she can associate the commands in both fields of work.
Its a great start, good luck with the rest of your time with her.
Sandie

Join-Up(r) is all about bodylanguage and eyes - that would probably answer any questions about one eyed horses:)
At the other hand you can accomplish so much by working her in one way -Do remember, then she can´t see the outside and that might worry her, the horses will bond with us in one way or antohter, do what is best for the chetland! Love Ann CI/Swe

First I want to say thanks for all the comments. I took a few weeks off from working with Belle as the weather was not good for a while and I have not indoor arena or round pen. Well about 2 weeks ago I decided it was time to try again after she went out of season and stopped acting like she hated all humans. She was only that way while she was in season and the stallion in the next pen was one she truly liked a lot. With all that out of the way I tried again with join-up and she did it I felt like crying and was so happy. Have learned that even when my daughter is riding and I am on the outside of the pen she will come to where I am and stop. She always wants to see me so if I speak to her she will more likely keep going. Even if she does stop and try to turn if she see me she will be ok for a while and make sure she is doing what I have asked of her. She is doing great now. I love join-up it is great.

That's fantastic to hear, thanks for the update - sounds like you are well on your way to a great relationship with your pony.