12th November, 2009 Fixed by phone

The other call I had was in relation to a New Forest pony bought at Beaulieu Road Sales. The owners have been able to handle the pony and to clip on to his headcollar but when they do he reverses at 100 miles per hour. I suspect that he has been halter broken by tying him up to something solid, a practice which is still carried out in this area, and that his poll is terribly sore. I explained to the owners how I use a scarf these days to teach ponies to accept pressure on their neck and head and to teach then to come forwards into a pressure. I got this e-mail last night:

"We have used your advice and the scarf worked brilliantly with Jellybean. We have built up from leading round the stable to going in and out of it. Today we led him in and out of several different stables and he was fine. We are going to have another go at turning him out tomorrow morning. If it goes well there wont be the urgency for you to come out asap, however, we would still like you to come out and do a bit of work with him anyway."

And the next day...."Jellybean was very good today leading out."

They have also bought a copy of No Fear, No Force via the BHS.