Ponies rely on their senses to understand the world.  These senses are:

Sight – information from their eyes

Touch – information from their bodies

Hearing – information from their ears

Taste – information form their mouths

Smell – information from their noses.

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To avoid startling your pony

Make sure that your pony can see you. Approach her towards her shoulder, not from behind or directly in front of her.

Make sure that she can hear you. Speak to her, say hi, let her know that you are coming.

When you are close enough, touch her, gently but firmly. Usually the neck, shoulders and withers are best as these are places where ponies touch and groom each other.

Taste and smell – your pony will grow to know, and, I hope enjoy your smell and taste as she licks your hand. She will know that she is safe and happy whilst she is with you. It is best to give tidbits from a feed bowl, but if you must give a tidbit by hand, make sure that you hold it in the palm of your hand with your fingers stretched out flat. Do not give tit-bits when there are several ponies around because they may become jealous and fight over the food and may damage themselves or you. Never take a feedbin into a field for the same reason.   

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think might happen if you give tidbits to your pony from your fingers?

 

Type in your ideas here

 

 

 

                      to see our ideas.

 

This young boy is giving his pony a tit-bit in the correct way, from the palm of his hands. The man leading the pony should have coiled up the lead rein and not left it trailing on the grass.

 

When giving tidbits:

In the wild, ponies are herd animals that are hunted by other animals like lions and tigers.

They need to be alert to danger. When they hear, smell or

see something that might be harmful to them, their instinct is to run away, or to kick out in fear.  Think back to a time when you were frightened, say when you were watching a scary movie and something happened that made you jump out of your seat.

If ponies feel that they are cornered and cannot run to escape the danger, their instinct is to fight to defend themselves. This is called the flight or fight response and it is shared by all animals, including ourselves.

 

Your instinct was to run away, but then you realized that you were not really in danger, so you sat back down in your seat. For that short time when you instinctively jumped, you were feeling the flight response.

 

Have you ever wanted to hit out at someone who jumps out at you, perhaps as a joke? Of course, you didn’t hit them because you realized that they were not really trying to harm you. But for an instant, you felt the fight response

Very few horses or ponies are truly vicious and if they are, it is usually because they have been badly treated and hurt by humans. When you are with your pony, be careful not to frighten her, so that she does not feel the need to run away (and possibly break her bridle or tread all over you in the process)!

 

 

This foal is only a few months old. What senses is he using to make sense of his world?

 

Handling Ponies