Cany you help?...............

I bought a Welsh Section D 14year old pony a month ago.

We bought him from gloucester and the girl we bought him from owned him for 2years.

When we went and tried him out we rode him in a school. He is a forward going ride but that's not a problem. We went back a secoudn time to try him and we went out on a small hack around country lanes where there were no junction's etc.

After trying him out twice we decided to buy him.

When he arrived at our paddock we gave him a few days to see let him settle.

He is kept with my two other ponies and they all get on fairly well.

After a couple of days we rode him in our field and he was his forward going but safe usual self.

A day or so after we took him out for a hack. The roads by our paddock are abit busyier than what they are where the girl we bought him from took us on when we tired him out.

Everytime we take him to a junction he refuses to stand still, He we trot or canter to the side and throw him self around. When he does it i can feel his body tensing almost like he's nervous. I have tried tapping him with a whip but that make's him even worse. I have also tried using my voice with him, Nothing seems to work and as he is 14 years old i dont think it's a habbit that's going to go with time. The girl we bought him from obviously new he didn't like junction that's why she took us through country lanes. But obviously you dont think about it at the time. I found he's previous owner before the girl we bought him from on facebook to see if he has had a bad experience on a junction or something and she hasn't said anything. I really dont know what I can do. He is a lovely pony and perfect in every other way but I cant ahve a pony that i have got to panick if he's going to run through a junction with me everytime. I cant sell him to someone else because he's too dangerous. The only other option would be to send him to an auction but i dont want to do that. Can someone please help because i really dont know what to do now. x_lilmizzsxc_x@hotmail.com

.Ok ,take a deep breath and relax

You have one of two options,you can contact the seller and request that they take back as you consider the behaviour dangerous ,or as you have only had pony for a month,let him settle in and get his barings.

We had a TB who was a nightmare for about 4 months ,and then it was like a switch suddenly flipped and she was brill.

We have also had great success with natural horsemanship with a secD who had panic attacks .

You do have rights as a purchaser (trading standards) ,but I would be inclined to allow him time to trust you,you may be right that something has happened at a junction ,but youre pony doesnt know you well enough yet to be sure that you will save him from the " siberian tiger in the hedge" or whatever???

Try the practical horsemanship site -theyre lovely people and will answer any questions for you

as far as the seller goes,you tried him,and bought him,they didnt lie as you didnt ask,i dont think legally anything could come from it.is he as quiet elsewhere,stable,inhand as he was at the start?.Maybe it would be a idea to consentrate on groundwork and schooling to build his confidence in you.And when you hack out again make sure you are relaxed when aproaching a junction,quiet and reasuring,shouting and smacking wont be of any help.is this behaviour the same when in company?

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(formally clare7577)

My old thoroughbred was exactly the same at junctions to the point if asked to stop he would rear but it was completely bad manners not anything to do with being scared.
We did get him out of it by repetition and patience.Choose a quiet time and take him to the junction and circle him if needs be to start with and then slowly work up to stopping for seconds and then more.
If he is good on the road and in traffic in general I would put money on the fact he is a forward going horse and is just bad mannered and impatient.
Using the whip is not going to help.You need to stay calm and relaxed yourself to ave a chance of overcoming this.
Just another thought have you tried leading him to they junction in hand to see his reaction.Might be worth trying to see what he does.

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