I have recently spent many months searching for a new pony for my 7 year old daughter. Then friends of ours contacted us to say their daughter had outgrown her 13hh riding pony and would we be interested in purchasing Archie! We went and saw him being ridden at Pony Club level dressage and jumping 50cm jumps and my daughter had a few rides on lead line.

We moved Archie to the current stables which is a herd environment about 6 weeks ago. Horses are fed once a day in the stables then let out into the paddocks with each other late at night for the following day. There was a settling period but he did not appear to have loads of issues with this and settled in pretty quickly to the herd.

 We were able to have a 4 week trial of Archie which went OK but in week 2 there were 2 incidents where he got an errection and appeared to ejaculate. Obviously I was quite concenred and had a vet check who did not recommend further testing as he was not exhibiting a lot of stallion behaviour. So thought I would persevere with the rest of the trial. He is quite a mouthy pony and has nipped on a few occassions. I have seen another post about establishing respect with a feed bucket and will consider doing this. Rest of the trial was fine.

Finalised the sale and the next week my husband and I had 10 days in Vietnam so got someone else to pony sit/feed while we were away. Upon my return horse crazy daughter was busting to see the pony. We have been for the last three days and each day he has become excited gotten an errection, done some pawing etc. The times this occurs is resting after some exercise, during/after grooming or washing and most concerning yesterday whilst my daughter was riding him!!!

He was not in super condition when we got him so I have probably been feeding him more generously to get some condition on which is occurring! Currently having pony pellets, chaff, copra, oil and apple cider vinegar with garlic. There is more green opick on the paddocks going into our wet season so wondering if he if getting over excited due to being overfed??

I have read on another site the suggestion to put the horse into movement as a consequence of the unwanted behaviour and to stop walking when things have calmed down, so to speak. This is working to a degree but if he is in the midst of being over excited I'm finding it difficult to get him walking on and not easily possible to do promptly if he is in his stable etc. I am reluctant to get into more severe methods unless I am sure of the cause/effect this may have on future behaviour.  I am unsure if he is just excited with the contact/grooming/riding or if this may be a nervous/anxiety reaction or simply establishing dominance.

He is such a sweet guy and now I am not sure how to deal with this behaviour but don't want to accept this as OK - so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have ridden horses on a working farm about 25 years ago but have not come across this thing before so am feeling a bit desperate!!! Also starting to get concerned for my daughter's safety and confidence!!!

Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Have you spoken to the former owners about this?  If they had this problem, find what they did about it.  It could be simply the new situation, new feed, new horses and mares coming into heat, and after he settles in more he'll stop doing it.  Having the vet pull blood for a check for testosterone will determine if that's the problem. 

Does your daughter have trouble handling him when he gets like this?  How often does he get worked?  It may be he has more energy than he has had in a while and is working it off in unsuitable ways.  Pulling off more wet saddle blankets may help with a rider who will firmly insist that he behave himself.  If your daughter is having problems handling him, she needs to be taking lessons from someone who can show her how to keep him on track, getting on him his/herself if need be. 

I think that firmly insisting that he keep his attention on whoever is handling/riding him will get him back to being a good riding horse.  If he is attempting to mount mares, he may have to be turned out only with geldings or turned out alone, for everyones safety. 

Good luck.

Spotted Pony

Welcome to the forum, Beth.

Welcome, OP!

Is the horse a stallion?  I was unsure after several re-readings of the OP.  If so, I would recommend gelding if he is to continue as a child's pony.

I have several friends who do keep stallions and young stallions are quickly trained that it is inappropriate to let their man-bits out when being handled.  If they do drop, they are given a quick rap on the sheath with a dressage whip and a command to "put it away!"  They seem to learn quickly and I have seen this technique effective with geldings as well.  It appears to stop arousal behaviour before it escalates.

DarwinBeth:

... in week 2 there were 2 incidents where he got an errection and appeared to ejaculate...

Suggests to me there's a pea still in the pod. But you're right, Solo. OP didn't specify stallion. But that's where my focus would be. ~FH

The post title says it: Over-excited pony GELDING.

Just to clarify Archie is already a gelding! Sorry for the confusion of the earlier post! Unfortunately no bits to remove! I really appreciate everyone's comments! The previous owners (who we know quite well and don't have naything to gain by lying) state they have never had this issue with him. He was previously stabled with another gelding in a paddock and prior to that in a small stable/herd situation at a riding school. FYI - We spent a few hours at the stables today. Spent 15 mins lunging Archie before doing anything else. Took him back to the stable to tack up and my daughter wanted to take a few photos whilst we were doing this and he was standing still on the lead line he commenced thrusting. I directed him to move on and when he refused and stuck his head up gave him a firm whack with the crop and put him into a trot which took his mind off other parts of his body! :-)) I will also cut back his food a little as well as change to non lucerne chaff. My duaghter is still a bit freaked out and enjoying telling everyone at the stables that "Archie keeps putting his penis out and doing strange things!" Any other suggestions gladly received!!

DarwinBeth:

Just to clarify Archie is already a gelding! Sorry for the confusion of the earlier post! Unfortunately no bits to remove! I really appreciate everyone's comments!The previous owners (who we know quite well and don't have naything to gain by lying) state they have never had this issue with him. He was previously stabled with another gelding in a paddock and prior to that in a small stable/herd situation at a riding school.FYI - We spent a few hours at the stables today. Spent 15 mins lunging Archie before doing anything else. Took him back to the stable to tack up and my daughter wanted to take a few photos whilst we were doing this and he was standing still on the lead line he commenced thrusting. I directed him to move on and when he refused and stuck his head up gave him a firm whack with the crop and put him into a trot which took his mind off other parts of his body! :-)) I will also cut back his food a little as well as change to non lucerne chaff. My duaghter is still a bit freaked out and enjoying telling everyone at the stables that "Archie keeps putting his penis out and doing strange things!"Any other suggestions gladly received!!

Beth,

I'm not a guy, but just the idea of getting whacked on the pee-pee with a dressage whip makes me cringe. I'D pull it back into my pants, too!

 Haha, that's exactly the idea, 48.  It may sound harsh, but especially with a kid around, things can get dangerous in a hurry.  A little whack now can save you serious injury later and mr. pony will suffer no real damage other than maybe a bruised ego.  Frank, wasn't Mystic a stud?

I wonder if pony's gelding was not quite complete?  Could he be a cryptorchid?

Megan,

Solo,

Hi all,

Thought I would give you a quick update as to Archie's progress with his porn star antics!!

My daughter has hardly ridden at all the past 6 weeks or so but did get back on late last week which she enjoyed! Unfortunately she is getting a very explicit education about the behaviour of the pony's reproductive organs!!

Archie is still getting an erection and sometimes doing his thrusting/orgasm thing! However I have been giving him a swift whack with the dressage whip as soon as he drops his penis out when being handled hoping to avoid him getting terribly excited. Also using the command "away" which he is responding to if not too over excited!  My sense is that the unwanted behaviour is slightly reduced but definitely not extinct yet!!

Our pony club season starts up in a months time which I am mortified that he might give everyone a bit of a show!! So I have had the vet out to take a blood test to check his hormone levels in relation to effective castration! Results will be back next week! At least if they come back with normal levels then I will be able to categorically state he is not a rig etc etc

Most worrying is that this behaviour management  has resulted in him being quite nervy when I am carrying the crop and near his hind end - especially if I have already had to use the crop couple of times that day! I am trying to overcome this with lots of positive interaction when he is not exhibiting the undesirable behaviour!

I am despairing a little that we will be able to get this under control! It is a crying shame as he is the perfect pony in every other way!!

As usual any comments appreciated!!

 

 

If he's getting nervous about the whip, give him several sessions of running the whip all over his body--especially his belly and sheath--to show him that there is nothing to fear. UNLESS he is flashing everybody, for which he gets a swipe of the whip. That may make the punishment for waving his penis around more focused. He'll learn that he doesn't need to fear the whip unless he is misbehaving. You don't use the whip randomly, but only for ONE thing.

 Agreed on desensitizing him to the whip.  Spend some time showing him that it is not the whip itself he needs to fear.  He just has not yet made the connection of behaviour and punishment.