Pony Updates :

Please select a date to see what the ponies were up to and what progress they made.

16/11/05

The ponies have all been getting a little bit scared when we walk around the field with a wheelbarrow to pick up their poos. This is partly because they have never seen a wheelbarrow before and also partly because it is moving. (The ponies seem to be far more wary of moving objects.)

To get them used to the wheelbarrow we decided to simply leave the wheelbarrow in the middle of the field. At first only the braver ponies came up to have a look. They approached it very slowly, and started by sniffing at it from a distance. Eventually when they got more confident and realised that it didn’t bite, they started sniffing it more and getting much closer. Merry got so confident that he decided to pull it over with his leg !! (this made them all stand back for a second, but they soon realised it was okay!) Very soon they were all sniffing it and itching on the handles! This is a very easy way to get ponies used to things that they might be scared of. You have to wait until they are settled and feeling quite confident, and then their curiosity will get the better of them and they will have to go over and investigate!

This method is a type of “habituation,” i.e. getting the ponies used to something by it simply being there. We are going to use this method to get the ponies used to a variety of things.