smacking ponies on their snouts

on using the last tactics of leadership

The started me with ponies. Ponies, though willful and frequently poorly behaved merely weigh between seven hundred and a thousand pounds. Full sized horses can be twice that size. Though ponies are smaller, they are regularly willful arseholes.

Walking a young pony into a barn at feeding time is a bit of a treat. You might think that you can reason with nine hundred pounds of chestnut coloured willful, hungry, stubborn muscle. You would be incorrect.

When I first tried I discovered that trying to hold back a pony is futile. They are stronger than you. Sure, you can make them go in circles until they stop trying to drag you along. I wouldn’t wast my time though. Ponies are more stubborn than you are.

Worse still would be getting in front of them in an attempt to slow them down. I tried that too. Never do this. Unless you like having hoofs on your feet. With me the bruising took weeks to heal.

Most ponies slow down when you put the lead line chain through the holes of their halter and br…