I recently adopted a pony mustang (3 years old) as a companion for my thoroughbred cross yearling. The mustang, Poncho, was taken by BLM as a yearling so didn’t have much time in the wild. The person I adopted him from was pretty lax on boundaries in general especially with food and it shows. He didn’t have much work done before our home and it shows. He has been easy to work with and makes compromises with me everyday that get us closer to our goals on everything but food.

My thoroughbred cross yearling struggles to keep weight on him and requires extra supplementing outside of pasture (you know how thoroughbreds are!) And Poncho the pony was FAT FAT FAT when I adopted him a few months ago from excess grain and has since been on a diet.

I have a run in shelter that closes off completely so everyday I close my yearling in with his grain and supplements because poncho will run him off his food. The pony will try to buck, rear, paw, nip, and charge at me and my husband. We both stand our ground and use a crop to shoo him away from us/keep him at a distance so I’m not sure why the problem just gets worse if we have strict boundaries consistently. Now he will buck kick rear paw and charge us from the end of the crop. He will try to barge the gate when we come in and out, the second our attention is off him and on closing the gate or getting my yearling in the run in. I’ve never met a more food aggressive pony in my life and I’ve seen a lot of sassy ponies in my day! Help!!! Moving his feet isn’t working! Any other suggestions ?