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Posted on 06/19/2006 8:46:45 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.
I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!
I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.
So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.
Previous threads:
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
I would like to know the answer to that to! I have a hard time getting Blade to stand still.
Lee will like that, will make him feel special! LOL.
Well for one, they don't get a treat if they don't do it right:).
Let them know you have a treat for them, then don't ask for the full stretch right at the start, just work them slowly, but reward ONLY AFTER they do it properly.
They will get the hang of it. Maybe some would take longer. Harley is just excellent at whoaing when you tell him too. He came that way, I can't take credit for it, altho I've made him stay that way.
Becky
Don'tcha just love that face they make? Tennessee does that when I'm scratching his belly button. He'll even reach around and start to scratch my back with his upper lip, but he ends up working my t-shirt up around my shoulders and his lip is about as rough as coarse sand paper so it kinda takes the hide off after a while, plus he tends to slobber when he does it so it can be kinda icky. But it's no worse than slobbery dog kisses. He seems to enjoy returning the favor so I let him. Hesagoodhoss!
LOL! I only fell down once! Only got a little bruise on my wrist. No pain or loss of motion, just a little bruise. It gave me a "stinger" where you can't use the wrist or feel anything for a few minutes because a nerve got pinched. After a few minutes, it was fine and I kept throwing hay around.
I did find something interesting when I moved all the stuff out that I was storing in there. Underneath the trash can I found the shed skin of a very large rat snake (I have wooden pallets on the floor so everything sits on top of those). I think it is the same one I took a photo of climbing up the tree in the back yard after the squirrel. Glad to see he/she is still around. That explains the lack of rodents in the barn. I did see one little gray mouse a couple of weeks ago, but he has disappeared since then. Bet he became a snack for that snake.
It is funny:). I thought it would take forever for him to get use to the massager. I've got one of those vibarating bugs, and it buzzes, but he really seems to enjoy it.
The chiroprator guy used this thing called "the stick", you can buy them off the internet at thestick.com. I looked them up. They were designed for athletes to massage themselves. I hope to get one, they're about $45. But I was very impressed how quick the swelling in Harleys back went down after he used it on him. It would probably give a better massage then my little bug thing. But Harley likes the bug, so I'm not in a hurry, I just don't know if it is as effective as the stick.
Becky
Jake is really good about standing still for stretching. Blade (maybe cause he is still a youngster) has a harder time, especially when there is a treat involved! I have not tried doing it with a treat cause he does not seem to be able to concentrate on anything BUT the treat. I will try it though. He is a smart boy, just loves his treats.
I don't like giving treats at all, but it's about the only way to get this exercise done. Treats can make them get pushy. But I saw such an improvement in the way he went after I started doing the exercises and massages, that I guess 3 little treats each time, is not so bad:) I think he's figured out too, that's the only time he gets them. So he's gotten better about not trying to find them other times.
Becky
OOOO, don't talk about hurting your wrist...it's a curse I tell you a curse:)
Becky
Eeek, I think I'd rather see a mouse in the barn than a snake, but I understand their function!
My neighbor went to a seminar and they showed her how to do it without treats by putting pressure on the nose in a certain place. It works on Jake but jsut makes Blade back up. Jake is just is just a good old sensible horse, if he knew he was doing it for a treat though I doubt I could get him to do it. He also looses his head over a treat.
HHMMMMMM, well, I'd say too, it's mostly just his age:). I guess I'd start first with working on making him stand still. But that isn't something I teach with treats.
Have you ever watched any of the Clinton Anderson shows? On things like that he would just make the horse start to lunge. IOW, when you ask the horse to whoa, if he doesn't, or doesn't stand till you ask him to move he immediatly starts them lunging, and not just a time or two around. Eventually the horse figures out, it's easier to pay attention.
Anderson does that for about any problem, loading, pawing...It takes some commitment:), and can take awhile, so don't start unless you have a lot of time. I also wouldn't ask him to stand for long periods of time at the start. Kind of get a feel for how long he will stand before moving on his own, and only ask for a tiny bit longer. When he does it satisfactorily either let him go, or work on something else. Then come back to that later.
Becky
Have a safe quiet trip =)
We have been having attention problems when lunging too and when he did not pay attention I made him go more. That did seem to help, but as you said you need a lot of time to do that of which I have little. I do lunge him when I can. I do not have a round pen so have to go down to the neighbors to use theirs. It gives him time away from his buddies which he hates and has a hard time concentrating at first but eventually settles and catches on.
Lunging is so boring for the lunger and the lungee:) I don't like doing it, but it does serve a useful purpose. But I think it can be over used and be counter productive.
I don't have a round pen. I'm not a big fan of them:), unless you use a lunge line in them.
Becky
Lunging is a great tool... for teaching manners, for exercising the horse and not the rider so much, for watching the horse move and evaluating them.
I've never owned a round pen, mine always had to learn without one. It makes it a little more difficult to teach them how, certainly.
Yep, all the above:)
But the teaching them on a line, is in itself a good lesson:).
I just don't like the free lunging concept....one of my pet peeves:), I've never been convinced it teaches the horse anything. IMO, at anytime they can choose to do their own thing, and that is one lesson I don't want mine to learn.
And of course, this is all just old news:)
Becky
Oh, I meant to add to explain my comment on lunging being counter productive: the chriopractor guy told me to lunge 1 hour 3-4 times a week....IMO, that's just too much. The horse would get so bored, I think, that he'd get pissy about doing it. Granted you could make them do it, but heck it bores me, why should they enjoy doing it, or even tolerate doing it. IMO, it's just better not to get that sort of thing started. I think it would be better for them to get their exercise from riding.
Boredom is NOT good for horses....creates horrible, bad, and lots of problems:\
Becky
We like having the same conversations over and over again, right :~)
To teach very basic dominance and submission roles, and to exercise the horse, free lunging is fine. You can chase them till they drop their head and chew, and do all the other 'horse whisperer' stuff while getting them some exercise and watching them move. But to teach precise and quick response to cues, which is what I'm usually interested in, you need the line.
I think the other counter productive effect from that much lunging is that it's too much turning. Even if you change direction and speed frequently, all that circling is hard on the joints. What you do, lots of trail, is the best regular exercise a horse can get.
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