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Thread III: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1311311/posts |
Posted on 09/18/2004 6:56:23 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Free Republic has a lot of horse people that have found each other on other threads…. And since we all like to talk horses, how about a thread where it is not off-topic, but is THE topic?
A few of us thought it would be interesting and informative to have a chat thread where we can 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 last thread we had a great time and were a great help to each other working through lessons and training, horse lamenesses and illnesses, questions and challenges and always just our stories we like to tell.
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 Becky pings everyone most mornings. Let Becky (Paynoattentionmanbehindthecurtain) 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 last thread, 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.
:')
Yah.... you can't do a dang thing with people babies. ;~D
That reminds me what I was going to ask Hair. I watched one turned out with a halter and lead rope hanging. Not a good idea? He wasn't a new born though. Probably several months.
UUMMMMMM....well that's a matter of opinion too:). I think "training" can start with a human baby too as soon as thier born. But trying to convince people of that is near to impossible.
Becky
People Moms should start training immediately too. I'm always telling my DIL if you don't control one at 3 you won't be able to at 13. (I up it ever year:')
They probably do that because he's hard to catch.
I think it's a terrible idea, and so will they, if the babe gets it caught on something, or steps on it running hard and wrenches his neck.
Well, they can't catch a ball worth beans ;~D
You wouldn't want to turn one out in an open pasture, but in a stall that is a way to halter break one. We've done that before when we've bought weanlings. Draggin it around the stall they step on it and feel the pressure and learn to give to it. It's not the best way, but it does work for one that has gotten bigger. It's amazing how strong they get fast. That's why, IMO, it's best to get so much of this stuff done before they get that strong.
Becky
Exactly. If people would just realize that with an infant, getting them on a feeding/sleeping schedule is the first step in discipline. But soooooooo many people think schedules are mean for infants.
JP was a scheduled infant and was sleeping over night by 2 months, and ate when mom said, not just when ever. There are so many things a scheduled baby learns that you just don't realize.
sigh, but so many new parents just won't do it.....
Becky
We let Sarah Lee and Okie free graze on the good grass sometimes. We just drop their leads. I never thought much about it because everyone else does too. So far whenever they step on it they just stop and move off it. They have not ran off but maybe I ought to startr unclipping the rope. As you say, just an easier catch.
Well, I liked demand feeding but they still tend to get hungry on a schedule. Kids need structure though and by six months a baby should understand no.
A lot of people leave halters on their horses, all the time, because they are hard to catch. That is NOT good. They can get their own foot hung up in it scratching, and if the halter fits tight enough that that won't happen at the least will eventually rub the hair off, cause raw spots on their noses. On a baby it's very dangerous, becuase they grow so fast their heads can grow around it and it has to be surgically removed.
Never, never, leave halters on when turned out.
If you halter break one in the stall like we did , you take it off when not there. And only let them drag the lead rope around in a stall, not turned out.
Becky
I have a friend who adopted a baby from Romania. Though no one would recommend the warehouse kind of environment those babies grew up in, the way her baby behaved at a year old was something we can learn ~something~ from. She didn't cry for attention. She fed on a schedule, and the baby would sit alone quiet and play her own little games when she woke up rather than instantly cry. She hadn't ever learned it would get her anywhere. She remained very independent through toddler age, just very content to sit by herself. She didn't cringe from being held at all, just is not really needy of it. She's 7 now.
I've let horses drag a rope if I'm there to cut them loose if something gets caught. Just make sure you do have a good sharp pocket knife to get to them quick. It's the unsupervised halter on/leadrope dragging I'm speaking of.
Becky
It is good that yours don't panic if they get the lead around a leg or if they step on it, some will. But I wouldn't push it, and I wouldn't leave one alone like that.
Mine turned out naked. I only leave the halter on when I'm with them but maybe I shouldn't let them drag the lead rope. I was so p/o one day. I turned Sarah Lee out at the gate and she walked off. I them realized I left the halter on and had to muck thru the mud to go get it.:')
Or get the halter caught on something else itching... like a T post. Leaving halters on all the time itches and rubs hair off, and they scratch their heads even more. Those web halters don't break, and every horse I have ever seen with a missing eye did it on a t post. That's part of why I run the wire up to the very top of the post with those plastic cap insulators so they can't get to the sharp end.
Kids different. You have to wean the "leeches" but at the same time the standoffish ones need to learn to accept being touched and held. It's a fine line. You just have to trust your instints.
I'm just a firm believer in scheduled babies. I think it does make them more content. You know, and it really doesn't hurt for them to cry a bit, if it's not quit time to eat.
Good analogy is a baby chick coming out of the egg. Yeah they have to work hard and you can tell they get tired, and it's tempting to help. But that struggle is what helps make them strong. Some crying makes babies strong. Also teaches them crying won't always get them what they want.
From what I have seen of demand feeding babies, they never really get real hungry so they never really get full. So mom is having to feed all the time. It's like they snack instead of eat. Make sense.
My kids and JP were scheduled babies from the time they came home from the hospital. Every 4 hours. They were also kept awake from 6-10 in the evening and morning so they were good and tired for bed time, took good naps in the afternoon and slept good at night. Worked like a charm.
Initally it takes some work, but once you get them use to it your life will be soooooo much easier.
Sounds like your friends baby was scheduled.
Becky
How the heck did we get on babies:)
I'll get off my soap box now. Sorry for the rant.
Coming home from town we saw a neighborhood hooligan who just got his drivers license recently, going down the road weaving his mothers van from one side of the road clear to the other, with curves ahead of him, so no clue what was coming. I've been fuming about undiscplined kids ever sense. That kind of got me going:)
Becky
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