Ridecamp: RE: [RC] Green Horses

 I'm probably not qualified to respond to this as I've not done an endurance
ride of any length yet, but my personal take on it is that when ever you
combine a person weighing 100 to 200 (+ or -) pounds and add that to a 1200
(give or take a few hundred) pound animal you have the potential for an
accident no matter what the circumstances.

People get hurt all the time on the ground while schooling their horse, they
get kicked while cleaning bot eggs off legs, they get bit while walking past
supposedly well trained school horses that just happen to be hungry and it's
feeding time, etc.

The problem is in the rider not understanding how his or her MIGHT behave
and taking appropriate action to ensure they can control or remove
themselves and their horses safely.

That's my opinion for what it's worth.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Sofen
To: ridecamp
Sent: 5/25/2002 11:10 PM
Subject: RE: [RC]   Green Horses

Lisa,
 
You've actually asked the RIGHT question.  For some, it's all about FUN,
regardless of the experience for the horse.    (I do believe we can have
both).
 
It goes back to what Tom Sites was talking about - this isn't a sport
about US, it's a sport about horses, that we have to set our egos aside
and rise about that need to feed them.  THAT'S what I feel endurance is
all about.  I want the horse I bring to an event to have a great time,
not be a basket case because we couldn't take the time to do some basic
homework before getting there.
 
Does that mean accidents won't happen?  Of course not.  Does it mean
I've made the experience safer for my horse and my fellow riders?
Definitely.  
 
A couple of days ago I took my green horse on a normal training ride,
following a really sensible and slow horse.  A few hundred yards into
the ride, we had to cross a sandy creek which I'd only crossed later in
the summer when it was lower.  We followed that horse into the creek,
but not right behind, a couple feet to the left, and sure enough my
horse found the deep spot in the creek and as soon as he felt the water
touch his belly, he gave one big buck, throwing his head under water and
me into the shallow water ahead of him (thank God for sandy creeks).
 
He scrambled out just fine, and to my astonishment, didn't step on me
while doing so.  I climbed out the creek, my shoes squishing, soaked
head to toe.  My riding partner looked at me and started laughing, and I
had to join in of course.  My poor horse was standing there looking very
disconcerted and I know I'm now going to have to spend some time
re-training him for water crossings.  In a literal sense, I won't be
throwing him into the deep end of the pool - we'll go back to the little
creek crossings and work back up.  We ended up having a fine ride,
although riding soaking wet is not my favorite experience.  [note to
underwear conversation - there is no cure for fully soaked underwear...
:-) ]
 
A bizarre twist to the end of this story:  on our way back, not 200
yards from coming back to that creek crossing, a large (4' diameter)
tree had fallen across the trail, sometime between when we had started
and our return (2.5 hours later).  That would have been a fatal accident
had we been under it when it fell.  As it was, it saved me from having
to figure out how to get that horse back across the creek because we
could not even get there.  We doubled back and took a loop to the road
and walked back that way.
 
What does this all mean?  Nothing...it was just a good story for a
Saturday night.  :-)
 
Mike
 

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Lisa Redmond


This might be a stupid question, seeing as how my experience with horses
in groups comes from trail horses and show horses...but:  Why would
sensible people who supposedly have some idea of horse behavior (one
would hope) bring horses to an endurance ride without knowing how they
react around other horses, then controlling them accordingly?  It
doesn't make much sense to me to throw a green horse into a pack of
other animals and riders that are all on edge and simply assume it will
behave itself just because I want it to.  I never made that assumption
when I was showing pleasure horses, and those are deadheads a lot of the
time.  Excitement and anticipation are contagious in herd animals.  And
if they are animals that don't play well with new acquaintances in the
sandbox, it stands to reason they won't react well to the environment at
the start of an endurance ride.    
 
 
 


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