Ridecamp: [RC] "Horses that kick"

K S SWIGART katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Starting with the caveat that all horses CAN kick 
and speaking not of them but rather of horses that are "known
kickers."

I must confess that I am a little bit puzzled by some of the
stories that I am hearing related to people riding "horses that
kick" and are complaining about being repeatedly tailgated by
somebody who does not properly respect that.

I am of the opinion that tying a red ribbon in the tail of my kicker
is not enough.  If I am riding a horse that I know to be a kicker
I need to ride in the back.  So one individual could not repeately
be getting to close to my kicker from behind because I would pull
over and get out of their way.  Actually, I would probably pull
over and get out of the way of anybody who was repeatedly harassing
my horse from behind simply because I would assume that they were
doing so because they wanted to go by.  However, if I were riding
a horse that I knew had a tendency to kick I would be doubly aware
of people coming up behind me and get out of their way before they
made the mistake of getting too close and risk getting kicked.

Having a horse that kicks is not a license to put a red ribbon in 
the horse's tail and count on everybody to stay out of my horse's
way.  Having a horse that kicks is a reponsiblity to watch out for
everybody else and stay well away from them.


Granted, it is wise to be aware when coming up behind another horse
(whether it has a red ribbon in its tail or not); and there is no
point in expecting a kicker to get out of the way if there is no
safe place to do so.  However, if I am riding a kicker I need to pay close
attention to who is coming up behind me, and get out of their way
immediately that there is a safe opportunity to do so.

Personally, because people are coming up behind other people all
the time at endurance rides, and it is difficult to be paying 
attention to the trail ahead and at the same time constantly
watching for who might be coming up behind; I consider a horse 
that is known to kick to be a poor candidate for an endurance 
horse. I consider it unreasonable to expect other people to
have to "watch out" for my kicker.

And I DO think that it is reasonable for people at an endurance
ride to expect to be able to safely approach horses from behind
without being kicked.  Horses get approached from behind all the
time at endurance rides, and most endurance horses are perfectly
comfortable with it.

kat
Orange County, Calif.




=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=