Ridecamp: [RC] horses that kick

K S SWIGART katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


SandyDSA@xxxxxxx wrote:

> We have a
> stallion for cryin' out loud who is such a gentleman everywhere he
> goes - and I would NEVER punish him for reacting to another horse
> smashing up into him. Sheesh - most of the time he is half asleep.:)

I have a stallion too, and I would most definitely correct (I prefer the word correct to punish, but punishment it would be) him for reacting to another horse smashing up into him if that reaction was to kick out at the other horse.  Just as I would correct him for reacting to a mare in season even if her idiot owner were to parade her up and down in front of him.  Under saddle, my stallion is not allowed to jump a mare, no matter how understandable the provocation.  Under saddle, my horse (whether it is a stallion or not) is not allowed to kick another horse (or a person for that matter) no matter how understandable the provocation.

Understandable and excusable are not the same thing.

When I take my stallion out in public, I am making the statement that I think he can handle even the provocation of idiot mare owners.  And if he were to jump a mare just because she was teasing him, everybody would be very understanding of why it happened, but they would still (and with good reason) tell me to "Get your god damn, son-of-a-bitch, stallion out of her."  While telling themselves, "That's why we don't like to have stallions around; they are easy to provoke into dangerous behaviour."

And it is stallion owners who can't keep their stallions from being provoked in such a way that lead to the rule "No stallions."

A horse that lashes out with its hind feet when provoked is equally as dangerous.

So yeah, my horses get "punished" for kicking out at horses that slam into them.  In fact, it is a lesson that I give them AT home.  I try to provoke them into kicking and then reprimand them for doing so.  Just like I will tack my stallion up and parade him up and down in front of HIS mares at home, and then correct him if he responds. Before I will ever take him out in public and expect him to be able to handle it.

And I have found that it is far easier to teach a horse that it may NEVER kick no matter how provoked, than it is to teach a stallion that sometimes it is okay to breed and sometimes it isn't.  What _I_ use to teach that is different tack.  A saddle and a bridle are not a breeding halter; and if he can't learn that I need to not take him out among other people's horses.

kat
Orange County, Calif.


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