I once had a 6-month old Arab colt that was
semi-wild. I could barely catch him in a small paddock and I couldn't
handle him much. We took him to a NH trainer who proceeded to round-pen
him for 1-1/2 hours at a dead run, with roll-backs for direction changes.
At the end of that time, he was so exhausted that he gave in. He also came
up lame the next day and never took another sound step for the next three
years. He was sent to UC Davis as a medical specimen.
I now realize that my complete lack of
knowledge as to the damage that could be done to a young horse running in
circles like that was his undoing. IF I had known, I would have stopped
the trainer, but I didn't know. I have always felt guilty about
that......
Barbara McCrary Ride manager, Swanton
Pacific 75/100 "The most beautiful trail in the world"
In a message dated 4/11/2003
12:30:35 AM Central Daylight Time, DESERTRYDR1@xxxxxxx writes:
I learned with my first mare
that lunging, or round penning doesn't necessarily teach the horse
anything if they are dashing around frantically at top speed. All
it does is give you a very fit horse who doesn't have a clue what its
supposed to be doing.
And sometimes a very fit horse with lameness issues
from all that running around in tight circles....
