Poker rides and local organized trail rides are
good for that too. Many horses, mostly at a walk, crowds of people/horses and
enough chaos to be good training. They are worth the effort. -----Karla
Watson/Portland, Oregon
> ACK! NO WAY JOSE! I can't imagine letting my young >
mare, whom I've worked with and trained from day 1, be > on a dude
string with all those incompentents yanking > on her mouth, whacking her
sides, sitting off > balance... and undoing all the work I've put into
her! > > No way. I can't think of a worse thing to do to a >
young horse.
No, no, no, Chris--that is not what Bonnie
suggested! :-) She said to use him as a guide horse for rental
strings--that means YOU ride him as you guide the dude string. I'm
with you 100%--I wouldn't let dudes ride my younguns either. But
having to be ridden WITH a dude string is a great way to teach a youngun
some group etiquette, never mind that it also teaches control and the need
to go YOUR pace, even if that pace is slow.
JMHO, but endurance horses
have their "lower gears" greatly neglected for the most part, and that is
one of the big reasons why they get out of control at starts,
etc.
I'm not in a position to guide dude strings (and likely neither
are many other members of RC) but I agree with Bonnie that it is a GREAT
training opportunity! We do the same thing, pretty much, by going on
BCH trail rides (out all day, entirely at a walk). My dad used to do
this with our young horses by pulling a pack string with them during
hunting season. Lots of situations you can find to do this sort of thing,
if you
look around.
