Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Erin <erinthefreak@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Horses don't like to be bored and if they are trained to have a job and are good at it, it builds their confidence and they enjoy it. There have got to be riders who could swear that their horses enjoyed jumping or competing; otherwise, how could those who were greats really excell? (Once when riding in a pasture with some cows, my dressage trained arabian mare started to cut cattle despite not having been trained, without me asking. Would she have done it if she didn't want to or consider it fun?) You can't force an athlete to be that good, he has to have it in him"

 

And my little BLM mustang agrees with her.  I bought him to be a low-key endurance horse.  After 2 LD rides at age 4, I decided he was TOO low key - it took me close to 6 hours to finish each ride, pedalling him most of the second half just to finish in time.  If he had his way, he'd trot 4.5 MPH all day long, but it would take him all day long to get there.  After the initial enthusiasm and trotting out, he'd settle into "what's the point?" mode, and do a very energy-conserving trot. Oh, and eat and drink? You bet! Anywhere and everywhere. Great for gut sounds, but lousy for overall average speed.

 

In the meantime, I started using him at the livestock auction to pen-back cattle.  He's been working there one day a week for about 6 years now, and LOVES it. I have to tell him to wait when they push a package of calves past him, or he wants to jump in before they're all past and start working them. Once they're past in the lane, he'll do a spinning 180, leap after them with ears back, and my split reins will be flying. The best part is just sitting deep, staying out of his mouth, and letting him do his job. (And yes, I ride in an endurance saddle there.)

 

I feel sorry for some of the well-bred quarter horses that the young cowboys ride there, because those guys are always spurring and yanking.  The poor horses never have time to think about working the cattle, even tho it's "bred" into them. It's hard to pay attention to cattle when your sides are getting stabbed and your mouth is getting ripped into all the time, because these guys are trying to "make a horse." But then, those guys probably think I'm a candy-ass because I'm pretty easy on my horse. Different attitudes.

 

Enough of the computer - I'm going to go ride.

 

---

Looking for earth-friendly autos? 
 Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.