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Re: [RC] Bitting Issue - Sisu West Ranch"...when sufficient pressure is applied, it's called PAIN...."Diane: You are on a roll today. This subject has been addressed before. My take is that humans, as a species, are impatient and tool users. Impatience is not rare among animals, but true tool using is unique to humans. (Yes I know birds use sticks to get at insects, and Chimps hit things with rocks, but no animal but humans makes tools from a combination of materials and then uses each tool for a variety of jobs.) We want instant gratification. We want to put our 2 yr old horses under saddle. If we wait until the horse is 4 to train to ride we want to start them in a conditioning program so they can do LD's the next spring. Wendy has successfully resisted both those urges and her 5 yr old gelding (Saami) is coming along nicely. I am valiantly resisting the urge to put my 2 yr. old NSH, who is already 15 hands, under saddle. I learned about not using punishing bits from my first Arabian horse, Al. Al had come from a home where, in attempt to turn him into a western pleasure QH, he had been in various curb bits, tiedowns etc. He fought the bit all the time. I switched him to a snaffle, and retrained gently. While he never got to the point where he would ignore a horse race, he did become a good saddle horse and very controllable. Since this I have never found the need to use harsh bits etc. By the way, I do acknowledge that retraining and breaking bad habits is very hard. With some horses it is well beyond my abilities. I have sold such a number of times. In an attempt to avoid these problems, Wendy and I have been breeding or purchasing untrained young horses. So far it has worked. Ed Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 (406) 381-5527 ranch(at)sisuwest(dot)us =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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