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>More discussion? Love it!!!!
>
>Bonnie the sorta tall Short in Washington
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I love this too Bonnie.....
a slightly different take on this topic....I have found that often once a
horse learns his "job" the notion of what to put in his mouth almost becomes
a moot point. Not to say that our horses are robots - far from it - however,
they do learn what is expected of them in certain situation and take comfort
in that. Rememeber they are very much creatures of habit. Reference the
all-around horses that jog beautifully in western tack and move out in
english tack but don't want to do the opposite even with the right aides.
Or the stallion that gets on halter for breeding and another for everything
else and acts like two different horses based on certain cues or habits from
handlers, tack, etc....
I'm wondering how much riding these horses have had (the ones that folks are
posting about)? I'm asking because as simple as this answer sounds (and I
scoffed at it when people said this to me when I was complaining about Tony
doing the same things I am reading about here) it often *is* true - many of
these things will go away/become better with riding and riding and riding.
Flat work will *definitely* help, going out in small groups will help,
change the bit if it makes you feel better, etc...but often it's miles and
miles and miles of riding before they figure out they will not just die
(Tony's belief for a long time <g>) if they do not catch up with the next
horse or whatever the problem is.
The horse learns his "job" is to go down the trail with no shenanigans (and
to drink when water is presented <g>) and get back to where you started from
:-). I did all of this - tried a running against my better judgment (I'm not
keen on adding "stuff" to fix a schooling problem), went up one notch in
bits (from a full cheek to a Dr. Bristol), etc....I learned that Tony can
curl his head to his chest for miles :-( and the type of bits matters not -
he can run thru a Bristol just like a full cheek. So I took it all off, did
more schooling, stuck out some of the stuff and In spite of all this <g>,
Tony improved greatly as a trail horse.
Now (except for in a large group at the start of a ride) I could probably
ride him in a halter (I ride in a vosal just to make me feel better I think
<g>) - the large group issue is a training issue I have just chosen not to
take the time/effor to fix right now - not something I'm going to fix with a
different bit. I avoid it to some degree by starting late in the group - and
that's my choice <shrug>. I should fix it I guess but I'm lazy :-). If and
when I get to the point where I want to start up front then I'll do
something about it - I don't see that happening anytime soon - I'm not brave
enough to start up with the big kids :-))
No real point to this except to say often the problems many of you are
discussing is a _time_ issue - as well as training. We all get impatient and
want to go out and do things NOW - they have to go in a big group sanely
now, have to be quiet on the trail now, they have to act good in vet checks
now, etc....Some exceptional horses will do this immediately -I bought one
from Samm last year - Embers (so I know both sides of the issue <g>.) - he
was born a good trail horse we think :-) - but MOST horses need time to
learn exactly what you expect of them.
So, change bits or go from bit to vosal or vosal to bit but I bet you find,
as I did, that after they truly learn what you expect in a given situation
(and you have given them the tools thru a solid foundation of education in
the aids) it won't much matter what they are wearing.
Tina and Tony
used to have Embers in her sig too but mom took care of that :-))
hickst@nichols.com
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