ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: ridecamp-d Digest V97 #547

Re: ridecamp-d Digest V97 #547

Don and Jennifer (dandj@thevision.net)
Thu, 21 Aug 1997 19:16:10 -0700 (PDT)

Hi all!
>Just thought I'd let you know how I went with my troublesome Connemara cross
>Arab gelding. After taking all the responses and suggestions on board, I
>decided to try the Monty Roberts 'lead mare' method in the round pen, which I
>had only limited success with. I think this is due to the fact that my round
>yard ,is not enclosed on the sides, and he kept getting distracted and
>ignoring me, even after an hour of lunging etc. After a week of this and some
>on ground work, he was still as arrogant and rude as ever, but we decided to
>try him on the float anyway. We spent 3 hours on the Saturday trying to coax
>him on the float, as soon as we got him up the ramp he'd back off flat out
>and then he'd decide that he'd had enough and would either rear or plant his
>feet before we even got him near the ramp! Aaaagh!! I can tell you, after 2
>hours of this, I was uttering a few swear words and I had to go get a coffee
>(which we drank while holding him on the ramp and basically ignoring him) to
>calm my nerves. At one stage, I thought he was going to kill my partner when
>he reared so high he nearly fell over backwards and then proceeded to leap
>forward onto Tony! Our patience was nearly gone when we finally coaxed him on
>and I got the bum bars done up and the tailgate up!!! Too good to be true-
>Tony was in the float with him when I heard a huge commotion of kicking,
>scrabbling and banging, and saw him going down after he'd panicked at being
>shut in and had tried to pull back. I yelled at Tony to get out, but by that
>time he'd calmed Zeppelin down and he seemed to be standing there all right.
>I was dreading opening the tailgate, I had visions of Zeppelin coming out
>under the bum bars! But, he stood up and did not rush until I got the bum
>bars undone, THEN he rushed off, nearly decapitating himself. At this point I
>didn't know whether to be relieved or have a nervous breakdown at the
>thought of having to do it all over again! Well, we decided to try him
>again, as he seemed quite calm for all his antics and we wanted to be sure
>we could do it again in the morning so we could take him to the ride. He
>was a good boy, only 2 rears!!, and went on, tailgate up etc. no panicking
>in the float, nice exit-then he pulled a shoe!!!! This at 5:00 at night, too
>late for a farrier so that he could compete in the ride the next day. Ah
>well, we felt like we had really leaped a hurdle with him, both mentally and
>physically!! I decided to try him again the weekend after so he could get
>some heavy sand work, it took 4 people 10 mins. to get him on, coming
>home he was tired and it took 3 people 20 mins to get him on, BUT no
>rearing and one very calm horse-Hooray! The last week we have had the float
>in his night yard with his feed in it, and surprise, surprise he is no longer
>frightened of it, in fact he virtually drags me up the ramp when I go to feed
>him! Has anyone else had any success with this method? I took to heart the
>advice of one person who said to make it a good place to be, and thought this
>might just promote that? Anyway, I feel quite confident that he is well on
>the road to being a happier about being on the float, and hopefully he will
>only improve. I am going to send him to a very good trainer who uses natural
>horsemanship methods as well as 'stockman' type training just to give him
>some manners on the ground, though. I had him shod yesterday and he reared
>everytime the farrier picked up his front feet, so we put a 'war bridle' on
>him which puts pressure on the poll when you pull hard on it, but releases
>when no tug is applied, and found that and some cuddles to work
>exceptionally well, better than the nose twitch which I hate. He seems to
>have worked out that when he rears he gets pain, but if he stands
>quietly he gets immediate reward. We didn't even have to tie him once he
>worked it out! I am also going to use a flank rope as recommended to stop
>him from pulling back when tied up at the wash bay. Whew, who ever said 'you
>just sit there'-it's all the on ground stuff that tires you out before you
>even get in the saddle! Thanks for all the help and suggestions, and sorry
>this is so long, but I thought maybe my experience may help someone else not
>to make the same mistakes.
>Cheers, Carol and Gang: Pandora, Al Jahara and Zeppelin (See Mum, I really
>do love you and try to be good-HEhehe!)
>
>------------------------------
I tried the feeding i the trailer with my mare and thought I was going to
end up with a girrafe! This last year I've had problems with my mom's mare
and my gelding. She was scared, he decided to become stubborn after a
couple of trailer rides. I tried every method I could think up. I had the
most sucess with the gelding using a butt rope until he found out he could
rear. The mare panicks if a rope gets near her butt. I finally found the
trick - grain. I wave a bowl of grain in their faces then dump it into
feeder and after a false start in they go every time. Congratulations on
getting Zeppelin in I know how frustrating it is.
J.C. and Don and the gang

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