ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: More details on Free Horse

Re: More details on Free Horse

Lynn Kinsky (lkinsky@silcom.com)
Wed, 24 Dec 1997 08:48:53 -0800

She'd decided to teach
>me a lesson in dominance, and if it were not for the fact that my good old
>gelding Tash was also loose in the barn, and he is the dominant horse on the
>farm, and I bumped into him as I was stumbling backwards trying to save
>myself, and he swung on the filly himself when she invaded his "space" (the
>romantic side of me wants to believe he was protecting me!<g>) I really don't
>know what would have happened.
> But it won't happen again--not to me. That is for sure. I feed "angel"
>from the other side of her paddock fence now!
>
>Trish & "pretty David" (who is scared of filly too!)

You are lucky Tash or "pretty David" hasn't gotten hurt also. A few years
ago I was given a 5 yr. old Peruvian gelding, Santee, who had been raised
from weaning, by himself by people who treated him like a pet. This animal
had no respect for humans -- he was spoiled rotten and I had to get very
forceful just to get him to acknowledge my existence. He wasn't as bad as
the filly you describe (because at least the raging hormones weren't an
issue) but still he was dangerous. I was trying to train him for trail
(since he was strong and well built), and had an experienced friend on him
while I was riding my NATRC gelding, Sinchi -- who had the placings to
finally be the first Peruvian to get a National Championship if we could
only get a few more points for the year. Santee was riding alongside, he
spooked at something -- and when Sinchi didn't move fast enough Santee let
him have it with both hinds. The sound of Sinchi's front leg cracking is
something I never want to hear again.

Fortunately we were right near my house, we have excellent vet care here,
and Sinchi had the disposition to tolerate both the surgery to put two pins
in his leg (the crack was at the bottom of the radius extending into the
knee cartilege) and the three months standing on a short picket that
recovery entailed. He's riding sound now and we actually did a couple more
rides, but the standing and inactivity took it's toll. We're 300 miles
short of his 2000 mile horse award and will never get there.

Needless to say, when Santee colicked with an enterolith a couple months
later my decision was very easy to make. The enterolith removed on autopsy
is sitting on my mantlepiece.

(If the owner really is in love with that filly, you might insist she
spring for a course of Regumate -- which you can carefully (not getting any
on you) put on the hay you feed her. I have several alpha type mares (but
nothing like that filly!) and they mellow out quite a bit when pregnant or
on Regumate. If that doesn't work, well . . .)

-- Lynn K. (Santa Ynez, CA)
http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky

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