Re: Mares vs. Geldings

[lkinsky@silcom.com (Lynn Kinsky)]

>As far as the tripping - you should NEVER try to pull your horse up when he is
>tripping.  How many horses in the pastrure do you see fall down from tripping?
>You should give your horse the reins if he starts to trip so that he doesn't
>have to fight you to regain his balance.  If you have your weight mostly in
>your feet and not in your seat, it will be impossible for you to fall off just
>going down the trail unless your saddle slips.  My horse once triped at an
>extended trot and went down to his knees on both front legs.  I let him have
>his head and just rode with it and he recovered himself just fine.
>
>Rita, Fadaar, and Athena

I'm sorry -- I disagree. Yes, my horses occasionally take a stumble in the
pasture (it's very rocky and rutted with gentle hills) and they don't go
down.  But they also don't have 30% of their body weight riding on top of
them -- which is the situationm when the saddle and I are there.  I praise
your agility and balance but when my horse takes a dive at a 45 degree
angle (butt up and knees on the ground) the odds are that I'm going to
pitch forward no matter whether I'm riding on my feet or my seat and load
the horse's forehand (for as long as I'm still on top . . .).  And no way
do I want my horse's knees slamming into the ground:  best case it's just a
scrape -- but I've seen a horse with synovial fluid leaking out of a busted
joint capsule also!

Pulling a horse up doesn't involve fighting the reins and trying to
physically haul a horse up -- it involves giving the reins a quick jerk so
the horse reacts to the bit by pulling its head up, and the force upward of
that very heavy head lightens the front so it's easy for the legs to get
back underneath (if you did that and the horse wasn't stumbling he'd
probably start to rear).  A simple, quick movement -- and it has saved both
the horse and I from hitting the ground more than once.


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