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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Sometimes reading an entire post is important

I was going to write about Sunday's ride today. The fact that Sunny and I did wonderfully together. How he loves to prance, that he is responding to me better, and I have learned a few more of his already trained commands. But it looks like I won't because I have to spend this time explaining something that people chose not to read, or maybe I didn't make myself very clear.

Let's start with the paint, Tacoda. Tacoda was 4 years old when my neighbor bought him. He was abused and ignored. My neighbor was the first one to ever treat him well, or to break him. He got in the trailer the first time, for food. But he has learned that trick and will not fall for it again. So they are attempting other things, and in no way harming him.

Sunny, my horse is somewhere between 18-21 years old. There is a disagreement between paperwork and vets. He is a retired barrel racer, and has been properly trained. I apologize that I haven't said daily that part of my every day with him, is ground work. He has not been worked in a least 2 years, that we know of. If I didn't work him because he doesn't want to be worked, than he would never be worked. I know horses have feelings. I am not an idiot. I can just allow him to rot in the pasture I guess. But once he gets out and we go on our ride, he actually seems to enjoy himself. He loves showing up the paint. And according to all the horse owners around me, not just the neighbor I have been riding with, but the cattlemen down the way, the hobby riders and the race horse trainer, I am doing everything right, as best to my own abilities. I have not harmed him in any way, maybe his pride a bit when I don't allow him to do what ever he wants, but I don't allow my children to do whatever they want either.

I am doing what is right and what is best for both of us. Sunny has years of running in his background and some of his old commands are still ingrained in him, sometimes the slightest shift in weight is a command, so I am at fault, and have attempt to be more careful. As I said in the beginning of this post, We had a very good ride on Sunday.

9 comments:

Donna. W said...

I had to go down and read the judgmental comments to see what you were talking about. Hey, it's your horse. You know your horse. Don't let them get to you.

Phelan said...

I just wanted to make it clear that even though I am a NEOPHYTE, I am not doing anything to harm him. I am sore, but he seems to be fine. Sunny is very playful, and does ground work very well. I am new to riding and can't tell anyone how he was trained, and they ask. What I know is that he was severally neglected, and over these past few months that we have had him, he has began to nuzzle up to me. I don't like being accused of harming him, when I am not, I am just not the greatest rider in the world. (That and I like to tell people the things I do wrong, hey it is in the tittle of this blog!)

Phelan said...

oh! And I forgot to mention, my good neighbor showed me a trick to mounting. I can do it without help now. I am so proud of myself. hehe!

The Thinker said...

It really ~pains~ me when people will come into your space and analyze what was obviously meant to be a light-hearted and amusingly self-deprecating story, to find something to criticize you about. (And felt quite justified in doing so, publicly.)
I haven't read any of the judgmental comments. I'm sure they would just irritate me, so I don't know who I'm complaining about here. Don't let them make you feel like you have to explain yourself. It's your story. Write it how you feel it!

Anonymous said...

Amen to donna and the thinker - you haven't whipped, beaten or tied Sunny out in chains to lay in the sun for days. You haven't split his tongue to make him more responsive to the bit (like some Western pleasure folks I know of). You just made him behave and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You didn't get hurt (thank goodness!) and neither did he. Sunny is not the one in charge; you are. That's how it works. - no exceptions.

You just keep doing what you're doing, Phelan. And congrats on getting a trick to mount!

Kate

EJ said...

Learning from our mistakes is great. So is learning from other's. But if we never talk about mistakes how will we learn?

Anonymous said...

Okay I apologize for the comment, I was just too horrified to look at the big picture. I didn't say that you're torturing the horse, abusing him or anything like that. It's just that horse that "brushes a person against a fence" while saddling is not yet safe and trained enough to be a family allrounder. If a thing like that happens, it's a clear indication that the horse does not know the rules. I would not ride such a horse myself outside a fenced area nor would I let my kids ride the horse at all. Not before the horse has been re-trained.

But that's just my opinion, based on what I've seen from ex-race horse training. Many other people wouldn't care about such a thing, some would even think of it as "normal". Anyways the horse himself is probably very happy, there's no question of that at all. It just could be safer.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to add that in case of an ordinary "horseperson" my first advice for anyone getting a horse without 2 years of regular riding & horse handling experience would have been investing about 1000$ to security (helmet, safety vest, safety boots with 1500kg hold), taking private dressage lessons each week for the first year and take at least a weekend course with a good natural horsemanship trainer. That's how we deal with horses among the people I know.

In your case the only thing I said was that there are materials available which can make your life much safer than it currently seems to be. Most of the issues that have come up here, such as the loading the horse, can be dealt with in mere minutes or days training when you know what to do. This is not really even critic but good news that help is available for anyone and solving these problems does not necessarily require more than watching a video or reading a couple of books. If your neighbours have been trying many tricks already, it could be the time to check how the beforementioned horse handlers do it because it really isn't that difficult, no matter what kind of traumas horses have. Most horse people are not aware of these things, no matter how many decades of experience they have. That's just to say that even if someone is "experienced", all this new NH-information might still have value for them.

If I ever buy a motorcycle, you're warmly welcome to provide tips and information, especially if it's the kind of info that is likely to save my life some day.

Phelan said...

em, I apologize for taking your comment the wrong way. I was told by the cattlemen to just do it. I am learning hom to run cattle with a horse, and Sunny, although he is not actually being trained for that purpose, I was told to use as practice anyway. I shouldn't have been next to the fence, my fault there. And he wasn't being aggrasive with the bumps, just wiggling. But you are right, if people have the money, they should probably spend more time learning without the hands on, do it now approach that the horse people around me are doing with me. Thank you for the heads up and the concern.

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