This message is from: misha nogha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I just wanted to put in a coment about hacakmores. One of my geldings was trained on a mechanical hackamore but I don't use them because they are severe. Also, although they are great for stopping, bending is a problem. Right now I use a parelli halter as a hackamore and it works great, very thin, very light and very inexpensive. These things are great. I use it on my stallion instead of a chain. If he is quiet there is hardly any feel on the face, and if he is too lively and pulls it bites because of the thin rope. Give it a try. In cleaning sheaths I use a preparation called, Excaliber. ha, really. It's made with tea tree oil and is very gentle and also dissolves the smegma. If your horses don't like you 'going there' you can do what I did for one of my crankly geldings, you just use the approach and retreat method. That is, you get as near to that site as you can without getting reaction then pull back, then go again, just softly petting until the horse is used to you going there. This takes time. One of my boys was very kicky, but now he is okay with it. I think he actually is happy with having it cleaned now because I am sure it was uncomfortable dirty. In the case with Gunner, instead of putting your arm or head near that kicking zone, why not start out with a whip and just scratch him and gently rub him until he sees that stick as a good thing. Then use your approach with that. Do not poke your horse, but use gentle and rhytmic strokes with the whip. Of course, if your horse doesn't drop at all, I guess you will have to resort to the rompun. Misha
