This message is from: "Jean Gayle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Am I getting the idea that we should not "hit" our horses when they are out of order??????? Ever watch horses being disciplined by the herd? That is one way they quickly learn who is boss. My large horse, when he was a yearling, used to pester the day lights out of his baby sitter, my old Arab. It could go on for hours it seemed and finally the old boy would take a big bite to Charlie's shoulder and the game would stop. For awhile. Charlie is a tester. I get the same reaction re the lipping and then the nip, the "can I get away with it this time" look. My farrier once said Charlie should have been disciplined with a two by four.
Like the "short one" my voice carries better than the whipping some instances.. I saw a horse come flying out of a trailer with a hay net stuck to his hoof. The owner was attached to the lead. I let out a mighty "whoa" and that horse stopped as did horses warming up for the next class. But there are times when a horse needs the crop or a jab to get his attention, i.e. the farrier. Softness works for soft horses but not for testers or the mighty stallion. And I would not hide where it was coming from. Alpha mares/dominant stallions do not hide behind bushes and trip the offender as he goes by. They are kicking and biting the offender to let him/her know who is boss. This is not meanness if it is quick and assertive. Meanness is loosing ones control and beating etc. The latter doesn't teach it terrifies or breaks the will. A horse is just as capable of learning as we are and sometimes we all need a good kick to get us back on the path. Again my horses are not afraid of me, do not flinch, well Gunnar still does from previous treatment, and are well mannered "most of the time" Jean Jean Gayle Aberdeen, WA [Authoress of "The Colonel's Daughter" Occupied Germany 1946 TO 1949 ] http://www.techline.com/~jgayle Barnes & Noble Book Stores
