This message is from: "Teressa Kandianis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As a complete novice, I was having major problems with Merit as he was going into his second year. People on the list gave lots of advice and I ended up using a chain on his halter across his nose and then attached to the lead and carrying a dressage whip as we walked about. A little touch on the butt (as the dressage whip was long enough to reach the butt without any movement of my off arm) was enough to make him move with me. A hard poke on the shoulder with the butt of the whip or my very bony elbow was enough to make him quit leaning on me. The chain across the nose made him mind the halter. Not all at once and not without a lot of angst on my part. The funny thing was that now at a little over 3, he's a prince and has been for a few months. I've forgotten when he quit being a butt hole ( pardon my language). The chain has been long gone. For awhile it would just be hooked through his halter without being attached to the lead and that alone made him modify his bad boy act. Nina, his little sister, has the same attitude as a two year old now but being a girl, she acts out much differently. Or, I guess its due to her y chromosome. Merit wasn't mean - it was like short attention span combined with lack of manners, impulsive behavior, looking for action, a strange sense of humor, ... stuff like that. Nina is now the same but more manners and a sort of feminine take on fun. And not as impulsive as she seems to try to plan her activities. She's much smarter than Merit also. It takes the big guy a few more lessons to understand anything - he's kind of a "which way did they go, George" sort of guy. I also got loads of advice about rich food making him a wildman. That wasn't the case with Merit as we've managed to overfeed them with grass hay and a vitamin supplement. We've never even bought the first bag of grain or flake of alfalfa. I can't even imagine what he would have been like with a rich diet! Teressa Kandianis from sunny Ferndale, WA.
