Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (jean gayle) This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gayle, When I am lungeing prior to riding, I use the snaffle bit in his mouth and hook the lunge line to the ring.. My trainer started this to get more leverage and it works better than the plain halter routine. For some reason, she didn't like the chain idea, so she always used the bridle/snaffle combo; however, when she wasn't around, and I was too lazy to go in the barn to get the bridle, I would put the chain under the chin and out the near ring. That, also, worked well. I have yet to try it over the nose. I'm trying to take baby steps with the severity, but it may come to that. Susan from MN Gayle, will you please email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jean Gayle --- A Subscriber at Techline
Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gayle, When I am lungeing prior to riding, I use the snaffle bit in his mouth and hook the lunge line to the ring.. My trainer started this to get more leverage and it works better than the plain halter routine. For some reason, she didn't like the chain idea, so she always used the bridle/snaffle combo; however, when she wasn't around, and I was too lazy to go in the barn to get the bridle, I would put the chain under the chin and out the near ring. That, also, worked well. I have yet to try it over the nose. I'm trying to take baby steps with the severity, but it may come to that. Susan from MN
Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Joel a harman) Again I preface this with the following disclaimer - I am not a professional trainer. I use a 33' somewhat round corral. 1/2 of this is dug into a hill. It is 10' to the top. I no longer use a line when lunging. More than one has tried to climb this slope to get away from that madman in the middle. While 33' is small for riding it keeps you upclose personal with your animal for ground work. Before I dug this pit I worked in the open on a line. In my younger, stupider days of breaking the band of horses my neighbor ran on 600 AC near Elgin OR we used a 33' round corral with a snubbing post.(As an aside LeNau Tucker is now 96 yr old still very active. Saw him last summer. Say hi to him for me Darlene) In any case we would run one in , rope it, snub it, tie up a hind leg, stand back. Effective, but hard on everyone. I find it much easier to work them off the line. The drawback - there always isn't a round corral when you need it. My corral lacks the snubbing post in the middle - I'm too beat up to use it anyway. I would not go any smaller than 33' for ground work. I would not go any smaller than 66' for riding. Once you get them going good off the line you can get them on the line for those times you forgot to pack your 33' round corral. Bye Joel Harman ___ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (jean gayle) Glad you said this about mules, Gayle, I could not put it into words properly without the internet cops arressting me Jean Gayle :)This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jean Gayle --- A Subscriber at Techline
Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 1/5/99 3:55:04 AM Mountain Standard Time, owner-fjordhorse- [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: My friend always yells to the crowd, Coming through, this horse kicks!! That seems to be the only way to get through to some of these naive people that they need to give the horse some room to get through! Ha! But, wouldnt you be concerned with the impression the naive folk are getting about the horse and it's breed? I think it would be more appropriate to just yell for everyone to move to protect innocent toes from being stepped on. Just my opinion. Lou
Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: Mary Thurman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I would like to respond a bit to the recent dialog on Fjords being like mules. To me, being like a mule has a negative connotation. Some books also refer to Fjords as being stubborn. Gayle, I also am horrified when some horse books refer to the Fjord as stubborn or strong willed. What I, and my friend the trainer, mean when I say a Fjord is like a mule is not derogatory in any way. He was quick to assure me, and I quite agree, that a Fjord is like a mule BECAUSE he is a thinker. What people who prefer mules like about them is that they are thinkers. That can sometimes make them frustrating to work with because they do not always do it because I said so. That also makes them smart trail mounts, etc. Ditto the Fjord. A Fjord can be resistant to what you are trying to teach him simply because he is smart enough to say I don't HAVE to do that if I don't want to. You have to approach him in a way that makes him a willing partner, as I'm sure you know well. This can be a very frustrating experience for a trainer who only works with what I call run of the mill horses that are bred to respond to leadership of any kind. (You know the kind, I'm sure). Someone used to only that response has no idea what to do with a Fjord, unless he/she has been successful with ( and likes) mules or is smart enough to truly read what the Fjord is saying. It's been my experience that most people who set themselves up as trainers, don't have the patience (or the self-confidence, maybe) to bother with a Fjord. They just say he's stubborn and spoiled and they haven't time for a horse like that. Their loss, someone else's gain, in my book. As Craig says, Fjords think like mules, just not as strongly. But the basic response of think first is still there. Sorry if I offended anyone by saying Fjords are like mules. I like mules, in most cases, and consider it a compliment to the Fjord, connoting that he is smarter than most horses. Some people may call this a pony attitude, but I've had ponies and their attitude is definitely different than a Fjord's! Mary, in western Washington, where it looks to be another sunny day. == Mary Thurman Raintree Farms [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 99-01-05 05:55:04 EST, you write: I don't keep mules because I'm not smart enough. I would offer a suggestion on the trainer you choose for your fjord. Find one that has trained mules. While not keeping mules I have been around them fjords remind me more of mules than they do horses. I would like to respond a bit to the recent dialog on Fjords being like mules. To me, being like a mule has a negative connotation. Some books also refer to Fjords as being stubborn. I think perhaps their motivations are misunderstood. I would rather them be referred to as THINKERS. Let me share a story with you that might help explain this train of thought. When we first moved to OR. I had a shoer out for the first time to do the entire barn. We have a cement slab next to one of the barns that was destined to be the wash rack, but at the time was unfinished. It did not have anywhere to tie the horses and the one side was just a drop off of about a foot to the ground. I had STUFF sitting all over. I had moved everything aside so there was room for the horses to stand and we'd have a nice, flat, clean, surface for the shoer to work on. After we finished the first horse (a Quarter Horse stallion that I had brought from MT. He belonged to some folks from MT. and was in reining training with entries paid into the NRHA Futurity in Okla.) the shoer started moving my STUFF around. When I asked what he was doing, he said he was making room for the horses to turn around. I told him to leave it, that they could figure out how to get themselves turned around or they could fall off the edge! Guess what? Everyone of the Fjords looked the situation over, THOUGHT the situation through, and got turned around without knocking anything over and without falling off the edge. Guess what else? Everyone of the non-Fjords bumped into STUFF and fell off the edge! If I am riding, for instance, up in the mountains and come to a bridge that is of questionable integrity, I would rather be on a horse that will look the situation over rather than blindly going forward just 'cause I said so. If I have asked the horse to go forward and he tells me that he doesn't think that's a smart idea, it most likely is better to find an alternate route. Now understand, there is a difference between refusing something because the horse is green. That's where our horsemanship comes into play and we must be able to discern the difference. I have used this example quite a lot during my lessons. It was quite interesting when I received a phone call last year from a very excited customer of mine. I had trained his young Fjord for him. He had been riding on an unfamiliar trail and this exact scenario unfolded. His Fjord told him he didn't think the bridge was safe, so he waded the creek instead. The next horse that came behind him FELL THROUGH THE BRIDGE! And, yes, I have trained A mule, my first and last!! WHAT a challenge! It wasn't my idea, believe me. I had trained all of this guy's Q H's and he bought a mule to use in the mountains. Tried my darndest to convince him I WASN'T a mule skinner, but to no avail. To make a long story short, it ended up to be a success. This fellow's granddaughter showed that mule to the High Point performance critter at the fair! When the fella picked the mule up after I had finished her training, he mentioned that his friend had a couple of mules he wanted trained. I asked him if he told the guy how much I charged? He said he had, but I infromed him that my price had just tripled!! Gayle Ware Field of Dreams
Re: fjordhorse-digest V98 #301
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 99-01-05 05:55:04 EST, you write: feel it's safer to always round pen or lunge first before riding or driving to get the excess energy out but after he has pulled my back out of whack a couple times taking off away from me, I usually go back to free lunging in the round pen -- the easier way for me. How do you feel about Fjords and round pens, longeing, etc.?? How about everyone else out there? Are you using a chain over the horse's nose while lungeing? If not, that may be why he is pulling your back out of whack. Correct use of the chain will give you the advantage and teach the horse that it is NOT polite to be out of position. Round pens are wonderful. In Montana we had 2. One was 50' and the other was 120' with 1 1/2 feet of sand footing. Took about 5 minutes for a major attitude adjustment in that one! It was great. That is where we did our cutting training with cows. When we moved here to Or., I didn't have a round pen - sure miss them!! For a super challenge, you should try doing the free lunge work in a rectangle!! It is do-able, but you really need to be far more aware of body position etc. Just as an interesting sidenote, last year I got a 3 year old Fjord filly in for training that had been round-penned extensively according to the Parelli stuff. That was well and good, HOWEVER, you should have seen her confusion when it came to CORNERS! Had no idea whatsoever what to do about a corner (this was when I was working her free). In a round pen they simply follow the wall - no decisions to make. It was really funny. She eventually learned to think her way around corners. Needless to say, a round pen is on the drawing board for this coming year! Gayle Ware Field of Dreams
