Re: forelock leading
This message is from: Mary Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --- Dave McWethy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This message is from: " Dave McWethy" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > I'd like to add my bit to this. I think forelock > leading is a bad idea in > general. I keep seeing the word "grab". If you > pull too hard you pull the > forehead skin away from the skull. Dave, Probably misuse of a word here (grab). You do not GRAB the forelock and PULL - you simply take hold of the forelock and give a gentle tug, while asking them verbally to follow you. If you have to pull hard enough to pull the hair out, you're being too aggressive about it and any horse, Fjord or not, will PULL BACK to get away from that. I simply give a gentle tug, say 'come', and they come right along - if they have been taught to lead this way by 'transferring' the leading response from halter to forelock. A horse which has not been trained to lead with the forelock will not know what you want and will either stand there confused or pull back. Time to do a little 'retraining' if you wish to be able to lead this way. For some reason I find that forelock leading makes a calmer more 'submissive' horse - possibly because it requires a lowered head - than leading under the chin(which I used to use before I found out about forelock leading). Leading under the chin gives the opportunity for the horse to easily raise his head to escape from the handler - you must quickly put your hand on their nose to prevent this, which requires a quick movement, which leads to a quick movement on the part of the horse, which elevates the energy of the whole process. At least in my experience. To each his own. However, forelock leading SHOULD NOT lead to hair pulling or separation of the skin from the scalp!! A halter goes over one of the most vulnerable sets of nerves in a horse's neck, yet causes no injury if used properly on a horse trained to respond properly to its use. BUT it also can cause severe damage if used improperly on an untrained horse who is scared out of his wits - or just bull headed. How many of us have heard of or seen horses permanently damaged or even killed (by breaking their necks) when improperly tied with a halter before they are well schooled in the proper response to being tied? It's not a good > way to lead a horse that > is resisting. Absolutely true. That's why I recommended 'transferring' the leading response gradually from halter to forelock. A horse needs to be trained to lead by the forelock, the same way he needs to be trained to lead with a halter. > Try it on yourself - would you like to be led with > someone pulling your hair > or by a hand under your chin? Sure wouldn't like my hair pulled by someone being too agressive or too lazy to train me properly to what he/she wants. On the other hand, some horses are very 'mouthy' or nippy and are a pain to lead under the chin. Seems to make them more nippy in some cases. If they are nippy, as some Fjords can be, try the forelock. Either way, it's nice to KNOW you can lead your horse away from a situation and back to the safety of the pasture or barn WITHOUT having to find a halter and leadrope, catch the horse, put said halter and rope on the horse, before being able to lead them. Keeps both horse and handler much calmer. Mary = Mary Thurman Raintree Farms [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/
forelock leading
This message is from: " Dave McWethy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I'd like to add my bit to this. I think forelock leading is a bad idea in general. I keep seeing the word "grab". If you pull too hard you pull the forehead skin away from the skull. It's not a good way to lead a horse that is resisting. I lead rather frequently in and out of pasture under the chin. All of my horses easily train to do that. I think it feels nice to them, and to me too. If I need to restrain on who is being pushy I can put a finger in the corner of the far side of the mouth, and/or put my second hand on top of the nose, and then go back to just the hand under the chin when the horse goes gently. Try it on yourself - would you like to be led with someone pulling your hair or by a hand under your chin? Dave
forelock leading
This message is from: Debby Stai <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I have used this on my Arab and my small Welsh cross pony and both do it quite well. With mine it was more a voice command. My guys all lunge and ride and drive by voice command. Was very easy to transfer the "walk on" when I'm leading by the forelock, though I must say I'm not really holding the forelock, more grabbing at mane by the poll, maybe that makes a difference. Just wanted to let others that I do this with other breeds and they do quite well at it. Debby in Missouri p.s. Haven't done it with the TB, he's too tall and I'm too short.
Re: forelock leading?
This message is from: Mary Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > In a message dated 9/4/00 9:13:25 AM Pacific > Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > << ALL of our foals were taught to lead by the > forelock right after halter breaking. >> > > This sounds very useful Mary Could you explain > JUST how you go about > teaching it to a foal? Aimee, Sure, I'd be glad to share. The following 'method' assumes that, during the first few hours of life the foal has been thoroughly 'imprinted' - including letting him know that tugging his forelock and ears is OK. After the foal is leading fairly well with the halter - not bracing himself, pulling back, etc., but following you willingly - begin 'transferring' this teaching to the forelock tug. After leading him around a little with the halter, grasp the forelock and give it a little tug. Most foals will act a bit surprised at first, but when the foal accepts this tug with 'no problem, Mom, what's next?' it's time to proceed with the lesson. Tug his forelock then ask him to come with you by tugging the halter as well. Gradually build up from one step forward to the point where he will follow you willingly by just a tug on his forelock. Reduce the 'halter reminder' gradually until you accomplish 'forelock only' leading. At this point you should have a foal that will lead with a halter or with his forelock. From then on PRACTICE both styles of leading. When bringing the foal into his stall or just leading him around his pasture/pen use the forelock without any halter on him. Eventually you will have a horse that leads equally well by the forelock or the halter. Once they learn this, they rarely ever forget it. Line learned it in Norway, didn't experience its use for several years, then responded as if it had been used all along the first time I tried it. One bonus of 'forelock' leading - besides the obvious one - is that the horse follows/walks beside you with head lowered. When Line gets 'high headed' and excited being led by a halter, I simply grasp her forelock and tug - her head comes right down and she comes along quietly. It's almost like a magic trick. Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes. As an aside - I have experimented with this a bit on 'other' breeds. The result being that most 'other' horses REALLY RESENT having their forelocks tugged!! Maybe if they were 'imprinted' properly at birth? Don't know, but mostly it doesn't work very well with other breeds of riding horses. Have yet to try it on the 'big horses' - if one of them threw its head up in surprise, I'd definitely be left hanging ;)!! Mary = Mary Thurman Raintree Farms [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/
Re: forelock leading?
This message is from: "Denise's" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> about forlock leading; i started doing it last year when i heard about it on the list. i trained my old guy, knute, 7 at the time, no problem. and the younger one quinn, pretty much goes along with anything. i gave up with my curly mare though. she does'nt like the tugging i guess and leads fine with just a hand under her chin. the method has come in handy on several occasions and i'm glad they know what i want when i grab a chunk of forelock. as for little foals, never had the pleasure. denise - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Monday, September 04, 2000 2:59 PM Subject: forelock leading? > This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > In a message dated 9/4/00 9:13:25 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > << ALL of our foals were taught to lead by the > forelock right after halter breaking. >> > > This sounds very useful Mary Could you explain JUST how you go about > teaching it to a foal? I think I'd like to try it with a foal I have here > nowmight be interesting. > > Aimee >
forelock leading?
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 9/4/00 9:13:25 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << ALL of our foals were taught to lead by the forelock right after halter breaking. >> This sounds very useful Mary Could you explain JUST how you go about teaching it to a foal? I think I'd like to try it with a foal I have here nowmight be interesting. Aimee
