This message is from: GAIL RUSSELL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Thanks for the reminder about stallion behavior Gayle. I need all the help I can get!
I wasn't actually the "Gail" with the farrier-disciplined filly - that is Gail Dorine in NM. The Gail who purchased Romulus and has him at Brian and Ursula Jensen's for training is Gail Russell - of Northern California. For the first time in my life I am not the only "Gail" in my immediate world - online or otherwise. :) I understand exactly what you are saying Gayle. The trick will be in the implementation. I have a QH gelding who is extremely dominant. Thank goodness he was not left a stud. No one can actually dominate him "full time." It is a never ending battle to keep him behaving submissively - and one I am still learning how to pursue. He isn't exactly mean. (In fact, quite a sweet horse when he finally quits challenging you.) It is more like, he starts lipping you - if you don't do something about it, he gently bites you (with this really strange look in his eye - like - "Oooooh, I'm getting away with this.") The hard part is to discipline him in such a way that he doesn't take it as a challenge to fight back. I would be interested in your take on how to discipline properly - it takes some finesse I've not entirely mastered. One thing that seems obvious is to try to convince him that God (not the trainer - but God) descends on him when he is naughty in my presence. Helps if he cannot see it coming. I've tried slinging the end of the lead rope (with Romel clappers on it) at his belly when he dives for grass. (I believe grass diving is very bad - a symptom/cause of other disobedience and lack of respect.) Problem is with my coordination - he sees it coming - and knows it is me - and then just plans his diving to evade it. OR... he figures he doesn;t mind taking the risk. Anyway - that technique doesn't work, so I've gone back to kicking in the belly (behind my back) when the head goes down. That seems to work best. I've also been shown how to sweep the ground with the whip under his nose - but that results in a head going up fast - and he still knows where it comes from. A friend of mine has tried yelling directly at a horse's ear as a way to try to exert dominance. Not sure whether it works or not. My farrier is a GENIUS with a hard yank on a horse's lead rope when he is not paying attention to him. It really works. He has tried to show me - but my timing is still no where near as good as his. (This guy is a friend of Ray Hunt - been training a long time.) He also showed me how to give a horse slack, and THEN yank hard - not HOLD the rope. Another thing that works very well is a nice trail ride where he has to be on the bit much of the time. It is not just tiring him out - but forcing him to work more off his hindquarters - that does it. Well - anyway - the above are just examples of my search for good things to do with my body so as to get respect, and not a fight-back response instead. I'd be interested in your observations about the things that do AND dO NOT work in teaching respect. At 02:42 PM 2/6/2000 EST, you wrote: >This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ><< The last time my farrier came (he is very good with a great reputation), >my > younger mare ....... > >This has gotten to be quite a joke around my barn. I am a little, bitty, >squirt, 5 feet nothing on a tall day. Yet the folks in my barn have jokingly >labeled me the ALPHA BITCH. If I clear my voice in a certain way, the >stallions and other horses pause -- knowing that something they just did was >inappropriate and they'd better knock it off. Obviously, I did not achieve >the position of dominant mare in their minds by brutalizing them!! > >Here is a thought to remember when you get your stallion home -- particularly >during breeding season -- stallions can be nothing more than a thousand pound >weenie, a half ton of sex drive. They MUST be taught to respect you and your >space! In other words, they must recognize you as their alpha mare. > Gail Russell Forestville CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] Clicker List Web Site : http://clickryder.cjb.net
