Re: Yearling help

["Cathy Pritchett" <danugna@transport.com>]

I'm sorry folks, I don't get it, this is an 18 month old BABY.  No, you
don't allow ANY horse to run over the top of you, but in this case, the
explosion doesn't appear to be the horses fault.  We do have to take
responsibilty for the part that we play in such incidents.  This filly has
been pushed beyond it's ability to understand what is going on and the only
way it has to communicate this is to try to get away from what it doesn't
understand.  The owner needs to go back to something that the horse can do
easily and successfuly and then turn the poor thing loose.

I may over react a bit on this because I have one of the nicesest mares
standing out in my pasture.  She's been crippled and unrideable since she
was 9 years old.  All because her previous owners started her as an 18 month
old, barrel raced her as a 2 year old and injured both knees and one hip in
the process.  I bought her as a 3 1/2 year old and have nursed her along.

But, it's not just the body that has to mature, the mind has to as well.  I
have a gelding and mare that I bought as 3 year olds.  I started him as a 3
year old and had no trouble.  She on the other hand would reach her limit
quickly.  I turned her loose until she was 4.  Started again.  She always
let me know when she had reached her limit and didn't understand.  If I
pushed it, she would explode.  If I backed off and did something she
understood all was fine and the next time she would get it.  Sometimes all I
had to do was stop and let her take a big breath then proceed.  My mare is 6
years old now and one of the most reliable horses you could ask to ride. The
point is, we have to know our horses well enough to know when we have pushed
them to the edge, they do give us lots of signals.  If we proceed, then it's
our fault when the explosion takes place, not the horses.

Cathy in central Oregon