Re: RC: horse manners on trail

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/24/00 5:43:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
brickson@delanet.com writes:

<< Simply blaming it on bloodlines or personality is ignoring the riders'
 responsibility in prevention.  Do not let your horse in your control
 threaten another.  >>

You are right that there is no "excuse" for bad behavior on the trail.  First 
of all, there is homework to be done in the manners department before you 
ever go in public.  Secondly, there is the matter of getting through the 
"green horse in public" problem--and you do that with firmness, courtesy, etc.

As for bloodlines and behavior, though--I CAN tell you that there are 
definite personality traits that run in specific lines.  This is NOT an 
excuse for tolerating bad behavior--it is simply a fact of life.  And you do 
whatever it is you have to do to cope with the problem (in those that ARE a 
problem), if the rest of the horse means enough to you to go to the extra 
work.  Personally, to me, it is getting less and less worth the extra effort 
to cope with bad personalities.  I have culled two entire family lines from 
my own program for that very reason.  When you see these babies come out for 
two or three generations with the same personality traits cropping out in a 
given family, and they do NOT occur in your other horses under the same 
management, you realize just how familial it can be.  I've seen this in 
client herds, too--where you can pick out sire lines or family lines by 
behavior patterns.  I've had people take horses with whom I did not care to 
deal and give them lots of one-on-one time, and make great horses out of 
them.  But I don't care to breed them on, personally....

Heidi