Re: RC: Progress!

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

In a message dated 09/09/2000 8:06:23 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
PenalopeK@cs.com writes:

<< Anyway, having your young horse get the gates is a great thing.  If you 
notice most Arabs don't like to sit still long enough to allow the rider to 
lean over to open and close the gate or hold the gate for another rider to go 
through.  The simple act of teaching the gate opening, I think, teaches 
patients, we need that at other times on the trail.  The other benefit is 
when you lean past the point of being balanced it teaches the horse that it's 
OK to be a little of balance, if you ever became unbalance while riding he 
would not try to buck you off.   >>

It's one of the unwritten laws on our ranch....every horse must learn to 
allow the rider to open the gate, ride through and close the gate.  This is 
limited, of course, to swinging gates (no wire gates), and my husband has 
invented a gate latch that is easy to reach from horseback and drops in place 
by gravity.  Disadvantage is it's easy to have single loop reins catch on the 
handle or to have the bottom of the latch in its closed position gouge the 
horse in the flank.  Therefore, it is imperative that the horse learn to 
stand still, and to yield expertly to leg pressure and do perfect sidepasses. 
 But then this is part of the training.  It's a fun challenge to me, and I am 
VERY careful to assess the horse's position in relation to the handle of the 
latch.
In any given ride, I have at least three of such gates to open, often more, 
so there is lots of practice.
The woman who saddle trained this horse teaches her students (the horses) 
that the safest place to be is "whoa".  So when in doubt, stop, don't panic 
and run.  It's a wonderful lesson.

Barbara