Re: head carriage and split reins

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

Now you're talking! I agree with you 100% !!!!! I wrote back the same
thing about training and the use of martingails--just phrased it
differently. Hey, if I ever get in a rush to send feedback and come off
as rude, please be the first one to give me that feedback (my kids and
husband, I'm sad to say, give me that feedback all the time---I guess
sometimes we figure we can be curt with loved ones--I'm working on
that).
Bette

Keith and Anna wrote:
> 
> i see your point i appoligze for my rudeness, but let me rephrase my
> statements.
> Example person buys horse that is advertised as ready  for conditioning.
> meaning at least broke to ride etc.  Person gets horse home and finds horse
> throws head, or keeps head high, and is unresponsive to bit pressure, or
> cues to drop head. Person is anxious to get going on advanced conditioning
> for the upcoming ride season. decides that they should use a tiedown,
> martingale, etc to keep horses head down. does not train on responsiveness
> to bit pressure, and cues.   Person goes on ride, gets insome type of
> trouble, tack breaks, has to be cut for some reason (high water etc)  Horse
> was not trained to respond to pressure and cues. person has trouble
> controling horse etc.  person get frustrated with horse but never trained it
> to respond properly so irt is the persons fault that horse is like that.
> 
> Another example. i used to work at several TB race tracks. the horses are
> all ridden with some type of running martingales, drawreins etc to keep them
> from running away from the gallop boys.  They get into the reace without
> theses devices and the main excuse for losing a race, is " i couldnt hold
> him, He was too strong, he wouldnt rate." and many more.  these horses are
> never trained to respone to the cues and pressures, they are only
> conditioned to race. It is my opinion that a horse needs to be trained to
> rate and respond before ANY conditioning to race/ distance ride should be
> done.
> > Hey Anna and Keith
> > Can't we give our feedback a little nicer here? If someone is asking a
> > question in order to get help, at least they know that they know not, as
> > opposed to those who know not and know not that they know not. Get my
> > gist? Perhaps you never intended your reply negatively; please let's
> > just look at our posts as "is this something I'd like to have written
> > back to me?"
>  >
> > > > A long term solution involves a lot of training......training the
> horse to
> > > > give to the bit and to drop its head on cue. The reason the horse
> flings
> > > its
> > > > head up and hits us on the lip is because they're trying to escape the
> > > > discomfort of us pulling on the bit. Horses don't like the continuous
> > > > pressure of being held even if there isn't pain involved, and usually
> pain
> > > > is a factor as well. So it boils down to the question: do we want to
> take
> > > > the time to train our horses to respond to the cues or do we want to
> use
> > > > head restraints and muscle 'em? Both ways work. Seems to me it's just
> a
> > > > matter of choice.
> > >
> > >  Yep training is the key word here, but if you are not spending your
> time
> > > training the horse, then what business do you have taking that horse to
> an
> > > endurance ridd in the first place? that type of training should be some
> of
> > > the first things a horse learns, so if that horse is ready for an
> endurance
> > > ride then you didnt do your training right.
> 
> Anna and Keith and all our critters in New Mexico
> (horses) Hobo(the old man) Shy Ann (the Mule)
> Lizzy (momma) and Lightning (baby)
> (Basenjis) Lady Queen of the house, and
> her two sons George and Iceman and finally
> Lilly (the prairie dog)
> 
> " I should have liked to draw the attention of the whole learned fraternity
> of blacksmiths, who mutilate horses  the world over.  The hooves were as
> solid and as sound as ivory, without a crack or wrong growth of any sort. It
> is noticeable that the equine race, in its wild state, has none of the ills
> of the species domesticated.  The sorrows of horse-flesh are the fruits of
> civilization." W.E. Webb(1872)
> visit my website at
> http://www.shyann.friendpages.com
> or at
> http://pages.ivillage.com/pe/annalar16/index.html
> Try this online auction site
> http://www.usellnbid.com/auctionscripts/referafriend.idc?code=19804

-- 
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of TLA Halynov
http://www.stormnet.com/~woa
I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it
gets to the end, the faster it goes. Smell the roses!