Re: RC: Use of restraint [My Broken Jaw & Arabian Stereotypes]

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated Mon, 25 Jun 2001 10:36:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Lif Strand <fasterhorses@gilanet.com> writes:

<< I challenge anyone to provide me with compelling evidence that even as many 
as 10% of horse people who use a twitch, or grab an ear, or use one of 
those head stall thingies, has had any real instruction in the use of these 
restraints and could describe how the pressure points work.>>

Lif, I'd challenge anyone to demonstrate that 10% of the horse owning population at large has been trained to do ANYTHING with their horses--including providing proper nutrition, basic safety and health care, or even basic proper riding!  Restraint is not rocket science, but like anything else, it requires someone willing to learn.  (And I WILL say--those "head stall thingies" (called Stablizers) at least come with an instructional video...) 

I've seen so-called horse people do a lot of REALLY stupid things over the years that didn't have anything to do with restraint.  One reason I like endurance folks is that the percentage who strive to at least some level of knowledge and expertise about their horses is much higher than out in the horse-owning world at large.

And while I would agree with Cheryl that her farrier was likely not an appropriate one to be using, I sure can't blame the tool he used, just because he went about it wrong.  And for what it's worth, the farrier I left behind in central Oregon was a wizard with restraints, and I relied upon him to teach my youngsters about leg ropes, etc.  He never got mad, he never got in a hurry, and all my horses loved him.  I wish I could find his clone here in central Idaho!  So one can't necessarily blame farriers in general, either, or write it off to their being in a hurry.  As an owner, I feel strongly that teaching horses about various restraints is an integral part of their basic education--and then when one is stuck in a bad situation, the restraint isn't one more unfamiliar thing...

Heidi