Ridecamp: Re: [RC] horses that kick

Hi Kat,

Appreciate your comments and training on your stallion.  From my
perspective, I will take the position that you, as a stranger,  have no clue
how to control your stallion and give you (and other stallion owners), a
very wide berth!  I would never, ever presume to even think stallions should
not be a rides, that is not what I am saying.  But, for my own safely
reasons, I will probably stay fairly far away, and am NOT going to be one of
those people who parade their mare in heat right in front of you!  It was a
good friend, who swore she could control her stallion, and insisted I ride
with her, on a mare in heat, that nearly got me killed.  Becuase I trusted
her and rode next to her on that mare, I almost got crushed when the
stallion, in an instant, with no warning, reared up and covered the mare.
It was only that I caught the motion out of the corner of my eye, and was
ridnig bareback, that I could dive off the the right.  I still caught a
front hoof on my hip, and had a very interesting horse-shoe scar and bruise
for years.  I will always hold in the back of my mind, that the breeding
instinct and strength of a 1000 lb. animal may override the years of
training and obedience instilled by the rider.

This is not something I obsess over!  Most of the time I don't think about
it.  But, while I may agree  you have 99.9% control of your stallion at all
times, even that .1% of risk will insure I don't ride that mare in heat
right under your  nose!

Karen

----- Original Message -----

K S SWIGART katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


SandyDSA@xxxxxxx wrote:

.:)

I have a stallion too, and I would most definitely correct (I prefer the
word correct to punish, but punishment it would be) him for reacting to
another horse smashing up into him if that reaction was to kick out at the
other horse.  Just as I would correct him for reacting to a mare in season
even if her idiot owner were to parade her up and down in front of him.
Under saddle, my stallion is not allowed to jump a mare, no matter how
understandable the provocation.  Under saddle, my horse (whether it is a
stallion or not) is not allowed to kick another horse (or a person for that
matter) no matter how understandable the provocation.

Understandable and excusable are not the same thing.

When I take my stallion out in public, I am making the statement that I
think he can handle even the provocation of idiot mare owners.  And if he
were to jump a mare just because she was teasing him, everybody would be
very understanding of why it happened, but they would still (and with good
reason) tell me to "Get your god damn, son-of-a-bitch, stallion out of her."
While telling themselves, "That's why we don't like to have stallions
around; they are easy to provoke into dangerous behaviour."

And it is stallion owners who can't keep their stallions from being provoked
in such a way that lead to the rule "No stallions."

A horse that lashes out with its hind feet when provoked is equally as
dangerous.

So yeah, my horses get "punished" for kicking out at horses that slam into
them.  In fact, it is a lesson that I give them AT home.  I try to provoke
them into kicking and then reprimand them for doing so.  Just like I will
tack my stallion up and parade him up and down in front of HIS mares at
home, and then correct him if he responds. Before I will ever take him out
in public and expect him to be able to handle it.

And I have found that it is far easier to teach a horse that it may NEVER
kick no matter how provoked, than it is to teach a stallion that sometimes
it is okay to breed and sometimes it isn't.  What _I_ use to teach that is
different tack.  A saddle and a bridle are not a breeding halter; and if he
can't learn that I need to not take him out among other people's horses.

kat
Orange County, Calif.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net,
http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=