Ridecamp: [RC] accomodating a horses idiosyncracies

My views on what animal behavior can and should be tolerated have changed
over time in that more and more I want to have control and see that others
have control. Running martigale and control over the head, good; snaffle and
no control, bad. IOW, I err on the side of safety for the human over concern
for the animal. The more experience I have with animal training, the more I
see, the more I've learned what is possible -- both with consequences of
lack of training and with positive training outcomes.

IMO, if you're going to accommodate an animal's idiosyncracies, you've also
got to be willing to ensure the safety of others. For safety's sake, any
animal that is taken out in public should be able to be tied to something
solid OR the rider should always have at hand the services of a full-time
groom -- be that person family or crew or a hired hand. Ha! I know that that
is not likely to happen so, erring on the side of safety, I tie *my* horse
to the trailer so that when the horse that has never escaped from it's
electric corral or portable pen finally does, my horse, which has been
trained to happily be tied to the trailer, is not among those running
blindly through camp.

That's right, WHEN a horse escapes from its electric corral (IT'S HAPPENED
AT EVERY RIDE I'VE BEEN TO!!!!). Because I am erring on the side of safety
and tying my horse to the trailer, I walk my horse and hand graze her often
-- although anyone who has seen her knows that she gets plenty of exercise
at the end of her lead rope!

Now about spooking... I just got painfully dumped from a stupid, STUPID
spook that my mare did. She's always been one of the *ahem* more alert ones
and I've done everything to despook her short of treating the spook like a
rearing episode (which she used to do, but I finally found a way to cure) or
a kicking or biting episode. IOW, I haven't tried to kill her for 3 seconds
like on would for extremely dangerous behavior because, until now, the
spooking didn't seem to be dangerous. Like you said, sometimes it amounts to
picking battles. 

Well, now that she really hurt me, no more! I've had it with the spooking!!
When I'm able to get back in the saddle, there's a new sheriff in town who
will make no under-saddle accommodations for this mare's spooking
idiosyncracies! If she can learn to spook in place while in-hand, she can
darn well learn to do the same under saddle. As someone else said, a horse
that just dumped its rider can be a menace too.

An aside, Amanda, this mare has been brought along to be very fit and she
has become very strong. Her spooks have gotten stronger and her reactions
ever quicker the more fit she gets. This is a level of horse fitness I've
personally never experienced before, even with all the wonderful seasoned
horses I borrowed as I got my start in distance riding. You too might decide
somewhere down the line that, like me, you're finally sick of it with your
horse. And maybe you will have all those other training battles won.

Deanna


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A.Perez wrote:
The whole 'break their neck' thread raises an interesting
question: is a horse that won't tie acceptable?  I gal I know
buy and sells horses, more or less as a hobby: her goal is to
get the horse into a better situation then she found it in.
She had a mare that would not tie.  Sold it to someone having
warned them that it wouldn't tie.  Buyer returned horse after
it had run seriously afoul a fence it had been - you guessed
it - tied to.  I expect with many hours of careful training,
the horse might get over this, but since the mare ground-tied
just fine, is it a battle worth fighting?  Otherwise this mare
was a real sweet heart, and it was true panic, not a 'challenge
to human authority' that lead to her behavior while tied.  Is
death really the only option for such a horse?

My horse spooks at non-scary things.  Not big spooks, but
anpoying.  Yes, I could 'train the pooks out of him', but my
riding time is limited, and I prefer to pick my fights.  As
long as he doesn't damage himself, bystanders or me, or dump
me, I tolerate it.  I reprimand him, but don't spend alot of
time on the issue.  Yes, he is 'getting away with it' but I can
live with it.  I have no problem accomodating a horses
idiosyncracies if ithey do not put anyone in danger, and I
believe a horse that won't be tied can be accomodated as well.
Lord knows I have many idiosyncracies the world has to
accomodate!


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