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Re: [RC] re: the best method to reform a dedicated puller - heidiI am very puzzled by all this...how can you not have a horse that ties? Don't you tie the horse to your trailer when you are getting ready at endurance rides? What about riding someplace for lunch (like restaurant), tie the horse outside? What if someone gets hurt and you have to attend to them in an emergency (sure handy if the horses get tied up). I just can't imagine not training or requiring that....don't you ever leave your horse tied and run in the house for something? I just don't get it. To me part of a horse being fully usable means being able to be tied in any situation.....that is good maners also. I agree, Karen. I've dealt with horses like this who have excellent manners otherwise but who have never learned to tie. There are times in life where horses really DO need to be tied. While I understand the point that horses should not HAVE to be tied in order to do the things one needs to do with them (and I fully agree that one SHOULD be able to do things with one's horse without tying), a horse's education is not complete unless he will ALSO accept being tied and having the same things done. I've had to reeducate a few of these very polite horses--and yes, they were well-trained to be saddled, bridled, groomed, whatever--but they freaked when they were tied. Had nothing to do with what we were doing to them--it was the tying itself that had never been taught. And that is as much a void in their education as not teaching them to have feet handled, be saddled, or anything else. A horse needs to learn to accept whatever happens--tied OR untied. And to "always" do everything untied is as much a detriment to a horse's education as to "never" do things untied. One of the most basic aspects of a horse's education, IMO, is accepting the restraint of a rope--be it one that ties the horse up, one that restrains a leg, or one wrapped anywhere around one's body. I can't begin to count the number of times that I've ridden into a hazard and had my horse just STOP--because he accepted the restraint of something around his leg. Sure, you can say that if he has complete trust in his rider, he will stop anyway--but how much more fair it is to him if he has already LEARNED that being hung up isn't a problem? And what if he becomes "restrained" in a fence or other hazard when you are not there? Being tied up is fundamental. Heidi ============================================================ It is how we "feel" deep inside that matters, cause each of us knows the truth, regardless of how we try make it complicated. It just isn't. ~ Frank Solano ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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