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Re: [RC] method to lay 'em down - Don HustonAt 03:46 PM 5/9/2006 Tuesday, you wrote:somebody is going to end up hurting their horse trying this. unless the horse is a rank killer there are better ways. i read parts of the old book someone sent the link to...guess somebody will want to say the choking works well, too. i thought we were past "BREAKING" horses. Yes, and "BREAKING" as in the shoulder if the horse freaks and rears then comes down hard twisting off the good leg then down onto the shoulder or capping the knee on the tied-up leg. Stupidity and shear meanness seem to have no limits when it comes to substituting gimmicks (like tying up one leg with a rope) for actual training. Buster was not my horse, he belonged to the stable owners where I had my horses. He was a small 6yo arab-quarter cross with attitude, tough and had unloaded several previous owners, several girl exercise riders, two wanabe cowboys and all unknown to me. I liked Buster right off and they said ride him so I tossed on a saddle and headed out the back gate which was 30,000 acres of open ground. Now it turns out that Buster was barn sour and had always tossed his riders at the gate or there abouts so we had our first battle which I finally won days later and several more about steep hills and so on until we were buddies and rode for hours. After a year or so a lady wanted to buy Buster and she hopped on for a test ride and true to form he tossed her at the gate. So the owners brought in their big gun, Gorrio the Vaquerro, to lay Buster down and teach him some manners. Gorrio was big and tough and mean as only a true brutal Tijuana rodeo Vaquerro can be. Buster was barely shoulder high to the big Mexican standing in the ring. Gorrio was on the left side, had reached under and picked up the right fore leg, was pushing hard with his right shoulder and rapping the horse on the left fore with a stick which made Buster half rear up then back down only to be rapped again. The guys were laughing and Gorrio was talking in broken english about how this little runt was gonna learn respect. I didn't like it but went off to haul some hay and check my horses and came back in about an hour. It was a hot afternoon and Gorrio was in a full sweat. Buster was in a full sweat also but still on his 3 feet with the rears splayed far apart, head down, eyes wide and nostrils flared. There was blood on the left fore from whacking and Gorrio was asking for a rope to tie up the right fore because his back was hurting. I must say I was real proud of that little horse but it didn't look good. Gorrio tied up the right fore, gave the left a big whack and Buster went down to a 3 point stance, on his nose and both rears with the Mexican shoving hard to the right. The guys were laughing at Gorrio now and he was asking for help to knock this little ba@#$rd over. I was 50 and had never won a fight in my life but the sight of this brave horse blowing dirt with every breath standing on only 2 rear legs was my limit. I stepped into the arena and said that that was enough. Now that was not a popular decision and Gorrio looked at me then the owner for permission to "break" me. Well it was mine & Buster's lucky day and the owner agreed that that was enough so I untied my buddy and cleaned him up and rode him many more times until a guy bought him for use in "The Hole In The Wall Gang" cause I had gun broke Buster with my .38 chasing jack rabbits. Breaking a bad habit or breaking their spirit is a very fine line that I try to never cross. Don Huston =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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