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[RC] The Horse's Perogative (was: Truman, BH, Colic) - k s swigart

Truman said:


On the other hand the rider chose for herself to
make that jump. She made the choice - she paid the
price. The horse didn't have a say. The horse is an
unwitting partner in our activities.

       
Only somebody who has never jumped a horse would say such a thing.  Anybody who 
has every jumped a horse KNOWS that you can't make a horse jump, and the horse 
has all the say.  Horses only go over jumps by choice (which is why competitors 
get penalties for refusals).  Saying "Uh uh, ain't doin' it!" is well within 
the repertoire of all horses that are put to a fence and asked to jump it.

Horses only try to jump jumps that they think they can successfully jump (which 
is why many of them refuse); sometimes they can be wrong in their assessment of 
their abilities, and sometimes they perform badly (and sometimes they perform 
badly because the rider rode badly) and might injure themselves in the process, 
but make no mistake, if they don't think they can do it, they can and WILL 
exercise their prerogative to refuse.  

Training horses to jump obstacles is an exercise in building enough confidence 
to get them to try.  The trying part is entirely at the discretion of the horse.

Refusals on the part of the horse (i.e. the horse having its say) are, in fact, 
probably the biggest cause of RIDER injuries on a jump course.

Contrary to apparent belief here, very few horses die (or suffer catastrophic 
accidents) in three day eventing, and it is virtually unheard of (this is the 
only one _I_ have heard of) at the Junior Novice level.  A horse is probably 
more likely to fall and break its leg or neck at liberty in a pasture accident 
than at a Junior Novice three day event.

kat
Orange County, Calif.


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