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RE: Re: [RC] Did I Understand You Correctly? - heidiI think many have missed the point of what kat said. She
did NOT say that "horses do exactly as they please." What she DID
say is that people are wrong in assuming that horses have no choice in
what they do, and that people are foolish to think that they have that
kind of "power" over a horse. Those two statements are a far cry
from each other.
Horses are domestic because they CHOOSE to make the compromise with
people to do the bidding of the people. If a horse truly CHOOSES
not to do what you want, there is little you can do to force him to do
it. A determined horse can resist kind or cruel enticements--the
latter including whips, spurs, etc. Someone mentioned trailer
loading--I have a really super "force" method of trailer loading, but
it still completely depends on a horse that will get in the trailer
before killing himself, and I depend on the horse making that CHOICE
when I use it. I've seen rogue horses that would injure (and
kill!) themselves before they would comply with human wishes--and all
horses have that power, even if they don't CHOOSE to use it.
Horses do what we ask because 1) they work well in partnership with
humans, and 2) we have selectively bred those who work best in
partnership with humans to augment that trait. Kat is 100% right
that if a horse truly decides not to go over a jump, there is nothing a
rider can do short of trussing him up and lifting him over it with a
crane to FORCE him to do it. Skilled riders can certainly
overcome a great deal of reluctance on the horse's part--but they
cannot overcome a flat refusal.
Heidi
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