>>A reason? Yeah,
they are horses! Geeze, I wish I had horses as perfect as some of ya'll do! I
know I ruined one horse, (spoiled) and I am paying dearly for that. But for the
most part, the rest of my herd is pretty darn good. ('cause I didn't raise 'em) Just
not as perfect as others, I guess.
Lisa, I’m not going to suggest that you’re not a
good horsewoman. I don’t know you so can’t comment. All I’m
commenting on is your post, okay, and it’s not personal.
I’ve also not had horses go thru fences, and I’ve
kept them in a variety of different size paddocks, with different types of
fencing. At shows, we make a “paddock” out of rope, tied from
horse box to trees, or out of running reins (see, they’re good for
something!). It’s really not horse secure, but ours stay in it
(sometimes as many as four in a 3m x 5m enclosure).
You’re right when you say that “horses are horses”
but part of owning them involves training them to do what is in their best
interests. It is in my horses’ best interests NOT to jump out of fences
and follow me, or their mates, and go walkabout at shows. The way I train it
is simply by taking them to shows REALLY early on (as in : their first month
home). At first, they’re kept in a halter and held by my groom (or me),
in the paddock. When they’re relaxed, they just stand in the paddock
with other horses. They learn to be taken out of the paddock and go to the
warm-up and stand near the ring, even before they compete. They also learn
that their buddies will sometimes leave them and come back.
Like Angie, I’m fairly vigilant to outside factors.
Last Saturday at a show a stallion broke loose and was hairing all over the
place. We held our boys (in the paddock) so that they couldn’t take
fright and try to break out (they didn’t even notice, too interested in
their hay nets, but I wasn’t taking a chance), and also so that we could
either try to shoo off or catch the stallion if it came our way. At the
President’s Cup last year, one of my horses broke his lead rope when I
had him tied because a marching band and drum majorettes came past waving about
thirty flags and making a helluva racket. I was about two feet away and could
whistle at him so he came back to me immediately. Because horses are horses, I’m
vigilant, but they’re also trained. I trust my training in the most
part, but I think that it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Tracey
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