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Re: [RC] [RC] Training to cross suspension bridge - desertrydr1When I got my first horse, I was about 23, and apparently not too smart. I started him under saddle myself (I broke him, and occasionally he broke me.) When he was still pretty green, I tried to ride him across a little (maybe 20 feet wide) railroad bridge, where the RR ties were about a foot or two apart. Never occured to me, until my horse put both front legs through the open spot between two RR ties, that the horse was not seeing the same thing I saw. He actually couldn't see that there were spaces between the ties. He just very calmly started to walk across, and almost made it two steps before he went through up to his knees. I was REALLY lucky, all he got were some small abrasions. I later heard of a horse that broke both his front legs when his rider tried the same thing. Horses under saddle take a lot of their cues from us. They trust us, probably more than we deserve sometimes. I can easily see that a horse would have no problem crossing a suspension bridge--at least the footing is relatively solid! jeri
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