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Re: [RC] National Show Horses - Maryanne GabbaniAAARRRGGGHHH! GGAAAAA!
As someone who works with a string of Arabs and Arab crosses with TB and other European breeds (like jumpers), statements like this make me crazy! My horses work in a situation where spooking simply is not tolerated and they are not at all spooky. ANY breed of horse will spook if it isn't exposed to new sights and is allowed to think that spooking is ok. ANY breed of horse can be taught not to spook if you spend time exposing it to as many new and weird things as you can find while making it quite clear that spooking simply isn't an option. You simply can't have a horse spook while walking along a 10 inch wide path running along the edge of an irrigation canal. Bombproofing isn't rocket science but it does take time. If my Arab and Arab cross ponies can work alongside camels, water buffalo, diesel water pumps spraying out tubes of water about 6 inches in diameter, motorcycles, all sorts of weird and wonderful poultry, crazy farm dogs, little kids with cherry bombs, donkeys carrying loads of grass that totally hide their bodies, dump trucks and bulldozers, and even be calm in traffic while surrounded by minibuses honking horns...any horse can learn not to spook. I've had enough Ridecampers come to visit now (Steph, Merri, John and Sue Greenall, Jackie Floyd...I'm sure I'm forgetting names) to vouch for this. It helps to start them young but isn't necessary. Work them with an older bombproof horse to show them that calm is the the way to do things and at slow speeds. The scarier the situation, the slower you go so that scary and fast NEVER are associated. Patience and no reassuring...just growling for spooking. Spooking is no more tolerated than biting or kicking. People who make these statements about a breed just don't want to take the time to do the work. Maryanne -- Maryanne Stroud Gabbani msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx Egypt Face to Face www.alsorat.com Weblogs: Living In Egypt miloflamingo.blogspot.com Cairo/Giza Daily Photo cairogizadailyphoto.blogspot.com Turn Right At The Sarcophagus haramlik.blogspot.com Da Moose Is Loose (a blog for kids) mstroud.blogspot.com Photos of Egypt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinginegypt/ On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 11:26 PM, Evelyn Allen <totaleclipse2007@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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