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FW: [RC] A horse worth having (was: hard headed horses) - Mike SherrellIf you think that horses are controlled by love and not force, you've never watched a herd of mares. The quote you pull is followed by way of proof, the line, "anyone who has handled horses from the ground has lost control over a horse because it was pulling at a bad angle and imposed control on a resistant horse because they were at a good angle." This is the fulcrum where the horse owner "makes it realize that ultimately it will lose a battle of strength," and it is a moment that comes to all who halter break yearlings. Can you honestly tell us that you have never lost control of a haltered horse because it was pulling at a bad angle and been able to impose control on a resistant horse by pulling its head around because you were at a good angle? It is possible and desireable to ride and handle a horse for twenty years without ever engaging in a test of strength. But that will only be possible if at some previous point the horse has come to realize that it would ultimately lose a battle of strength. Can you recover dominance over a horse that has won a test of strength? Of course. Many's the ridden horse that has previously kicked, bucked off or run away with its human. Please don't cast me as a macho horse-beater. I do not ride with a bit, spurs, crop or romal. My horses trust me enough that I can put on and off flymasks and pick up their feet while they are at liberty in their large turnouts. I have spent many hours and pints of Cowboy Magic on tangled manes and burr-ridden tails. Regards, Mike Sherrell Grizzly Analytical (USA) www.grizzlyanalytical.com 707 887 2919; fax = 707 887 9834 -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of k s swigart Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 8:41 PM To: Ridecamp Subject: [RC] A horse worth having (was: hard headed horses) Mike Sherrell said: "If you can win a battle of strength with any horse, that horse isn't worth having" is exactly wrong: in order to "have" a horse you will make it realize that ultimately it will lose a battle of strength. I think we may be dealing with a gender issue here. Most women are made aware pretty early in their lives that if they want to have any measure of contol that they will have to figure out some way to assert it without engaging is battles of strength, that they are almost guaranteed to lose. For me, Mike Sherrell's statement above is about the equivalent of telling a woman that in order to "have" a husband you will make your husband realize that he will ultimately lose a battle of strength. Which to any woman would be considered patently absurd. Fortunately, Mike is wrong about horses, and we can exert some measure of control over them without ever engaging in a battle of strength with them. In fact, if horses chose to exert their full strength in battles with their human handlers, the human handlers would lose every time. You cannot engage in a successful battle of strength with something bigger, stronger, and faster than you are. And I will agree, if my horse isn't bigger, stronger, and faster than I am, there isn't much point in having it. Personally, I go way out of my way to avoid engaging in any kind of battles with my horse. Once I engage in a battle, one of us is going to have to lose it. If I lose the battle, the horse learns a really BAD lesson (i.e. "I can win fights with my human handler"). If it is the horse that loses the battle, then what I have taught the horse is to be a loser, to quit. I want my horse to think that he is God, and that there is nothing he cannot do. That way, if I ask him to leap tall buildings in a single bound, he will try. Horses that have been taught to give in, or horses that give in easily are not the type that will try in the face of adversity. The last thing that I want to teach my horse is: "When the going gets tough, quit." And if you ask me, horses that are TRUELY worth having (i.e. the ones that are "great") simply cannot be taught to give in. So if you want to own a great horse and be able to get it to do what you ask, you are going to have to find some other way to convince the horse to comply with your wishes than engaging in battles with it, whether they be battles of strength or not. kat Orange County, Calif. :) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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