Re: [RC] FW: [RC] [RC] horses at the track - Barbara McCrary
I had a horse that once nipped me in the upper arm when
I led him. The first two times, I turned to face him and growled at him,
saying, "That had better have been a mistake!" Many months passed and he
nipped me again. In the meanwhile, I had learned some things from Ridecamp
about how to deal with this. When the horse nipped me the last time, I
immediately "bit" him back, on the side of the neck, using my fingers as a
"beak." He looked so surprised. He tried it again, and I bit him
harder. That was the last time he ever tried that.
Subject: Re: [RC] FW: [RC] [RC] horses at
the track
I've chimed in on this subject before and will throw my two cents in
again. A good trainer, track, pleasure, show, endurance, will train their
horses with good foundation skills that will make them good all around horses.
The problem is the number of good trainers in the world seems to be hard to
come by. I would not tolerate biting from any horse at people at any time,
this is aggressive behavior and should be remedied immediately.
It always puzzles me when someone buys a horse that has been trained to
race and is surprised that this horse likes to run. Horses on the track are
bred and handled to be HOT! Anyone buying one off the track should know that
they are getting a horse that is for an experienced rider. So there is my
track two cents.
Must reiterate, biting at people is not good and is more prone to happen
with studs or geldings that are cut late. I agree with D'Arcy, I wouldn't
maintain a horse that was that aggressive if I couldn't break the habit. I
have little kids and I won't chance them walking up to a stall only to get
bitten for their trouble. I kind of like John Lyon's philosophy about a biting
horse which goes something like, if a horse bites me I have three seconds to
make that horse believe that I will kill it, with exception of their head.
They would be reprimanded in a herd and need to know that I'm the LEAD horse
around here.
I'd bite too if you left me in the stall my whole life except
to "work me" for 30 minutes then put me right back in the box!
The only time I got bit, it was one of those freak show horses
that mommy bought the 13 yr old girl so she could win. The
girl took the bars out of her horse's stall so he could stick his head out
between the time I was there the day before and when I got there this
day. I'm walking in my stall and he lunges through the opening
and grabs my bicep. Thank goodness it was winter and I had a
million layers on otherwise I'd be missing my entire bicep. He still
tore the muscle and the bruise was there for months. The
mother...she tells the whole barn, "well, she must have done something
to him to make him bite her." Find out later, this horse had bit
a few others too! Me....I was about ready to grab one of those bars
and beat the crap out of the horse AND the mother!
This is interesting. Show
and race horses bite more because either 1) it is a bred-in trait that
goes along with good show and race performance or at least doesn't need to
be bred out, and/or 2) it has to do with the way they are
trained.
In case 1, we will
gradually get a divergence of breeds within breeds -- there will be one
sub-breed of, for example, Thoroughbreds: "biting show/race
Thoroughbreds" and one sub-breed of "nice everyday rideable
Thoroughbreds", and because biting winners are bred to
biting winners and biting stable horses are culled, the two
sub-breeds will become more separate.
In case 2, what seems to
be being implied is that the traits of character and temperament that
enhance competetiveness in the horse also enhance its aggressiveness
towards humans. Trainers seeking prizes are aware of this and with their
training are purposefully reinforcing the traits of aggressiveness and
violence towards humans to maximize the horse's competitiveness, and
themselves being tough and skilled, figure they can keep out of
the way.
Or
both.
God help the novices that
buy losers off the racetrack and the little girls who get their mommies to
buy them horses to make them win at the show.
-----Original
Message----- From:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
D'Arcy Demianoff-Thompson Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008
10:26 AM To: k s swigart Cc:
Ridecamp Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] horses at the
track
k
s swigart wrote:
<p.s.
For the same reason, you are also more likely to find a
biting horse in a show barn than in an open to the public boarding
facility. Show barn horses are more often handled by professionals,
and the unacceptable behaviour is more likely to be tolerated in a
successful show horse than in a family pleasure horse>.
Anyone that remembers Denny Hansen's, Father, Don Hansen,
Sr., yes the same Don Hansen Training Bit person, will remember this
to be true. Don, Sr., specifically culled his training horses, for
the nastiest dispostion to perform in most English Classes.
Why? Because they made the BEST competitors. Yes, many of them
went onto the breeding shed.
I had a horse that became intolerable to handle. Nor did he
like being around any other human being except myself and sometimes the
person that cleaned his stall. And on occassion he wanted to take a
chunk out of me. He was the BEST I have ever bred in terms of
conformation, size, gait, movement, balance, grace and beauty.
Unfortuantely, he was put down at the age of three because I could not run
the risk of him biting some unspecting passer by on the ranch. It
was a very hard decision. And I consulted several top level trainers
including,Denny. Denny knew he could have taken this
colt all the way to the top without a moment's hesitation. As
he said, "these were my Father's specialty, I could do the same thing with
this guy. Unfortunately, outside of you or me, no one would be able
to handle him D'Arcy. You would run the risk of him possibly killing
someone and it wouldn't be fair to him." Denny confirmed my
suspicions and with a lot of difficulty finally convenienced my business
partner it was the right decision to euthanize this colt. Then
isn't that what responsible breeding is all about?
I reviewed the breeding records, pedigrees, and on and on to see
where this disposition came from, what lines to eliminate, etc. I
decided to never breed the dam and sold her to someone that would NEVER
breed her again! She is a great pasture ornament.
:) Unfortunate because she was the best trail horse I have
ever raised and trained. The decision on the sire is still in the
evaluating process. He has not been bred since. He will be
outcrossed to a spanish or polish line. He is top heavy in Blue List
Eygtian! Need I say more?
The idea of comparing race track horses, to boarding facility horses,
to show barn horses, to pasture horses is, as Kat has stated, 'apples
to oranges' - the manner in which these horses are raised, handled,
trained, and marketed are completely DIFFERENT. I have never seen
anyone on the back side of the race that didn't have a 'Horse Racing
License' or was accompanied by someone that did have one. I have
seen more mishaps and accidents happen at Class A Arabian Horse Shows than
I have seen at the track or on the ranch level. Boarding
facility accidents are few and far between. Most owner's, trainers,
and/or managers are fairly consciencous of liability issues.
Therefore, you won't find too many that will openly accept or maintain a
horse that has a bad disposition.
