I am new to endurance, having never been able to participate
in a ride. I have however crewed once and am working the
Tevis this weekend, so I have an idea of what things are
about. But, my idea generate questions.
First--Have any of you had professional endurance training?
You know, like when you want to do dressage and you go to
the trainer? If so, what did you think of it? Was it worth
the cash?
Second--How in the heck do you teach your horse to tail? I
am just not familiar enough with horses to figure out how to
convince my horse to go forward while I'm holding onto her
tail pulling her backwards. (Sorry, I'm sure there's some
real easy concept to this that I should know)
Those are my endurance questions (for now)--the rest are
general horse questions that I'm looking for "horse people"
advice.
We have a 10 yr old QH that is basically push-button, except
that he tends to spook himself and pull back when tied to a
hitching rail. He does not do this when tied to trees.
However, he did it so badly two months ago that I got a free
helicopter ride to the nearest big hospital. We want to
keep this horse and try to break him of this behavior--any
suggestions?
For those of you that remember, I'm the one whose mare did
not have a hay belly, she had a baby in there. "Andy" was
born on 5/28 and is beautiful with a terrific way of
going--he practically floats! Anyway, I have some general
baby questions:
1. How early should he be weaned? 4 mos? 6 mos? or
does it depend on how the mare it tolerating him. (I think
he's reached those teenaged years and is driving mom nuts!)
2. What about gelding. Although his sire is a
Reserve Grand National Champ in both Canada and here, I just
don't feel competent to take on a stallion. His sire's
owner says geld before weaning. A lot of other folks have
said geld no sooner than 18 mos to 2 years so that he's
fully developed.
3. How about vaccinations? He'll be wormed this
Sunday (2 mos) but when should I start vaccinating. I do
have a vet in my area, but he is not what I would call horse
smart. My horses get 4-way and rabies (in case of lion
attack--quit laughing, it happens and they make you
quarantine your horses until you can prove they don't have
rabies--ridiculous)
Baby Andy is absolutely wonderful. He's halter
broke, picks up his feet (though not always willingly), gets
them routinely banged on with the hoof pick, and carries a
saddle blanket around (and doesn't even spook when it falls
off). I have been tying him to the fence when working on
his feet and brushing him and he seems to respect the fact
that he's tied. He doesn't pull back or try to run away.
However, he still tries to escape on occasion when he knows
he's not tied and I'm just holding him. I have yet to leave
him unattended while tied as I think he's too young for
that.
Also tries very surreptitiously to "bite the hand
that leads him" when I'm not looking, but then manages to
look very innocent (some other horse did it) when I catch
him.
Anyway, for those of you who have managed to wade
through this dissertation--thanks; and for those of you who
reply--THANKS!! Please reply personally and I'll summarize
the endurance questions for the list.
Dorothy & Elly & Andy (the surprise!)