groundwork vs. riding

[vanhove@unavco.ucar.edu (Teresa Van Hove)]

Ray,

I am not a big proponent of ground work (because I still have a cowboy 
view I guess, and I want to be up on the horse riding <g>)  I do
insist on enough ground manners that I can do neccessary ground handling
like saddling, treating wounds, etc. safely and ride vets don't run the
other way when they see me coming <g>.  I tend to think if you only have
a problem with a horse when you are riding it you need to solve the problem
from the saddle.

However I do have to comment that a horse who follows you around like
a dog, is an angel in hand, and responds quickly to ground work is NOT
neccessarily respecting you on the ground.  I had a QH once that was
very easy to handle on the ground - picked up longing right away, caught
on immediately to being led with soft rope around a leg etc.  BUT this
horse did NOT respect me on the ground - he once shied at nothing while
being groomed and knocked me down.  As my farrier/horsetrainer said 
(a horse that respects you would never bump into you - anymore than they
would bump into the alpha mare in a herd.)  So I would say you need to
evaluate how your horse is behaving with you on the ground - Is he 
respecting your "space" or does he just push right up to you.  If he
is not respecting your space on the ground then some kind of "natural 
horsemanship" work on the ground probably is needed.

Teresa