Riding with Loose Horses (was HELP)

[Barbara Madill <madill@teleplex.net>]

On Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:23:03 -0700 Lif Strand
<fasterhorses@gilanet.com> wrote to Devony Wingo
<horsecrazy22@hotmail.com>, AERC <ridecamp@endurance.net> on the  Subject:
RC:  Re: HELP!!

<<<<<snip> Hi Devony - Am I correct in understanding you go riding in a
horse pasture with other horses in it?  I know this will not be of much
help to you, but my suggestion is that if you are riding in such a horse
pasture, the first thing you do is stop!  I mean, you couldn't get me to do
that in my own herd unless I was riding a very dominant member - say, the
lead mare! <end snip>>>>>

And on  Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 12:37:38 -0800, Maureen Mathisen
<blueoak@snowcrest.net> replied  To: Lif Strand <fasterhorses@gilanet.com>

<<<<<snip> I REALLY concur with what Lif just said.  It is extremly
dangerous in ALMOST (caps mine)  all cases, to ride with loose horses
around you. <end snip>>>>>

	If I couldn't ride with loose horses in my pastures, I'd NEVER have the
time to get horses ready for my favorite LD (Long Distance) competition – 3
Day 100's.  HOWEVER, it's not WHAT you do, it's HOW you do it, IMHO.

	I call this game "Chase the Horsie, Run from the Horsie".  To do it with a
modicum of safety, KNOW your horses' LIKELY behaviors and be prepared for
anything..... OR, make sure the BRAIN of the horse you're riding can handle
your defending him or her (and yourself) with a whip sufficiently longer
than the kicking range of any one of the loose participants (I've only done
this with three loose horses – think that's my limit!)

	My horses get to enjoy the game and have set up rules of their own....
One would manage to stay on the far side of a bramble bush and foil most of
my attempts to get him to leave (This game is played by  "Chase the Horsie"
rules.)  No problem....  We changed our game objectives from aerobic
exercise to that of subtle moves that you'd use in handling cattle.  The
quarry horse uses balancing muscles to avoid my "challenge" – If I couldn't
dislodge him, I'd just change my target to another horse or ride elsewhere
in the pasture to concentrate on schooling my mount for other skills.

	Great fun is when I get the other horse(s) working in front of me and
"free drive" it or them in figures...  I've had several horses that would
"free longe" around me and respond to requests for different gaits and
changes of direction...  I even had one horse who would "free longe" the
others if I didn't show up to play!

	One absolute rule – I make it clear that kicking at the "control" horse,
even in play, is undesirable.  Doesn't completely stop the practice, but
they do it farther and farther away from me and my mount!

	There ARE a few "management problems" –like keeping track the end of the
whip you're carrying – it is quite a sensation when your mount steps on it
with a hind foot, or, worse, when one of the loose horses step on it!

	And, forgetting the height of  the branches of the tree that your quarry
just selected as "safe" and your mount fits under but you don't ......

	If you've used a "bottom of the pecking order" horse as your mount, you do
have to consider what may happen when you turn him or her out with the
group.  Sometimes the idea of having moved up in the herd is more than the
horse can resist and he or she tries bossing the bosses without your help!
(Conversely, I've also had lowly horses gain better acceptance from the
other horses.)

	But ride a horse through a pasture of horses I don't know?  NO WAY.  I'd
much rather ride through a pasture full of bulls bred to fight!!!

Barbara 


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