Horse that can't follow

[toriandsteve@juno.com (Victoria A Thompson)]

Finally catching up on the posts ... haven't turned on my computer for 5
days!!!!  
Anyway, I have a great deal of experience with a horse that won't follow
(Donna O'Gara can attest to this).  Taffy literally turns into a
Lippizaner if she isn't first.  I don't remember what they call the move,
but she'll sit back on her hind end, leap forward and kick out with her
back feet squealing all the while.  Try doing that for 20 minutes!  
I was always told to go limp when your horse jigs around like that, and
it worked for every horse I've ever had anything to do with ... except
Taffy.  She just keeps going and going and going ... just like that
bunny.  She eventually just gets so tired she stops jumping around and
mopes.  She'll drop her head to the ground and drag her feet like a
snail.  When I do let her up front she'll slow down and guard her
position with pinned ears and snapping teeth (she rarely kicks but it has
been known to happen).  I explain to everyone I ride with what is going
on and what she'll do, and that I'm trying to teach her to go with a
crowd.  That way they know before hand that the ride could be a real
adventure.  

Time is your only friend.  Everytime you go out with others change your
position.  You tell the horse when it can go first and when it must
follow, and that follow must be second in line all the way back to dead
last.  Eventually your horse will get the gist and settle down.  Taffy is
learning to follow (slowly) and doesn't put up nearly as big a fuss as
she used to ... unless the horse in front is gray/white.  She HATES white
horses (of any breed).  

Now, this may sound hokey to some (most?) of you, but here goes ... the
more your horse sees you as higher in rank than they are the less trouble
they'll give you when you defer the leadership to someone else, even if
the horse you are deferring to is lower in status than your horse.  The
more you can get your horse to do things on the ground (without whips,
ropes, or treats) the more you get when you are on their back. It just
takes a heck of a lot longer when you are dealing with a "lead mare" type
horse. So, keep riding with friends and whenever you are with your horse
practice those Ray Hunt/John Lyons/Pat Parelli et al teachings.  

I'm off to invite Donna O'Gara to lunch.  

Enjoy.

Tori  

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