Horses!

[Peaches Lee]

@Ponypoor that's so cute! What a sweet and kind horse. My horse has always been super jealous of my chickens and would try to stomp them if they got into his pasture!

 

[Ponypoor]

@Ponypoor that's so cute! What a sweet and kind horse. My horse has always been super jealous of my chickens and would try to stomp them if they got into his pasture!

I think my geegees find the chooks entertaining, and found another egg in Reenie’s hay net this morning, it seems to have been dirtied with a broken egg so I chucked the remaining hay just in case.

 

[paintedChix]

All good! My understanding is that it is basically working with the horse with no tack, ropes, or anything like that. Relying on communication and a strong bond to guide their behavior. If you look it up it will probably give you a good overview and it is really interesting! I have a book about it but have yet to do anything.

I will preface this with i have not read this whole thread.

But after this post, i wanted to say that the many, many natural horsemanship type trainers have always graduated to some type of liberty training during their teachings. At least here in the USA.


I've noticed that once again, the term "natural hrsemanship", is starting to fall into disuse as well. The trainers are using different terms, style is still similar or the same.

I remember riding with (once) John Lyons (we had a family horse in Hawaii for 2 yrs, trail rode in VA for 2 yrs at several stables around Richmond & VA Beach & owned horses in CO for 11 yrs) in CO & followed him in the Horseman magazine.

Dave Jones, Monte Foreman, Ray Hunt, Tom & Bill Dorance, John Richard Young (more hunt seat than western), Dr Miller (imprint training foals) are all trainers that encouraged gentler training methods than the western scene of "bronc busting/breaking". Their methods were all used by many of the ranches, horse breeders & trainers in CO when I was growing up there - mid 70s through mid - 80s. Many didn't have books, though some would in future. Seemed you could find them in Practical Horseman, Western Horseman, Horse of Course and others. Western Horseman had trainers put out easy to understand books that they published for many years.

I followed a couple of different dressage trainers & received lessons from both a hunter/jumper trainer (competed jumping an Appaloosa mare all over the states 5' jumps were gymnastic hops for her) & a Meridith Manor dressage graduate that was also competing in 4th level dressage, but had a 5 yr old mare she was working in liberty. Those lessons were rough!! Working on core (wasn't called that then) muscles to better balance & ride. Hours on a lounge line or in a round pen w/o stirrups or reins, learning to follow horses' moves... Couldn't afford those lessons, so at different times of year for about 3 yrs each, I worked for them as a teenager/young adult before joining the Army at 21. Some lessons were done on my own horses, some on the trainer/instructors. But the riding/training we did would also fall under natural horsemanship. Neither trainer believed in harsh training aides & both did a lot of tackless riding as well.

There were others, including women. Unfortunately, i dont remember other names... For many years, OH had a GREAT equine 4H program. I ended up w/ some of the basic book (lets), though that program never took off in CO.

Shoot, I've read "dime store" westerns, written before I was born, that utilized some type of natural or gentle training. I have worked hard at finding some of those books, because they are GREAT reads & can actually be applied to training horses still.

I find it hilarious that what was old is new again.

 

[ShrekDawg]

How is everyone!?

 

[ILoveDaffy]

How is everyone!?

Great! Max is the best I've ever seen him. Clean bill of health from both the vet and farrier, though I haven't had radiographs of his bone column done yet. There's no vet nearby that does them, so I have to trailer him 45 minutes away for them. We haven't worked on the trailer yet, I wanted to be sure he was sound before then. Now I can finally start working towards that, but there's nothing wrong with his feet whatsoever now, so I'm clear to ride. I'm never going to do more than light-mid riding anyway, so radiographs are more of a just because I want to know thing than an immediately necessary thing. The vet actually said that if I hadn't told her, she would never have been able to tell he'd been as bad as he was when I got him. My reaction was:
Much the same as when I asked the farrier about riding after he said his feet looked good. I thought he meant good as in as good as you're going to get with his issues. NO. When I asked about riding he said, 'I already told you. His feet look good. There's nothing wrong with them. I'm still absolutely over the moon about all this, in case you couldn't tell. After two years, the horse I was told might need to be put down because his feet were causing so much pain, has made a complete 180. It's unbelievable! His personality is so different. I can finally see what he was like all the time underneath the pain. He's a total velcro horse. He follows me everywhere. He loves being brushed, adores kids, and actually wants to move.

I'm so excited! So, yes, everything is great!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Great! Max is the best I've ever seen him. Clean bill of health from both the vet and farrier, though I haven't had radiographs of his bone column done yet. There's no vet nearby that does them, so I have to trailer him 45 minutes away for them. We haven't worked on the trailer yet, I wanted to be sure he was sound before then. Now I can finally start working towards that, but there's nothing wrong with his feet whatsoever now, so I'm clear to ride. I'm never going to do more than light-mid riding anyway, so radiographs are more of a just because I want to know thing than an immediately necessary thing. The vet actually said that if I hadn't told her, she would never have been able to tell he'd been as bad as he was when I got him. My reaction was:
Much the same as when I asked the farrier about riding after he said his feet looked good. I thought he meant good as in as good as you're going to get with his issues. NO. When I asked about riding he said, 'I already told you. His feet look good. There's nothing wrong with them. I'm still absolutely over the moon about all this, in case you couldn't tell. After two years, the horse I was told might need to be put down because his feet were causing so much pain, has made a complete 180. It's unbelievable! His personality is so different. I can finally see what he was like all the time underneath the pain. He's a total velcro horse. He follows me everywhere. He loves being brushed, adores kids, and actually wants to move.

I'm so excited! So, yes, everything is great!

Awwwww that’s awesome!!!!!!!!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Great! Max is the best I've ever seen him. Clean bill of health from both the vet and farrier, though I haven't had radiographs of his bone column done yet. There's no vet nearby that does them, so I have to trailer him 45 minutes away for them. We haven't worked on the trailer yet, I wanted to be sure he was sound before then. Now I can finally start working towards that, but there's nothing wrong with his feet whatsoever now, so I'm clear to ride. I'm never going to do more than light-mid riding anyway, so radiographs are more of a just because I want to know thing than an immediately necessary thing. The vet actually said that if I hadn't told her, she would never have been able to tell he'd been as bad as he was when I got him. My reaction was:
Much the same as when I asked the farrier about riding after he said his feet looked good. I thought he meant good as in as good as you're going to get with his issues. NO. When I asked about riding he said, 'I already told you. His feet look good. There's nothing wrong with them. I'm still absolutely over the moon about all this, in case you couldn't tell. After two years, the horse I was told might need to be put down because his feet were causing so much pain, has made a complete 180. It's unbelievable! His personality is so different. I can finally see what he was like all the time underneath the pain. He's a total velcro horse. He follows me everywhere. He loves being brushed, adores kids, and actually wants to move.

I'm so excited! So, yes, everything is great!

I’m so happy for you and Max!

 

[paintedChix]

Yeah I don’t mind the less extreme ones. I’m sure I would totally adore an Arab if I had one, they look so elegant, I’m just not a fan of the weird head shape

O MY GOSH!! This turned into a book!! A LARGE one. Might wanna grab a cuppa' your favorite drink. VERY picture heavy.
**********
It's been 3 yrs, but I do have to ask.

What weird head shapes? Are you talking about the extreme Arabs shown in halter - especially babies & yearlings - predominantly Egyptian lines? Than yes, I would agree. BUT every breed has horses & ponies that are extreme - "peanut pushing" western pleasure - Paints, QH, Appaloosa; "big lick" horses & ponies - everything from the TN walker, Saddlebreds to Hackney & Shetland ponies (& now a whole lot of miniature horses as well). I could go on, LOL. If I could go back in time, I'd go back to a simpler time when each breed wasn't becoming more refined & pretty. Not talking about the coarse, common horses, but horses that represented what their original breeders envisioned & started developing for specific purposes &/or jobs.

I've owned QH & Paints w/ both solid working lines for ranching, gymkhana, rodeo & running lines from TB; x-breds that were great trail horses; 5 purebred Arabian mares that all had Bask on their papers (1 that i produced) - but were very different in personalities & build; bred "foundation" Shetland ponies from 1995 to 2020 & our last 3 ponies passed in their later 20's in 2023. I am predominately a western rider, yet took lessons w/ up & coming dressage & top hunter/jumper trainers and instructors. As an older adult, i took driving lessons w/ both draft horse & carriage horse trainers. I've worked for barns that had top of the line Saddlebreds & Walkers, then also for imported Trakehners & Swedish Warmbloods. The barn I most recently worked for (1997 to Dec 2003) did overnight stays w/ accomadations for up to 15 head off of I-95. The USA Olympic team stayed several times as did several TB & Standardbred racers (both trotters & pacers) as they traveled up & down east coast. My Aunt & Uncle, in OH, bred Standardbreds & did really well on OH tracks ( i was at the track, 1 visit, when Trusty Gene won his pacing race - i think 1974?). I've seen more bad things in the horse industry than I care to express & the good always rises above it. I've seen a lot, experienced different breeds/disciplines & never got to try others.

All my background rant over.

There have always been both good, care taking horses & ponies as well as "rogues" in every breed. I was at a major stallion station while in my teens when a stallion literally attacked & dismembered a barn employee. Years later an owner offered a double great grand daughter of his to me. I refused. Months later, that yearling filly cleared the lower dutch door & ravaged her owner, putting her in ICU for months. Nothing new there. When people were screaming that Arabs & Shetland ponies were "crazy, people killers", i quietly enjoyed both w/ my family for many, many years.

Anybody remember "Teddy" the Olympic "super pony"? His breeder/owner (& original riding trainer) came out & rode two of our Arab x ponies. One was 1/2 Shet , the other 1/2 Hackney. Several of her students came out & rode them as well. Fun times!!

Our 3 daughters grew up riding. They rode predominately western but also did some jumping & conditioned for beginner endurance. Never competed at major breed, H/J or dressage shows. None are currently riding, but I'd like to think they enjoyed at least some of it, though our middle daughter swears "I drug her from show to show every weekend for years which always made her sick..."... I know that it helped make them more responsible adults. They are all 3 in 30s now - oldest has 2 tween daughters & middle has 2 sons (wonder if they will say she drug them camping every weekend, some day). 3rd will be getting married in Nov - the pair enjoy their dog & cats as their fur kids.

Years ago, I posted stories here on BYC w/ lots of photos of our ponies, some horses (i think). Not sure now how to find them... If anyone would like to see pics, I'd be happy to show... (a BUNCH).

**********
And back to head shapes - our Arabians.

Our 1st Arab - Chaunter. Double Khemosabi bred. She was a rather petite 14.1+. When bred to our 11.1 hh Shetland, he matured same height, but was bulkier.



Her 1st foal for us, a 1/2 Shet. He ended up same height as his dam, but he was "bulkier". He was ridden by all 3 girls, myself & several other young riders (leased by a trainer for lessons, went out for consignment sale 2x, before going to family in SC). Qualified for Pony Nationals, but she opted to take her horse who then went lame...



This is Chaunter's 2nd foal for us, purebred.His whole album deleted off of Photobucket. These are only ones. He ended up in OK, being a little girl's barrel racing mount against QH. He did very well.



This is Chaunter's 3rd foal - Ellona. Purebred. I don't seem to have her adult photos. Sold a few years ago to a woman who boards her w/ her family about a mile from us.

I did not breed Chaunter again - doing a ton of trail riding & starting to collect ponies that I wasn't selling...



2nd Arab mare - we called her Pretty Girl or PG. I think when I downloaded pics from Photo Bucket, I lost her whole album, too... from 2 1/2 yrs in early 2002 till these pics much later. Think both her paternal & maternal grand sires were Bask. Never got her papers from her breeder. She produced a filly (lungs didn't fully develop, passed 30 minutes after birth) & a colt, both 1/2 Shets.



PG's 1/2 Shet son - Sami. He matured at 13 or 13.1 hh. His dam was 13.3 & sire was 11.1 hh. He went w/ his buddy, Ellona, a mile down the road.



Rhythm was next. She was maybe 14.2 or 3. Can't remember. She was in a trainers barn that was hit by lightning. Several horses dead, some critically injured. She was "out" for hours, when came to, partially paralyzed on her right side. Owners tired of dealing with her & moving. She was a free horse, that wasn't free. Vet, chiro, massage, magnet treatments, treats to lead flex strengthening. Vet okay daughter as a light rider. Later, I was able to ride her. She produced 2 fillies for us - both 1/2 Shets. Even though Rhythem was somewhat larger & heavier frame, her fillies matured @ about 13 hh. O, we rode in the winter. Trace clipping allowed us to groom & ride - less sweating. Rarely had to blanket, even though everybody mostly on pasture. The winter we had deep snow & ice, she hadn't been trace clipped.




Can't forget Cricket. She had some issues. 14.3 hh, heavier boned. Even though I'd ridden her quite a bit years before I got her, she had become a "powder keg" & put her long time owner in the hospital. When she got out, she called me & said she's on the trailer to you. From California to NC... Our oldest, our youngest & I rode her. I never got many pics, 1st 2 are from her previous owner. She went out on a consignment/lesson lease to Arabian farm in SC & stayed. At that age, she settled into the lesson life & was happy. I never bred her & wished I had. She had 2 awesome purebred fillies for prev owner.

 

[paintedChix]

Ookay. Our round bales are like 1500lbs.

Our round bales were about 1/2 that weight.

 

[paintedChix]

Apshhhhh! I don’t know whether to take offence or not lol.
To be fair there are snobs in every equestrian sport, dressage is a lot of work. Take it from me. I’ve been doing this for 3 years and I’m only just getting into 2nd level

And that's AWESOME! Dressage is hard work. Takes special horse/rider combo to achieve higher levels (as in other equestrian sports, but only one i know of that grades levels of knowledge).

Personally, I think every horse & rider should learn the beginner basics of beginner dressage.

I LOVE seeing western dressage now. & what about the vids out there of a "puny" QH & cowboy "dancing" alongside a "huge" warmblood?