The one I’m working on now is 1/2 saddlebred! I’m also 5’ 3" so she’s learning to put her head down for the halter and will eventually for the bridle.
Darn horse doesn’t eat any sort of cookie so I can’t cheat with a cookie for head lowering!
2 Likes
I’m tall, but one of my two is tall enough that his head in “normal-giraffe-mode” is out of reach. When he decides he is going to extra giraffe there’s no hope. So we practice head down and also “yeah that’s nice that you’d like to go out, but you have to put your head into the halter to do so, I’m not going to chase you around”. He’s learning.
1 Like
My former BM used to send horses for training with this guy that was at least 6 feet tall. They came back nicely broke to ride but you needed a ladder to put a bridle on and they had no idea what a mounting block was. So that was what I did. Later she started requesting that all horses put their head down and stand at a mounting block. Trainer apparently had no idea short people existed!
7 Likes
Ha!! That’s fantastic. I teach all of mine to pick me up from the mounting block, walk super slow, and definitely put their heads down. This work has paid off multiple times as I’ve been injured and still want to ride.
1 Like
New horse learned that we can take 10 minutes to walk 30 feet back to the stall for dinner. New horse thought it was going to starve to death. New horse no longer tries to barrel down the barn aisle to its stall.
7 Likes
I can’t reach my ASBs head if it’s in giraffe mode. He’s 16.3 and I’m 5’3”. Thankfully he’s good about his halter and will do anything for a peppermint or ginger snap cookie, but I don’t know how I’d manage if he wasn’t. Ladder maybe?
Friesians (spelling, my iPad keeps screwing it up) use their shoulders cause they are driving horses and pushing into things comes natural. They bull doze people over if allowed. They are worse about it than other breeds in my limited experience.
Every horse can have good manners, mine wait at the gate, they know the order they come in and wait patiently. Turning out is easy, I put out small piles of alfalfa and as soon as they get their scratch, off they go and could care less about the other horses coming in. Even if I don’t put out the tasty alfalfa it’s an ingrained habit now. My horses all enter stalls/doors one step at a time. Slowly and calmly. Lots of positive reinforcement, now you can tell them “in” and they self enter their stalls and self load on trailer, doorways, whatever. Takes time and consistency to have enough positive interactions that they behave calmly and trust you.
2 Likes
Ok owner has things conflated
It’s true that asking a horse that is spinny and alert to lower its head can relax them. But despite what NH says it’s not easy or even possible to make a horse lower its head when it’s blowing up.
Horse needs to learn that it doesn’t matter how they feel they can’t run into humans or their day will get much worse very fast.
6 Likes
I believe that too. My ASBs can be losing their minds after being inside for a few days for ice and snow (mine do go outside like other horses) and when I take them out they know not to run me over, yank on me, pull or otherwise become weird. Sometimes their little bodies will scrunch all up trying to contain themselves but they can and do.
What people accept as ok behavior in a led horse baffles me.
2 Likes
Well I’d think that it was that, but she follows a few people that are similar to the Traveling Horse Witch who seem to believe that a horse who has muscular imbalances in their body cannot behave because they feel threatened. Even in the pasture. She lectured me at great length the last time I saw her socially and I almost lost it.
The horse when purchased did 1st level. Horse can no longer longe or lead. Ridden she is strung out and is only ever ridden at a walk or trot. 
I don’t care that she wants to do in-hand movements - I think that’s great, I just don’t get why things like “don’t run me over” aren’t first.
But again, she isn’t here any more so I don’t have to worry about getting run over. Mine all know better.
2 Likes
I used to handle a horse that would rear in hand. It was pretty lazy but rearing got it out of things. Especially if you grabbed its halter. Lifted me right off my feet and the barn owner was in her 60s and got knocked over.
Owner was a moron and almost passed out when I got after the horse in front of him so we worked the horse without him being there. Chain over nose. Then I grabbed it by the halter. It was real surprised when I was still attached and it was now being chased backwards. It was a pretty easy fix as I handled lots of hot stallions before it showed up.
Owner was like, look poopsie has finally bonded with me and is now leading!
9 Likes
I think I would have lost my ever loving mind.
I used to fix other people’s horses without being paid for it, no longer. I also don’t trailer for other people (unless I know in advance how the horse will behave) any more. This bonding woo nonsense has gotten the whole way out of hand.
3 Likes
Nice reinback.
1 Like
What happened when he mounted?
Thank you.
Susan
Metal stock fences and horses don’t mix.
You’re welcome.
When I opened this (dressage) thread, I was expecting something more like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39tZ8pcDlQ4 not basic manners 101A.
1 Like
@SuzieQNutter, @enjoytheride Thanks! Gates, to me, test horse responsiveness, side-pass, changing direction around your hand, and side-pass. My horse and I have learned to work gates. I have never heard of a horse disemboweling themselves opening and closing a gate, but I know that some skill is involved in doing it correctly. A horse and rider has to learn what this skill is about. Beginners can’t be expected to know this skill.
@Alterration oH, oh, i Completely understand. I was run over, literally, by a “rescue” pasturemate with my horse years ago. He pushed me over to leave the run-in when I was leading my horse out and jumped over me when I fell. Luckily, he didn’t step on my body and my own horse didn’t freak out when I fell leading him. Needless to say I caught him and had a “come to Jesus” groundwork session with him while the BOs daughter was trying to “gentle” him. “Gentle”, my a$$. Horse had to learn that opening the run-in shed does NOT mean bowling me over. Told the BOs, who sponsored him, that he had to go from my horse’s pasture. He went back to the rescue soon afterwards.
The owner of that mare had/has a dangerous mare. Period. I’m very aware of clueless owners and owners like us don’t have to deal with them. Clueless owners sometimes allow their horses to become dangerous because they ignore their horses. Clueless owners are not my problem, nor should they be yours!!
3 Likes
Agreed.
My ASB mare lifted me up in the air a couple of times when I first got her.
Eventually, it became, “Hold the nose loop open and I’ll stick my nose into it!”
One problem that I never bothered to fix, was that in her mind, if Head-Down was good, then Head-WAY-DOWN" must be better, so now, I have to reach DOWN to get her nose in.
YMMV
8 Likes
