Has anyone seen this before? Is it a training technique? Can you explain what it accomplishes?
I noticed that a trainer had a bunch of photos like THIS
Bunch of examples on this page:
Can anyone enlighten me?
(and I NOT saying this is bad, abusive or anything negative - just hadn’t seen it before and I was wondering why it would be done).
Well, I have always been touching horse on the rump, while sitting on them. Keeps him from being touchy or surprised when something unexpected does end up touching him.
I just have him standing still, twist slightly in the saddle, lay a hand on his back, spine, both sides of spine, top of hips, croups too. Something any horse needs to learn to be a BETTER horse when used. This is both English and Western horses.
Stuff happens in daily life, he has to be accepting of sudden, unexpected touching without throwing in a buck or crow-hopping with the surprised rider.
Two easy examples are a rider who may not be able to lift right leg, drags foot across his back while mounting. ANY bad reaction then is going to hurt someone! Another is the horse being “ticklish” when you wear a rain coat or longer slicker, that may rub on him while riding or even putting it on while horse stands still. Being halfway dressed on a long-skirted coat is going to hang up your arms, probably off balance as well. May not end well here either.
One I see commonly, is standing rider and horse, with rider twisted to look or talk to someone not close to them. One hand on horse rump to brace themselves, to view the sights or talk for a few minutes.
Horse needs to be accepting of being touched unexpectedly, not react poorly. So I think this rump touching is a training step that needs to be on the list for training any equine.
Yeah, this is more deliberate than that. OP, why not post the question on the trainer’s FB page, and let us know if he answers you?
could it possibly be a balance exercise? different discipline but when i was a teen i lessoned with a german rider who had us do many, many core/balance exercises under saddle… we almost never touched the reins with both hands at a time… one of his exercises was for us to canter with one hand touching the dock.
When showing stock horses the “in” look is a packed tail
It is against the rules to show one with a “dead” tail. So, on sale horses the trainer will ofter reach back to give the appearance of a packed tail. It is an illusion that the horse looks deeper behind when they pack their tail. Some horses can be trained to pack their tail by reaching back and forcing the tail down. The alternative is this
https://www.facebook.com/288984698900/photos/pb.288984698900.-2207520000.1432865522./10152977928523901/?type=3&theater
[QUOTE=AQHA4me;8169406]
When showing stock horses the “in” look is a packed tail
It is against the rules to show one with a “dead” tail. So, on sale horses the trainer will ofter reach back to give the appearance of a packed tail. It is an illusion that the horse looks deeper behind when they pack their tail. Some horses can be trained to pack their tail by reaching back and forcing the tail down. The alternative is this
https://www.facebook.com/288984698900/photos/pb.288984698900.-2207520000.1432865522./10152977928523901/?type=3&theater[/QUOTE]
That is crazy but thank you for clearing that up! IME a clenched or ‘packed’ tail is almost always indicative of a tense or uncomfortable horse… where-as a loose tail is usually a sign of a horse using their back properly or being loose, usually with collection… :eek: why is that “in”?
Teaching them to pack their tails.
Why?
Fashion, silly.
Ug. Another thing I wish I didn’t know.
I think out in a pasture the horses raise up their tails when they are having a good time. Why on earth would anyone want them to clamp their tails between their butt cheeks? But I ride English, what do I know?
Learn something every day. I can appreciate being able to touch a horse on his haunches so he doesn’t freak the heck out but his tail is his business! :lol:
Slightly tangential, but…seriously? Those horses look half-dead. I understand they’re supposed to look “relaxed” but relaxed can still be alert. I’ll pass, thanks.
The same reason people like the “peanut roller” look … or like that ridiculously slow rocking lope that make the horse look like it’s crippled.
Strange way to train, indeed.
Now, many trainers will stop a horse and pat it behind while it is learning to stand there, without trying to teach the horse to duck their tail between their legs like a whipped dog.
I expect it is one more fad, just like those awkward gaited horse ways of flinging front legs, some of the higher level movements in dressage and airs above the ground and other strange ways of moving horses don’t normally exhibit, that we bred or train for.
Different strokes and all that.
hmm, i always do that right after i get up (and touch the ears, and my toes and stuff) but it’s purely stretching for me. ( keep waiting for a horse to take offense, but so far so good. :D)
Another thought, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here, tail stacking is more likely, but when I was having trouble with flying lead changes, one trainer’s DVD (won’t say which one due to firestorms over various DVD trainers and those of us who follow them) suggested reaching back to move the rider’s hip to the side so the horse could feel the weight shift to that seat bone. Of course this was a training method that eventually was not necessary as the horse learned to associate the shift in weight with the up coming flying lead change. It worked for W and me --but he’s a pretty smart cookie.
Foxglove
I do that with my horses. For me it is just another area to pet them and it serves a few purposes. One is for “desensitizing” to things touching them back there, but that only takes a couple times. It does come in handy, though, when I’m trail riding under trees and they get little branches and leaves that come on their rump and I turn around to brush them off. Another reason is just shifting balance and position and having them walk straight (or just stand there) - that a shifting balance doesn’t always mean to do something.
But that’s just me. To hear it is to teach them to put their tail down is just weird.
I want to know the answer, too.
Is it a command to see if the rider’s leg moves, as in equitation?
Okay - the packed tail thing totally makes sense - and if you look, most of his horses look nice and round - but the tail is tucked tight (my horse carries her tail way out - but will clamp it down if you reach back like this).
As for desensitizing, yes, it has its purpose - I do the same with my horse - I can touch any where back there - heck, sometimes I like to lean back with my palm on her butt and feel her hind quarters working up a hill.
But I don’t jog and lope around the arena reaching way back on just about every horse I ride - I don’t think the photos of this trainer have anything to do with desensitizing.
Thanks for insights! I might not agree with the “packed tail” look, but I much rather it be achieved by a harmless hand on the rump, then those horrid injections and other tail deadening procedures.
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8169937]
I want to know the answer, too.
Is it a command to see if the rider’s leg moves, as in equitation?[/QUOTE]
I don’t think so - this is a pro trainer, doing the same reach back on a dozen horses - I don’t think he is practicing for an equitation class - teaching the horse to keep its tail down makes more sense.
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