Its time.....I guess for a horse

[RichZ]

There's great info in this thread. Just to add my own 2 cents...

Our first horse was a Belgian foal. She's a great horse, and a wonderful companion and pal to me, but it will be a long time before she can be ridden even though she is very mellow, and loves her lessons. Foals are a lot of work. Don't get one unless you're prepared for that, and it's a long time befroe they will be physically and mentally prepared for riding.


Cowboydoc had suggested that we get quarer horses for riding. We followed his advice and got a pair of geldings. They have wonderful temperments, and are great horses. We got them at 10 and 17 years old. They also have become great pals of mine.

For a child, an older horse is the way to go, as Cindi said. If properly trained, they can be bomb proof.

To me, dogs and horses are the best friends a person can ask for. My three dogs and my three horses are my best firends, besides my wife, that is.

 

[mwechtal]

Hey guys, that brings up one thing that hasn't been discussed. Mare, or gelding? I assume that nobody is going to suggest a stud...

By the way. One piece of advice. Never under any circumstances let anyone give a horse a sugar cube. They react like the stuff is cocaine. They will try to jam their nose in every pocket that you have. I don't think they ever get over it. I'll give you 3 guesses on how I know this.

Also, if there's a 4H organization in your area, they can be quite helpful for the young riders. It depends on the leaders.

Mike

 

[cowboydoc]

Great point Mike. For the most part I would get a gelding. They are much more even in their temperment. Unless you really know what you're doing definitely not a stud. With mares you have to deal with their heat cycles and such. We all know how women can be at times, LOL. For that matter I don't think anyone on this forum is cut so we all know how we can be too!!! Therefore good idea to get a gelding. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> To me, dogs and horses are the best friends a person can ask for. My three dogs and my three horses are my best firends, besides my wife, that is. </font>
Hey, JMIII, guess you know where you stand now! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Never under any circumstances let anyone give a horse a sugar cube. They react like the stuff is cocaine. They will try to jam their nose in every pocket that you have. I don't think they ever get over it. )</font>

Mike, when I was a kid, don't know how many books I'd read that talked about horses liking sugar cubes. Only reason I didn't give'em to my little sorrel mare, Trixie, was because I couldn't afford to buy'em. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif But then one day I was in a grocery store right after someone had dropped a 20-25 pound bag of granulated sugar and it burst. I was grown before I found out you could buy sugar and flour in sacks smaller than 20 pounds, but that's another story. Anyway, I told the grocer I'd clean it up if I could have it; an offer he was quick to accept.

So now I had sugar to feed Trixie; a handful at a time, and sure enough, she loved licking it out of my hand. Everytime I went outside, Trixie'd come running to the fence to meet me. The only trouble was that whether I gave her any sugar or not, when the sugar was gone, she'd start chewing on me, and horses sure bite hard. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I complained to Dad about Trixie's new habit, and as usual, he thought it was funny, but told me it was because I'd been giving her that sugar. He suggested I quit that and give her a slice of bread instead as a treat. We were buying "day old" bread from the bakery at the time to feed the hogs.

Sure enough, I changed to handing her a slice of bread when I went out, found that she liked the bread just as much as she did the sugar, and she quit biting. Now I can't say for sure whether or not it was because she could see whether or not I had a slice of bread in my hand where I had to open my hand for her to see that granulated sugar, but whatever the reason was, I haven't given a horse any sugar since then.

 

[RichZ]

Geeze, Mike!!! And I thought you were my friend, too!!! Now you're trying to make trouble between me and Johnny!!! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Well, I have to admit, JMIII, is my best friend after my wife, dogs and horses. In my world, that's a CLOSE friend.

JMIII never kisses me when I'm feeling bad. All my other best friends do!!! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif But then I never have to give JMIII a tummy rub!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[mwechtal]

Bird,
Yeah I forgot about the biting. My old bay mare quarterhorse Billy Joe did start trying to do that. I was lucky though, I never actually got bitten. I'm not sure if that was luck or skill. I did try giving her stale cereal (not sugary, just plain corn flakes) on occasion, and she liked it almost as much, but she still tried to bite. Maybe it was because I didn't bring her something every time.

The old cuss had a strange habit the the previous owner pointed out to me. I would never in a million years have found it out by myself. If you held half a grapefruit for her she would scoop out all the pulp, work it around in her mouth for a minute, and spit out all the seeds, and swallow all the rest. I only tried it a couple of times, but it was hilarious.
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Mike

 

[mwechtal]

cowboydoc,
Another thing that occurs to me is the pony vs. horse issue. The ponies that I've met, and there has only been a few, seem much more difficult to train, and more likely to try to take advantage of a new rider. Of course, there are individual personalities to consider...

When she was in her teens, my wife picked out a buckskin mare that she really wanted. Her father told her that buckskins were wild (old wives tale), and instead got her a bay quarterhorse that had been barrel raced. This was NOT a good choice. She apparently did OK with it, but a calmer horse would have been MUCH better. (Actually, he first got her a donkey but that was <font color="red"> NOT </font> an acceptable substitute.) /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Mike

 

[cowboydoc]

I'd sure agree with everything you said Mike. Barrel horses are not a good first horse. Ponys are also not on my favorite list. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Boone]

I bought a barrel horse once. Sat down in the saddle and he took off like a streak every time. We spent a lot of time plow riening in tight little circles before he got the idea to let me set the speed. After that was done, he was a great riding horse and loved to go for rides. He would do the smoothest western jog, I have ever riden. I will agree though, barrrel horses are not a good idea for a first horse.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

My wife Barrel races and we have two barrel horses outback right now. The are great horses but they aren't really well suited for laid back pleasure riding. Sure there are exceptions but these horse are bred,selected and trained for their ability to do one thing well, run hard, turn sharp and stop on a dime.

Now one horse is retired and he has mellowed but even so we have to be careful. He gets around other horses and riders and he starts having flashbacks /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif thinks it is time to go! At home by himself he is fine but he associates a trailer ride and being around other horses as time to go to work. Can't blame him thst is what he did for the vast majority of his life.

I have also seen many Barrel horses who have issues that normally an owner would not want in a horse but the owners don't care as long as they perform for 15 seconds every weekend. Nobody cares about a flakey horse who makes them $$$ but that same horse may not be a good first horse for a child.

 

[cowboydoc]

Well said Lawman. Unless you are looking for a performance it's best to stay away from them. Reining, roping, barrel, cutting etc. are usually very good at what they do. The problem for the most part is that is all they've done. I've been around 100k cutting horses that if a piece of paper blew in front of them they'd blow up. They've never been expsoed to it. Very few people do "cross training" these days. The futurities, derbys, etc. are so demanding that alot of these perf. horses are used up. If you can find somebody that starts their horses slow, does cross training with them, and treats them like any other horse then you've got something. Problem is that rarely happens. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well said Lawman. Unless you are looking for a performance it's best to stay away from them. Reining, roping, barrel, cutting etc. are usually very good at what they do. The problem for the most part is that is all they've done. I've been around 100k cutting horses that if a piece of paper blew in front of them they'd blow up. They've never been expsoed to it. Very few people do "cross training" these days. The futurities, derbys, etc. are so demanding that alot of these perf. horses are used up. If you can find somebody that starts their horses slow, does cross training with them, and treats them like any other horse then you've got something. Problem is that rarely happens.

Yep, seems many people just care about how they perform. They are afraid to address other areas for fear of messing with their potential paycheck. So they end up ignoring other areas of their behavior.

Not to say our guys aren't good, especially around children but you are right they are full of energy and can blow up for some pretty strange reasons!

On the other hand we have a 6 year old off-the track TB gelding and he is the wildest, craziest, fightin' other horses, bucking, rearing, leader of the pack, yet you get on him and he's like some old hack horse. Just puts his head down and gently walks along. Took us a while to even attempt to ride him and boy did we look foolish when he was mellow as can be. Can't judge a book by it's cover I guess.

 

[Boone]

This is going to sound bad but it isn't really like it sounds. I put stuff out in my pasture so they get use to things that might rattle and spook them out on a trail.

I'm talking about a safe things like a few empty 20 oz. plastic soda bottles and a couple of 12 oz soda cans. I take shovel of dirt and drop it into a plastic grocery bag and drop that off out there for a while and let it rustle in the wind. I'll drop off a log out there once in a while, put it on one of there little walk paths. Little things for them to get used to before they meet it out on the trail.