Welcome to the april issue of the horseshoecorner.com newsletter.  Last month I gave a brief introduction into the expanded services we're offering non- profit equine organizations, and I thought I'd give you a few details about them this month.  In short we've begun developing a volunteer network that will assist non -profit organizations in developing their advertising opportunities within a horseshoecorner.com membership.

Our experiences, with non- profit organizations has shown that time is a very precious commodity to them.  They are often too busy to take advantage of the special offers we've made.  A Lack of time kept them from building their profiles, listing events, products, or otherwise advertising their cause.  

We felt that our members really could benefit from their cause, so we felt a need to improve our services.  With this program we'll assign a volunteer to their cause.   The volunteer will pull information from the non profits flyers, website, etc.  to create the advertising profiles on horseshoecorner.com.  It's a win-win situation for all of us. 

If you've kept an eye on the horse profile section, than you've already seen the benefits of this program.  Secondwind adoption program was the first organization to take advantage of this program.  Our volunteers were able to post a rescue profile for Secondwind Adoption, as well as several horse profiles.  

All of that was accomplished with only a small amount of time from Celeita Kramer, secondwind's program director, all we asked for was her permission to post the information as well as review the profiles to make sure she approved of their presentation.

The featured horse Romeofound below is just one example of the beautiful horses they have that need a home.   If you haven't seen them you really should take a peak, some of them are just plain stunning.         

Thank you,
Tim Van Loan
www.horseshoecorner.com 

Featured Horse for Sale 

Regal Romeo: 1995 TB gelding, 16.1 hands, never raced but registered with Jockey Club (9531228) but not tattooed, working at 1st level, has been in regular work (3 to 5 times a week over the last 7 years), also former jumper and is a better jumper than hunter, has also done lead line, sound, healthy, always well cared for and accustomed to being in a stall with daily turn out shots and health care always completed including botulism shots, goes in a snaffle, competed in 2008, ,

 located at SWAP HQ in West Virginia, likes people, good manners, respects your space, good temperament, can be ridden today, confident, knows leads, likes to work, smart, good with other animals and horses, lazy at times and like all well trained horses he needs to be asked correctly and expected to do it, good with farrier and vet/shots, ties, cross ties, clips, bathes, quiet in stall, lunges on a line or free lunges, can catch in an open field, higher in the herd but if he is not bothered by another horse, he will not bother them.

Former owner has no time for him but loves him dearly and wants to know he's in a great home. traveled in a 2 stall straight load walk through, a 2 stall step up and back out, and a slant load, max length of trip he's done is 5 hours, used to board fence but does not challenge fence, he has jumped a 4' fence to when his buddy was taken in for dinner before him, so he likes to go in first from turn out.

Recommended for cross country, low level dressage, low level jumping, pleasure riding, hunt seat on the flat hunt seat over fences, local and regional showing, lesson or school horse. Comes with his 'clothes' blankets, etc... Really nice boy, consistent performer, pretty laid back, not a bucker or hot head, no vices.

   

 

Can't catch your horse?

Posted by: Nanette Levin 

If you've been around horses for a while you've probably encountered one that decides he's not interested in being caught. Interestingly, as I've moved more toward a natural herd environment, those chosen for riding activities are the most eager to come in (honestly, this isn't a reaction I expected, but one I do appreciate). Still, even those not engaged in training routines need to be captured periodically for vet calls, trimming, worming, doctoring and other general maintenance demands. Whether it's a riding horse that is playing hard to get or a retiree that has you spending hours horse chasing when you need to handle him, stop the frustration with some easy ideas to encourage them to come running.

Keep a routine

It's always easiest on horses and humans if you maintain a routine. Feed at the same times each day, train at a consistent hour when possible, turn-out and bring into the barn on a schedule and keep your horse comfortable with a timetable he can count on. It's amazing how a simple change in normal activity times can upset an entire herd and make catching a chore. Similarly, if your horse can't learn to expect you at regular times, he's more likely to avoid you when you approach.

Educating young horses

Sometimes the young horses that come to Halcyon Acres™ to be started under saddle chose to be difficult about coming when called. Many are not accustomed to turn-out and/or have been taught handling involves a chase and capture. Others are stressed from being in a new environment with a different routine. A few have had virtually no human contact and/or hostile handling and are fearful. Usually we can find an ideal buddy to help guide a new arrival.

For those who simply refuse to cooperate, we don't chase them or bribe them with treats. We go to the gate at feed time and encourage the horses to come. Most will follow the lead of their chosen pasture companion - one familiar with the farm and associate routines.

For the few who seem to delight in the 'see-if-you-can-catch-me' game, we don't play. These horses are given three opportunities to come to the gate for stall comforts and dinner. One with the companion horse; a second after the rest of the herd is brought in; and a final offer after all are fed. If they don't want to come, they're not forced. They're given ample water and hay, but no grain and no companionship until they choose to come to the gate and be led to the barn. Most change their mind about their freedom quest after their first night spent outside alone. Some take a few days. It's important not to chase these horses or threaten them in anyway. Just ask for their approach and if they're not interested, walk away.

Alphas and other controlling horses

We have a mare at the farm that is extremely aggressive with the herd during feed time. She's also decided of late to refuse to be caught for periodic maintenance activities. Interestingly, when she's in training, she fights with the herd to be first to be haltered, but it will be a couple more weeks before we can fit her into the schedule. With an eight-foot cotton lead rope, we've stopped this attitude on a matter of minutes on every occasion (this is particularly effective at feed time). Basically we send her away and do not allow her to have access to any of the herd members (or the hay piles) until she asks to be caught. Body language is important too, but it works like a charm.

We had one horse in here for starting under saddle training (he was a colt that clearly didn't need the ball baggage) that periodically refused to be caught. It was actually a funny scene to watch. He had been schooled at liberty in a 60-foot diameter roundpen. He'd run from his catcher, get sent away and would circle around the human relegated to retrieve him the exact perimeter distance of the roundpen, no matter the size of the pasture - always at a cadenced jog. This became part of the training routine - he'd see the human and start his circle. After about ten minutes, he'd approach and follow the handler into the barn. You didn't even need a lead rope for him to follow.

Loose horse? Grab another steed to lure them home

Invariably, if you have enough horses you're moving around, considerable land to traverse and that clever mare who's figured out how to open every gate, stall door and latch you've installed to flummox her - to no avail - you'll find yourself dealing with the challenge of escaped equines. Grain works sometimes to lure them, but generally grabbing a horse that others will follow is a quicker, easier and more effective solution.

Usually, it doesn't matter if you're on their backs or have them on a lead, but we did experience one situation where saddled proved necessary. We had two recently weaned foals break out of their paddock at dusk then headed for the back 100-plus acres at a breakneck pace. The challenge of getting them home proved akin to herding cats. We discovered our lead pony mare would have been a great cow horse as she jumped in to help with moves that would have been the envy of anyone witnessing a team penning competition. It was dark before we got them home, but once this gal realized the job requested, no riding cues were necessary for her to crouch, bounce, block and herd these two rollicking brats determined to head for the hills. Cool horse - this was all done with a halter and lead rope on one side of her neck because we were in too much of a hurry to tack.

Communicate with your horse with his concerns in mind

If you have an older horse that doesn't want to come to you when you go to the paddock or pasture, think about what you may be doing during training or handling that makes him resent it. Try to add some fun activities for the horse in all your encounters, whether you're riding him or not. Most horses relish training that is responsive and engaging. Maybe he's ill. Is he hurting and turning sour? It's not always appropriate (in fact, rarely so) to blame the horse. Think about what you can do to make training happy time.

Show you appreciate him coming to you. Sometimes this can be simply vibes (horses are more perceptive than most give them credit for), but can include a scratch on his favorite spot, a few moments of lush grass grazing or time doing what you've discovered he enjoys.

Think about why your horse may not run to you when he sees you. If he's avoiding you, there's probably a good reason - in his mind, anyway. You'll enjoy your horse a lot more if he's happy when you're together. Figure out what he likes and you'll likely have him chasing you to spend time together.

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Training Mythunderstandings

The Daily Training Routine

by Ron Meredith

President, Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre

It takes a long time to develop a full communication system with a horse. When you first begin the training process, the horse's vocabulary of understanding is pretty limited and that limits what you can expect of him. As he learns more, you can expect more.

Eventually there will come a time when you have developed full communication with the horse and you know he understands what you are asking. You support every request with a corridor of pressures applied consistently at every stride. Once you and the horse have reached this advanced level, you should expect compliance with every request. You do your part, and you expect the horse to do his.

But with a baby green horse at the beginning of training, we don't expect the horse to understand all of the shapes we want him to take when we apply given pressures. He doesn't understand which physical or psychological pressures we want him to ignore like the girth or something flapping above eye level. He doesn't understand which pressures are methodically applied directional pressures such as leg pressure on one side asking him to move his hindquarters in the opposite direction when we're riding or our primary line opening up for a turn when we're leading him that he can remove by taking the shape we want. We don't expect full compliance in the beginning because the baby horse's vocabulary needs to grow.

So the baby horse has to add these pressures one by one to his vocabulary. You have to break everything you want to teach him down into the smallest number of little tiny pieces that you can. Then teach each of those things one at a time.

There isn't any hard and fast rule about how long an individual training session should last when you are working the horse. I like to think of each lesson in thirds. There's a warm-up third, a training third and a cooling down third.

You spend the first third of the time in a warm up arrangement that mentally and physically gets the horse in rhythm with relaxation. If he's a beginning horse, he may just run around and play with you following him around. If he's a little more educated you might longe him or do some gymnastic exercises under saddle. This is the time when you allow him to work slow to be pumping the fluids in his legs from his frog and to get his joints working free and muscles warmed up.

The middle third of the training session is where you practice things the horse already knows and it is the only time when you introduce anything new, anything beyond what the horse already understands. You never introduce something new out of the clear blue sky. Anything new should be only a tiny baby step away from what the horse already knows and has practiced. You go along really slowly and introduce things in very small increments so the horse stays interested and the rhythm and relaxation keep going. And don't hesitate to just stop in the middle if everything turns into a can of worms because it's always better to stop and reboot.

It's important to recognize the difference between teaching the horse something and him just accepting it. For example, a laid back horse might stand there and accept the saddle pad and the saddle and the girth and so on. Because the horse is accepting each new thing as one of those things people just do and staying relaxed about it, it looks like he's trained. If you don't realize you haven't really taught the horse anything yet, there's going to be a wreck when you come to a place where the horse's acceptance and his understanding are in conflict. When you try to tell him to move and do something with all that stuff on him, that's when he's suddenly going to find that he's being attacked from all directions by something that has him restrained and constrained and his excitement level is going to go right through the roof. It's a very tricky thing because a lot of people think that a horse that you've never had to develop any control over is a perfect horse but actually they just don't have any control over him.

In order for the horse to add a pressure to his vocabulary, at some point he has to resist things a little bit and you have to calm him a little bit and show him that you're a friend he can trust not to hurt him. That doesn't mean you go around picking fights with him. If you add something new and everything's fantastic then take it all off today. Do it again the next day and the next day. After three or four days you can start heeding him with all this gear on. When he's heeding really well with all the gear on, then you longe him with it on. Then someone just sits on him. Then you heed him with someone on his back. Then you longe him with someone one his back. And gradually you add the bridle and bit pressures and you just go along baby step by horse-logical baby step.

The last third of the training session is the cool down period. This is the horse's time to physically and mentally unwind before you put him away. If everything's gone along great, you've practiced the things the horse already knows or added another little thing to his vocabulary while keeping him rhythmic and relaxed. The time to start cooling him down is while everything is going well, before he gets tired or his attention starts to wander.

Any time you're having a good time and it starts to change, that's the time to cool him down and put him away. Any time that the relationship between you and the horse seems to be going the wrong way--he's not interested in you today or whatever--you let him play a while and then put him away. Any time you're not sure what to do next, that's the time to put him away. Any time you feel you were lucky and got away with something, that's the time to put him away.

The horse's daily training routine should not be based on a set of particular actions you've decided to take to teach him according to any particular schedule. A training routine should be based on the horse's reactions to your actions. A good routine maintains both the horse's comfort level and the horse's attention level.

______________

© 2001 Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre. All rights reserved.

Instructor and trainer Ron Meredith has refined his "horse logical" methods for communicating with equines over 30 years as president of Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre (800 679-2603; http://www.meredithmanor.edu), an ACCET-accredited equestrian educational institution.

If you enjoyed this article, please check out all of the articles we have available at  www.horseshoecorner.com

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