Feb 07 2010
horses – Round Pens and What They Do
We cannot start our ride until we can get on our horse and for some that can be a long and tedious ritual. The good news is that it does not need to be a struggle and we can teach our horses to wait patiently for us to get into the saddle no matter how clumsy we may be. We need to start with an understanding that horses are lazy by nature and we will use that in our favor. We also have to remember that the horse is like a computer and we cannot get out of the horse something we did not put in. With that in mind, lets program our horse to stand for mounting.
Going for Walks
Horses love to go for walks. If you have a plowed driveway or even a sidewalk that you can use you can take your horse out for a stroll. Horse’s love the snow and they like digging in the snow for grass. If you are turning out in a paddock that doesn’t have a lot of growth walk you horse around an area that has tall grass sticking out of the snow. They will love it!!! This activity helps keep the horse/person bond alive during the months you can’t ride as much.
Stall toys
If you buy stall toys I would recommend a toy that you can refill with a flavor. Likits are great because not only can your horse move it around with their head but they can enjoy the taste of many flavors. Because horse’s get bored very quick this gives them something new to taste with each refill.
Another thing you can do is take old laundry or milk plastic containers. Wash them out then fill them with horse treats. punch holes in the bottom big enough so that the treat will fall through but not too big so that all the treats will come tumbling out. This will give y our horse hours of entertainment. This is especially useful for a horse that gets nervous in storms as it keeps them busy.
As time progresses the horse accepts my position and even happily gives the burden to me. There is a lot of responsibility that goes with the lead horse position and most horses are more than happy to have someone else deal with it. At this point the horse settles down and begins to understand that I am trying to communicate my desires to them. They start looking to me to see what it is they should do next and each time an exercise is completed and they come out unharmed, their trust grows.
Now, this is an awesome responsibility for me for it is at this time the horse can really grow mentally and emotionally or I can lose it all in a few easy mistakes. It can be a delicate situation to determine if a response from the horse is defiance or fear. If I react to a response of fear to strongly I will lose some of the trust from the horse and cause confusion. If the horse is not corrected for defiant behavior they will become more difficult to work with. The round pen offers the perfect environment for me to learn how each horse thinks and responds to pressure.
When used correctly the round pen is a priceless tool for working a horse and I only covered the first weeks of training. There are times later in training where we go back to the round pen to work under saddle as well. However, just like a bit, saddle, rope, whip or any other tool, if it is used incorrectly it can do harm to the horse physically, mentally as well as emotionally. It is not the tool that is at fault, it is the uneducated person.
Verónica Carrillo V.
Todo sobre Juegos Mario para gente que le gusta jugar
Trabajar es fácil si sabes como
Encontrar un Trabajo Empleo es fácil si sabe dónde buscar