[Seahorseys]

So, I have spent the last 6 months halter-breaking, socializing, training and teaching my 5 year old mare manners. Over that time period, I have come across SO MANY EXCUSES as to why "today might not be a good day to work with Frida". Some of them I am responsible for and some are from the peanut gallery at the barn. It's so FRUSTRATING! I will try to list as many as I can, and am interested as to which ones you agree with and which ones you think are nonsense. Mind you I have an indoor at the facility I board at.

-It's too dark
-It's too late
-It's too windy
-She just ate (how long do you guys wait?)
-It's too close to feeding time
-It's too muddy
-It's raining, or thundering, or lightening...
-She's in season
-She just had her teeth done
-It's too cold
-It's too buggy
-It's too hot

Ok, I might have forgotten some others...haha, add em if you got them and debunk the others!

 

[HorsesAreForever]

Halter breaking a 5 year old? Interesting.
How come?

 

[Seahorseys]

her and her sister were born on a piece of property and did nothing but live in the backyard grazing because their owner had dreams of breaking them in a natural horsemanship fashion (ala Clinton Anderson) but never did. It's been a fun go of it though, first dental visit, first vet appointment ( at 5! ), first farrier visit (god her feet were long!) first halter, first stall, first blanket, first cross tie, etc etc...everything was a first, ha!

 

[kevinshorses]

-It's too dark
-It's raining, or thundering, or lightening...
^^Legitimate reasons if your riding outside.


-She's in season

^^A good reason to work her if there ever was one.


......

 

[ridergirl23]

"its to late" could be a good reason, but none other that i see are very good reasons... if its windy, or rainy, or jsut not perfect, all the more reason to work with her! just to get her used to listening even with distractions, and to keep you focused on her too. it doesnt matter what feeding time is, i wil work my hrose anytime, mind you i dont like to inturrupt her feeding, because i dont liek doign anythign when im hungry, but it also shows her that no matter what the problem is, she needs to listen to you.

 

[Loosewolf]

For what it's worth, I have 80% of the same list.
Just two things are different. Mine is 5 too, but is well into his work for years, not just broke/started.I am curious to that as well
Second,in season isn't a problem. I Thank the Lord for geldings sometimes..
I'd like to answer the one question, "how long" with regard to pre-feed/ feed time?
Normally for me, an hour before, and when he is done..
It's just one of those little battles I don't chose to have...I don't like being bothered when I am eating either.
I do however handle him while he eats (not annoying him, etc.) as to not let him think he has chased me off! One day I will make him watch me eat..ha!

 

[HorsesAreForever]

Those first times are always fun!

I got Chance when seh was 4 1/2 and was only saddle broke, not broke to ride, and was abused and bleh bleh bleh sat in the pasture and never touched. So I know where you are with that.

I use 2 use feeding time as an excuse but as long as shes not already eatting I really dont pay attention to it. She use to throw HUGE fits when she heard food but now she doesnt mind cause she knows shes gonna get it when shes done anyways.

Muddy is a good one if your riding outside cause it can be dangerous, but if your indoors it doesnt matter. lol

Ive ridden Chance while it was raining, and thundering etc.. but that was in a indoor..

SO I guess it all depends on your facilities.

 

[riccil0ve]

Since you are halter-breaking, I'm assuming you aren't working her too hard, so the only excuse I think has merit is if she just had her teeth done. Her mouth will be sore, and she'll be groggy from the sedative. I'm surprised no one caught that one?

But all the other ones... you have an indoor arena, you are protected from all the elements except sound, it won't kill you. =]

 

[MacabreMikolaj]

This is kind of funny to me seeing as how me and Shay-la just got back from one of our traditional winter "night rides" in arctic temperatures hovering into the -30's with the windchill :lol: And no, we don't have an arena, just a dirt road and a whole lot of prairie darkness!

The first thing I think when I read the list is - why? Why do you have a list? Why do you make excuses to not work with her? Is there a psychological reason behind the list?

I only ask because virtually every item on the list is somewhat foreign to me. I live in Canada where winters stay in deep freeze for four months - we never stop riding. Between work and living in the city during winter, it's always dark when we get off work - we ride in the dark. We haven't had rain, sleet, snow, mud, heat, bugs or cold chase us off yet. We'll adjust our schedules or what we may want to do to match what the weather will allow, but never could I imagine making an excuse to not see the horses. Even if we don't feel like riding, we'll drive 40 minutes one way almost every day just to groom them and hang around them.

Maybe we're just nuts and the prairie sun has baked into our brains? :lol: I truly don't mean any offense, it just surprises me that anyone would need an excuse to not work their horse, let alone a list of them. I've been cursing the frozen ground and ice for two weeks now because it means I can't ride or lunge my green 2 year old, but that doesn't mean I can't groom her or work on ground manners instead. I actually look forward to windy days because it means more spooky things for her to get exposed to.

Then again, the horses are all I live for, people already think I'm loony that I'd rather ride my horse at midnight in -40 then drink at the bar!

 

[gypsygirl]

excuses are like 'buttholes' [edited] everybody has one & they all stink !

my old trainer used to say that all the time =P

 

[Loosewolf]

This is kind of funny to me seeing as how me and Shay-la just got back from one of our traditional winter "night rides" in arctic temperatures hovering into the -30's with the windchill :lol: And no, we don't have an arena, just a dirt road and a whole lot of prairie darkness!

The first thing I think when I read the list is - why? Why do you have a list? Why do you make excuses to not work with her? Is there a psychological reason behind the list?

I only ask because virtually every item on the list is somewhat foreign to me. I live in Canada where winters stay in deep freeze for four months - we never stop riding. Between work and living in the city during winter, it's always dark when we get off work - we ride in the dark. We haven't had rain, sleet, snow, mud, heat, bugs or cold chase us off yet. We'll adjust our schedules or what we may want to do to match what the weather will allow, but never could I imagine making an excuse to not see the horses. Even if we don't feel like riding, we'll drive 40 minutes one way almost every day just to groom them and hang around them.

Maybe we're just nuts and the prairie sun has baked into our brains? :lol: I truly don't mean any offense, it just surprises me that anyone would need an excuse to not work their horse, let alone a list of them. I've been cursing the frozen ground and ice for two weeks now because it means I can't ride or lunge my green 2 year old, but that doesn't mean I can't groom her or work on ground manners instead. I actually look forward to windy days because it means more spooky things for her to get exposed to.

Then again, the horses are all I live for, people already think I'm loony that I'd rather ride my horse at midnight in -40 then drink at the bar!

I really can't personally think of anything to counter the above statement.
When I was younger (25 years ago), I was doing exactly as stated above in the quotes.
Now, I try to pick better opportunities to get any "bigger" work done. **** cold hurts the joints too much.Hard to even hold the hoof-pick for more than 5 minutes sometimes. However, I'll simply come back later on that day, or the next day, and pick it up again. For me, I know he needs something, it gets done!
One thing, every day I do get down to where he is boarded, and groom, pick, work, clean etc... I make whatever effort I can. I just have to pick different times or days to finish the work now and then. He has full board, so I really don't have to worry about feeding, mucking, etc...
I would rather ride than party, any day...It just happens that I don't drink anyway, but...If I did, I would rather ride...

 

[RiosDad]

It's 7:45 AM, cold, 12 degrees out, snowy and my guy hasn't had anything to eat since last night??
Do I take him out of his warm stall, saddle up and head out into the predawn cold???

Dam right.

 

[EveningShadows]

I'm going to have to go with Miko on this one...I think your list is too long. SOMETIMES if I show up at the farm and they're out of hay I'll toss some and wait half an hour to let whoever I want to work with have a nibble, but usually only with my 2 year old. The older horses know how to behave when being ridden/worked with, even when they're hungry. In a perfect world they'd always have enough in their belly, but we can only throw so much hay at a time.

LOL love the reply RiosDad - sounds like Miko and I only we're night hawks, not early risers! And I just noticed you're a fellow Canadian! Heard Ontario got quite the snowstorm, same with Calgary...we're lucky it hasn't hit here yet!

 

[Seahorseys]

I didn't quite state that these were my excuses exclusively, these are reasons I have heard and some of them I have had to use. I am always at the barn doing something, and if I can't lunge her we work on other things for sure, but I was talking about lungeing specifically, perhaps I was not clear. I don't ride her yet, I recently moved to a new barn with an indoor, and this thread arose because I have noticed some atypical behaviour since I began working her in the indoor. She's generally very mellow, but her forwardness during circlework lately has been leading me to try and find out what the cause could be attributed to. Last night it happened to be quite windy, and the plastic that insulates the indoor was whipping about. She was ok with it when we were doing groundwork and polework, but once we began to lunge, it set her so afright, it was slightly unnerving. After getting her to trot and walk in an acceptable, calm manner, I ended the lesson early. I didn't want to, but I don't know, I felt like I was pushing her too hard, and she was clearly not focused. I wasn't looking to start a battle because she was scared of something new. I definitely don't have any excuses in regards to seeing my horse, jeepers, I've spent the night in a parka and sleeping bag on a cold cement floor, on the contrary, I get anxiety attacks if I don't go up at least once a day!

 

[RiosDad]

I was talking about lungeing specifically, perhaps I was not clear. I don't ride her yet,

So, I have spent the last 6 months halter-breaking, socializing, training and teaching my 5 year old mare manners. !

You are either very young or very inexperienced and we should cut you more slack.. I would suggest you get some help and get your mare broke.
Good luck

 

[Honeysuga]

Or maybe she just isn't in any hurry to do so?

 

[RiosDad]

Or maybe she just isn't in any hurry to do so?

Is this another excuse to be added to the list.. NO if someone takes 6 months on a 5 year old mare it is because of some reason and I don't think it has to do with she doesn't want to???
I feel it is a lack of confidence.

 

[Honeysuga]

I honestly meant that to be sarcastic(jokingly so though) meant to explain, but I keep getting signed off...grrr

I kept trying to post that I agreed with you actually, it could be 3 am for all I care (especially if I was lucky enough to have an indoor arena) and if I felt I wanted to ride her, her butt would be out of her cozy little stall and working before the sun came up without breakfast to boot.

It is not fair to the horse to teach her that if the conditions are not perfect that she doesn't have to buck up and work She needs to be desensitized to working in all kinds of weather, banging plastic or not, and all times of the day.

She should be working by your schedule, feeding time or not, early or late. Do you think if you sell her every owner she ever has is going to pamper her so? I think not. What if someone like Riosdad or myself were to a hold of her? There would be no pampering, no "you don't have to work" when she is scared of the flapping plastic, the thunder, or the time of day.

Making excuses especially with the absolute luxury of an indoor arena is just laziness.

 

[Seahorseys]

wow, its amazing to me how covertly rude some people manage to be. Yes, I have no trouble admitting that Frida is the first horse that I have owned or started. I've ridden for 10 years, but I also have no problem admitting that I'm learning at my own pace, AND I WANT TO DO IT WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS. I have weekly lessons with a trainer - not that this post was originally about asserting that - and she has trained with the likes of Carl Hester and Dr. Bechtolsheimer - so I think I'm covered in that area thanks much.

 

[MN Tigerstripes]

Hmmm... Excuses? My horse or myself is sick or injured. I have to do homework; this is my last semester of college, so I had to make a choice about what is most important right now. The horses had to take a hit (timewise) right now so I could keep them in the future.

Um.... honestly I can't think of any others right now, but I'm generally finding reasons to ride or to work with my horses. I have to force myself to do my homework because I'd rather be working with the horses (even if it's just trimming hooves, cleaning the barn/paddock, etc).