Horsey money saving hints? (merged)

breezerockz

i have done a huge amount of ground work with my horse over the years,
she was a nutter on pos death row when i bought her, and i was quite a novice , never come across a mad horse,
anyway, did a bit of join up. and then taught her to touch items when i asked her, was alot to do with her to change her state of mind, flee or fight, and boy was she good at both,
anyway, over time we gained an azing bond, and have a huge amount of fun,
i taught her alot of tricks to get her mind working, as she was a nervous worrier, this helped take her mind off things, anyway, basically, she plas fetch, catch, takes her rugs off, if im on her back she helps open and close gates, picks my whip up off floor when i drop it etc, we did pony club like games, which she loved, all sorhings, and when it came to having a go at showjumping, we had fab fun, and did well, as we trusted each other,
im not saying to do these things, just thought id mention what my horse n i do. shes 17hh,lol, but is like a big pony,

purplelotus

That sounds great! But how on Earth do you start teaching a horse things like that? Was she young when you started? Are there websites and the like that give you ideas on how to do it? I'd really love to know more please!

Topdogfran

http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/training.shtml looks like a good place to start. The Parelli site seems to want you to sign up and pay money, but alot of their DVD's are available on Ebay.

piratess

... not moneysaving atall, but my 15yr old daughter rides "natural horsemanship!" .. and altho she enjoys it she finds it very challenging, Especially when she needs to be calm, as somtimes the slightest thing triggers the pony off into a mareish moment,
she had a riding lesson the other week as she says "normal riding" ... and enjoyed it loads lol .... i think somtimes the natural riding drains her confidence!

it is soooooooo interesting to watch tho!

breezerockz

hi,
my mare was 7.3yesrs when i took her on, was backed at 5.5years, kept on a farm, ridden only a couple of times a month if that, the woman was trying to get rid as horse was violent, kicked , bit, no control riding etc, if i hadnt taken her they were going to send her to a hunt yard or shoot her,
turned out that the mare was a very nervous and worrying type, and still can be,
anyway, to teach her i started with a pocket full of ponynuts,
and id hold objects out and say touch, n she would put her nose out to see, and get rewarded with a few nuts,( she doesnt bite for food, as she has to work for she knows that) anyway from there i got her to hold/pick things up by putting a hanky between her lips n sayg hold, she didnt take long to get the idea of using her teeth etc,
bought a great book a few years ago, tanya larrigans, sensations or something like that, will have to find the book, gives you ideas of what to teach,
i ask my horse if she'dlike some sweeties and she nods her head to say yes,lol, but i also say are you fat, she nods her head,
she can also do colours, i hold out red and blue and ask her to touch blue etc,
once she had the basics the rest is easier to teach,great fun,

orlao

Topdogfran wrote: »

http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/training.shtml looks like a good place to start. The Parelli site seems to want you to sign up and pay money, but alot of their DVD's are available on Ebay.

I'm not a big fan of Parelli and some of the NH.....like a lot of things it only works if you do it properly which means having the knowledge and training to "read" a horse.
There's an huge amount of very confused, sour 8 - 12 year old horses at the moment who were started using various NH methods without the basic skills to follow the programs through to a logical (for the horse!) conclusion. Sorry, but I don't consider a DVD or two enough training for a person to train an animal from scratch.Afterall, we all know not to buy a young, green horse for a novice rider as neither have enough experience to teach each other!

The other problem that's coming to the fore at the moment is that these horses are now being sold, not always to NH type homes.....so, for instance they have never been trained to walk beside a handler, they've been let walk behind a person which to a lot of more "traditional" horse people is dangerous and a bl**dy nuisance if you want to lead more than one horse at a time. They don't know about moving off from the leg or taking a contact on a bridle when ridden which severely limits their prospects when looking for a new home but because they have never been properly trained the NH way (all done from a DVD, book or even worse, a series in Your Horse mag which is only published monthly) they are neither fish or fowl as far as the two vastly different methods are concerned so they don't even have that in their favour!

There are people out there who use these methods with great success but they are usually professionals who really understand and believe in the theories but there are also a lot of charlatans who are jumping on a fashionable bandwagon and a lot of owners/riders who are just after a quick fix rather than go back to basics and actually give the horse a viable future.

Sorry:o rant over

No offence to anyone who uses these methods properly and with the horses welfare in mind.........rather then just jumping on a trend!

breezerockz

i agree with orlao
i witnessed someone who thought they knew what they were doing, mess up a lovely young. horse.
i love riding my pony th no saddle and bridle in the fiiield etc, but our bond and trust came from spedning alot of time together learning the basics etc.

tiamai_d

Only suppliment I (by I, I mean my Dad, but saying my Daddy bought me a pony is more fun than saying my daddy bought a pony - pony is a horse, 15'2 american standardbred mare) give is corn oil. Great for keeping weight on in the winter and super shiny coats and nice strong hooves, and it's tasty for fussy eaters. All her stable mates are converts. Besides it's much better than cod liver oil, who ever heard of horses eating fish? Cheaper too.

breezerockz

icelandic ponies eat fish, i think,lol
yeah, i feed oil to my horsey too.

countrygirl27

I dunno if this helps but if you are looking for a good quality rug quite cheap then there is a website called Derbyhouse which has sales and you can pick up a nice rug for a more reasonable price there. £40 - £70 ish but good reductions. I know this isn't everyones idea of moneysaving, but sometimes quality will out!