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December 2006 |
Dear Friends: We are very excited to announce the launch of our new DVD set, which teaches the Whispering Way™ 12-Step Total Training System! I have honed the 12-step training system taught in these videos with hundreds of horses over the years. My goal was to develop a comprehensive, safe and effective foundation training system that can be easily implemented by any horse owner – without requiring advanced horse training skills or experience. Once this easy-to-follow 12-step program has been completed, the horse will have a solid training foundation in place that will greatly enhance performance, safety and enjoyment for both horse and rider in any riding discipline. This total training system is presented here for the first time in one complete DVD set, so that all horse owners can now easily follow these same progressive steps for a solid foundation training program for their horse. Perfect for this year's holiday gift list (or a gift to yourself!), here's more about the Whispering Way™ 12-Step Total Training System:
Give The Gift Of Virginia Natural Horsemanship With the holidays fast approaching, here is a great gift idea for that special horse enthusiast on your list: a Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center Gift Certificate! VNHTC gift certificates are available in an amount that you choose, and can be redeemed towards Whispering Way™ training videos, books, training tools, etc. Once ordered, a certificate with the name and amount that you choose will be e-mailed to you so that you may print it or forward it on to the recipient. The recipient can then apply the certificate towards orders placed on our on-line store by entering the certificate number along with their other ordering information. To order a gift certificate for that lucky someone, just CLICK HERE A Holiday Message From Sylvia Scott Recently the Virginia Horse Journal interviewed me for an article they were pulling together for their holiday issue, on the topic of "Why We Are Thankful For Horses," and the article appeared in their November 2006 issue. You can read that article, with my contribution, here: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/News&Press3.html Trevor Scott Update We are very happy to report that our son, Specialist Trevor Scott, with the U.S. Army 101st Airborne, returned from his year deployment in the battle frontlines of Ramadi, Iraq. We were there for the joyous troop homecoming arrival at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and I have posted here pictures and a short video of his troop arrival from Iraq: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrevorsIraqHomecoming.html After we spent arrival day with Trevor there at Ft. Campbell, the soldiers were then whisked into "societal readjustment training" for the next couple of weeks. This is where post traumatic stress and family readjustment problems are directly addressed in army training. The soldiers were then surprised with a 4-day leave pass to go home to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Since some soldiers live too far from home to travel to for that holiday, Trevor brought home to us here in Virginia 4 stranded returning soldier buddies, and we welcomed them with opened arms. We had a blast spoiling these five soldiers over the holiday weekend. Aside from feeding them mounds of home cooked meals around the clock, we also took them to a movie, had a full day of horseback riding here at our training center, and our daughter Alisha, who is a sophomore at Virginia Tech, also threw a party for them. And to top it all off, Major General Jerry Allen and Colonel Rock Roszak of the ROTC Corps Cadet program at Virginia Tech here in Blacksburg, Virginia, arranged tickets for these soldiers to attend the last Virginia Tech football game of the season that weekend. The boys were thrilled! For some of these soldiers it was the first time they'd been to a big college football game, and it was the first time most of them had ever been on a horse. So the weekend was packed with lots of fun "firsts" that they are still talking about happily! I wanted to pass along what one of the soldiers told us while here, and they all concurred: "What kept our morale going was Trevor Scott's care packages," which kept arriving nonstop throughout that difficult year in Iraq (thanks to all of you!). Sometimes six would arrive at once and they would all pounce on them with glee, they said. "Without those care packages, I don't think we would have made it," the soldier said, and the others nodded in somber agreement. They asked me to thank all of you tremendously for your support of them while in Iraq. You made a huge difference! They said they tried to save return addresses to thank everyone personally when they got home, but about two weeks before they returned home, their barrack was mortared, destroying a lot of their stuff, including Trevor's room there completely. Luckily, Trevor was off on guard duty at the "OP Hotel" (a bombed out hotel they stand guard on the roof) and had he been in his room at the time, he'd be dead. Trevor actually witnessed that mortar attack from the rooftop of the OP Hotel, stunned as he watched his barrack bombed. He video taped the aftermath in his room and it was mind boggling to watch later. Most of his stuff got destroyed. Shrapnel in everything. Even his dop kit (that held his toiletries) which he brought home, had dozens of shrapnel holes still in it. Was chilling to see. He's still accidentally finding shrapnel in his stuff here & there. Said he went to use his (only) bar of soap there in Ramadi, afterwards, and suddenly cut his back because shrapnel had gotten into even his soap bar, but he didn't know it! The bombing destroyed most of his electronic stuff. He didn't tell us about it until he got back to home base, because he "didn't want us worrying," he said. It was a horrifying scene, seeing huge shrapnel in every square inch of his room, including his bed blown up. Refrigerator, microwave there in his Ramadi barracks: big hunks of shrapnel piercing them. Luckily…no one was hurt in that particular attack. Just their "stuff." Trevor also told us (for the first time) that yes, he drove over 2 IED's (improvised explosive devices) in his humvee, that set off when he drove over them, but luckily he survived them both, even if his humvee didn't. Trevor's only wound is a shell casing burn on his neck from a stray bullet. We are so grateful for only that! These young men have seen more human carnage ugliness than we can ever imagine. That was par for the course there in Ramadi, Iraq. Daily. It is a brutal country beyond comprehension sometimes. And our soldiers did their best to try to make a positive difference there, and try to stay alive in the process, but they all seem to feel that they made very little headway there. It just became eventually…kind of a survival of the fittest mentality. It was not hard to see the post traumatic stress symptoms in the young soldiers we hosted for Thanksgiving here. Any sudden loud noise would send them ducking for cover, reflexively. It was so hard to watch, but on the positive side, the army is pro-active in helping them now and the "boys" actually laugh about it ongoingly, teasing each other about their knee-jerk reactions that are still out of their control, but also talking about it together openly, like close brothers.
Trevor's one month leave is December 3 - January 3 and he is spending that here with us. We have lots of relaxing family activities planned and we are loving Trevor back to full health, mentally and physically. He's an amazingly strong young man and we are very proud of him for serving his country. And we are so grateful he is okay. Our prayers were answered! We again thank all of you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your flood of prayers and ongoing support this past year. We could not have gotten through it all without you! We pray now for peace and for all of our soldiers to be brought home safe and sound to their families. Please keep those soldiers who still remain in Iraq in your thoughts and prayers this holiday season. They deserve our continued support. We wish you all a wonderful, safe and happy holiday season!
Sylvia Scott
Check
These Out! Gifts for your horse-lover kids, family and friends - Having a hard time finding fun holiday gifts and stocking stuffers for the horse enthusiast, especially kids, on your holiday list? Check out these ideas and links!:
Monty Roberts new DVDs! - Monty Roberts' daughter, Debbie Loucks, sent me the following announcement about Monty's latest new DVD's -- check them out!: We are excited to share with you our newest additions to the Monty Roberts Educational Series of DVDs. Rosie: The Mustang that Wanted No Rider and The Perfect Match: Monty’s Guide to Buying a Horse (also available in a gift set) are set to ship Nov 30. We have 500 copies going to the Euro Warehouse in Holland and 500 to Flag Is Up Farms in the US. Please see details here: http://www.montyroberts.com/shop_gift_sets.html Amazing Horse Rescue Video out of the Netherlands - I wanted to direct everyone to a wonderful short video out of the Netherlands. After a particularly bad storm there recently, over a hundred horses were stranded on a very tiny island for days there, an island so small, it was crowded standing room only for the horses. At least 19 horses drowned or died from exhaustion before anyone could figure out how to help them. People feared for the lives of the rest of the horses until a small group of courageous women on horseback figured out how they might be saved. Watch the amazing rescue: CLICK HERE Horse
Problem Questions From You & Question - How to desensitize a horse to gunshot sounds: Hello Sylvia. I have a question for you, if you don't mind. What do you do to desensitize a horse who spooks at loud noises, such as gun shots? As they are unpredictable! I took my horse and husband out in the woods. My husband had his pellet gun and was playing around with target practice. First, my horse jumped and ran. I did some lateral lounging and calmed him down. Eventually it didn't bother him. But I don't know if it was the startle or the noise that scared my horse. I am pretty sure if he heard a gunshot out on trail any time after that, he would react close to his first reaction, spooking and running. I have desensitized him a bit with plastic bags and tarps, as I am trying to build his confidence. Do you suggest anything else? I read about your training tips on spooking, etc. They have helped a great deal. I think my dog coming out on trails has also helped desensitize my horse to noises. Thank you so very much for your input and your web site as well. It has helped a great deal! T. H. - Bolivia, North Carolina Sylvia's Answer: Hi T. I've never worked on desensitizing a horse to gunshots before, though I'm sure the same desensitizing concepts apply there. I've passed this question along to a natural horsemanship trainer colleague of mine, Ed Dabney, who has shot off of horses (plus he did a lot of major movie/horse mounted stunt work, including training those horses to be desensitized to gunshot sounds). Here's Ed's excellent advice answer: With gunfire you are dealing with two issues, volume of sound and distance from horse. Any horse could probably handle a low volume sound at a great distance from them, so you start there in the gunfire training. I will turn the horse loose in the round pen then move 100 yards away from the round pen and begin firing percussion caps only with no powder load. (You need a black powder percussion pistol for this.) I'll fire a few and watch for the horse's reaction. If there is little or no reaction, I'll move 10 or 20 feet closer to the round pen and fire a few more, watching for a reaction from the horse. I'll continue this process moving closer with every few shots. As I shoot, I'll aim the pistol in different directions so it sounds different to the horse - up, down, right, left, and toward the horse but never directly at the horse. If I ever see a reaction of fear or panic (running around with head up and big eyes), I'll move back farther to the previous distance and fire more shots from there until the horse ignores the sound. Once I've worked my way up to the round pen fence and the horse is pretty much ignoring the caps firing, then I'll go just inside the round pen and continue firing. As long as the horse is not bothered I'll continue to fire and move closer to him. At this point I might put a 12-foot lead rope on the horse to see if I can support him to stay with me while I fire more caps. If the horse ever starts to panic and run around, I'll go back farther to the last place where we were successful and do more firing until the horse becomes calm. By the time I am standing right next to the horse, firing caps, he has now heard several hundred caps fired and has become comfortable with the fact that nothing bad is going to happen to him when a cap is fired. When I'm standing next to him holding the lead rope, I will be standing beside the shoulder facing forward and will always aim the pistol away from the horse. I will fire while standing on both sides of the horse. After the horse is comfortable and ignoring the firing with me standing right beside his shoulder, I will go back out 100 yards from the round pen and begin the entire process again, this time firing 1/4 loads or about 6 grains of black powder as poured from a powder measure. Now the horse will not only hear the shot, but will also see the smoke. I'll continue this gradual "moving closer/firing 1/4 loads" process until I am once again doing this while standing next to the horse, holding the lead rope. I'll repeat this entire process next using half loads (12 grains) then 3/4 loads (18 grains) then full loads (24 grains). Once this is complete, the horse will have heard several hundred shots fired of varying intensity and should be unperturbed by this gunfire in his neighborhood and close vicinity. Now I will mount up in the round pen and fire caps only from the saddle until the horse is comfortable and standing quietly while I fire caps. Next I will fire 1/4 loads from the saddle pointing the pistol off to the right, left and rear. I'll continue firing 1/4 loads until the horse is standing calmly. He might jerk his head a little when the shot goes off, but he should not move his feet. If he starts to move, you can check him with very slight rein pressure; that is acceptable. From here, I'll repeat this process with 1/2 loads, then 3/4 loads then full loads. By the time I am firing full loads from the saddle, the horse has probably heard over 1,000 rounds fired and should be quite comfortable with gunfire from saddle. This entire process should be done over a period of several weeks in a number of short sessions. This should only be attempted with a solid, well-trained and well-mannered, mature riding horse. Stay safe, be careful, take plenty of time, shoot more than you think you need to and know that you can always back up to the last place that was successful and work more there. - Ed Dabney - www.eddabney.com Question - Where to start with training a horse when new to horses/new to training?: Hello Sylvia, I have been reading your web site for several weeks now. It is great and I am so glad that I ran across it. I grew up around horse, we always had draft horses. Once we grew up and moved on, my sisters and I were away from them for several years. About five years ago my sister wanted to get back into horses and started out looking for a horse to purchase. While in her search, she was seriously injured riding a horse she was told was calm and broke (apparently a fib at best); she was bucked from this horse and broke her hip and neck. She was laid up for several months. Needless to say, she now owns 6 horses, and she just loves them. However, watching her go thru this terrible accident has made me very afraid of horses. I want to ride and conquer my fear. After all, if she can do it, I surely can. I have recently purchased two horse. One horse was my sister's 10-year-old paint and he is somewhat broke but has some respect issues (hard to catch in the pasture, aggressive when eating), and the other one we just brought home, she is 27 years old. She is testing the waters at this point to see if she can move my feet. I am really new at all of this and your web site is full of information, but my question is where do you start? There is so much good advice I just don't know where to begin the process. I am assuming ground work is the beginning process, however, right now I do not have access to a round pen. After the ground work, where do you go after that? It is somewhat overwhelming for a beginner. Thanks again for any help that you can give me. I loved the information you had on your web site about being scared and how to overcome that by educating yourself and that has been working. Heck, I love your whole web site; it is full of great information! Thank you for any help and thank you for your web site. I have learned so much already. Thank you very much, T. B. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi T. Thanks for writing. All of what you said here is very interesting in that...I get asked this a lot, and for that reason we've been working long and hard here to put together a very clear step-by-step program for people to know exactly what they need to do on the ground, then in saddle (without needing a round pen for any of this). Our new "Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System" program is now completed in DVD form and is a 3-DVD set showing clearly what those steps are that you can be doing with your horse to build, or rebuild, the horse's foundation to: 1) create a quieter, safer, completely compliant and cooperative horse, and 2) it helps the owner to gain confidence as they go through the steps together with their horse, learning how to become the horse's confident leader. You can purchase that DVD set here: CLICK HERE I really think this program is going to help you a lot there, because I see exactly what you need there and I know this will work well for you every direction there. It doesn't matter what experience or nonexperience you have with horses, this DVD set is designed for anyone at any level, of any riding discipline, to help them train or retrain their horse. Plus, I'm always available for back up email help after you've watched the DVDs, whenever needed. Happy to help any way I can! Question - How to warm up horse when winter-chilled: Hey Sylvia, I've got a question. What do you do when your horse works himself up so much that he's covered in sweat and it's only 30 degrees outside? I can't afford a blanket and our barn is just an old dairy barn, so it's freezing and I don't have any stalls for him. My horse has been really over-excited the past couple of days, whether I'm riding or he's just out in the pasture. I think it might just be he's excited to see the snow, because whenever we have big snowstorms, he's always out running and rolling in it and having a good time. Recently though, he has been working himself up so much until he's covered in sweat. I will come home from school some days and find him sitting in the barn, soaked and shivering. What do I do with him? I tried keeping him in the barn and only letting him out at certain times and that didn't work very well because he's an Arab so he just runs all the more once he can get out. I've tried riding him to calm him down so I can control him and keep him contained so he doesn't get all worked up, but as soon as I'm done with him, he takes off in the pasture and runs around again. Please give me some advice. I don't want him to get sick. And if he does, I can't really afford an extra vet trip. Thanks so much. H. E. - Coudersport, Pennsylvania Sylvia's Answer: I think this problem is probably temporary as he just hasn't grown his winter coat in fully yet, but will shortly, which is why he's so hyper suddenly probably. Nature kicks in adrenalin in them to get them eating more this time of year, to grow a winter coat. At those times he's clearly shivering, supplement feed him. The act of eating warms them up instantly and will help him to bring in his winter coat. Mix a warm mash (with hot water, it cools down fast) of either Purina equine feed, or Triple Crown feed and he'll warm up instantly, you'll see. Make sure he has 24/7 access to grass or hay now, around the clock, so that he can eat as much as he needs to stay warm, too. Increased appetite is normal this time of year and the very process of eating warms their metabolism. Let him eat, and supplement if/when you see he's cold/shivering. Soon his winter coat will help him stay warmer. Question - Setting the head - Horse tensely holds head up high when riding, and wanders toward middle of arena: Dear Sylvia, I need some help with my 5-year-old quarter horse/thoroughbred mare. When I am in the arena or round pen and trotting on her, she lifts her head and tenses the neck muscles, and she goes toward the middle of the arena. I am currently riding bareback in a Parelli bareback pad because my saddle was custom ordered and hasn't come yet. She does this in every saddle I've tried even when they fit. I have tried using constant pressure with the outside leg and rein. I've tried indirect reining and nothing works! I don't want to use devices such as a running martingale because I feel they only hide the problem. Do you have any advice on how to get her head relaxed and down during riding? M. M. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi M. Thanks for writing. I've got a feeling that what you're dealing with there is a horse who doesn't know how to ride straight yet, because that's how it can play out sometimes when they don't know how to ride straight. Let me direct you to a link on my web site that goes into more detail about that common problem:
To me, vertical flexion (horse lowering the head while you're riding) comes after the horse has learned very well lateral flexion (able to bring the head over to both sides easily and softly). Usually if you back up and work real well on the lateral flexion, the vertical flexion comes easily and more naturally and almost all by itself! So...let me direct you to a link on my web site that will show you how to back up and (first on the ground) work more on teaching head yielding/lateral flexion:
Hope this helps and good luck to you there.
Question - Can I teach a horse to park out for mounting?: I have several young Rocky Mountain horses that I am currently training. They are doing just fine. They are such a wonderful breed to be around. We are not having any problems in training, they learn very quickly, but I do not know how to teach them how to park out. They are not expected to park out in the show ring, but as I get older they all seem to get taller. I would love for them to be able to stretch out a little, so it is not quite such a reach for me to get in the saddle. How do I train them to do this? Thanks J. M. - Philpot, Kentucky Sylvia's Answer: Hi J. In all honesty, in my opinion, it's not good for the horse to mount them when they are parked out as that puts inappropriate stress on their backs and legs, in a way they are not designed for. It is better to always have the horse's feet well squared and under their bodies properly balanced, for them to then be able to handle your mounting weight/pressure correctly without injuring them. Let me direct you to a link on my web site that shows in more detail proper mounting procedures:
Question - Horses swinging their head in circles: Hi Sylvia. My question is about two horses I have. One is a twelve-year-old Morgan and the other is an eight-year-old standardbred. In pasture or paddocks they swing their head around in a circle. Why do they do this? Also an old timer once told me if you go to a horse farm to look at buying a horse and they are in a fenced area, and they are pacing back and forth on the fence line, walk away and don't buy that horse! Can you tell me why he would think that? Thank you for your great training tips. J. A. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi J. It sounds like from here that your horses are doing this head swinging because it releases endorphins in their brain and now they're hooked on the endorphins and can't stop. We see this kind of behavior in horses that have been stalled extensively at some time. Overly confining a horse in a stall is very bad for horses, and in their attempts to cope in the non-natural environment, they begin such behaviors as weaving (swinging the body back & forth rhythmically), pacing (what that other gentleman was referring to there), cribbing (sticking out their heads and chewing on wood), "wind sucking" (which is like cribbing but without their mouths connecting to the wood), and head swinging like you are seeing there in your horses. All of those behaviors, done repetitively in the confined area, begin to release endorphins in the horse's pleasure center of their brain and that works to reduce their confinement stress, but habitually. Before long, they then get "hooked" on the endorphin release and the habits become very addictive and very hard to break, because it's now an addiction. Here's a link on my web site about cribbing, FYI, but all of these behaviors have the same root and same result:
So...that's what you're seeing there, I'm sure. The only advice I can offer is not to confine them in smaller spaces like stalls, and clearly since they are doing it in the paddock there, that is probably too confined a space for them, with this habit. Turn them out into a larger pasture, with access to grass/hay 24/7 and you should hopefully see them stop thinking so much about the addiction and maybe over time they'll let go of it. Or maybe not.
These are real hard habits to break in a horse once they learn them and then get addicted. But reconfine them in a stall and I can pretty much guarantee you the habit will return/remain. Question - Horses are eliminating in run in stall/barn a lot: Hi Sylvia. We have found your web site to be extremely helpful and we really enjoyed your clinic in September, even though we could only come Friday night. Hopefully, we can come to a full clinic next year! We have a question we wonder if you can help with. We have two horses, who are used to being pastured only. We built them stalls for feeding and going in and out at their leisure. They are using them much more than we thought they would (which is good) but I thought most animals would not routinely "pee and poop" where they eat and sleep. Instead they seem to be going into the stalls to eliminate, which makes it hard to keep clean and dry. Any suggestions? Thanks, S. & C. S. - Blacksburg, Virginia Sylvia's Answer: Hi S. & C. Well...there's really not a whole lot you can do to control where your horses eliminate. Horses do that pretty much at random. :-) They don't "control" themselves there like, say, cats & dogs do. When horses need to go, most just go. Our barn here at my facility serves as a run in from several different pastures and during the hotter months especially (when they hang in the barn more for shade and to get away from flies), they'll tend to eliminate more there sometimes. And that means we have to get in and clean now & then. But since we have so much pasture here, they really spend far more time out in pasture proportionally than in the barn, so it's not too bad a job to clean up inside the barn. What we've found really helpful for that barn clean-up on our farm here is the "Newer Spreader." It's really cool. It's built like a wheelbarrow (and easy to hand pull) and you fill that with the manure as you scoop in the barn. Then, when it's full, we hook it to the back of our tractor (or it can hook to anything, even 4-wheelers), and you take that out in pasture, release the spreader locks, go for a ride, and it grinds up the manure into fine granuals that spreads as fertilizer in the pasture, basically disappearing. Really is a handy manure-control tool we like a lot and I highly recommend it. You can check out Newer Spreader's web site here: http://newerspreader.com/ Use lots of shavings in the barn/stalls too, as that will help absorb urine, etc. We use pine shavings, which we get in big bales at Tractor Supply. Every once in a while we replenish in there, but putting it down thick enough, it usually lasts a pretty long time and helps with the urine/manure management (kind of like kitty litter does--dries it all out). We also have a clay foundation underneath all that in the barn, and that helps a lot, too, to wick away liquids deep into the ground and away (our barn builder taught us that one). So...maybe play around with that, making sure you have a clay foundation in the barn/stalls (you can get pure clay dirt delivered by most excavating contractors), then put lots of pine shavings on top of that and your barn will then handle whatever the horses want to do there/peeing/pooping-wise. And it won't smell in there either. And...once in a while you'll have to get in there to scoop, but we find the Newer Spreader is the easy answer there. That's the best I can suggest. :-) Question - How to teach the horse to yield the front quarters: Hi Sylvia. Your web site has helped me a lot! I have a 3-year-old haflinger gelding. We are doing backing and disengaging hindquarters. We are having trouble, or I am having trouble with getting him moving the front quarters. He is gentle, but just moves his head a little. I don't want to nag. I think he thinks I'm boring, because he yawns a lot when I work with him. Also he sticks his top lip out at me, I laugh, but I don't know what it means. Any tips would be great. Thanks. M. B. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi M. First...yawning is not boredom. Read this link on my web site to learn what that form of yawning is in a horse:
When you want the horse to yield the front quarters over and away from you, the best way I've found to do that is to stand on the left side of the horse, near the shoulder (we'll use the left side here for our explanation purposes, but you are going to repeat on the other side, as well). Place your left palm on the horse's face/cheek bone (the lead rope will be held in that left hand, taking the slack out there). Place your right hand right behind the horse's shoulder, in front of the girth area. Tap with your right hand there, starting with very "low on the volume" tappings and building up to stronger tapping incrementally, at the same time your left hand pushes the horse's head over and away from you, as you walk directly into the horse there (like: you're going to walk right through the horse's head). If you want, you can march in place as you do that, your legs stepping high exaggeratingly, letting the horse know he must move over (helping him mirror your movement). The reason I like to tap right behind the shoulder, in front of the girth area there, as I ask for the head to move away is: this in-front-of girth area is going to be my leg cue up the road shortly, and I want the horse to get used to feeling that cue to move the shoulder over, at the same time I'm pushing the head over there. I release all pressure the instant the horse steps over, even releasing there for a baby step right answer "try" on the horse's part. Stroke the horse, praise, "good boy!" Pause a second for the horse to digest the right answer, then repeat. Quickly the horse steps over softer & softer and he now understands how to yield that shoulder and head away from pressure when asked. I hope this answers your question, and again, it's so much easier to teach visually what I'm talking about sometimes than explained only in words. And this is why we've worked long and hard here to put together the next DVDs in my Whispering Way training series videos which teaches all this. Question - Should you ride your horse before or after feeding?: Hi Sylvia, I sure do appreciate you! I was just reading your web site AGAIN, I go there every now and then, you always have such interesting information, I love it! I'm always recommending it to everyone as well. I do have a question that I didn't see on there. When I feed my horse a feeding of hay, (I think I overfed today!) how much time should I wait before I can ride him? I'm a personal trainer and I like to exercise my horses almost daily because they sure do get a lot to eat! I was reading on your site that this time of year you start to increase their food some to get them ready for winter? We are taking our horses for a check up next week and will be talking about supplements for the winter. Poor things had such a horrible summer to get thru, so hot! Anyway getting back to my question about timing after feeding? I just walk him for a while, a little trotting, and walking. Thanks Sylvia! V. R. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi V. I tend to ride my horses before feeding, but my horses are also kept "naturally," meaning...they have 24/7 access to grass pasture and to hay at all times in winter (during snow periods), so, there's no real "pigging out" going on in one sitting. I'm not a proponent of structured feeding times for horses (like: hay in the morning, then nothing all day, then hay again at night, say). That's a "predator" feeding schedule, which horses (as prey animals) are not designed physically and mentally for. They are herd, grazing animals, meant to graze pretty nonstop most of their waking hours. I do supplement in winter when needed (aside from 24/7 turnout access to hay), but that supplement is just usually a scoop of feed with a few supplements thrown in, depending on the individual horse's needs, but that is usually eaten by the horse within a few minutes. So, it's not a problem for me to ride after that small supplement, though, again, if I am supplementing, I'll usually do that after working with them and cooling them down. So...I'm answering your question, but probably not how you expected me to answer. The problem there is how your horse is being fed, if I understood there correctly (unnaturally, not how nature intended horses to eat if only fed at "feeding times."). There should be no problem pulling a horse out of grass pasture to ride any ol' time, because they're grazing off and on pretty nonstop there, and their digestive system is designed for that constant steady digestion (they are NOT designed for one big feeding, then nothing for many hours and that's where people cause all kinds of problems, multi-directions with their horses); so, riding after "eating" when a horse is kept "naturally" is not even an issue. So...something to think about. :-) Question - Young stallion needs training, is taking over: Dear Sylvia: I have owned two stallions previously, both Connemaras and of the same blood line. The first we got as a weanling and I do remember being "on his case" a great deal, but he became an excellent animal, a performance pony, sired one foal, was gelded and sent to a wonderful home in Rhode Island. He was gelded and sold because I had the incredible opportunity to acquire his grandfather at age 12, who was a gentleman in every sense. We lost him tragically. Five months after losing him, a colt sired by him was born. I did something that was against every shred of common sense I have acquired in over 30 years of handling horses: I played with this colt "fetch" with the jolly ball, and, to make matters worse, I was injured badly (unrelated) such that I could barely walk for the next year. So, he was handled minimally, just to get him in and out because there was no way to start something I could not finish. Other well intended folks helped me out, but I am sure he played tag with them. So, now I am thankfully sound again, but this colt is really giving me a hard, hard time. I have tried the bag on the stick run him away thing. I have tried the hit him under the chin within three seconds thing..this when he tries to nip. Of course, I can handle him in a chifney just fine, but, that is not solving anything. We have twelve head here and I cannot turn him out with the breeding mares. I have only a blind gelding and that is no solution. Now I do not have a round pen and am trying desperately to figure where we can put one; this farm is only six acres and very little level ground. Questions: What diameter round pen can I get by with given his size? He is currently 13.2 hands high, strong and agile as a cat. He may mature to 14.3; his dam is 13.2; his sire was 15 hands. Am I putting too much pressure on him now? With our previous young colt, a trainer told me: don't pick at a stallion for every little thing, but, when you need to get after them, do so in a huge way and then leave them alone. This man is a hugely competent hunter/jumper trainer, national judge, who cut his teeth on young stock at Keeneland. He handled our first stallion in the hunter shows and I can remember him backing that colt up 40 yards (yes,I do know that is 120 ft), then, politely going into the ring with him, mannerly and winning. Gelding him is just not an option at this time. He is not currently being vicious but he is testing me. I have tried some of the walking at the shoulder exercises, tossing the rope toward his eye if he comes in etc., but, the only thing that really seems to make an impression is when I have to resort to sheer dominance, such as....yesterday, the farrier did his front feet and then there was a fight about the rear; now, mind you, I handle him daily, do his feet, etc. -- the barn was full of mares and he was just only thinking about you know what. I had to twitch him and lead him down the hall and had his back feet done. This morning, I was bringing him in and he started the nipping at me. I try to lead him with a bit of distance and he came over at me. I took him to a tree, simply took the rope around twice so he would not be pulling me and he just fought a bit and we just stood there. I didn't yell or scream or get mad, I just was not going to overlook this behavior. I am not tall, only 5 ft, and I certainly cannot out muscle him. The other thing I have done is if he comes in on me is just to send him away and longe him on the lead a bit and then let him come back to lead. If he does it again, off and away. This gets tiresome, but, it is the best I can do to simulate a lead mare sending him off. The bag on the stick thing is just fine as long as I have it. He is no fool and knows full well if I don't. I keep a little plastic garbage bag in my pocket so if he comes in my space when I am in his paddock, I can "send him off" with it. This colt is basically quite compliant and is doing some work in the ring, which is too big to be a round pen because I can't completely control him when loose, but, I do start out just sending him out and I follow him, just keeping him moving and keeping him in the direction I select. He is very smart and is getting the hang of yielding to the side etc. He is not mean, but I don't want him to become so. His father was awarded the Toreen Laddie Trophy, the top honor to any stallion in the breed for contribution to the breed as a breeding stallion. There is only one other stallion in the country at this time by his father, so, to geld the last colt out of a line that yielded so few colts would be egregious indeed. But this colt has just gotten ahead of me because of the time lost due to my injuries and I am really looking for some guidance. L. P. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi L. Thanks for the overview -- gives me a pretty clear picture there. This colt clearly doesn't respect you as his leader and I'd like to recommend you work on this first/right away -- link I'm going to direct you to -- but follow it to the letter!:
If he's a horse who tends to break away from you, pulling back hard, or can't be tied for fear of pulling back, etc., read this link on my site:
This is a young horse, a "kid" still, but an accidentally-getting-spoiled kid. Read all these links I'm pointing you to and get busy putting them to work. In the wild, he would be a lower pecking order horse for quite some time, because he's young. So remember that and take back the "lead mare" position there, but with the right techniques. Don't get abusive, get smarter, learn more natural horsemanship. I've never ever had to use a twitch to contain a horse; you are only going to create further aggressive or fear problems going that route. Let me direct you to another link that shows how better to deal with foot handling problems:
Note: Our Complete Package now contains:
And you'll be set to train your horse the natural horsemanship way. And as you get going in the program, if you ever have any questions as you go along, I'm only an email away for quick answers! Hope this helps and good luck to you there! Horse Problems Solutions in General - If you haven't discovered already on my web site, check out my Q&A/Horse Problems/Training Tips section for solutions to common horse issues. The problems are listed in alphabetical order by problem, and I add to the list regularly. You can check them out here: Horse Training Tips and Solving Common Horse Problems - Q&A - If you have a horse problem that you do not see listed up there, feel free to email me and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Training Success Letters of the Month - Read latest success stories with our Natural Horsemanship Training Program - Click here: Letters of the Month Past Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center Newsletters Are Archived Here: News & Press |
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Natural Horsemanship Trainer & Clinician Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center, LLC Blacksburg, VA 24060 Email: sylvia@naturalhorsetraining.com Web Site: www.naturalhorsetraining.com Phone: (540) 953-3360 Fax: (540) 953-3370
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