Another day, another ludicrous training shortcut that will end in disaster.
The Imprinter
*sigh* When are people going to get it? We are always going to have some accidents with horses because a horse is a 1,000 pound prey animal that we’ve decided is fun to sit on top of or ride in a cart behind. Now, you can do an awful lot to minimize how often you end up in the E.R. using common sense techniques like:
1. Turning your horse out daily, and ideally before you ride. Longeing a bit when that’s not possible (like at a horseshow)
2. Taking riding lessons and developing a solid seat that keeps you on the horse even if you lose your stirrups or the horse does something unexpected.
3. Introducing the horse to new things like trails in a safe way, such as ponying him.
4. Taking your time in training and being patient so that you minimize the chance the horse will become angry, frustrated or frightened by something.
5. Doing plenty of groundwork so that you aren’t getting on a totally unbroke horse – you’re just adding one element of sitting on their back to a horse that already steers, stops and understands a lot of cues.
6. And of course making sure the horse is not in any pain which is likely to result in bucking, bolting, rearing, etc.
As anyone who has ever done something like tie a horse tight so that they could clip him has learned, horses can break pretty much anything. They are 1,000 pounds. And if they do not break it, they will break some part of themselves. You will not be riding after that, either. You simply cannot force a horse into obedience and you can’t force one to be safe. You can only, by slow and patient work, create a horse who will listen to you first even when he is scared and his natural prey instinct is telling him to run like hell, far and fast (and this is an important part of the discussion I was having with one poster – nope, I don’t want a horse who thinks for himself because he might think seeing a miniature horse is a good reason to jump off a cliff. I love horses but I want to be the brains of the operation. I want to be able to tell a horse, no, that’s ok and you CAN walk by it, and have him trust in me that I’m giving good advice. And if I have a good relationship with my horse and he can trust me to make good decisions for both of us, then that will work.) So, in short, I think this latest device is yet another bad, bad idea, much like that stoooopid “No Buck Trainer” I featured a while back. What do you think?
Sir, if your foot got caught in the stirrup, you might want to try keeping your feet out of the stirrups or just your toe in like I always do with greenies – because falling clear is always going to be a better result than getting hung up. The fact that you had your boot home in your stirrup and maybe had too big boots for your stirrup does not mean the solution is to invent a metal and rope framework that you think the horse can’t figure out a way to jump out of/break/flip over in (’cause trust me, I’m quite sure they can and will). Showing us a video on a kind little AQHA mare who probably wouldn’t have done much if I’d gone out and sat on her in the field is not exactly a test of how brilliant your device is! I think your device is very likely to result in a panicked horse breaking his neck, leg, back, something and I also think ropes will not prevent that same panicked horse from finding a way to slam some part of YOUR anatomy into that solid frame. Just looks like a quick trip to the E.R. or a call to the vet from where I’m standing!
If you’ve been reading CNN or watching “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell,” you may have noticed that horse slaughter got some serious national attention yesterday!
End Horror of Horses Led to Slaughter
Jane has always been one to help animals and probably my only correction to her article is that overbreeding certainly is not limited to, or even mostly the fault of, the racing industry. But how great is is that she even mentioned overbreeding? Most news articles fall flat on mentioning overbreeding as the entire reason we have this problem in the first place. Hooray for her for calling it to the public’s attention. By the way, the comments to that article are full of some real knuckle-draggers, so please DO feel free to add something more intelligent! 
For those of you in the Chesapeake City, Maryland area, MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, one of our sponsors, is having a Scavenger Ride tomorrow. You can find all of the details here. It’s just $20 to participate and you get a trail ride, lunch after and there will be a used tack sale – all to benefit MAHR and the great work they do rehabbing OTTB’s. So if you are local, load up and join in!
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All I have to say is, WTF? What on earth is that thing supposed to do? I think even putting one of my broke horses in that thing would creep them out. It’s a wreck waiting to happen.
Are you in FL?
Can you imagine the vet bill when your horse gets through trashing this contraption???
Hi Cathy,
Yep, I guess there is a short cut after all. Happy days! What a stupid product this is.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SHORT CUT IN HORSE TRAINING!
http://www.HorsesDIY.com
Bless that fella’s heart, I hope he has lots of really good insurance.
Just when you thought that you had seen it all!
My stars, how much do these things cost?
I’m sure we could all buy a really nice, registered “kid-broke/well-broke” horse for what he wants! I’m curious to know who is foolish enough and rich enough to spend thousands of dollars on that?!
If you have to ask, you (and I) can not afford it.
Yah you’d think if you could afford to buy one of these stupid things you could afford to send your horse to a good trainer for a long time…. average price for general training around here is $600/month…
some kid is going to get caught between this stupid contraption and a paniced horse… Hitting the dirt is a way better option in my opinion…
Oh. . . . my. . . . god—The only reason I can laugh at this contraption is that I am sure the price will keep it out of the hands of most folks. That thing wins the prize for the most ludicrous horse training gimmick I have ever seen.
Me, I would be terrified to get on a horse trapped inside it. That looks like a whole lot of trouble waiting to happen and many accidents at once just looking for a place to occur.
Totally off subject, my first Morgan “baby” turned 27 a few days ago and my stallion will be 30 years in a week (I’ve had him since he turned 3). Where has the time gone??
sagebeasties.blogspot.com
I wanted to say congrats on your oldsters and for keeping them for life
My oldster is turning 27 this week too.
All my beloved old Morgans have crossed the rainbow bridge already, and are dearly missed. Can’t beat a good Morgan for being able to do anything and everything, and looking damn fine while doing it.
Yes, because the way to make a prey animal who’s first instinct is to run be relaxed and calm, is to trap them in a big, noisy contraption, and throw new and scary things at them! BRILLIANT!
Exactly! You said it. It’s the “what not to do” of horse training.
Wow, I had to look at it for a bit before I realized what it was. Thought it was movable stocks. Another vote for WTF?
I guess if your horse can learn to tolerate standing in a metal death trap on wheels while being towed behind a
tractor/4-wheeler he can learn to tolerate just about anything. How about you save your $6,779 and buy a horse that is broke and quiet!
People need to learn that major drama during the training process should be the exception, not the rule. If you do all the ground work sensibly and slowly and have a decent “feel” for the horse, training usually is not a huge drama.
I mean, I’m thinking about this and I’d say that 90% of the green horses I rode first or took over within the first 30 days never acted up. Never. I mean, nothing worse than a spook at something new or being a little balky or wiggly. Most of my scary, exploding horse experiences have been on spoiled/abused older horses. And honestly, I DIDN’T do all the ground work the way I do now when I was young and stupid…but I did know enough to start slow and not push them and not scare them and to “ride quiet.”
There is just no substitute for groundwork – and speed never gets it done right. You cannot rush the basics, and 90 days isn’t enough get your horse broke. I’ve got a little hot potato 4 yo who is with an excellent trainer for her 4 month “boot camp” and because of the groundwork she got both with me and with him, there have been zero instances of drama. I never spent more than 30 minutes and did stuff about every other day, but I did it from the time I got her at 18 months old. Everything that she is learning under saddle, I taught her from the ground already. This trainer thanked me for putting such a good foundation on her, and because of that foundation I am getting a lot more riding training than the average joe who hands over a young one who hasn’t done much but get brushed and petted and bathed. I am confidant then when she goes back up there next year to continue training, that all these lessons will still remain, and there will be no fear or resistance to pick it right back up where he left off. Provided of course, I keep up with it at home.
These 30-60-90 wonders who advertise they can break anything in that time period seem to have the geeral public thinking these very large, very powerful animals are nothing more than motorcycles with handlebars, a gas pedal and a brake. A finished broke horse takes years done right. Rushing it is nothing but a bad idea for the horse and inviting large medical bills for the human.
I agree 100% with your post!
Unfortunately, a lot of training CLIENTS seem to believe their horse should be in the show ring in 60 or 90 days, and that is where a lot of the abuse comes from.
I think that’s the point of the thing: by the time you train your horse to stand in it without freaking out, voila, you’ve trained your horse! Sort of like the remedies for gaining courage that begin, “Take twelve whiskers from a tiger (it must be alive…)”
There’s nothing new under the sun!
The same kind of rig was invented and patented in l886 by Dennis Magner, a l9th century horse tamer & Parelli predecessor who traveled around the country “taming” vicious horses, breaking bad habits and selling his books, gear and patent medicines. Magner’s rig was designed to break horses to drive more quickly, safely & humanely (supposedly!) than most of the methods in common use at that time. It’s shown in The Illustrated Encylopedia of the Horse, a modern reprint of Magner’s book, which is also full of war bridles, throwing rigs and patent “jawbreaker” bits. My guess is that the inventor found a picture of Magner’s breaking rig and built one himself. He might be an OK mechanic, but he’s one lousy horseman!
The kind of mentality that would use such a rig–then or now–is someone who will coerce a horse into obedience and “break” him in the extreme sense of the word. That was common practice in horse breaking back in the horse & buggy era, and it was sometimes carried out with extreme brutality–horses were cheap, expendable and utilitarian slaves, and there was enormous ignorance, misinformation and cruelty in training, driving and using them. People thought nothing of running horses to exhaustion (many were killed in this manner), repeatedly throwing them to the ground, beating them into submission, or using patent bits and devices that were cleverly designed to inflict maximum pain. (Recognize some modern trainers?) If a horse became a broken-spirited “plug,” it was that much more reliable as a buggy horse for transportation or other work. Yes, there were good horsemen, but there was a lot of abysmal ignorance and cruelty, too. (Sometimes I think it hasn’t changed all that much.)
This rig is supposed to keep a horse confined and just going in circles while breaking or riding. Anyone who’s ever seen a panicked horse drag a 3 horse trailer across a horse show parking lot, get under–or over–the butt bar, climb out of a rodeo chute, or have a meltdown in harness can tell this “inventor” that he has no idea what a horse (or even a pony) can do when he really wants to! And they’re recommending this for hippotherapy and therapeutic riding(!) I truly hope there are no kids on, in or near this rig the day a horse says, “Enough of this shit!” (And notice that although they claim to have experience in “hippotherapy,” they apparently don’t know enough to put a helmet on the crash test dummy (er, child). Jesus wept!
This is one more example of “No horsemanship? Get a mechanical device!” carried to the extreme.
(I don’t know how to post a picture or even if it’s possible, but I have a JPEG image of the 1886 Magner rig, if anyone wants to see it.)
Yes, please post it.
How do you post a picture here? I have a JPEG image of the1880s Magner breaking rig on Photobucket.
We can all be grateful that this guy didn’t read further in the annals of l9th century “horse tamers” and discover another horse-taming invention–a patented steam-powered spinning chute like a set of stocks or a shipping crate that was supposed to take the fire out of a vicious horse by spinning him in it until he was too dizzy to resist. The inventor challenged all other horse tamers to a horse breaking contest in front of a huge audience (think l9th century version of “Road to the Horse”), but he lost his bets, his investment and his credibility when the engine broke down &the machine failed to rotate fast enough to have any effect on the horse inside. I think NASA uses something similar to test astronauts for motion sickness–they call it the Vomit Comet. That will probably be the next hot item on the expo circuit!
Just wait til the next equine expo–I can just see the suckers (er, owners) lining up to have their colts broken instantly and mechanically in front of 3000 people. (Well, something will get broken, anyway!) Next thing you know, they’ll be selling “Arabian Secret Taming Oil,” guaranteed make any horse instantly calm, mellow and obedient. (Sounds like weed to me (NO, stop that, BAD OGM!)
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and fork over your money….As David Harum (not P. T. Barnum) said, “There’s a sucker born every minute!” Too bad so many of them own horses.
Under the image in your Photobucket account, the second link in that list should say “Direct Link.” Copy the link in that blank and post it (starts with something like http://i10.photobucket.com). If you use that one, I think Fugs can edit your post to show the image.
Thanks–here’s the link to the pic of the Magner reaking rig, c. l886:
I saw the recommendation for hippotherapy, too! The reason why they have sidewalkers is because if the horse spooks or if the rider falls off, someone is there to help. Can you imagine if a patient fell underneath one of those things? It would be a disaster! Lets hope the therapist realize what a potential death trap they are!
DERBY DAY DERBY DAY DERBY DAY and they’ve already started on ESPN!
I saw this thing at the Expo. They’re looking for distributers, and they want $12,000. For one. They also say that a horse can’t buck in it, but the video they were running had a horse doing his damndest without being able to bring his legs up due to the butt bar. I got the half hour video too, where they show how they train a horse to get in it. It was great fun all weekend, dragging people back to the sheep barn or showing them the brochure and watching the double takes. I thought it was a boat trailer at first. By the time you do all the groundwork that this guy recommends to get the horse into it, there’s no reason to put it in there anyway.
Thats so ridiculous. I think my horse would have a spaz in that thing, forget about desenstizing her. The things people come up with, all easy fixes trying to side-step good training. Horses spook. Their 1000 pound animals with the courage of rabbits; at least my mare is
Do you know the best way of avoiding getting your foot caught in the stirrup? Safety stirrups. They might not be attractive but they work. And a hell of a lot better than that… thing.
I took my quiet, already broke, mare to the vet’s to be palpated to see if she was in-foal.
Since she acted a little worried about the stocks at the clinic, she was sedated. Once sedated, they “tried” to put her in the stocks. She freaked. Ran backwards, scared herself, leaped forward, hit the breast bar, scared herself, and leaped backwards. Since we were afraid she’s either filp over or kill herself, we took her out. Once outside the stocks, she was happy to stand to be palpated easily. I can not imagine, putting her in a mobile set of rolling stocks and then climbing on. My mare was BROKE, gentle, and quiet, yet freaked when she found herself confined. I can’t imagine broncs in the rolling thing and then getting on it. Looks like an accident for everyone involved and vet and doctor bills for everyone. If it worked, it sounds neat, but I wouldn’t risk one of my own horses in it.
#1 and #2 – SO! important!! Having failed to do them landed me on my butt in a big tumbleweed. (The bruises are STILL healing!)
I would add that keep YOUR OWN butt(or more importantly, legs) in shape. If I hadn’t been a soft, floppy mushmelon, I might have been able to grab on with my legs and ride it out.
Lastly, I would only buy that contraption if I was sadistic and enjoyed watching horses kill themselves. My horses wouldn’t come within 10 feet of that thing, let alone have it hitched to them.
Seriously…W T F!!!???
Sigh… yet another trainer wannabe trying to make the all mighty dollar on some incredibly stupid and VERY dangerous contraption! >:-[ The stupidity NEVER ends!!!!! How about him using those children with that thing riding greenies, with out helmet too boot?!?! Who are the parents of those kids? That is just plain child endangerment!
Well, gee. If that thing doesn’t “break” the horse — and the horse doesn’t break IT — you can always use it to haul hay from your truck to the hay shed OR use it with a harrow attached to drag the arena. I Google’d the Magner rig and there’s a picture of the cover of his book. Guy is standing behind the horse and if the horse kicks or rears up, the guy is toast.
There ARE no shortcuts to training, even if you work seven days a week 52 weeks a year. Plenty of ground work (with a purpose) followed by plenty of wet saddle pads equals a horse that knows its stuff. No surprises.
okay, so….
After I finished laughing, and dried my eyes, I really thought about what he had.
Temple Grandin might like it. I’d be interested to see what she thinks. It does use the basic idea of ‘embracing’ the horse to make it feel more secure and less threatened.
The harness isn’t terrible…
Okay, I give up. I just can’t come up with any other positive comments. I could see using something like this when a horse MUST be treated, and won’t cooperate at all, but surely if you can get it into that thing, you can shoot it with some meds to quiet it down enough to treat? I’m just shaking my head.
Oh, and sweet old man, while I know you are a good person, someone needs to tell you this. You are too old to train. You have no business trapping a horse between you and a solid fence in order to blanket the horse. It’s asking to have a horse on top of you. It’s probably how you got hurt before. It’s time to get a nice gentle broke horse, and ride for pleasure. You do NOT need to be training broncs, not even with a fancy contraption and your daughter helping you. (I hope she’s your daughter?). When your first customer incorrectly uses your tool, kills his child due to his own ignorance, and sues you, you won’t have a prayer in court, because you PUT a child on a horse in that mobile stock. So please, if you like your little contraption, fine, but it’s really time to stop training, and just enjoy life. Please?
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with some modifications it would make a dandy portable stocks…other than that?
All I can think of looking at those pic’s is that the riders (kids!) aren’t wearing helmets/safety vests, and now they’re on a horse stuck within a metal contraption (even if the horse doesn’t do much, a fall for whatever reason could be catastropic should you hit your head on that thing or get yourself stuck in amongst that so called “cradle” if the horse freaks out.
bbwwwaaaaaa haaa haaaaa haaa, LMAO !!!!
OMG. This moron decided to create that contraption because he was previously wall-tying them for the first saddling!! I would NEVER introduce something new to a wall-tied horse. So he then noticed that this was dangerous because he is a GENIUS and master of observation. What a fool. I guess that he has never pulled a trapped and panicking horse out from under stocks by his hind legs. I have. Not fun.
A long time ago I had a pic here of someone who thought it was a good idea to get on her horse for the first time while it was tied up. Darwin, I swear, he’ll never run out of nominees!
Had a guy ask me about teaching a horse to tie once because the horse kept breaking the rope and pulling back. So I asked what he did when she did that, his answer – “I tie her shorter and tighter.” So then I asked, “How’s that working for you?” He said, “Well, it’s not.” My answer, “So why do you keep doing it?” Now he had an uphill battle because the mare had learned she could get away. Of course I also learned he was leaving her tied for long amounts of time – hhhmmm, start small and build up is always the best option for any horse training in my book.
That is THE dumbest thing I have ever seen. Ever. I think the only thing that contraption is good for would be using the mailing list of the people who actually bought one to start chlorinating the gene pool. You bought on of those thinking it would work? Poof, you’re sterilized. Too stupid to reproduce.
OT- I need a good equine chiro in the Cincinnati area for one of my guys who seems a little off. Vet ruled out pretty much everything she could, now I want to have his back/neck checked. Has anyone ever used/heard of Dr. Denise Coppock? I’ve heard a little about her, all good. Anyone else have any input?
I don’t know her personally, but I looked her up on AVCA and she is a certified animal chiropractor but not a DVM. If you want to find others in your area you can try looking at http://www.avcadoctors.com/certified_member_doctors/unitedstates2.htm
Just scroll down until you get to OH. Hope that helps.
Thanks Gidget! I’m going to check out your link.
WTF????
Look at the expressions on the horses faces! Not only is this contraption stupid but who in their right mind would put children, helmetless, & in sneakers on these horses!?
Easier is not better in this case. Fail Steve Foley! FAIL! The hours of hard work you put into training your horse correctly pays off more than using a ridiculous machine that allows shortcuts. I know I wouldn’t put a child on a horse that was broke using shortcuts!
Watching the video made my brain hurt! Does anyone else find it amusing that he’s stressing how you have to desensitize the horse to his training tool before you can use for training? *snort*
Oh, and I love how when he gets up on the contraption and the horse startles, he blames it on the horse being green. No, it couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you stepped on something metal that is wrapped all the way around the horse and IT RATTLED, could it?
I think if the horses are calmer after a few minutes of being trapped in this thing, it’s because they’re all dopey from the exhaust fumes.
Did anyone notice the guy almost ran over his dog?
This contraption is a trainwreck waiting to happen.
I have heard a lot of coaches/instructors saying they don’t teach nor allow students to saddle up or do any ‘care’ work with horses, and they don’t do lunge lessons with no stirrups, no bareback riding, nothing like this due to it not being covered by insurance.
A darn shame that the future of the horse industry and the riders and trainers is being completely screwed up by insurance not being provided for learning REAL riding and care!! Where is that going to leave the future of the horse industry? Rescues are going to get a lot fuller thats for certain!
At a certain point, if you’re THAT scared of a lawsuit, get out of horses. I agree that students need to learn all of the care work as part of the lesson process. You do have to supervise them.
Tell me about it, and not to mention that teaching them correct care, handling, and riding actually keeps them SAFER. I wish people were taught as I learned. Lunging lessons with no contact with reins until I had a seat good enough at walk trot and canter both in saddle and bareback – to not hurt or damage the horse’s mouth. Learn to catch, saddle, groom, feed, muck out, manage, handle and care for the horses properly. My old coach was a bit of a tough old bird – no kid dared not do it properly, because we didn’t want to get a right old dressing down if we were slack or didn’t take care of our lesson horses properly!
Granted a lot of people are too impatient to learn like this, everyone wants to be jumping before they can trot but hey, if coaches all taught like this the world would be a better place for the horses.
So-called “coaches” who are too lazy / ignorant / busy running a 3rd rate lesson mill to bother to teach basic horse care and handling are trying to excuse the inexcusable. I can take you to dozens of programs in every state (including my own !) that teach students of all ages, from beginners to advanced, to lead, catch, tack up and handle horses safely, and all are fully insured, so it’s not the big bad insurance company’s fault. Both the US Pony Clubs and the 4-H Horse program teach kids horse care and horsemanship, not just riding. If any “instructor” claims that they can’t or won’t teach such essential and basic horsemanship, not just riding, run away! And take your kids with you!
And double shame on show coaches who turn out “elite” show riders who show million dollar horses at national level, yet don’t know how to check the fit of their tack, wrap a leg, tell which leg is lame, hold a horse for the vet or cool him out properly, or know the symptoms of colic–I could go on & on! I’ve been a presenter at George Morris’ “boot camp” for USET hopefuls in Wellington, FL, where in addition to lessons, lectures and coaching, the top young riders have to take full hands-on care of their horse, tack & stall for a week & turn it out properly themselves under the direction of a “Mentor Groom.” (And they have to build courses and lug jumps around too.) Some have done this themselves before, but others have always had grooms do it for them. Yet the real Olympians like Beezie Madden, Ann Kursinski, Melanie Smith-Taylor and Ian Millar have all run barns & taken care of horses themselves, gotten their hands dirty, and know how to do anything a horse needs done. (Unfortunately that is NOT true of some show coaches and trainers.) The riders came away saying they never knew how much there was to learn–yet Pony Club kids do this all the time!
If their trainers were doing their job and teaching horsemanship, there wouldn’t be a need for George Morris to go after the horse show establishment and raise awareness about the lack of horsemanship today (as only George can do it!)
I am in Australia so I am wondering if insurance stuff is different here – I sure know it is expensive. But I am jolly well going to find out!
I hereby volunteer the draft mare at our barn as a “test pilot” for this piece of crap. Stella likes to stand IN the round bale holder – gets herself in and out very neatly. I figure she would have this thing down to scrap metal in no time flat just out of pure annoyance and for fun.
Hi Fugly,
You have misunderstood me as regards a horse thinking for it’s self. If a horse stops because it can feel it’s rider in danger of sliding off, that’s a horse thinking for it’s self. If you see an almighty flier (the wrong stride) coming into a cross country fence and the horse chips in an extra stride to save the situation, that’s a horse that’s thinking for it’s self. A cutting horse works the cow with no input from the rider at all, that’s a horse that’s thinking for it’s self. When a show jumping rider charges at a gallop to the last fence in a jump off against the clock, then that horse must think for it’s self. The rider needs it to.
As regards a horse possibly falling off a cliff because it shys at a miniature horse, please remember that it really is a case of horses for courses. The horse that you ride along the edge of cliffs is not the horse you ride around Badminton Horse Trials and vice-versa. There are super quiet and non-thinking horses for frightened riders such as yourself and thinking, keen horses for competent riders such as myself. Please stop suggesting that all riders should be on super quiet and non-thinking horses.
Because you are such a frightened rider, what are you going to do once your stallion has covered a few mares and finally understands what his male equipment is for? Do you really have the necessary confidence and ability to own him as a stallion? I cannot believe that a person who is too scared to ride outside an arena and requires that their horses be 100% predictable can cope with a stallion. Stallions are not 100% reliable and not 100% predictable. If you think they are, then just sheer ignorance should disqualify you from riding and handling a stallion. Please get a grip on reality and not place yourself in such a dangerous situation. The world needs you. Your Quarter Horse would make a lovely gelding in your hands or maybe a decent stallion in someone else’s hands.
Oh, give me a break. You do not know my horse, nor me, and are simply snarking at me on this blog because I happen to disagree with you, and you do not seem to be handling that well even though it was in no way a personal attack – merely a disagreement with your opinion. So now you are going to turn it into a personal attack.
My stallion has covered mares, before I owned him. He is completely aware he is a stallion and I do not have any problem disciplining him to ensure he stays well behaved. There are people who read this blog who have met him and can vouch for the fact that he is extremely quiet and well behaved, and has the same excellent manners I’d expect of any horse. Is he 100% reliable and predictable? Nope, nor is any horse that is not on rockers. But I have been riding him for over 2 years now and he has never reared, bucked, bolted or done anything more than a little spook. That, to me, is the ideal in a horse – that is the gold standard of disposition. You may disagree, but I’m fairly sure more horsepeople want a horse like that than a horse who throws a bag of tricks at them every day.
Where did I suggest that ALL riders should be on super quiet horses? Of course not. I believe I said in my last response to you that it’s great that different people like different things in horses – that way there is someone for everyone.
The reason I talk so openly about fear issues is demonstrated by your post – fear is considered such an AWFUL thing in the horse world. It is assumed to equate to incompetence, and the two things have nothing to do with each other. How you respond to fear matters, but merely feeling some apprehension at certain things is only relevant if you’re riding a sensitive horse who feeds off of that and reacts to it – in which case you’re best off to let someone else take that horse into the situation first.
You seem to have this black and white view of horses in which all well behaved horses who listen to their riders are beginner safe plugs. I don’t know where that viewpoint comes from, but I neither agree with it nor understand it. I think you will be hard pressed to find trainers in any discipline for whom the ultimate goal is not as much obedience as possible. Exactly what that entails will differ based upon breed and discipline but no one I know who is a good trainer is not trying to be the leader in the situation, and give instructions that will be followed.
Either that or you are confusing athleticism (the ability to, for example, jump from a bad spot and still make it over clean) with thinking quickly. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m quite sure my IQ and yours are higher than that of the animals we ride, and therefore we should be the decision-making part of the team.
Ummm…I took a header off a horse on rockers once…sneaky little sucker went right over backward on me.
As for your stallion, most people would have to check for “the goods” to know for certain that he IS a stallion.
“Ummm…I took a header off a horse on rockers once…sneaky little sucker went right over backward on me.”
As a child, I once got flipped over on by a desk. You know those one piece desks we had in school? I was miserably bored – I think I was about seven – and I figured out that I could raise the whole front of the desk off the ground by pushing up on it with my knees. So I was doing that, higher and higher, with my tip toes on the ground, when the darn thing right went over backwards with me. The class howled with laughter and I got in trouble with the teacher.
My worst horse-wrecks were courtesy of my 30-plus year old beginner plug who was a working cowhorse all of his life. I may have had more spectacular adventures with Paint Mare from Hell, but Paint (original name, huh?) was responsible for more injuries than the next ten horses who came my way! Only youth and stupidity saved me. Damn that horse could buck at the drop of a hat!
No horse is bomb-proof. Unless it’s dead and buried.
It is true; I’ve met said stallion. He is not mean, unpredictable or difficult. This is a stereotype, not a rule for stallions, that they want to breed everything in site and are hard to control.
I’ve ridden and handled a fair share of studs in different situations. The majority of them were well trained and were not unpredictable or uncontrollable in any way. They would ride with and even trailer with mares with no problem at all. You cold leave them tied up for hours right next to a mare and they were prefectly behaved.
There were a couple of stallions I can remember that did have problems. One was a young stud colt that would rear and go nuts every time he saw a mare. He had never bred one, but he was sure it was cool to try with a rider on his back. In my opinion, he should have been gelded especially since they never planned to breed him. The other stallion was an older stud that spend 23 1/2 hours a day in a stall. If he was lucky he was turned out by himself in a dark arena while his stall was cleaned. He was poorly behaved to say the least. Neither of these horses had sufficient turnout, exercise or handling.
I like a horse that thinks… as long as he thinks I’m the one making the decisions. Thinking helps them work out the right responses to our cues faster, and thinking makes them a little “sharper” than the ones who are less bright. Doesn’t mean to me at all that the horse can make his own decisions, as that is never what I want. I’ve taken on quite a project myself, an older stallion who was abused/neglected and is used to calling his own shots. Whoever said that stallions are the most predictable of creatures, is right. He is clear and upfront about everything going through his mind, and now that he has learned the rules of the house here, is happy to follow them. He knows what will happen if he breaks the rules, and he knows it doesn’t happen when he’s not. There is no ambiguity. Because he thinks, he learned the rules lightning quick, and you can literally see him thinking about new things I’m teaching him. Especially the desensitization stuff. He does still challenge me at times, it’s subtle but it’s clear, and it only takes a fraction of the reprimand it took before, in terms of intensity level.
Am I afraid of this horse? I’d say I have a healthy respect for him and what he is capable of, but that in no way means I allow myself EVER to act timidly or to allow misbehavior. I don’t think a little fear is a bad thing, it keeps up on our toes and keeps us from being stupid and/or reckless. I never take my eyes off this horse, if I was less observant I might miss some of those subtle challenges and then I’d be in a world of trouble.
I meant to also say I deal daily with some pretty good fear issues as it pertains specifically to riding. This does not diminish my skill level unless I allow that fear to direct my actions and reactions. And the fear in the back of my head that the stallion could eat me for lunch if he really wanted to, keeps me aware and keenly observant, and therefore safe.
Kippen,
Maybe you haven’t worked with very many stallions. They are the most predictable of horses. They want to breed, they want to rule, and they want order. If they can’t breed, and can’t rule, then they STILL want order. Totally predictable. That’ doesn’t make them ideal mounts for beginners, because beginners don’t know how to block a stallion’s first two urges, nor recognize the onset of the attached behavior. But predictable? I’ve never seen a stallion loose at a show that did anything that caused a trainer to say, “Wow… didn’t see that coming from him at all.”
As for the battle of ‘who is right.”
Does it really matter that much to you? It’s a blog. Read the comments, agree or disagree. No one is going to seize your high strung dancing horses and replace them with quiet obedient horses based upon any conversation on here. Don’t feel so threatened.
~ wanders off to groom her horse~
Not all dead broke well trained horses are sad old plugs with one foot in the grave. Please You tube SA Sophisticated Lady US Nationals 2009. Or you tube the workoff between SA Rapid Fire and Adams Fire in HA English Pleasure at US Nationals. These horses do not take a step out of place in an arena buzzing with adrenaline, yet they are certainly not for the timid rider. I believe that the original debate came from the use of the term “breaking”. I don’t care what you call it when you first ride a horse: breaking, starting, gentling…whatever. They all mean the same thing if the trainer does his job responsibly. The horse does his job with confidence and consistency. I would call these horses broke and and giving their will over to the trainer, but they sure have not “had their spirit broken”.
That is just about the most hairbrained, stupid, dangerous contraption I have ever seen! A good horse takes time – like a fine wine. You can’t rush them with stupid shit like that. Holy shit I just want to scream! If you don’t have TIME to TRAIN a good horse, buy one that is already trained. Why would anyone subject an animal to this sort of torture and humiliation. Someone needs to find the morons who created this train wreck and beat the shit out of them! This can only end up bad and in the wrong hands, because the RIGHT hands would never be using a piece of crap gimmick like this in the first place! OMG – I need a drink.
I watched the video. If this contraption is so great, why does he use three different horses in his demo? At least it looks like three to me. I have broke horses who would freak at that thing! Did anyone find out how much this costs? What the heck would you do if the horse jsut collapsed in it. He has bull snaps, which I hate, on all the tie downs. I guess you would need to carry a sharp knife to release them. The insanity of it all.
Oh, but don’t the horses in that thing look pleased as punch to be there?!
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
When are people going to learn that gimmick training shortcuts don’t really work?
What happens if the horse won’t go in it? Does he have another contraption that will desensatize them to this contraption? My head hurts
This thing is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen for horse training. It reminds me a bit of all those fad diet/workout commercials you see on TV; eat whatever you want! Exercise 10 minutes a week and be soooo skinny!! Stick your horse in this rolling metal contraption and tada! They will be broken and quiet in way less time than if you do it the right way!!
And I wanted to comment on the complete lack of helmets on the children, but others already beat me to it.
I always make that comparison! Americans want a quick way to get thin and fit without exercise or deprivation, and they want an equally quick way to get their horse well trained and out on the trail/into the show ring.
Doesn’t work either way – you can’t do either of those things quickly – at least not in a healthy way!
If the horse trips, or slides or just decides to lean to one side, and your leg is in the way… Couldn’t you do serious damage to your own legs by riding in that thing?
I couldn’t resist showing this to my non-horsey husband. He looked at this and had one comment:
“Do you remember Spy?” He said. (Spy was a neurotic TB at the university I attended. One day, Jeff had a sneezing fit outside Spy’s stall and the students in his stall yelled at him to go away because he was freaking out Spy.) “Spy would kill himself in that thing!” And this from someone that really doesn’t have a clue about horses in general.
So I came to the conclusion that the “genius” who created this contraption consulted with Dr. Kevorkian before settling on this assisted suicide device for horses.
This growing trend of lazy horsemanship is disturbing beyond belief. I enjoy the training process with my horses because it’s not only a way to get to know your horse better, but it build stronger bonds. I will never understand why people insist on going straight to useless and potentially harmful contraptions to get their horses to do what they ask instead of actually spending the time to teach these poor animals what it is they want.
Another thing that irritates me are people like this guy…Lets just face it, folks, being an equestrian is not the safest hobby around. It should be a given that anything and everything can happen with even the most well-broke horse, and someone could either be seriously injured or killed. You can take measures to be safer, but NOTHING is 100% guaranteed to be accident-proof when you’re dealing with a creature with a mind of it’s own. It’s absolutely idiotic to believe otherwise.
You know how this contraption could be useful? If it was reworked into a wheelchair for horses recovering from injuries so they can move around and start getting strength back instead of being stuck in a sling. That’s the only thing that I can think of that could justify this monstrosity being around.
Yeesh, my computer breaks for a few days and I see this…thing. I’m pretty sure some of my horses could bust out of that either from being terrified (I wouldn’t blame them! That would scare me!) or just getting PISSED. And like Cathy said, they can break pretty much anything if they are motivated. The big dumb draft cross who knocked down a couple of our stall walls while being a klutz, and barely seemed to notice he’d just knocked out ten 2x6s “Did the stall just get bigger? Durrrr….” comes to mind. Or my friend’s horse who once lost it when his mare friend was leaving and tore his way through a hay baler. I’ve seen a young mare tear her way out a feed door of a trailer cause she got scared, she split that metal trailer open like a sardine can. Hundreds in vet bills followed of course. The idiot neighbors called, “Uhh, you know that horse you wanted that we bought, well she went crazy in our trailer and is stuck now and can you come help us get her out, cause if she hurts that trailer my husband will kill her….” The same neighbors who tied a horse to a metal post set in cement, which the horse ripped out of the ground and panicked, swinging the whole thing into other horses and people, and broke the back of the woman who tried to catch him.
My art teacher in high school always thought saddles should have seat belts so you wouldn’t fall off, he wanted to design one and couldn’t understand why we horsie girls thought that being able to get clear of the horse is much more important. I don’t even like saddles with rolls, I like to be able to feel the horse and not feel like I’m perched on a chair above the horse or trapped in place in any way. And as many times as I’ve had the saddle slip or a horse fall and needed to throw myself clear…. That Imprinter thing is like the holy grail of stupid. How do you even get out of that thing if you needed to? How do you get the horse out if they panic? I can’t see being able to reach under them and in between the shafts for the straps and not getting hurt. Even the examples he shows look kinda weirded out by the whole thing. I foresee lawsuits…..
OMG, that is so ludicrous. That contraption reminds me of the old comic joke about a horse after OSHA got done with it. Anybody ever see that?
Last year after my husband and I both broke ribs in horse back riding accidents, his friend gave us a copy of the picture of the OSHA horse. It is FUNNY!! Showed it to our BO and he hung a laminated copy on the barn wall next to the barn rules, which by the way he asks new boarders to read out loud in front of him before he finalizes the agreement to board their horse so they can’s claim “I didn’t know.”
As for this contrapation um FAIL!!
Oh I guarantee my horse would break that contraption or break (And I mean literally break not breaking as in becoming broke lol) herself trying. That looks like a death trap! I don’t know that I could even get her in the thing without an injury. She is the nosiest horse on the planet and would probably walk in but as soon as I tried to do the straps up she would be gone lol. It says that it helps in training “Advanced Maneuvers” anyone want to explain to me how your going to turn sharply, side pass or even back up in that thing?
On the subject: I am a ashamed to admit it but the only time I have ever fallen off my mare involved getting my foot caught in the stirrup. I had just gotten on and was walking around warming her up on a overly loose rein. A tail-less squirrel ran across the arena in front of her. What does she do? Of course, she did a 180 and took off the other way. The reins were loose and I couldn’t collect them in time so I said whoa and tried to sit back in the saddle but my foot slipped forward. My head bounced off the ground four times as she was galloping before my foot came loose but thank god I was wearing a helmet as always. I got back up with just a couple scratches and have learned from that experience that even though she doesn’t like to have contact when warming up, it’s necessary because you never know what might happen.
So I have a question for him……if you are worried about getting your foot caught in a stirrup…why not teach your young horses to drive first? We have done that with a few, then by the time you are ready to put a saddle on, they are pretty much accepting of anything. At least then the harness would be safe, the cart less apt to cause injury if the horse does freak as well. My guess is that the “prep work” required to get a horse into this contraption would pretty much mimick what you would do before putting a horse in a cart. Why not teach a skill that would increase the value of the horse as well as teach it what you want before you get on it’s back? A good harness and cart would be much less than this thing.
giggle~
Gidget, I have this vision in my mind, of him with the horse in the contraption… with a little sorta platform up behind the horse… him on the platform, that girl driving the gator around pulling the horse will he shakes reins at the horse from behind it and teaches it to be driven.
I know this is a serious issue, but I just can’t seem to shake the ‘looney Tunes” feel of the whole thing.
This guy has won a bunch in Appaloosa shows (hides her head in shame)
OT: Can anyone tell me what coat pattern my mare is? I’ve been looking online and although most sites say the same general things, most contradict each other where it makes the most difference in my case. I called her a “frame overo” because she has what looks like frames around her white spots, and as she sheds out the frame is more obvious. She also has what I would call ghost spots… the light area coming off the white on her butt on the left side isnt a reflection, its just a light but not quite white spot, and she has a few others here and there also. She is a buckskin with partial dun markings (I have never seen her fully shed out so she may just be dun… she is starting to get zebra stripes on her front legs above the white, and a bar over her withers on the side that isn’t white.)
Wish I could help, but I’m not very good at Paint colors. She looks like a buckskin tobiano to me. What I will say is you must be feeding her well– her dapples are lovely, and her eye is soft and kind. Good job with her!
thank you! I absolutely love her coloring and for the most part she is very smart and sane… but then the Arab half of her comes out and she’s a total nut! She is 9 years old and in “kindergarten”, she was never broke to ride and I have no idea what her previous owner did or didn’t do with her… she had never been to the end of the driveway and never even seen a horse trailer before I got her, but she is coming along nicely! She has absolutely no respect for personal space, and gets very upset when I correct her (starts shaking, puts on her sad puppy dog eyes, etc.) She is by no means a sensitive horse, either. So far as her feed… she is on pasture with 2 flakes/day of a very good quality timothy, alfalfa, oat, and grass mix hay, and when she gets worked she gets a good scoop of LMF showtime. She came to me VERY overweight, I’ve only had her maybe 3 weeks and she’s already made a huge improvement in body condition
Good for you for taking on a nine year old greenie! That’s wonderful and I’m so glad she’s going to get some training now.
I actually think she’s a tovero…tobiano AND frame. They normally have more white, but the jagged edge of the spot in the middle of her body points towards frame…but a frame horse NEVER has white that crosses the spine on the back and she does.
Definitely tobiano, possibly frame as well…enough possibly that I’d get her tested if you ever consider breeding her.
Buckskin tobiano, and a doll!
(I know my paint/pinto colors real well…)
I’d be happy to have her in my pasture, if I still had a pasture. Cute, cute, cute!!!
Thank you
right now she is about a 45 minute drive away, but in 2 weeks we are both moving to a farm where she will be about 20 feet away from me! I can only imagine I’ll be out all the time just watching her… but of course, whenever she sees me she stops whatever she is doing to either stare back or walk over to see what I am doing. She won’t even eat when I am around because she is sooooo interested in what I am doing and getting scratches
Her coat pattern is tobiano – and she`s cute! Frame overo`s look completely different, and while it`s hard to explain, tobiano`s generally look more like a solid colored horse with spots while overo`s are generally more splashy, usually with a bald face, and at least one blue eye.
I agree on the Tobiano, probably sabino as well. Recognising patterns is a bit more art than science and there will always be differences of opinion but this is how I tend to work it out:
Tobiano – V shapes, colour on the face (no face markings), socks, white running up the back of the hind leg often running right round the quarters, white running ‘down from’ the topline in V’s especially at the girth area and half way down the neck.
Splash – clean edged white markings, ‘big’ face markings often running off to one side at the bottom around one nostril, belly spots, sometimes blue eyes.
Frame – big face markings, sometimes blue eyes, jagged edged markings, white on the sides not usualy crossing the topline or ventral (belly) line often one or more non-white leg with high whites on the others. Sometimes blue eyes.
Sb1 – the only testable sabino gene seems to give ‘normal’ markings (socks and starts/stripes, sometimes belly spot) when hetero and almost all white with homozygous.
Sabino – tends to get blamed for anything not covered by the other ones, ticking, roaning, odd spots and markings.
There is a test for frame (OLW) its is about $25 from UC Davis and personally I would test ANY breeding animal from a breed that can be frame considering the possible effects of Homozygous frame. Especially as frame can be very minimal, one sock or a fleck of blue in the eye can be the only thing you will see.
oh yes, I do not intend on breeding her, but if I do she will be tested for everything under the sun. Her Sire was a black bay (solid, no white markings at all) arab, and her dam was a palamino paint. She also has a pretty mild conformation default (pigeon toed), although as of yet it is hard to say if it is because of improper hoof care as a foal, lack of muscling, or if she was born with it. When I first got her, her feet were horrible, and although her legs are straight and clean, she was severley pigeon toed. After her first trim (and only, so far) her feet almost completely straightened out, and we are hoping that another trim and excersize will do the rest.
There is absolutely NO way to tell if a horse is LWO by looking, so, PLEASE if you are ever intending to breed her, have her tested.
She is, visually, a Tobiano pattern, the feathering around the edges suggests Sabino, and a simple test for Cream would tell you if she is, or is not, Buckskin.
She is a pretty mare!
Don’t know about the overo/tobiano question… I thought overos couldn’t have any white that crossed center line from whither to tail… just saying.
If you follow the American Buckskin color rules, she looks dun w/black points. According to ABRA rules, a “buckskin” will have varying shades of color, ranging from buttermilk to deep golden, with no “smuttiness” (that’s the dark hairs on her neck), no leg barring, no dorsal stripe, and no shoulder barring, whereas a dun WILL have all those traits.
I agree with “Charm” – I love the soft eye in the first photo!
Except that, of course, she can easily be a Buckskin and a Dun!
She’s a classic tobiano. The white crosses her topline or underbelly, which doesn’t happen in frame overo (hence the “frame”), they’re big, chunky spots (overo is usually lacey with complicated edges, the “halo” effect is another tobi thing), and she has socks on all four legs. She is not a dun, since a dun would have a strong stripe down her back, even in winter. My buckskin gets that black hair over her shoulders right before she sheds out to the shiny summer coat, so maybe that’s what you’re seeing?
And she’s gorgeous
.
Thanks, I’m totally gaga over her too
can you believe she was free? See, I knew that one had white over the topline and one didnt, I just wasnt sure about the placement of the white over her withers… If it was far enough up that it didnt count or if it was just right to make it tabiano… Anyways, yes, today the black on the underside of her neck was shedding, but the bar on her shoulder keeps getting darker, and the stripes/bars on her front legs keep getting clearer. The dorsal stripe was slowly working its way down her back, but it seems to have stopped just past the point of her croup and I dont think it’s going any farther… could she be a “dunskin”? She is also almost completely shed out now, she was blanketed so there wasnt much there to begin with. Who knows, either way she is gorgeous! We are also moving to a dressage barn in woodinville ( I do everything off the barter system… I scored an awesome live in job for a cute little apt for me and my dog and board for Calli, that includes 2 lessons a month 
) so we will really be working then! I hope to be at least started in the saddle by mid summer, I am really taking my time with this one, she is definately worth it! I have broke out alot of horses, but it’s different when it’s your own lol
here is a pic of her butt, I just realized that in all the pics I posted the light is reflecting just right and you can’t see her dorsal stripe
(forgive the crappy braid, it was done out of boredom, and her left leg is cocked, she is not really cow hocked or narrow back there… quite the opposite lol)
I think she looks like my new one!
I wonder if they are related? This mare was a PMU foal that came out of Alberta, Canada from a place called Skyline Ranch. I had been wanting something I could do low-level barrels and poles with, so this is my new project.
I dont think they could be… Calli’s owner owned her sire and the dam I believe was a friends mare. Her sire seemed tiny compared to her though! Are you in WA or CA now? If you take her to any pinto shows I would love to actually meet you, won’t be anytime this year though unless I take her in-hand just for fun. I have been getting her to play with that big ball more, My friend does team sorting and wanted a partner, so hooking me up with Calli was her gift to me for her for her b-day (kinda like when men buy you lengerie… they say it’s for you, and you are the one that wears it… but its really for them lol) and now that she knows I won’t tolerate laziness her rollbacks have gotten much cleaner and she starting to look like she might be good at some speed events. How old is yours? she looks like a tank!
Kisses on that cute nose!
I JUST started an online blog/training journal for Calli… I will try to update every time I work with her. I am putting in pretty much every little detail, so if you want check it out time to time, I love input, particularly when I’m stuck!
http://kimncallista.wordpress.com/
Plus, there will be TONS of pictures. I may even get around to putting her before and after feet pics
I found this description from http://www.mustangs4us.com/Horse%20Colors/how_to_tell_the_overos_apart.htm, which I think is pretty good:
“Think of it like paint…
Frame – looks like white was painted with a loaded brush into the space inside the frame around the horse’s body
Sabino looks like it was sprayed on with a faulty spray gun, splattering around, usually starting from the legs and face and moving toward the body
Splash looks like the horse was dipped in white paint
Each of these patterns come in versions so minimal that some people consider them “normal markings.”
Also to me, tobiano looks very pointy and distinct, whereas sabino looks very lacy, and frame means the color of the horse makes a border around the white patterns. So IMO, without doing tests, yep, probably just tobiano, or potentially tobiano with sabino (as tobiano is a dominant gene and can mask other gene expressions) because of the lacy look of that back leg in the second side picture. Probably not frame, though.
Except that, of course, she could be a Tobiano and a Frame!
See, this is why it is so dangerous to try to identify patterns visually.
It’s fine to guess, we all love doing that, it’s good fun, but NOT with a pattern as potentially dangerous as Frame.
That looks like a buckskin Tobiano to me. In fact, she has nearly the same markings as my mare’s dam, and she’s registered as a buckskin Tobiano Paint.
She’s definitely a pretty lady! Good luck with her training!
Your horse is a tobiano.. the term Frame Overo.. is a outside color around a white center.. the horse would have color on their top line and legs and up to their chest, stomach and hind end with white in the middle.. OR mostly color on top with a LOT of white and a bit of color on the legs…
Because your horse has a solid bottom line, and the color does not GO under her . but is a rather large spot, that makes her a tobiano. And she has a solid head, which is more typical of a tobiano.
This may help a bit more
http://www.apha.com/forms/PDFFiles/08_PatternsPoster.pdf
She is lovely though!!
She reminds me of my friends pony that we helped her get last year she is part arab too…
Hi Cathy,
(I will stop calling you Fugs, by the way!) I just want to say, really, ive seen worse things than the “Imprinter”.
Its really not that bad, sorry, I am not with you on this one!!!
If one old guy has found a way to make breaking colts a little easier on his old back, then, well, Ive seen much, much worse. They are just in moving stocks.
Sorry!
Oh, I’ve seen worse too. The thing about this device is that it’s going to work fine on a naturally calm-tempered horse, but boy is there gonna be one hell of a wreck if someone tries to put, say, a three year old warmblood in it, or a draft cross who has gotten used to powering through anything that he doesn’t like. Or a claustrophobic horse, and the list goes on. That said, I don’t see it as a huge threat to horsekind because, honestly, who has the money to buy it?
The inventor of this contraption lives in Alabama. Doesn’t that explain it? At least he is thinking outside the box. Maybe is parents were blood relatives. (My aunt’s husband it from Alabama…heck of a nice guy, but the culture there is a little different.)
I am originally from Alabama and I am half insulted and half in agreement. When it comes to horsemanship Alabama is a mixed bag. My childhood was filled with bad examples, like dad who told me that if a horse wants to throw his head up just break a glass bottle of warm water over his head and he will stop. The horses where all pretty much quarter horses or some grade derivation of quarter horses. They trailer them fully tacked in 100 degree summers. They think every living thing is as tough and mean as they are. The horses deserve eternal life in heaven, with every possible horse amenity for putting up with the redneck idiots.
On the other hand, as an adult I discovered that there is an educated, caring, humane community of dressage and eventing riders in Alabama. Too bad so many kids in places like Alabama miss that.
Is there anyway this can be sent to George Morris ? Can you even imagine what he’d have to say ? And there is not valid therapeutic riding program around who would ever consider putting a hippotherapy patient in such a thing. Not that I’d want to risk him or incur the resulting vet bills, but I’d like to see my cold backed, claustrophobic OTTB in such a thing, especially when it started to move and drag him, HOLY HELL would that be a wreck ! This is a horse who destroyed himself and a rig by getting out over the butt bar AND THE CLOSED TAILGATE of a two horse straightload trailer five minutes after I saved his ass from the killpen at New Holland. That’s gratitude, huh ? BTW Fugly, a huge thank you, I posted about him a while back when asked to tell about rescuing from auctions. He was so coldbacked, he bucked off a saddle by busting the billets and I was in a quandry as to his future. You told me about a coldbacked polo pony you had who “needed a job involving lots of wet saddle blankets”. I have since then conditioned for and completed my first 25 mile LD ride with him, the busiest job I could find, and he is thriving on the work. He actually has fewer episodes when fit and strong through his back. So kudos to you and a heartfelt thanks again from myself and “Leo”.
Honestly I think George Morris might be completely speechless. I like to think that people like Mr. Morris are living in a slightly more insulated world, not reading the Fugly blog, and don’t even know stuff this crazy is out there in the world of horse training. Of course, I could be wrong!
And I’m glad Leo is doing well – most likely his back feels better now that you’ve gotten him that fit. Slow, consistent conditioning does wonders for a host of behavioral not to mention soundness issues. I hope he continues to thrive!
As part of their KY Derby coverage today, the NPR sports program “Only A Game” had a segment on unwanted horses, rescue, slaughter, etc. I know you’re no fan of the Unwanted Horse Coalition, but their rep repeatedly talked about how overbreeding contributes to the problem, and the painful but necessary contraction of the horse population in the current economy. He even said that the “major registries” should give incentives to breeders to reduce overbreeding! (I think he was talking about AQHA and the TB registry…)
Hey, I don’t care who that message comes from – I’m in favor of that message! Glad to hear it.
Horse trap. I don’t know what else to call it. I’m wondering, what is the fatality rate with this thing? For the horse and rider I mean… %80? Seriously, on what planet is this a good idea?
Hi Fugly,
You have no idea what I mean. Which to me just underscores the fact that I am correct. I can only hope that it doesn’t take a major accident for you to realise that. Cheers
I have no idea what you’re talking about either, except that now you’ve got your panties in a bunch. Fugs has been riding a while, I suspect she will survive.
Kippen, Cathy is not the only one who has no idea what you mean.
I have ridden all my life, am a far from nervous or fearful rider, and I have not the slightest idea what you mean.
Do you have any idea what you mean???
I THINK I know what you mean—I was in total agreement with your previous statement:
“You have misunderstood me as regards a horse thinking for it’s self. If a horse stops because it can feel it’s rider in danger of sliding off, that’s a horse thinking for it’s self. If you see an almighty flier (the wrong stride) coming into a cross country fence and the horse chips in an extra stride to save the situation, that’s a horse that’s thinking for it’s self. A cutting horse works the cow with no input from the rider at all, that’s a horse that’s thinking for it’s self. When a show jumping rider charges at a gallop to the last fence in a jump off against the clock, then that horse must think for it’s self. The rider needs it to.”
Then you lost me when you started to stereotype stallions as dangers-waiting-to-happen, and horsepeople with a healthy sense of self-preservation as fearful ninnies.
Good GOD. I’m truly at a loss for words. The only explanation I can think of for something like this is that the guy just wants to try to make money at all costs. He needs to pull his head out of his ass, and anyone thinking this could possibly be a good idea needs to do the same.
What a freakin’ train wreck.
Did this contraption not get built because this guy wizened up and figured out that “saddling them on the wall” was dangerous? But is he still not doing that same unsafe move before he brings them into his little contraption pulled by lightweight farm gator or atv. I would think a horse that did not want to play could easily take off and move that whole contraption, power source and all. The helmetless and tennis shod kids just complete the whole “professional” image. Way to go with those big spurs too, guy on a baby. More FAIL blog material.
So I went to a local auction that is held every spring, the person who puts on the auction got tired of people NS their horses.
She implemented a 50 NS fee if the owners decided to NS.. so people who brought their horses, were serious sellers…
The first horse.
6 yr old Belg/TB gelding, HUGE, said to ride, was led thru $500 sold
22 yr old Reg arab mare, ridden english, broke to drive, THIN 3.5-4 on Hienke scale, ridden through, did great!! $155 sold
8 yr old pinto shetland pony gelding, green broke to drive, hitched, was ground driven thru $110 sold
10 yr old paint mare, slight club foot in front, trail ridden, quiet, ridden bareback, stood on, ridden western..$750 sold (high seller)
6 yr old shetland gelding, well broke to ride, did great with feet, and child on him was having fun. $145 sold
2yr old hackney cross gelding, broke to drive, did very well, 2 and 3 hitch, rode a little too. $75 sold
his harness NS at 80…
Long yearling Grulla/smutty buckskin filly, grade, quiet and good mover. $90 sold
5 yr old reg arab gelding, 30+ days, rode well, thin 3.8 on hienke scale. $175 sold
2 yr old reg arab gelding, CUTE, thin 4 on hienke scale, good on the ground, started show halter training, sweet. $70 sold
I actually told a local tack seller who does do some horse trading to NOT bid on the 2 yr old, the last time he bid on a reg arab gelding… I found out he took him
to IA, probably sold for meat…
I started the 2 yr olds bid.. at 25 dollars…I stopped at 50 and then two other people took over and had a mini bidding war ending at 70. I talked to them, nice family who wants a companion to another horse and will be a project for them.
Boy are prices crap for ponies.. I really thought they would do better…I think the hackney and the big belgian cross were bought by the amish.
Carol
You might be able to adapt this to help parapalegic horses.
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=10293
When you break babies, you can take your time all you want, one day one of them is going to get you. Use all the contraptions you want, the more crap you use the more likely one of them is going to get you. Really there is nothing safe about sitting on 1000lb prey animal. I’m all for safety, but that thing screams wreck waiting to happen to me, which is ironic since it’s supposed to do the exact opposite.
It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to sell junk like that to people who are afraid of their horses *cough* parelli *cough*
Holy Mother of God. I forwarded this one to the Big K.
Please do share with us his reaction.
With a refit that thing might work to get a down horse into the barn or as someone said,a “wheelchair” for a very weak horse.. But even I know better than to put a horse in that!
OT a bit,but there was a guy that clamed he could tame the wildest horse by putting it in a silo (with the head sticking out) covering the horse with grain and leaving it all day. Personaly,I believe in the “wet saddleblanket” method.
WTF! I’m picturing that old movie “Jeremiah Johnson” when the bald guy is buried up to his neck in sand – but instead it’s a horse buried in grain. That is “training?” *snork*
My horse would eat himself out of the grain, then kick out of the silo moments before dying of either happiness or colic.
That does look like a dun stripe rather than a countershading stripe to me.
I think dun is now testable too…if you’re really that curious, send a sample off and have her tested for frame and dun
. It’s not expensive.
::stares in fascination at the train wreck that is the Imprinter:: The only thing that ‘s going to be imprinting is people’s faces in the dirt. I want to go running screaming from it!
If someone is so terrified of their horse having physical freedom that they want to encase it in metal to feel safe, DO NOT OWN OR RIDE HORSES! This contraption completely defeats the purpose!
If you want to ride around on something that is guaranteed to never spook or buck or disobey, then buy an ATV!
I am shocked that they are “looking for distributors.” God I hope they get laughed out of any expo they try to set up in.
Here’s another WTF!
http://fleethorse.com/
Please tell me this is a joke? I edit transportation policy studies for a living and I don’t think even the most liberal “green” tree-huggers I work with would find this acceptable. Hybrid cars, sure. Hydrogen cars, why not? Literal horse power … not real green I’d guess they’d say.
ROFL! I once went to a museum about automobiles, and there was a part where they had some promotional literature from when they were first coming out… and part of the appeal was that they would clean up the cities! No more horse dung coating the ground and filling the air! The cities would be so clean without horses!
I guess we’ve come full circle… XD
I want to laugh but what if they’re not kidding?
If this future is imminent in my lifetime, please shoot me me now so I never have to see it.
While the whole thing is too scary for words, what I find the most scary is this
“Horses have been used by therapists as aids to help with physical and mental disabilities.
Hippotherapy is a medical treatment strategy that uses the rhythm and movement of a horse in treatment.”
(IMHO) There is NOTHING about this device that makes it apporpriate for any therapeutic riding porgramme.
Unless by “hippotherapy” they mean a horse in his own wheelchair?
“Mental disabilities” – the only therapy I can envision arising from this product is a wake-up kick to the person who invented it.
W-ow.
I think I had one of those when I was little. Only the horse was made of plastic and mounted on springs!
Seriously, it looks like someone saw a spring horse and thought “You know what would make this even better? A real horse!”
Ummm, my little 15.2 hh Thoroughbred took an entire stall front down, and galloped down the barn aisle to the ring with a door swinging off her head because someone forgot that she doesn’t tie, and she decided she didn’t want to stand anymore… I can only imagine what could happen if someone attempted to get her to hang out in that, errmm, thing.