>I saw this demonstrated at the horse fair. has anyone else seen it? > I have also seen it on RFDTV. Its a torturous device! Who can we get > to stop it...
Here's a report from a farrier: I met the guy that designed and built those headstalls at a clinic put on by Ralph Casey. Got to watch the so called miracle headstall inaction too that day.Even have a client that got shucked out the big buckls for the thing to use on her paint stallion. Here's the scoop: The "head stall" is really a heavy duty rolled steel noseband similar to a bosal. It is quite heavy. He has several different sizes for the various types of horses; minis, saddle horses, drafts etc and priced accordingly. The attachment points and shape of the nosebandare designed so that IF the horse holds his head in what the designer calls a "neutral " position there is no pressure applied to points on the horse's face under the noseband. This "neutral" posisiton is a head with the poll level with the withers and nose slightly tucked in. In theory it seems great, right? A relaxed horse carries his head low, right? And it IS nice to work with a relaxed horse. In practice this is what was demonstrated that day: The horses brought to this clinic were what many farriers encounter on a regular basis; unfamiliar horses that the owners JUST acquired, pretty horses that the howners just petted and loved on, spoiled horses that had no manners and draft horses that were intimidating to pick up their feet, not to mention the few raw youngsters. According to Ralph and Rick, this "Novell Headstall" would cure ANY problem with handling any of these horses had. According to Rick Wheat (the designer/mfr) the Novell Headstall can be used to ride in in any discipline and even drivve with! Oooh JUST the panacea the horse world is looking for! So in this ring we have an aged draft horse that is notorius for dragging around its handlers and not standing for the farrier, oh yeah and about 5 of Ralph's current and former students. In the second ring (round pen) we have a 3 year old rawhorsegetting saddled for the first time. And being first handled by a student of Rick's, then by Rick himself. I positioned myself between the two rings so I could watch the shows. While ring #1 became engulfed in dust from the draft horse dragging his boys around, the horse in ring #2 was getting a lesson in how to respect a rope and handler and testing the round pen rails. I did NOT see that the Novell headstall was caling these horses or encouraging either one to stand still or stand relaxed. O.K. so give the guys a bit of lattitude- afterall maybe the horses had stage fright? The premise behind the headstall as that if the horse moves his head away from neutral the noseband balance puts pressure on trigger points on the horse's face. Of course the other end of the noseband is attatched to the handler via a rope, and the handler is supposed to shake the noseband hard to encourage cooperation from the horse, then release and let the noseband be still when dobbin DOES cooperate. Which would probably work for horses that have already learned the pressure release tao. In ring#1 the draft was teaching the theory of horsepower and showing how strong the rope was while the hnadler land skied around the ring. Two strapping young farriers to be were clinging to one of his forelimbs as he lumbered around. In ring #2 the 3 yr old was still racing the round pen at break neck speed but every now and then would stop and turn when the noseband was shook. Hmmm- maybe a bit of progress? Yes, I do beleive so and its only been 40 minutes! To make a long story short the 3 yr old's handling was taken over by Rick himself. The horse broke 2 Novell Headstalls and when the third one was put on (Rick had brought a truckfull to sell, thankfully), Rick quit working the horse in the manner that created the broken headstalls and went to actually getting ON the recalcitrant beast! Now we all know that certainly any horse that you can ride can automatically be handlef fine from the ground, right? uh huh. A few times around the pen and Rick gave Junior back to the young man to continue working with. So Rick then continued to narrate the wonders of this headstall from the sidelines. So we are now approaching our second hour and Junior is bucking a bit but every now and then deciding he is getting tired and his choices of escape are slim. The draft horse has changed directions and instead of plowing forward and over the top of his boys (they are working as tag teams) he has taken to showing that horse power inreverse is just as effective. Poor boys, I could see they were determined, but muchly misdirected. BEing as there were actually OTHER things being presented at this clinic like shoeing & trimming of draft horses (with power grinders even) I left the shows in ring #1 & #2. As I watched the horses getting literally ground down, I would glance back at the rings and look for any progress. Nope, not really. My, weren't those boys dusty! When they brought in the second draft for footwork this one seemed a bit tense from the grinder so they quickly put it in a Novell, a few shakes on the noseband and the Percheron was willing to accept the grinder. Obviously this big guy had manners tucked away - just had to give him a chance to find them. Meanwhile the 3 yr old is now turning right and left, stopping and going but stillunder saddle and not from the ground. The draft was slowing down and they almost had one fornt hoof trimmed in ring #1! WOW and only 3 hours into the show! Was I impressed with this headstall? Absolutely NOT! The headstalls presented for sale that day were INO cheaply made. The leather was cheap, only riveted at the attachment points (which gave out under stress). At the prices he was getting, and they were selling pretty fast, I'd want better quality. The horses in his demo video were much more cooperative and apparently his explanation of how "special" these two horses were was sufficient to encourage novices to purchase the Novell. Just another gimmick for green horns to glom onto because they think it is a shortcut to actual knowledge and experience. Could an expereienced handler achieve results with the Novell? Certainly!, But then an expereinced handler can achieve results with baling twine too! Another drawback to this heavy noseband is the danger i presents to a handler when the horse slings his head, as well if the horse moves his head to shoo flies the thing bumps him and punishes him for the movement - which results in a reaction from the horse at first that is unwanted. Nope, I'll keep using my "chain of command" which is soft when not needed or biting when needed and it is instantaneous. _________________ Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
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