> > > I think you're right. Each horse will need attention and training that is > specific to them. > > Cookie is great and no one has ever come off her. She was born that way. > > Not all horses are; some will need X amount of training time to get there; > some need much more or much less. > > Some will never get there; they just weren't meant to be. >
with these super super pets you have to be careful because I left huge training gaps in mine simply because it was never an issue. I rode Stonewall a whole year and then a professional trainer came around and I asked if he would ride him and tell me what he thought. he rode him around the roundpen and I said "want me to open the gate so you can go out?" and he laughed and said oh no MA'AM miz janice, this horse aint got a clue in the world what a whoa is, have you ever tried to whoa him?:" and then it hit me, I had always ponied him til under saddle, and then we had always followed jaspar and then other safe horses on the trail. I had not even taught him whoa. can you imagine? That is an extreme example but as time went along and he began to be exposed to various trail situations I began to realize I had created a monster because I had never taught him ANYTHING, I had just let him be his sweet self. My husbands horse Traveller is the same way, tho not a huge problem since he is a quiet, low-personality introvert always hanging back and not reactive. My Fox too. But get these really "perfect" easy to train horses out in the real world and they get in a situation and you are in t-r-o-u-b-l-e. You should have seen me the day I found out stonewall cannot be trusted to make his own decisions, especially not crossing narrow deep water channels. he thinks he should try and jump it, and when he doesnt make it, scrambles and lunges up sheer drop off banks. mmmmm not good. A horse that has been following other sensible horses and humans on the ground his entire life is not equipped for safe trail riding! jme! yiii I think my huge failing as a trainer is that I dont know how to transfer things from the ground to the saddle. Some things yes, but some real critical things, no. janice -- even good horses have bad days sometimes.
