Posted by John on October 01, 2003 at 10:19:08:
In Reply to: Re: Round pen as opposed to stocks posted by Bill Adams on October 01, 2003 at 02:18:20:
: : As a young man, actually an adolescent, I preferred the snap one out or buck me off if you can method. Since resistance free horse training has come about, and the knowledge is attainable, I have learned a better way. In response to a response by Bill Adams, I didn't know that anyone had used that same school of thought for encouraging a horse to stand for the farrier. Will someone please share some of those methods with me?
: : Thanks in advance,
: : John
:
: John,
: I have learned to apply the principals from Perelli, Lyons, et al, with great sucess in shoeing.
: So I get this horse that may be aggresive or scared, turns to kick at me, or pulls away and slams the foot down.
: I set up my rig at the gate of the round pen, while the owner or handler is running the horse, not letting him stop, especialy not where he wants to. Work up a good sweat and get him huffin' and pullin'.
: Then we tie the lead rope around the neck, to act as a handle, so we can send him running instantly when he misbehaves.
: Have the handler hold him in the center of the pen, carefully, start by picking up a leg and messing with it but not between your knees. When he pulls away, have the handler make him run till he wants to stop, then go a bit more and make him stop and turn to you (Monty Roberts, etc.), bring him to the center and start again. They learn fast that burning shoes on is better than burning lungs. I bring him over to the gate and shoe him around, wtih him in the pen if we need it.
: Once they let you do your job they seem to learn and the next shoing goes fine.
: I have been amazed at how well this works. I did a horse that was so bad ,in his own barn, I had to stop working on him after one front shoe. He just needed one trip around the pen and was fine after that.
: Another horse had come after me, on the last leg, we tried some dope the owner had, so then he came at me like a twelve hundred pound drunk. A couple days later at another location, we round penned him and had the shoe he wouldn't let us do put on in twenty minuets. The owner bought a round pen for his own place to be ready for the next shoeing. I came to do him at his place in the new pen six weeks later, and he was fine to work on, actualy a good horse to work on, with no running the second time.
: I swear by these round pens, though I still swear at horses, too.
: My $0.02,
: Bill
Bill,
When I caught onto that a horse would, with a few laps, prefer to be my friend, let me pet his neck, etc., I felt like a genius. Well, you may have learned it the same way I did, the hard way first. As soon as I put it into practice, I could have turned a back flip. Not only does it work, it works great! I still haven't applied it to shoeing. You were being courteous, but this, your latest response, should have started with H E Y S T U P I D,. With my results with this method for other tasks, it's sad to say I didn't apply it to shoeing.
Thank you, Thank you,
John