Animal Cruelty

Well, a horse is not a smart animal...some would even say they are quite stupid. I just say they are interestingly ignorant and the owner/trainer can’t be more ignorant than the horse. In this case they either were or it was a close tie and the tie breaker was their driving off dragging the horse. I have seen much stupider though.

 

There it is — round pen and time/patience

 

Well yes, but even in the absence of a round pen work circles and his only out is the one you give him such as an open trailer. Most will take the out (the open trailer) in 5-10 minutes.

 

Horses are pretty smart, just takes patience to deal with them and dragging them with a pickup isn't going to help.

 

Agreed— just making a point that quite a few folks have forgot what ground work is worth

 

How many of you have been stomped by a horse that refuses to lead, it hurts.

 

There are still a lot of people going by the " old ways " of brute force over brains. While the mantra of never let the horse win may work it doesn't make it right. I've gone to the Clinton Anderson Down under Horsemanship clinics. And I guarantee the method works. I never realized how much I really didn't know about horses until I attended a clinic. Anyone that's not using the natural Horsemanship method has missed the boat .

 

Maybe I was a bit rash saying they were not a smart animal, I should have said that their intelligence is different than most other animals in that they learn differently. You are totally correct that dragging one isn’t going to help at all, it will just create more problems.

 

I have been stepped on but never stomped. Stepped on kind of hurt.

 

I must admit when I was younger (let’s say about 50 years ago) I did horses the old hard way, but I have since learned (Both through clinics and trial and error) there are better ways, better and easier for both me and the horse. Neither of us get hurt now days.