Movin' on

So the past few posts, I've won friends, influenced people and tried not to pass judgement on someone. Calling animal control on the person might seem like a good idea, but since then, the guy sold all his horses and moved on. At least they all have a shot at a better life now. I haven't seen him at the barn in a while so that's good. Makes me wonder how long until he gets another horse or several.

Another guy I've run into at the barn, has a stallion that's a really nice looking horse, but he will be gelded before long. Hooray! He was telling me the other day that he was watching one of the TV horse trainers the other night and how they were telling people how to determine if the horse is in charge or if you are. For a lot of us who have been around horses for a decent length of time, this is a no brainer, I know. He proceeded to tell me how he used the guys methods to see for himself if his horse was in charge or if he is? Watching them interact together, it's blatantly obvious what's going on. Then he asked me if I had ever done that to see if I'm in charge or my horse?


You can all take a few minutes (or ten) to process that. Try and keep your laughter to a dull, hysterical roar! Now imagine the look of surprise, shock and amazement when I told him that "No, I've never done that. I've never felt the need, since I go in knowing who's in charge and it is Not my horse." I went on to explain that the horses can size us up before we even get the stall door open. They know if we are a leader or a follower and respond accordingly. They also aren't usually wrong. When I explained to him that yes I've worked with a Lot of horses and yes a good number of them have been stallions, he looked like he was beginning to understand what I was saying. He also nodded in agreement and said that these were things the TV Trainer had also said too. When I told him that a lot of these things are based on common sense and typical animal behavior, he agreed with that too. Imagine that?!?!

He has yet to geld the horse and is waiting until after he is cut to really start riding him. He has had a saddle on the horse and worked him in the round pen, but that's about it. It will be interesting to see if he expects the horse to be magically trained or easier to deal with once his nuts come off. He may, but he also may not. I guess geldings never buck and somehow they just know to respect people? Yeah, that's it....