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FAQ - Answers |
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| Why do you find so many soured barrel horses? |
For one thing, I’ve found that many people make the barrels more of a chore than something to be enjoyed by both horse and rider. There are numerous reasons for this. One big factor is pushing our horses too fast and too hard with not enough foundation training under them. An example would be, the horse that cannot flex and bend well can obviously not keep good collection around the barrel. They will flatten out their top line, resulting in bad turns and angry, disappointed riders. Foundational training orientated to round out the back and make our horses supple is a must. A horse cannot enjoy himself if he is being asked to do something he has not been trained and fitted to do.
There are many other factors that come into play in souring horses such as ill-fitting saddles with narrow trees that pinch shoulders. Then there are saddles that are not correct for the rider either, allowing them to wash and bounce, bruising their horse’s kidneys in the turns. Ill-fitting bits that pinch mouths can be added to the list. Harsh hands on severe bits are a large contributing factor in souring our equine friends as well.
Another commonly overlooked reason can be our daily exercise programs, or maybe I should say the lack of an exercise program. A horse that is not physically prepared and warmed up properly will not be mentally or physically equipped resulting in tired, sore horses that may even develop chronic health problems. Of course a bad attitude will be the end result.
Something else I frequently witness, particularly from young riders, is whipping and yanking the horse when the rider runs out of talent. Most trainers will agree that you can spend six months teaching a horse something, lose your temper five minutes, and lose your six months of effort in those few minutes! If we want cool-headed horses, we must be cool-headed riders. Horses are herd animals, and are many times barometers or extensions of how we, “their leader” react.
We as people interfere with a horse giving us his all. The reasons stated here are but a few. We will be releasing a manual on training very soon that will approach this subject in more depth.
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| Posted by admin |
| How should we feed our young horses? Some say feed them up so they’ll grow, others say feed them down so they’re easier to break. |
Both approaches have some validity, but carried to extremes, both are wrong. Young horses certainly need to be fed a diet that contains a good source of vitamins and minerals, and be fed an amount that is a little in excess of maintenance for proper growth.
Many people have bought young prospects that were supposedly quiet and easy to handle, that were underweight and small for their age. To their surprise, as the youngster is put on a good feeding program that will benefit his development and growth, their once placid baby turned into a bronc. This is why we do not personally play down the feed program on our young horses. We ride them in good shape. We want them to be controllable for their rider without having to pony them down or longing the energy out of them. This is removing the edge that will one day rob them of the energy or winning edge it takes to be a champion.
This is not to say however that we are going to overfeed and cause energy cells to build up that a baby horse does not need or know how to handle. This kind of high will interfere with a horse learning. He can't concentrate. Like with everything else in good horsemanship, there is a balance.
Young horses that are not on a well-planned diet that fits the individual will disappoint their owners as time goes on. Shins will fracture, bone spurs develop, etc. On the other hand, the overfed youngster can become hyper and develop nervous habits or even break down from overloading heavy bodies on baby legs.
This is why we tend to buy our young prospects from knowledgeable breeders that take proper care of the broodmares, and know how to take care of their weanlings.
A proper nutritional program is a very important part of the good foundation that must be laid to build a champion.
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| Posted by admin |
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