Dromgool Horsemanship

Stunning weather, amazing scenery and fabulous company.
Riding Holidays rock!!

We have managed to ace the weather on all our Riding Holidays so far - the weather goddess has been on our side!
We still have places on our fabulous 3 day rides - what a great opportunity to gift yourself the trip of your lifetime.
Check them out on our website https://horseman.co.nz/3dayridingholiday/
Or drop me a line at [email protected]
I'd love to ride with you X

So true

THE THING ABOUT HORSES ...

“He MUST be good to load on the float”
“He MUST have no “dirt”!”
“He MUST be good to catch!”

I could go on, but I’m sure you have all read and heard the statements, and many many many many more.

As soon as I see this in a “wanted” ad, or hear someone talking about it, I know two things.

1. They have probably had a problem in one of these areas before.

2. They didn’t learn how to fix it.

It seems like witchcraft that the people who strive so hard to find these horses that fit the MUST list, actually end up with exactly what they don’t want.

Here’s my feelings on that -

If I didn’t train it, I don’t own it.

If I buy a horse that can do 86 one time changes in a row, and I don’t know what a flying change is, then I’m not going to be able to perform 86 one time changes on my new fancy horse. Maybe I could stay in the saddle for a few, but it would dwindle down until the horse either quit doing them, or got anxious about it and did something else instead.

If I get a horse with a fantastic stop, and I use a different cue, or release out of time, my horse isn’t going to have a good stop for long.

Then factor in poorly fitting gear, difficult surfaces, a random work schedule, some junk food and badly fitting shoes, perhaps a dose anxiety or uncertainty, or lack of faith in the new “leader”, and suddenly we have a horse that has changed from the well mannered, reliably loading, easy to catch beast we MUST have.

Look at the gear, look at the diet, look at the housing and workload, the quality and quantity of work, and look in the mirror.

Rarely is the problem, the problem. The problem is a SYMPTOM of the actual problem. Which may be several small problems, culminating in one bigger SYMPTOM.

If you want a horse that’s great to load on the float, learn how to load horses on the float.

If you want a horse that’s great to catch, learn how to teach a horse to be caught.

If you want a horse with no “dirt”, learn what causes these behaviours and how to identify and diffuse the small sticky bits before they become symptoms of something much bigger.

Learn how to train it, so you can own it.

Had a wee session with
Maggie today. I love playing with the foals. Such a beautiful clean slate. This is Maggies first time being handled since her first week of life. She was a superstar of course!
It's so important to have a trustworthy mare to help you with the process. There are many ways to handle foals but this is how I like to do it. Not a great quality video but I thought you'd find it interesting anyway.