Reader Question on Grooming Horses

I received a reader question from Nicole who said she rides sometimes at a rental stables and sometimes on one of her friend's horses and was confused about whenever or not etiquette required grooming the horse both before and after riding.

Well Nicole, nobody ever accused me of having etiquette. I understand that alot of people get their exposure to horses and riding through rental stables and I ain't sure that most rental stables care either. One of our largest animal abuse cases was against a rental stables, which has since been closed down. To be sure, there are rental stables under great management, hope you are riding at one. You could ask the rental stable management what they would like to do regarding before and after riding care. You can also watch your friend when you ride with him/her and see what they do.

Grooming does several things besides just preparing the horse's back for a saddle pad and/or blanket and saddle. It lets you gauge the horse and his behavior, and allows him to get used to you a little as well. It can make any injuries, unseen til now, become apparent. This is a pretty much "must do" before riding. As for cleaning the feet,...sometimes I don't as any packed sand or manure helps cushion the foot when riding. When it has been wet out, I clean the feet prior to riding to expose bacteria to it's natural enemy which is the air.

Sometimes after riding when I put my horses up, I just pick their feet then turn them out. Of course, they roll and usually I'll brush them out later when they have dried. In the hot weather, I'll usually sponge them down after they have cooled off. If I turn them out when they are wet, they will roll and I'll have to brush them out again later.

Brushing their mane and tail to get out kinks and burrs is always a good idea. And really any horse handling you do is good for the horse - the more the better.

As far as washing horses goes,....I think many horses are washed too often, especially if using soap. Too much washing and soap can wash away their natural oil on their skin. Truth be known, my horses get one washing a year,.......maybe. My sponging with just water and the occasional rain is their bath in between visits to the wash rack.

Hope this was the type of answer you were looking for. Safe Journey Nicole.

Reader Question on Young Horse That Won't Stand Still

Cindy wrote me about her coming 3 year old Appaloosa Gelding that she has raised since birth. She has been riding him since he turned 2 last April. He has been doing very well,....she has no major complaints or problems except he does not stand still when tied or when she is tacking up. And sometimes he tries to kick.

Well Cindy, I don’t too much like a horse that kicks. Very seldom is it because he’s just plain mean. Usually it’s out of fear. Could be that he’s turned out with other horses and is at the bottom of the herd pecking order. Could be that he’s just a young horse. If I'm leading a horse and he tries to kick, I give a quick, sharp jerk on the lead line to my rope halter. If the I'm turning the horse loose and he spins and kicks, I'm not only out of the way but also ready to use the popper end of my lead line to pop him on the hip. I'll usually catch the horse again, and go through a couple of times of haltering and un-haltering him until he stands or at least doesn't spin and kick.

My way is gentling a horse at 2 years old and even if I don’t get a saddle on him until 3, that’s okay. In most cases a horse isn’t mature, physical wise, until they are 4. That’s where the real riding starts. So you are not behind with him by any means, and some of his bad habits will most likely go away (with good handling) as he gets older providing you go through a lot of wet saddle blankets – that is to keep working him.

Whenever I’m on the ground or in the saddle and a horse doesn’t want to stand still.....such as being barn sour or buddy sour, I create some energy and move him in a tight circle for a little bit then offer a chance for him to stand still. Most of the time the horse will soon learn that standing still is a good deal. So this is another example of pressure and release,..making the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy.

In the video below I have my Mustang gelding, who when I got him did not like anyone to walk around his rear and, would move away when I was putting a saddle on him. He’s very good about it now, but I'm using him to demonstrate applying pressure by turning him in tight circles then offering him a chance to stand still.

With your horse, chances are he moves off, at least a step or two, when you get into the saddle. Make sure you mount with a short rein tipping his head slightly to the side you are mounting, and if he tries to walk as you are getting situated in the seat, back him up a few feet. If he wants to move away as you mounting, then don’t mount,....instead create some energy and move him around in a tight circle and offer it to him to stand still and try to mount again. Hope this helps you. Good luck and safe journey.

Reader Question on QH-Morgan cross with Bad Ground Manners Including Rearing

A reader sent me the following question on a horse of theirs with bad ground manners,…”I recently bought a Quarter Morgan cross she has horrible ground manners. Last time I took her out off the halter she bucked and reared and I had a hell of a time getting back under control. I have been doing basic round pen work with her and trying to get her to pay more attention to me. Any suggestions to help her and I get on the same page. I like her spunk but I like my fingers and arms too lol. Thank you”

Having fingers are good. Having thumbs is what separates us from monkeys, although I have seen people act as monkeys when working around horses.

If your QH-Morgan mare is stalled or not handled for days on end, especially when the weather is cold, then this will tend to make them more “energetic”. If you are using a webbing halter, then I suggest you get a good rope halter such as a Double Diamond Halter and tied on lead rope. Your horse should, of course, stand still as you remove the halter, and should even position her head to make it easier for you to remove the halter and not move off until you walk away.

Re-building ground manners starts from haltering and instilling these habits. She'll learn from the release of pressure be it pressure from the halter or pressure that she perceives from you. I would lead her around until she does everything I ask her to do under halter, before turning her loose. I would walk off, stopping, back then standing still. Mix it up some.

She’ll rapidly figure out what you want. If she doesn’t stop then back her with a bump on the lead rope tied to your rope halter. I like my horses to stop immediately when I stop, even at a jog, then back one step. This will translate to a better stop under saddle. When she is correctly position then let her stand for a few seconds then move off. Not necessarily each time you walk of then stop, but more than occasionally, I would also stop and back her. Horses get better at almost everything else when they can back well. But you have to stop before they want to stop or before they resist otherwise it does no good.

When I’m leading or lunging a horse on a long lead or lunge line and they rear, I sharply bump on the lead line as their front end is off the ground,…this is a good point on why the rope halter is good. I didn't have much effect on one horse, until he time he reared, I bumped the halter lead sharply then back him with energy.

Before I take off the halter, I ask the horse to drop his head through a slight downward pressure on the lead line and slight downward pressure with my off hand on their poll. You need to quickly release the pressure at the slightest try in dropping their head. Several repetitions will make them better at this, until they can drop their head, like in a collected position – nose vertical, and hold it there until you take the halter off and walk away.

I would try to keep on hand (left) on the lead and use my right hand to un-tie the halter,...if the horse tries to move away before the halter is off you can use the lead rope to bump her and get her attention.

I hope this helps you. A QH-Morgan horse is an excellent cross. Safe Journey.

Reader Question: Bad Manners Coming Off The Halter

A woman named Carol wrote to me about her horse having bad manners coming off the halter when she went to turn her horse loose, both in the stall and in turn out. Carol says that otherwise her horse is good to ride and a fairly well mannered horse.

Actually this is pretty common, you have to let your horse know you expect him to stand until you cue him to move away after the halter is taken off. The better the overall ground manners is with this horse, the better he will be standing for the halter to be removed. I’ll just bet that Carol’s horse will continue to walk off if she stops when leading it.

If you get in a routine of keeping a horse in the stall for a couple days, then taking the horse to a turn out, the horse is going to pretty antsy about it and will often anticipate the halter release and pull away before that is complete. When putting the horse back in the stall when feed is present is another common point where the horse will be quick to get out of the halter and get to the feed.

Every time I get a halter on a horse to lead him someplace or other (shoeing stand, wash rack, round pen, tie rail for grooming, etc.) I always make it a short training exercise by stopping the horse, backing him, have him move his fore end or hind end over,…..having him drop his head, and sometimes just stand until I’m ready to move off. I think you should do this each and every time you put a halter on a horse to reestablish those ground manners which will transfer to other things as well such as standing when the halter is removed….only takes a minute or so to do this.

I always use a rope halter. I prefer the Double Diamond brand. The rope halter can be used to get the horse attention just a little more because the rope will apply more pressure than the traditional webbing halters. So Carol, I suggest you use a rope halter.

I don’t have a horse with this problem, so I am demonstrating in the video with a horse I board. Biscuit is a black, grade mare who is not handled a great deal and gets away with some things because of it. The night before I shot this video I had put her back in her stall, with feed present and she pulled away as I getting the halter off. I put the halter back on and off until she understood to stand still until I had the halter completely removed and cued her to move off. So she remembered this lesson the next day when I shot the video below. So you won’t really see a horse having this problem corrected. You’ll see me lead the horse out of her stall, stopping, backing to reminder her of her manners, then placing her in the arena where I ask her to stand still while I get the halter off.

So Carol, I suggest you tighten up all the ground manners and don’t let your horse get away with the halter routine. Do it right until the horse gets the message. Good luck and safe journey.

Readers Questions -

I held onto several questions sent to me by e-mail, so I have enough of them to answer them all at once.

I often get asked who makes my Hat’s and what type of crease my hat has. I basically buy of the shelf hats, because I am pretty damn hard on them and can get immediate replacements. Generally I’ll buy a hat, chocolate brown in color, with a 6 inch crown and a 4 inch brim, then I form the crease into what I call the “Old Army” crease. This is a pretty common crease for Cavalry and standard Army hats in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Just seems to suit me.

When asked where I recommend buying some good working gear from, I always say there are lots of good tack makers out there, depending upon how much you willing to pay. Horse.com offers some really economy on general tacks such as bits, bridles, reins, and other horse gear. I probably have enough gear to last me several lifetimes. I have bought a lot of gear from Craig Cameron who offers very good working gear at reasonable prices. http://www.craigcameron.com

Two other great places for working gear are: Big Bend Saddlery and Sawtooth Saddle Company

I had a question on my rope, where I buy it from and how long of rope do I like. I buy my ropes from National Roper Supply and always get the 60 foot 5/16 inch nylon ranch rope with the Buckaroo Honda (or what I have been calling the Great Basin honda) which is a long oval, slightly curved aluminum Honda that swivels to allow for twists in the rope to be rapidly shook out. I will then cut my ropes to 50’ and burn the end. This is more than enough rope for me and keeps the coils as small as possible so I can get better control of them as I handle the reins. http://www.nrsworld.com

Someone must have been admiring my boots to ask me where I buy my boots from. I order store bought boots from the Olathe Cowboy Collection. These boots has an 17 inch upper, under cut heel with spur ledge, and, double thick leather soles. I prefer leather soles as they are quicker (and safer) to get out of the stirrup with. I actually order these boots from Drews Boots in Oregon. http://www.drewsboots.com/olathe.htm

Another question I am often asked is if there are what DVD’s are available on Horsemanship and what I would recommend. Hands down I would recommend Craig Cameron’s Ride Smart DVD and Book Combination. Also, his Back to Basics and Dark Into Light DVD’s are also first class and explain in common sense terms the modern day method of understanding horses and gentling colts. http://www.craigcameron.com

The last question I’m going to address in this post is what do I mean by "Functional Horsemanship". What this means to me is a combination of knowing enough to be safe with a Horse and giving that Horse a fair life. There are many exceptional clinicians and trainers who can greatly increase your skill and understanding of horses and training, but they are largely unavailable to most horse owners. And these horse owners are generally the people who need that training and education the most in order to be safe and give their horse a fair life. It just pains me to see neglected horses and I will be posting a video soon of the latest neglect case I am working on. Safe Journey.