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View Full Version : had our first little disagreement ...


notpoodle
1st Jul 2004, 08:06 PM
seing i couldnt go to the yard yesterday cos of the tubestrike, i saw her today and had to bring her up from the field for rug/feet/hoof/etc. checking.

when i got to the field it was pelting down with rain, and most horse were hiding under the trees. angel wasn't though, she was just standing there, facing the rain and wind, eating ... not a care in the world it seemed.

put her headcollar on (she's a doddle to catch. in fact no 'catching' as such has ever been involved, she usually trudges up to me when i call her) and off we went towards the gate. or so i thought. all of a sudden she decided the rain was a BIG issue and she urgently required shelter under the trees.

but seeing we had to get up to the yard and i was already soaked, this was not an option and i made her walk on .... she then decided that if we were NOT heading for the trees, she was not going ANYWHERE at all :rolleyes: and planted her feet in the ground, ears pinned back, head up high (typical 'stroppy pony' stance ...), face saying (i presume) something along the lines 'look at me! do you see me move? i dont think so! now, what youre gonna do?'

well, after my snarling (and, i have to admit, yelling ... i was soaked, couldnt see cos my glasses were wet and i REALLY wanted to get her up to the yard) was greeted with an angry sounding snorting noise, i ended up shaking the end of the leadrope behind her bum making shooeing noises - and hey presto, she began to shuffle towards the gate. she looked VERY ****ed off though :rolleyes:

was that the right thing to do? should i have given up and left her in the field? what's the best thing to do in a situation like that?

i'm now worried she'll associate me with dragging her places she doesnt feel like going ... hopefully she doesnt decide that being caught is a bad thing .... :rolleyes:

julia
x

Mehitabel
1st Jul 2004, 08:18 PM
exactly the right thing to do. under no circumstances do you leave her in the field - that way she'll get the idea that if she doesn't fancy anything, she just has to stop and you'll lether get away with it. it's a crucial time for your relationship, and if she picks fights with you, you must win them otherwise you are setting yourself up for her to pick fights even more.
she won't associate you with being made to do things she doesn't want to - she will see you as her boss, which you have to be (especially with an exmoor!).

Showjumper
1st Jul 2004, 08:20 PM
lmao!!! She sounds like such a typical Native :D A complete personality. You did the right thing in insisting she do what you wanted. I'm sure she won't begrudge you for it :)

notpoodle
1st Jul 2004, 08:24 PM
i hope so!! i felt quite bad afterwards for yelling at her and wielding the leadrope around (the other horse saw me shaking it around and legged it :rolleyes: ). ah well, i got her out of the field in the end and for the rest of the evening she was her well-behaved self again :)

i'm just worried i'm too harsh .... she doesnt get away with anything (not that she tries much, anyway) and i find that, by now, rather than getting nervous when she's being weird, i just get a little stern and make her get on with things.

julia
x

JaniceH
1st Jul 2004, 08:25 PM
I would definately say that was julia 1 - Angel definately 0

Dont they say in all those natural horsemanship books - she (or he) who controls the horses feet is the one that is leader? I'm not into horse domination or submission, but I do think that horses look to us for 'the right thing to do' and you told her that walking on was the right thing to do. Had you not made her come with you, who is to say that she wouldnt try tanking off back to her mates next time if she thought she could get away with it.

What you could do to make it a win win situation for her is to give her a lovely scratch or bit of a head rub once she gets to the other side of the gate. She will then associate coming out of the gate with nice things.

notpoodle
1st Jul 2004, 08:56 PM
she usually gets the top fo her tail scratched when we're up at the yard and she's being good (most times!). i'm glad i'm beginning to be less wussy though ...

julia
x

ps: hopefully the weather's alright tomorrow, so we can do the riding thing :)