Update and several questions

[Silver1]

For those who like Mear updates:
We love the stable at the back of my friends house, it has electricity and an electric waterer, and a hose attachment. A barn and tackroom all to ourselves, bridlepaths that go on forever and get this...NO FLIES! A heavy fly day consists of five gnats, and just after I discovered fly boots and a fly mask that won't come off and a fly spray that really works and comes in 100 gallons worth of concentrate. (For only $12 too!) We love the paths, and there is nearly always someone to ride with, and who actually wants to ride, trails that go on for thousands of miles, a round pen, one general arena, one jumping arena and one dressage arena. All carefully looked after by management. The price you ask? Just pay for my own hay and $4 every other month for my own trash can...I don't care if the homes cost a million each, I'm moving there.

Now then, about Mear. I've promised myself that no one is going to push me into anything with my horse, with the happy result that I actually want to ride more. I have been riding once or twice a week for the past several months, and ground training about twice a week as well. You don't notice these things when you ride bi-yearly, but some small issues have come up with Mear and I'd like to ask about them.

The questions:
#1. Is it possible for a horse to accept a bridle and a saddle and a rider...but not be trained?

On my rides I've noticed that Mear does not understand any kind of leg cue at all. She doesn't understand any bridle cue except go where your nose has been pulled, (Which in my opinion, is not really a cue,) and while she is fantastically brave when it comes down to scary things, she is completely flabbergasted when you do normal every day stuff off the right side instead of the left. She never bucks, or kicks, or pulls any kind of pranks at all, but I have this feeling there is a complete lack of understanding when I ask her for something using a cue, and no obvious answer.

Example: She knows to follow a trail if she's put on one, but if you ask her to walk on a specific side of the trail, or to straighten her body or something, she doesn't understand.

#2. What are the basics anyway?

I've gotten several books and (Yay!) Have even gotten the courage to take a lesson or two, and it makes me wonder what every horse is supposed to learn in their basic training. What is a young horse just being ridden supposed to learn? And ground training? What about that?

#3. Why would a horse be afraid of its own feet?

I was experimenting with the notion that Mear may have not actually been taught some of the basics, and started working with her back feet. She knows she's supposed to pick them up when you touch them, but she jerks her feet up in a kind of reflex. (It's not stifle lock, I had the vet out.)

She's gotten the idea of just taking the weight off the foot now, but when I'm holding her leg I can feel tension all the way up to her hip. She isn't pulling away or fighting, she's just tense. She relaxes after awhile, but she's tense every time I pick up the foot.

Any ideas?

[Cheeky]

#1. Is it possible for a horse to accept a bridle and a saddle and a rider...but not be trained?

Everything you do with a horse - whether its leading, lungin, riding, backing, .. anything - your training that horse. Even if you call it, and it doesn't come to the call - so you walk away, thats training. But I'm guessing that you mean train about riding? Leg cues must be taught to all horses - some pick it up quicker than others. Some horses understand straight away - 'oh yes, leg on means move away .. got it' .. others may thing 'eh .. what?'. Most 'green' horses aren't taught leg cues like leg yeilding etc .. its taught.

I think thats what you meant?

#2. What are the basics anyway?

By this, I am guessing you mean for young horses? To me, basics are just that - ground work, and possibley flat work. Like - move away from pressure or a cue, can be lead and tied up correctly and calmly, has been handled by humans and accepts the touch, can have feet picked up, be touched everywhere .. etc .. riding basics I would say for things like - can work on a circle balanced (20m), can work on the track, changes rein easily, understands going from walk-trot, and trot-walk, and walk-halt .. etc.

Depends on what you want the basics for? Jumping? Ground work? Flat work? Hacking? ...

#3. Why would a horse be afraid of its own feet?

I dont think this is the case .. I think that Mear is nervous about giving her feet to you, this could be one of many thins .. she's unbalanced, she's not trusting of you enough, she's scared/uncertin (of whats happening), she doesn't understand, she's had a bad experience ..

If she tenses when you hold her leg .. reasure her. do this by gentley saying 'good girl', rubbing her leg, and putting the leg down SLOWLY and carefully. If she's unbalanced, before you pick up her leg, lean on her a little bit, so she knows what is about to happen. She may shuffle a little until she's balanced, then pick up the leg.

[Silver1]

Thank you for your reply Cheeky. I'm already doing that with her leg though. We practice a little bit every day. She's not unbalanced at all, as I give her a chance to set herself up before asking for the hoof. She always offers the leg, that's not the problem. She's just tense when I'm holding the leg.

I am aware that when you're with a horse you are training it. What I meant really is can a horse accept having a saddle and bridle and rider up with out having any idea what it's all for? And I was wondering what the basics are for a horse under saddle. I just wondered where the basics stop and everything else begins.

[Cheeky]

Ohk .. sorry

Yeah .. I'm sure a horse could accept all the tack and rider and not fully understand what the point of it is. But I think that'd might be obvious .. even to the horse Dunno.

The basics .. hmm .. dunno where it would stop .. I guess it just starts with the simplest of things .. and builds without stopping

[Silver1]

Hmm. Yes, that might be so.

I found out what the problem was with Mear's backlegs incidently. She has some kind of skin infection on her lower legs and it's quite uncomfortable to be touched and/or picked up. I'm really surprised I didn't catch that. I washed her legs and treated it with an herbal rinse which helped for one day, but now its back to being uncomfortable again. She only gets uncomfortable where she pees on herself though. I'm not sure how to fix that.

[FreedomStar]

lol, well, sorry to say I don't know how to stop a horse from peeing on itself. Have you called a vet about the infection yet? You should get it under control because it might be contagious, it might not (most likely it's not contagious). You'll probably be advised to wash her legs with a medicated shampoo.

1. Regarding the training, all horses accept bridle, saddle, and rider differently. Since you've used Mear for driving, she's used to the weight of the harness and the reins and bridle that you use for that. Don't beat yourself up over not noticing, sometimes these infections are little things that are hard to notice. Ebony had a skin infection once and you couldn't really tell because it was on the inside of her back legs.

2. The basics are usually groundwork. A steady foundation needs to be built on groundwork to progress to riding. A lot of groundwork incorporates teaching signals that the horse will understand as go. Best to do this in a roundpen. for instance, teaching her to step away from pressure, or go forward, yield to the bridle, etc.

[Cheeky]

Yeah .. i'd get the vet out to check ..