Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I wondered about this myself.. Perhaps he had this enlightening conversation with a rodeo bucking string. Our riding horses look forward to going out. That means brusshing, attention and getting out of the corral. As far as being up on them, a horse weighs 1100+ pounds, you're an afterthought. Thing with a horse, they need a job. They are not pets, they are working animals. CCan't just lead em' and feed em'. They're to expensive to just look at and pat on the nose., and a bored horse can get cranky.
Not only do they need a job, they want one. Be it working cattle, rodeo type competition, mounted patrol, or just simple trail riding. , and there's lots of other stuff too. A good horse actually enjoys their job. They enjoy interacting with people, their rider in particular, and getting out and getting to gawk at the world. The possibility that they will shy or spook at something is ALWAYS there. A rider must be alert and ready, at all times. If you get tossed, its because you were napping. Your bad. A horse is a living animal, with a mind of its own. As its rider, you need to understand that mind, pick up on , so.etimes, very subtle cues, body language, that tell you what the horse is thinking.
Urban mounted patrolmen are not pleasure riders. They and their animal have a job. Its all business. Their animal is specially trained and conditioned, and so are they, as riders. Still, things are bound to happen. I don't know anyone who rides who hast lost their seat. Even the most experienced of riders, people who ride every, single day, have been to the ground, and from seasoned , dead broke, dog gentle animals, as well. Riding is serious business. And things happen. The horse knows his job, but just like humans, things can get sideways. Don't get caught napping.
I, barely, remember watching a program about training police horses and riders and if I remember correctly purposely spooking the horse (or trying to) and learning to take a fall was part of the training.
When I started letting the youngsters ride my horses falling off was part of the lesson.
For those who believe riding a horse is not a good thing well the horse evolved perfectly for carrying a rider, not only anatomically but mentally. Not only, as you mentioned, must a rider be able to pick up on subtle clues the horse is a master at it. A good horse and rider work well as a team being able to communicate thru subtle body language, changes in pressure and body position. The slightest muffled utterance of a click, whistle or word, slight pressure of your leg or clinch of your butt cheek can cue your horse to go, go faster, slowdown, stop, turn.
Granted a contrary horse can toss you the second your mind drifts elsewhere. Like everything else they have unique personalities.
I love this poem by Ronald Duncan: The Horse
Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride,
friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity?
Here where grace is laced with muscle and strength by gentleness confined.
___
He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent;
there is nothing so quick, nothing more patient.
___
England’s past has been borne on his back.
All our history is in his industry.
We are his heirs;
He is our inheritance.
I, barely, remember watching a program about training police horses and riders and if I remember correctly purposely spooking the horse (or trying to) and learning to take a fall was part of the training. When I started letting the youngsters ride my horses falling off was part of the lesson.
I believe you're right on that. That is necessary and common-sense training.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2mares
For those who believe riding a horse is not a good thing well the horse evolved perfectly for carrying a rider, not only anatomically but mentally.
Exactly. And that's why no one but very small babies rides the back of a Newfoundland or Great Dane, as tempting as it might be. (Side note, their vicious temperament also makes that a bad idea).
I wonder if Christopher Reeve would have thought his injuries were "Comic Relief"....
The cop would have had to have extensive training to ride a horse in a huge city. I rode for years and even I wouldn't want to ride in a city full of people and cars.
I loved Christopher Reeves in Superman, but unfortunately people who are rich like he was and have enough money can buy things like horses that are FAR too much horse for a fairly inexperienced rider like he was. He should NOT have been on that cross country course at all. He just wasn't experienced enough. Those are grueling courses with unforgiving jumps that will unseat even the best of riders. No, it wasn't funny, it was severe misjudgment of ability on a horse and course that was too difficult a level of course for him to be riding on.
Go to a ski hill and watch the rich people decked out head to tail in matching name-brand outfits doing the snow plow (a beginner's way of skiing)
Last edited by gouligann; 03-11-2016 at 06:19 PM..
The cop would have had to have extensive training to ride a horse in a huge city. I rode for years and even I wouldn't want to ride in a city full of people and cars.
I loved Christopher Reeves in Superman, but unfortunately people who are rich like he was and have enough money can buy things like horses that are FAR too much horse for a fairly inexperienced rider like he was. He should NOT have been on that cross country course at all. He just wasn't experienced enough. Those are grueling courses with unforgiving jumps that will unseat even the best of riders. No, it wasn't funny, it was severe misjudgment of ability on a horse and course that was too difficult a level of course for him to be riding on.
Go to a ski hill and watch the rich people decked out head to tail in matching name-brand outfits doing the snow plow (a beginner's way of skiing)
I've seen linked people buy horses for their kids in such a manner. They buy a young, green horse, with hot blooded breeding, meant for serious , working competition, and I've seen these kids seriously hurt, and nearly killed. There is a rule, young horse, old rider, old horse, young rider. But, status feelings cause dangerous things to happen. Inexperienced people will spend 10000 or better on a 5 yo Doc Bar line bred for being a hot rod cutting or reining animal, maybe a trainer has 60 days on the animal. That is NOT a young riders mount. A 15 yo or better, dead broke old rope horse may not hold the status of that hot colt, but its a been there, done that horse, with patience for a young, inexperienced rider. Experienced instruction , even with the older horse, is also a VERY good idea. Keeping a proper seat, proper handling of the bit (very important) even an old , experienced horse doesn't like its mouth mishandled.
There is SO much to learn, even when handling the horse on the ground under halter. Yet, so many people buy a Porsche, when they really need an old 4 cylinder Toyota.
Being thrown from a horse is not comical. The officer is lucky he was not more severely injured and that the spooked horse didn't injure anyone either.
Edit: I just want to add that when I was a kid and saw someone thrown from a horse on tv or in a movie, I thought it was no big deal. Then I saw it happen in person. In fact I was just feet away, and ther was a shocking amount of force involved. I would compare it to seeing someone in a car accident or falling from a roof. Maybe not devastaing, but definitely an accident with potentially serious injuries.
Yup.
A person who begins a career as a horse trainer as often as not ends up in a wheelchair by the age of 45.
Yup. He would have looked
A person who begins a career as a horse trainer as often as not ends up in a wheelchair by the age of 45.
I saw a ten year old girl have a horse go over backward on her. This horse was a killer he did it deliberately with the specific purpose of crushing the girl. My Dad had warned them this horse was dangerous. His ground handling was proof enough , no matter his breeding and the price they paid for him, he was dog food.
She lived. Had a perforated liver, ruptured spleen four broken ribs and a punctured lung. She was riding English gear, had she been under Western rigging, it would have no doubt , killed her. The people sold the horse, to another family who put their daughter on him. He killed her, with the same stunt, and the people who's daughter he almost killed were sued, and lost all they owned.
That horse should have had a polaski buried between his ears, right there in the arena the original event happened in. Had a few volunteers more than willing to do it. His disposition was obvious. Animals can be phsycopaths too. This one was. He would have looked his best in cans of Alpo. Selecting and buying a horse, for any purpose, is a serious venture. Any "trainer" who would sell any horse to non horse people, is no "trainer" at all. Particularly if he knows a young rider will be on the animal. The people paid $8000 dollars for that dink. Because he was a good looking horse with a set of papers to match, and they wanted to show. No more thought went into things than that.
A pedigree and a high price , and they thought that was all they needed. That was more than just sad, it was criminal.
Though it dates me when I was a child we got our bread delivered by Donaldson's Bakery. Horse drawn bakery wagon. Ice and milk came in trucks but bread in a horse drawn cart. Horse knew the route and would run autonomously. The operator could be in the back and the horse still did the right thing.
One hot morning something or the other got to the horse and he took off like a bat out of hell up the street. 18 year old big kid neighbor took off after him followed by 25 screaming kids me among them. caught up with the horse a block down, past him and got him where the bit gones into the mouth and dragged him to a halt.
Neighborhood hero and the most exciting event of that year. And we were all close enough to see it until the mother battallion arrived screaming at us "you could have been killed"
Later in life I got thrown off a horse four or five times and fought it out with a horse that did not want to be ridden and would try and roll over on you. Learned to keep my feet where I could get them out of the stirrups.
But that first was the best.
I was thrown from one that was semi wild because she wasn't ridden a lot, but holding onto the reins as it happened made it easier to land on my feet.
I saw a ten year old girl have a horse go over backward on her. This horse was a killer he did it deliberately with the specific purpose of crushing the girl. My Dad had warned them this horse was dangerous. His ground handling was proof enough , no matter his breeding and the price they paid for him, he was dog food.
She lived. Had a perforated liver, ruptured spleen four broken ribs and a punctured lung. She was riding English gear, had she been under Western rigging, it would have no doubt , killed her. The people sold the horse, to another family who put their daughter on him. He killed her, with the same stunt, and the people who's daughter he almost killed were sued, and lost all they owned.
That horse should have had a polaski buried between his ears, right there in the arena the original event happened in. Had a few volunteers more than willing to do it. His disposition was obvious. Animals can be phsycopaths too. This one was. He would have looked his best in cans of Alpo. Selecting and buying a horse, for any purpose, is a serious venture. Any "trainer" who would sell any horse to non horse people, is no "trainer" at all. Particularly if he knows a young rider will be on the animal. The people paid $8000 dollars for that dink. Because he was a good looking horse with a set of papers to match, and they wanted to show. No more thought went into things than that.
A pedigree and a high price , and they thought that was all they needed. That was more than just sad, it was criminal.
" Animals can be phsycopaths too."
While it's hard to determine a horse's psychology in human terms, that statement is essentially true. As a species, horses, like all herd animals, are fear based. They will only fight to be able to get away, and most of the trouble with humans comes from this flight impulse, not malicious intent.
There are always some well broke saddle horses who have been abused or over-used so much they are resentful, and may nip a person, or step on a person's foot in an effort not to be ridden. As you said, the pull stunts, and some can be deadly. They just don't want to work or be bossed. But they don't usually possess a murderous mind.
There are very few natural-born killers in domestic horses, but they exist, for sure.
My father once bred a colt who turned out to be a mankiller who never had the opportunity to kill a man, but if it had been possible, he would have.
My dad sold him as a yearling to some folks who planned to use him as a stallion. He was an exceptionally good-looking and intelligent horse, was never abused, and when he was young, 2-4 years of age, showed no problems at all.
He was trained as a cutting horse professionally, and was never anything but tractible and easy to train. Never showed any signs of hostility at all, and liked cutting cattle, as many of them do.
Then around age 4 or 5, he began chivving mares. That's common for a young stud, but he became increasingly vicious and bit a few severely. As a stallion, he was also producing some excellent foals, so the problem wasn't addressed. He got away with mutilating a couple of mares at that time.
Then he killed an old gelding. That sent him into the hands of a specialist trainer who only worked on horses like him. The horse turned into a dedicated fighter right away, and would stalk the trainer, and would do nothing but put up a fight.
This was a guy who could sweeten a sour horse in less than an hour. He could take a completely feral, wild mustang stallion and gentle him in 15 minutes and have the horse fit to rope over in a day. Like the best of the horse whisperers, he never used any force or threat, ever. Trust was his greatest tool.
And he feared no horse but this one. One evening while at dinner, he hear a horse screaming in the corral. The mankiller had climbed over an 8 foot pole fence to get at a young gelding being trained, and had the gelding down and was trying to chew through the colt's throat with his teeth.
The trainer went and got his gun and shot him.
I was a kid then. I rode both of his parents. They were nice horses who never gave any problems at all, and were easy to catch. All his foals had sweet dispositions. All the other foals from this pair had sweet dispositions.
I rode a full brother for years, trusted him with my life a bunch of times, and he was as gentle as a dog, and loved people. He was the best horse I ever had.
Why his brother became so vicious was something no one ever figured out. He was simply a bad seed. Only fortune kept him from killing a human.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I give up. 
