Give a horse a rope.... A couple of amusing videos showcasing what horses can surprise us with:
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There is an excellent four part series of blog posts happening over at Citizen Horse at the moment. It's so good I thought I'd bring it to your attention, especially as it's related to the post here a week or so back on buying a horse. This series is on a different aspect of horse buying - price.
"Horse prices are entirely dependent on spenders." By this she means, "A horse is worth as much as a buyer is willing to spend. Yes, it’s true. That $500 plug of a horse could sell for $25,000 if a buyer with the money and the lack of experience is found and is looking for something close to what that $500 plug has to offer."
How does this happen?
"At least with buying a used car, the Kelly Blue Book gives a general idea of what cars should be worth. Of course, there is much background behind each car completely foreign to potential buyers, but a title search allows prospectors to determine vehicle accidents, number of owners, and hopefully, accurate mileage. Horses have no such guidebook or history lookup and there are so many variables to buying a horse."
Now I know not everyone has that sort of cash spare to throw at a horse, but some people do, and plenty of people are sucked into the 'you get what you pay for' mentality. With horses, it's not so cut and dried. Some horses are worth their weight in gold. Some simply are not. As Citizen Horse explains, big barns can have a vested interest in inflating horse prices. When it comes to private buyers:
"The private seller has a difficult time putting a value on their horse. Most people over-value their own animals because it is personal. It’s fair; you put your time, sweat, money, and emotions into this animal. You want to see your horse get a good home, you also think the time and money put into the horse is going to pay off. There is nothing wrong with this - unless you actually want to sell your horse."
A lot of private sellers believe that they should be able to recoup what they paid plus training fees spent on the horse (or something similar). This is simply not realistic. What is realistic is the horse's level of training, history, injuries, potential, useful years left, and for the rider;
"Before even thinking about wants, a buyer must assess their goals and riding situation. Realistically, what does a buyer want to do with their future horse? How long do they anticipate riding, realistically? And are they looking for re-sale value or a horse for life?"
Answering these questions will help a rider determine what a reasonable price would be to cover their needs.
"A first time horse buyer purchasing a six figure horse is completely ridiculous. There is no reason, outside of having money to lose, that a newcomer to the sport should by buying a horse worth as much as a house."
"A made 14-17 year old horse (depending on the level the horse can continue to train/compete) should not be selling for six figures. Sure, if the horse could pack ANYONE around a 4'6? course AND stay sound AND do it for a few years…maybe…MAYBE…I could see the value in that. But if it is a horse to take lessons on, to be “social” with out at the barn, to continue learning, and to show in long stirrup or AA hunters/jumpers, forget it.
A schoolmaster dressage horse shouldn’t sell for six figures. Most likely any horse that made has been pounded into the ground leaving very few jumps or tests left in them physically. In this instance of horse valuation, the level of training and accomplishments by said horse should be discounted by the amount of possible remaining use."
"Can a horse REALLY be worth $125,000?
Very few. A handful of extremely talented sport horses can be worth six figures. These six figure sport horses all have the talent, the brain, and the physical soundness to compete at the very upper levels of their sport. Most likely, these are professional’s horses. Horses with incredible talent aren’t usually easy to ride. That doesn’t mean they are crazy, psycho horses; just that talented mounts often need very good, very accurate piloting in order to reach their potential and often STAY at their potential."
And so on to some of the soundest advice on buying a horse that is out there:
"If you call a big barn and say “I’m looking for a hunter to show long stirrup” and the trainer asks you what your price range is…DO NOT TELL THEM HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HAVE TO SPEND ON A HORSE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Let them tell you about the horses they have for sale and the price for those sale horses. You can determine from there if there is anything you want to look at.
Do NOT buy a horse for $100,000 unless you are riding at a very high level and the horse is proven to perform at a very high level. If you are looking for a first horse, a safe horse, a pretty horse, a horse you can show—even at the upper levels, I can promise you there is a horse out there perfectly priced between $4000-$10,000."
And all I would add is that there are plenty of great starter horses out there for way, way less than $4000.
Photo by ireallylovecake
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Lets have a little conversation on horse breeds. I receive a lot of emails asking for breed-specific advice and it's one of my pet peeves.
We'll start with people looking for a horse. In this situation, people are often swayed by breed characteristics. I'm not talking about looks. I'm talking here about temperament and trainability. If you want a Haflinger because you've fallen in love with the look of Haflingers, great. That's fine. That's not what I want to discuss. That I understand. Some people love draughts with all their feathers, some love the dishy nose of the Arab, some the big bum on the Quarterhorse. If you know you like one breed above all others because of the way the breed looks, by all means choose the right horse for you within that breed.
No, what I want to talk about is the person who's not so looks oriented, but who is choosing a breed for temperament. The believer of all Arabs are flighty. She'll be bad tempered because she's an Appaloosa. He'll be quiet because he's Standardbred.
Grrr. In my opinion - wrong wrong wrong. Breed temperaments are TENDENCIES, not in any way are they absolute guaranteed characteristics. When choosing a horse, the buyer needs to be looking at the INDIVIDUAL horse. Not it's breed.
Perhaps framing the scenario like this will help: I would like a horse with lots of 'go' and I don't mind what breed. I've heard that Arabs and Thoroughbreds TEND to fit this description, so I'll look at these breeds for an individual that's firey (because I know not all Arabs and all Thoroughbreds are firey), and I'll look at other horses that as individuals fit my criteria.
Or another one: I'm looking for a calm child proof horse. Someone said that Cleveland Bays are really quiet. There's a green four year old Cleveland Bay for sale. Should I buy him for my beginner child? Uh, NO, you should be looking for an older horse (8yo+) who has seen everything and is totally bombproof. That could be anything from a Thoroughbred to a Shetland. TEMPERAMENT of the individual (and in this case training). Not breed.
The other part of the breed peeve goes like this:
Q. My horse is an x (insert breed here). She has terrible ground manners/I'm scared of her/she's wild where do I start?/etc. What do I need to do to train a (insert breed again here - mini horse and pony owners please take particular note!) properly?
A. You own a HORSE. An equine. At this level of training, which is basic horse-human interaction where you are teaching your horse to respect and trust your leadership, all horses are the same.
The differences and challenges will come from:
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While some horses keep themselves amused with balls (see this post), one horse prefers a wheelbarrow!
(Image lasts just under 1 minute, although audio goes a lot longer)
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The worst horse-human combination possible is a green or young or unbroken horse and a beginner/novice rider.
The idea that the untrained horse and the new rider will 'grow together' is one of the most believed, but most dangerously wrong ideas that floats around in the horse world.
Let me break it down for you.
Green horses (horses with little training) have the least experience of humans, being ridden, and what they are expected to do. In contrast, an older, much handled, well trained horse has 'seen and done it all'. Which one is more likely to spook unexpectedly and which is likely to be the more predictable? Which one is ideal for learning to ride?
If you are still figuring out how to ride a trot and get your horse to slow down, the last thing you need thrown into the mix is a giant leap sideways and a buck or two. In short, a beginner rider is unlikely to be able to ride through something like this:
(YouTube Video of a horse freaking out and the rider doing a remarkable job of staying on. No further comment on the silly plastic bag nonsense that kicked it all off)
And to be quite frank, if you're not able to stay on like the person in that video, in my opinion you shouldn't be on a green horse. Until you're able to ride at walk, trot and canter WITHOUT stirrups, you probably don't have 'an independent seat'. In plain English that means that your balance on horseback isn't good enough (yet) to be able to not get hurt by a horse that freaks out.
While there are always exceptions to the rule, what I am trying to say is that the safest way to learn to ride is on a safe horse. Then when you can ride, move onto the greenies. I mean, why put yourself in harms way?
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A fascinating tidbit for your Monday morning;
"Horses have the same ability to count as human infants, a study has shown. In tests the animals watched plastic apples being placed out of sight in buckets and then chose the one containing the larger number.
Using fake apples ensured they were not relying on their sense of smell to make the selection. Scientists said the horses showed they could keep a tally of how many apples were going into the containers, and hold the thought in their heads before deciding which bucket to investigate.
Their behaviour mirrored that seen in similar experiments involving human babies and wild rhesus macaque monkeys. In the baby study, infants watched cookies being placed in jars and crawled to the one with the most. The monkeys, in a colony on an island off Puerto Rico, went through the same routine with apples.
Horses were initially written off the list of animals with an apparent gift for maths after a horse called Clever Hans hoodwinked the scientific establishment in the late 1800s.
In the new study, Dr Claudia Uller and Jennifer Lewis from the University of Essex, conducted counting tests on 57 untrained horses belonging to local private owners and a riding school. Before the tests, the horses were allowed to nibble a small piece of real apple in order to get them interested. Then the real apples were replaced with fake ones all looking the same. In the first of a series of tests, two plastic apples were placed in one bucket and three in another. The containers were then held up at head levels so the horses could make a choice. Eleven out of 13 horses given this test selected the bucket containing three apples.
A second experiment followed the same pattern, but this time one bucket contained a single large apple and the other two smaller ones. Ten of the 12 horses tested chose the bucket holding the two apples. Dr Uller, who presented the findings at the British Psychological Society’s annual meeting in Dublin, and who rides horses, said: “The result absolutely proves that horses are more intelligent than people think.”"
Many horse people would no doubt agree with the idea that horses are more intelligent than what (most) people think. And while these results tell horse people what they probably already know, let's remember not to take it too far. A horse is still a horse and not a human. Anthropomorphising equine behavior will quickly get you into training difficulties with your horse. The intelligence level for counting described here is equivalent to a human INFANT (ie, 1 year or below). While it's fascinating to know that horses can count like (infant) humans, it's important to remember that just because we share this way of thinking in common, it does not mean that we share other ways of processing information or situations in common too.
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"I have a 4 1/2 year old appaloosa mare, very heavy cob type, and she is docile and calm in every way except she really protests when I try and put her bit in her mouth, she is not head shy, but refuses to accept the bit, once it's in she's absolutely fine. I have tried using polos, carrot, even washing the bit in minty fresh mouthwash... I do not force the bit into her mouth, just gently persist, which can sometimes take 10-15 mins. Any suggestions?"
It sounds like your approach so far is a good one. Suggestions? Have you tried bits of different materials and different styles of bit? She may actually hate this particular bit, despite all the polo mint carrot charms, and this is her docile natured way of telling you.
If you've eliminated the above possibility, and had her teeth checked etc, you can make it less annoying to accept the bit than to stand and protest. This may two people, depending on how co-ordinated you are.
Have the bridle and bit ready to go in her mouth. Have a whip ready. Note this is NOT to be used harshly at all. To actually whip the horse would be to miss the point of this exercise and undo any progress you achieve with it. So holding the bridle and bit in position, start tapping the whip - lightly, quickly and rhythmically - on a fleshy part of your horse. Say the shoulder or neck. Anytime your horse opens her mouth STOP TAPPING INSTANTLY and praise.
The aim is to be so annoying to your mare (not cause any pain, just be like a fly that won't go the heck away) that opening her mouth and accepting the bit is a welcome relief. You'll have to do this every time you bridle her for a while. At some point she'll give in and let herself be bridled without all the tapping nonsense.
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