The Mischievous Horse

I bought my Fell/Arab horse, Kerrydancer, when she was 9 months old and she rapidly established her reputation for mischief.

She responded well to handling. I could groom her, clean her hooves, lead her on the roads and she accepted bridles and bits as soon as they were introduced to her. She also enjoyed trips along country lanes on long reins.

Unfortunately she spent her spare time developing her own methods of entertainment.
For some time she shared a field with sheep. That is until she decided to pretend to be a sheepdog.

She would determinedly round up the sheep at one then drive them carefully to the other end of the field. Then, nose down, she dispersed them and watched while they resumed grazing. Then when they were all nicely spread out she would start the whole process over again.

So we moved her to a field with cows as they weremore her own size.

Everything was fine until one of the cows calved early.

Kerry decided that the calf was a foal and that it was hers. She washed it and stood over it protectively. Before the cow lost interest we had to rescue the calf from its foster mother. We picked up the calf and carried it out of the field followed by the anxious filly. Once outside we were able to stable Kerry and restore the calf to its mother.

Kerry decided that she didn't want to stay in the stable and devised a way of fiddling with the bolt and letting herself out. When we fixed a fail-safe device to stop her she discovered that vibrating the bottom of the door with her hoof would release the device and she could then undo the bolt. (How she did we just don't know).

The cause of the trouble was that she was and is an incredibly intelligent horse. She needs to be kept occupied. She is now in her 30's, still intelligent, but althougn thankfully happy to contemplate the world in a less pro-active way. She is still the boss!

She has to have her feed trough in the field filled first. She has to have the first hay supply. In Spring when horses are brushed to remove loose hair she has to take first turn.

But then as an equally bossy old girl I know how she feels! You can read more about my odd animals at www.percydale.com and click on Animal Antics in the sidebar.

If you would like to learn about really enjoying your horse read the following book. It's brilliant!

Natural Horsemanship – Make Friends With Your Horse

People have been working in partnership with their horses since civilisation began. Natural horsemanship was a way of life because man and horse worked together for the mutual good. Man offered protection to the horse by keeping away predators. Horses helped man to move around the countryside, carry heavy loads and work the land.

They were also valuable allies in battle. Most of the advanced dressage skills were developed for army manoeuvres.

Natural horsemanship is a way of forming a partnership with your horse that will benefit both of you.

I had never been happy with the formalised way of breaking and training horses. All that endless lunging just seemed boring, so I did it my way and called it gentling. Then I read a book by Pat Parelli and discovered a way of training horses that was just what I always thought it should be like.

If you have anything to do with horses and haven’t yet heard of Pat Parelli you are in for a treat.

Pat Parelli is the great exponent of natural horsemanship as the best way to train horses. He devised a method of schooling the rider and the horse as partners in a joint venture of horsemanship that doesn’t need expensive equipment or round pens or even enclosed arenas. It is not just for training young horses, even mature horses can benefit.

The essential part of natural horsemanship is the development of good communication between you and your horse. You aim to be partners aiming for the same goal. As your friend your horse will always do its best to please you. When you are happy, your horse is happy.

When you’ve studied the system you wonder why it isn’t more widely practised.

If you haven’t read any of Pat Parelli’s books on natural horsemanship why not start now?