Horse power
- Thread starter Jack
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Reminds me of your namesake - Hargreaves - "....the only way to travel" though he was with pony and trap.
For the time being, I'll stick with a saddle and bit I think! Still feeling the effects of Sunday's ride...
There are times, however, when gears & infernal combustion engines are easier to deal with than a large animal having a hissy fit.
There are times, however, when gears & infernal combustion engines are easier to deal with than a large animal having a hissy fit.
Why is there no lump hammer in the picture? S'not *proper* maintenance without a big hammer! 
(don't think that would work on horses though)
(don't think that would work on horses though)
Jack said:
it also ensures a very interesting ride if it spooks or bolts.You will also discover why some smartarse invented stirrups.....You'll be tightening your nuts,but you wont need the spanner to do it.
bushwacker bob said:
it also ensures a very interesting ride if it spooks or bolts.You will also discover why some smartarse invented stirrups.....You'll be tightening your nuts,but you wont need the spanner to do it.
Funny thing is Bob, I have only just started to ride again as riding with a saddle just ain't safe and now that the goodlady has trained him in 'natural' he is like sitting in an arm chair!
Horse riding is a skill i do not own but would love to try.
I have a few questions about horse's and your help would be much appreciated
Jack,why is it safer to ride without a saddle?
Do all horse's need horse shoes or are they only needed for metalled roads?
Do you have to wear a helmet?
Can you legally ride your horse into a town? (i would love to do that).
I have a few questions about horse's and your help would be much appreciated
Jack,why is it safer to ride without a saddle?
Do all horse's need horse shoes or are they only needed for metalled roads?
Do you have to wear a helmet?
Can you legally ride your horse into a town?
(i would love to do that).That reminds me I gave up riding on the 09/07/05 horse went mental--- result broken ribs massive bruising and a visit to a greek hospital. then 6 weeks off then 3 weeks of light duties I still creak like vintage staircase Im gonna stick to bushcraft. I do still like horses though honest 
bloodline said:That reminds me I gave up riding on the 09/07/05 horse went mental--- result broken ribs massive bruising and a visit to a greek hospital. then 6 weeks off then 3 weeks of light duties I still creak like vintage staircase Im gonna stick to bushcraft. I do still like horses though honest
Horse: dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle.
I like 'em too,even if some of the sods chase my dogs.
stotRE said:Horse riding is a skill i do not own but would love to try.
I have a few questions about horse's and your help would be much appreciated
Jack,why is it safer to ride without a saddle?
Do all horse's need horse shoes or are they only needed for metalled roads?
Do you have to wear a helmet?
Can you legally ride your horse into a town?
Good question Stu.
Horse riding is like most things, it takes a weekend to learn and a life time to get right.
I have been brought up horse's all my life as my good lady sister was a dam good show jumper in her day being southern champion for three years in a row until she was 'kindly' asked not to enter again as it was deterring people from competing against her, isn't it amazing how politics creeps into everything.
It has been many years since I was last on a horse as I was always my sisters 'stooge'.........other words, I used to get on to see if they were finally broken, the answer always seemed to be no, as I was always ejected from the horses back, the last one being a 17 hand hunter, so not funny.
I kept off them for years until recently, as my good lady has brought our cobs up through the 'natural horsemanship' method some people would call it 'horse whispering'. If you ever get to see someone who has this skills then be prepared to be amazed. This method is not recognised in this country as most people see this as a threat to their own knowledge.......even though this is how Native American Indians raised their horse. Horses in this country are control by fear, the natural way is to control by confidence. The confidence being that you are not going to eat him as in animal terms, you are his predator...........and he is supposed to be happy with you on his back!! The horse has millions of years of instinct telling him something different.
It is a vast and a wonderful subject as you are going back to try understand how this highly tuned animal works. My good lady has instilled the confidence back in to me to get me back on a horse again. She is one of those outstanding people who has this connection with animals. I don't know any one who can bring a horse to trot just by the way she breaths........ she is truly outstanding to watch, she is just so instinctive. I am very proud of her as she stood up to all of the criticism and took on the establishment and is proving them wrong.
But to answer you questions;
When you are in a saddle you have no control, people think they do but they don't, how can they? You feel what the horse is doing underneath you and when you 'have' to get off you have to fight to get your feet out of the stirrops........I can just slide off if I have to but a rider that is in tune with their animal will sense something is up as there will both be working in partnership.
Both of our horse are what is termed 'shoeless' and always will be, again this is how the horse has evoled.
Don't have to wear a helmet but of course if you don't then you are running the risk if you come off.
You can ride a horse in to town in fact by laws state that the horse has the right to the road over the car. Have a look at how many Boxing day meets are held at pubs in the middle of towns!
The problem with all of the above is that trying to explain to the 'standard BHS horseman' is like trying to explain to the ancients that the world is in fact round and that you won't full off the edge.........it is a massive shift in pre programmed thought to except the above but like most things in nature, it is simple it is just us humans that screw it up!
The horse is the most mis understood animal that I have come across.
Interesting... The lessons I'm taking are, naturally enough, BHS; one thing I really don't like is using a crop on the beasties. I do wonder if horses that have come to expect being kicked on are going to be receptive to gentle persuasion/force of will sans force as an alternative?
(as an aside - tonight's horse *wasn't* a cob, much narrower. This was a bit of respite... )
(as an aside - tonight's horse *wasn't* a cob, much narrower. This was a bit of respite...
)ChrisKavanaugh
Need to contact Admin...
Horses today may require being shod to correct conformational defects, soft or 'shelly' hooves and use over rough terrain. Few animals retain the tough hooves of a american mustang, aussie brumby or other horses living as the ancestral horses and ponys did. Conversely, bad shoeing can introduce more problems than they solve. A trained horse can be safely ridden with only a halter, which in the more sophisticated forms of western sidepull or spanish jaquima ( american hackamore) can apply pressure on the soft cartiledge at the nose or subtle pressure points on the face. All bits, no matter how mild can eventually create callous scaring which leaves the horse 'hardmouthed' and the need to progress to a different bit, ie the progression from snaffle to curb or leverage bits. The irony is a horse properly brought along will be so responsive to leg, body and VERY subtle mouth signals a light handed rider can put virtually anything in the mouth. The almost frightening california spade bits actually fill the mouth with a cricket roller to pacify the horse. Vaqueros had an old test of tieing the reins to the bit with a single strand of hair. If it broke, or theAmansadore could see the rein hand move the rider failed. Saddles do reduce the full contact between horse and rider. They also make things a lot easier on both anatomies with extended riding. The plains indians were the finest light cavalry in the world and rode with only a blanket at best, but if your throwing a loop on a brahma bull or charging Mel Gibson a saddle and spurs definitely have their place. Again, you can create problems for every one the tack is supposed to solve. It's called horsemanship which consists of balancing as much what you and the horse need to accomplish as much as balancing physically. 'Natural horsemanship' is not a new phenomenon. Good horsemen have practised it since Xenophon. There are some good 'horsewhisperers' -most students of the Dorrance Brothers in the USA and Jeffries in OZ. Then there are outright criminal frauds- topping the list Monty Roberts. Sometimes whispering is good. Then again, sometimes a horse needs to hear your 'request' LOUD AND CLEAR. Helmets are not neccessary- assuming you do not plan on falling off or running into a tree. Sometimes trees listen to us about as well as horses and step right in front of us. many horses that have been 'hammered' by idiots can be brought back. There is a marvelous book on horse communication by an english writer ( and I can't find it for proper reference.) The trick is finding out the animal's boundaries and what scares them. I had a incredible bloodbay quarterhorse that trained hundreds of children. He blew up when his mouth was savaged by an idiot traiiner who put a double twisted wire snaffle in his mouth. It took me a month to gain his trust. people thought I was something fancy, riding in the fields without ANYTHING on his face. Truth was he could literally go into stockhorse spins with the right leg signal- and send me flying if I did 
Helmets are not neccessary- assuming you do not plan on falling off or running into a tree. Sometimes trees listen to us about as well as horses and step right in front of us. many horses that have been 'hammered' by idiots can be brought back. There is a marvelous book on horse communication by an english writer ( and I can't find it for proper reference.) The trick is finding out the animal's boundaries and what scares them. I had a incredible bloodbay quarterhorse that trained hundreds of children. He blew up when his mouth was savaged by an idiot traiiner who put a double twisted wire snaffle in his mouth. It took me a month to gain his trust. people thought I was something fancy, riding in the fields without ANYTHING on his face. Truth was he could literally go into stockhorse spins with the right leg signal- and send me flying if I did ESpy said:Interesting... The lessons I'm taking are, naturally enough, BHS; one thing I really don't like is using a crop on the beasties. I do wonder if horses that have come to expect being kicked on are going to be receptive to gentle persuasion/force of will sans force as an alternative?
(as an aside - tonight's horse *wasn't* a cob, much narrower. This was a bit of respite...
Well that is pretty much the BHS way.
Just look at it like this, a horse is so sensitive that when a fly lands on him he will shudder to shake it off.........so if a horse is that sensitive, then you have to ask the question 'why does the BHS promote the use of whips'? You will find that horses from riding stables have long switched off, so you have to kick him on that much harder, the more you do that the more he switches off..............see a pattern forming here?
What stables are you riding from?
Jack - Am I right in thinking that you have raised this horse (Big nose ?) from a foal, so it has never been trained (or corrupted) any other way ?
I'd love to travel by horse,the ultimate off road transport IMO. I have traveled a little with horse drawn gypsies and new age travelers, and took 2 horses and a cart down the ridgeway one year, destroying the cart on the way. I tried riding one of the cobs bareback, but after only a few miles the strain on my groin muscles was as more painful than walking ! They are rather wide horses, and a saddle would have been much more comfortable.
Do they cost much to keep ? and how much work is involved ?
Its good to hear your voice here again Jack
Cheers
Rich
I'd love to travel by horse,the ultimate off road transport IMO. I have traveled a little with horse drawn gypsies and new age travelers, and took 2 horses and a cart down the ridgeway one year, destroying the cart on the way. I tried riding one of the cobs bareback, but after only a few miles the strain on my groin muscles was as more painful than walking ! They are rather wide horses, and a saddle would have been much more comfortable.
Do they cost much to keep ? and how much work is involved ?
Its good to hear your voice here again Jack
Cheers
Rich
