Many places have observation towers available for you to look at wondrous views.  But there are other areas of observation that may not be that grande.  Of course you have the towers at the airport which keep all air traffic running smoothly, and then you have children who get down on their hands and knees to watch ants hard at work.  They are very fascinating creatures. They lift many times their weight, and it seems like they never have a day off, or anytime to play.  I wonder what they do for fun?  In Florida, they bite people.  If all the ants in Florida got together, they could take over this state in one day.

My question is, how much time do you spend observing your animals?  Most people don’t.  Are you really aware of their likes and dislikes?  Do you know what really concerns them?  What’s normal for that particular horse, and what isn’t?  I’m a very happy student of equine behavior.  What I’m finding out is that I don’t clearly observe my dogs as much.  I’ve dealt with prey animals my whole life, but now I’m learning how to observe the predators.

Many years ago I ran into one of my first instructors, while out riding.  We stood and chatted for a while, and then he said to me “The whole time we’ve been speaking I’ve been looking over your horse.”  He told me about his conformation faults, injuries that have left tell-tale marks, and I don’t remember what else.  I was amazed, and interested.  Why would he even care?  However, forty years down the road I find myself doing the same thing.  I evaluate horses conformation, old injuries, body language, and energy without even thinking about it.

I have no idea why I do this, but in many cases it has served me well when evaluating a prospective horse for purchase, training, or conversation with the owner.  Maybe I do it just for fun, to see what I can pick up on, or maybe just to test my skills.  Mostly, I’m unaware of doing it.

Sometimes you can catch something before it becomes a problem, or just have an answer before the question is asked.

It’s like figuring out a puzzle, even with some pieces missing, when no one asked you.

Actually it’s just Observation.

Many of us grew up loving, and owning horses since our youth.  Some of us came into the wonderful world of horses later in our lives.  We love our horses.  We spend as much time as we can with our horses.  Some of us belong to organizations to support the horse industry.  BUT, are you an Ambassador for the horse.

So much of the open land that we rode on as children is disappearing.  Horses are being pushed out of places they have been for 100’s of years.  People want to move to the country, but once they get there, they change it to look like where they have just moved from.  They want paved roads.  The horses and the cows smell, so let’s get zoning changed so that they can’t be here anymore.  Take down the trees, we don’t want to rake leaves.  Seriously??????

How many times have you just ridden by people and not even looked at them, let alone stopped and spoken to them.  Yes there are a lot of wacko’s out there, and you must be careful who you chose to speak to, but you can always smile and say hello.

In my morning reading I came across a woman who was raised on a ranch in Utah.  Every year they would bring one of their bulls to the fair, children flocked to see him and sit on him.  Yes she was promoting her ranch at the fair, but she was also letting children experience the closeness of one of God’s creations.  She was showing and sharing her love of her animal with children who had never been that close to a large animal before.

Most horse people I know are not church goers.  Although, more are now since someone came up with the idea of Cowboy Church.  You get a Bible Lesson and a horse related experience all at the same time.  When I was a kid I never thought of bringing my horse to church, in the house yes.  Yet I believe that horse people are more spiritual than people outside of our loop.  We have more connection with nature and creation because we can actually touch it, feel it, smell it, and get love back in return.  We love spending our days wandering through woods and fields.  We notice the comings and goings of other creatures.  We watch the birds of the air.  We see the little water critters scurry when our horses feet hit the stream.  We stop, look, and listen to the sounds of life beyond who we are.

Yes, large organizations promote our industry.  Even backyard groups are trying to keep horses where they have always been in the past.  But it is up to us, as individuals, to be Ambassadors of the horse to people we meet around us.  Together we can fight the tide of building that is taking away our open space, but individually we can change the mind of our neighbors about what a horse really is.  If you have a quiet horse, be the one to stop and let a child or an adult pet him/her.  Let people know they are not big scary animals, but just large lap dogs.  If more non-horse people were allowed to touch, pet, and ask questions, we would not look so much like aliens.  It would open up the lines of communication.

We may not be Ambassadors of great nations all over the world, but we can be Ambassadors of ours.

It’s been a sad week here in Florida.  Two high school boys were killed in accidents.  One was playing football, and one was in a motorcycle accident.

This summer has been a wonderful growing season for our pastures, but with my husbands back being so bad, I have been doing most of the mowing.  By the time I finish the last pasture, it’s time to cut the first one again.  Rain, sun, and warn nights equals growing overnight.  With trying to keep up with my responsibilities and his, I have not had a chance to ride.  But it was hot so it’s okay.  Or not.  I used to get up early and ride before the sun came up high enough to bake us.

I witness many older people in my church die, and I know they are no longer in pain.  They are free to be the young people they once were.  Healthy and happy.  But to lose someone who hasn’t even experienced life yet is hard.  It’s a wake up call to all of us.  No one is guaranteed tomorrow.

When you get to the end of your life, that would be the dash between the day you were born and the day you died, will you sit there and think – I should have spent more time working, or I should have spent more time with my loved ones and my horse.  I’ll bet on my family and horse.

I read this poem years ago.  I thought it was cute and would be meaningful when I got to be old.  A friend asked me the other day – “When are you old?”  I told him I believe I will know I’m old when I am the oldest person in the restaurant.  Makes sense to me.  Anyway as another birthday approaches I’m looking at my priorities.  I think riding must now come to the top of my list (mowing season is almost over anyway).

Here is the poem.

When I am an Old Horsewoman…..

I shall wear turquoise and a straw hat that doesn’t match and doesn’t suit me.

And I shall spend my social security on white wine and carrots and sit in the alleyway of my barn and listen to my horses breathe.

I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night and ride the dappled mare across the moon struck meadow in only my slip if my old bones will allow.

And when people call I will laugh at the jokes unspoken as I walk them past the gardens to the barn and show instead the flowers growing there in stalls fresh lined with straw.

I will learn to swear and spit and wear hay in my hair as if it were a jewel and I will be an embarrassment to my child who will not have found peace in being free to love a horse as if a friend, with nuzzle and nicker and patient eyes for the kind of woman I will be when I am old.

Written by Patty Barnhart

Well I’m past the wine stage (got really sick years ago and can’t stand the smell) and I gave up swearing about the same time.  The spitting thing, I was never into.  But the poem does speak to who I am, and will willingly progress to be.

So don’t wait to be that crazy old bat down the street.  Ride in the moonlight with a tee bareback across the pasture.  We all wear hay in our hair now.  And my kids can attest to the fact that I am an embarrassment, and my grandchildren will second that motion.

Life is short – Ride On.

My neighbor just put down two of her horses.  Both older with many problems.  She’s hurting.  I’ve been there many times.

The question in your mind is always the same.  How long is it going to hurt this bad?  Can I really go out tomorrow morning and see their empty stall?

When I put my first horse down, I really believed that I couldn’t go to the barn in the morning to feed the others.  However, when I woke up the next morning I thought, this is the first day in years that Lady isn’t in pain.  I think it’s always hardest losing your first.  It’s the horse you always dreamed of owning.  It’s your best friend, your therapist, a shoulder to cry on, and now they’re gone.  Your life is altered forever.  That special nicker you would hear when you approached the barn, the bright eyes with ears pricked forward as you came within sight won’t be there tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that.  It leaves a big hole in your heart.  I know, I’ve buried 18.  Each one was special in a different way.  Shadow celebrated life everyday.  Desert could always make me smile with his silly ways.  I could go on, but you know what I mean.

So how do you go on?  Well just take it one day at a time.  Sure, for a while, every time you get to that day of the week that you lost them, it will all come flooding back.  They were a gift from God that you got to love, enjoy, and learn from for just a little while, then He takes them home.  They were always His anyway.  I truly believe that we will see them again in Heaven.  It doesn’t necessarily say that directly in the Bible, but there are many hints.  Jesus on a white horse and the saints who come riding back, is a good clue for a start.  I just can’t believe that a God who created these beautiful creatures, who knows every sparrow that falls, would not include them in Paradise.  If He created them to live in the Garden of Eden, I know that all our faithful animals will be there to greet us on the other side.  The morning of the day that I lost two, Bob had been watching the movie “Heaven Is For Real.”  It’s a movie about a little boy who died and went to heaven (true story).  The little boy told that he had seen Jesus and his horse.  That evening when I lost two, I remembered that God has sent me a note that morning telling me that they were with Him this day in Paradise, and that they were fine.  It was very sad, but comforting.

Let it be a comfort to you to know that these animals, whether it’s a horse, dog, or cat, bird or whatever, truly loved you.  That they gave you the most precious gift, their life, and you in turn gave them your love, and a happy home.

They are just waiting to see you again on he other side of that Rainbow Bridge.  I will be so happy, that I just won’t know who to hug first, but it will a great day.

Blessings and comfort to all of you who have lost a special animal, and they are All special.

Sometimes things are just so simple, we don’t even think of them.

My husband went to buy a new chain saw blade for his chain saw today.  The salesman asked him if he’d like him to dispose of the old one.  My husband said, no, I’ll keep that for when I cut a tree near the ground so the dirt won’t damage my new one.  The man stood there, looked at my husband, and said wow!, I never thought of that.  Dirt, rocks, gravel, really dull a blade fast, no matter what you are using to cut with.

So it is in the horse world too.  Most of the time it’s just plain old “horse sense”, but we fail to even think about things.

I love when I have a new student or boarder, they may bring to mind things that I just do normally, without thought.

We brought my boarders horse and one of mine into the barn to ride the other day, and put them on the cross ties.  Mine was on the cross tie in the center of the barn, hers was by the back doors.  I faced mine toward hers, and she faced hers toward mine.  Okay this made her horse more comfortable because he could see his pasture mate, BUT was it really safe.  I simply mentioned that when your horse is near a door, it’s always a good idea to let him face the outside, this way he can see what might go by that would frighten him.  I told her that you never know when my husband is going to come by with a tractor, or even just the golf cart.  The unknown flash of movement, and sound, going past the barn just could be a horse eating dragon, or it might not, but with him facing the door he’ll be able to see and hear it clearly, and make that judgement with more information.  She told me that it was a good idea.

When we went to turn both the horses loose, back into the pasture on another day, she asked about the best way to hang up the electric wire that goes across the gate. I said, “Oh just hang it anywhere so they won’t get caught in it.”  Her reply was, “well I just want to do it safely so I don’t get shocked, I got shocked all the time at the other barn”.  I explained that the wire over the gate wasn’t live until it was connected to the side where the electric is coming from.  You just have to run the wire from the dead side to the live side to let the electric flow to the rest of the fence line.  All our gates are like that.  She said she was an Art Major and didn’t get what I was trying to say.  So I explained again.  The wire in your hand is not electrified until you connect it to the live wire.  Any of the fence past the disconnected wire in your hand isn’t electrified either, until you connect that wire in your hand.  The light bulb went off!  “Why didn’t my other barn owner know to do that?”  We were both amazed for different reasons.  All she has to do is reverse the wire that goes across the gate.  No big deal.  People want to disconnect the wire and open the gate at the same side.  But what really determines where the wire opens, is where the electric is coming from.  It may be easier to have the gate latch and the electric handle in the same place, but I’ve been fried enough times to know that it really hurts.  We’re talking about a person who reached through a fence every day to turn on the water, and every day got nailed.  I just truly believed that I could do it today without getting shocked.  Never happened.  The one I have now doesn’t just curl your eye lashes, it’ll put you on the ground.  Ask my husband how he knows this.

There are just so many things, both in life and horses, that people just don’t think about.  How many times have I watched people try to open a gate up hill.  They push, they lift, they struggle.  I just calmly stand there, watch and say, “Open it the other way” and it swings in with no problem.  Ideally you want a gate to open both ways so that you can get one horse out, or in, without letting them all through.  Unless you are on a hill, then you only have one option.  But if you see that the ground rises, doesn’t it make you think?  Even a little?  If you are trying to lead one horse through the gate you want it to open toward you, so you can swing it shut behind your horse before the others get out.  If you try to open it out, chances are that the other horses are going to want to push through also.  Unless you have horses with manners that won’t do that.  Chances are if the one and only friend they have in their life is leaving, so are they.

I’ve covered many simple ideas in my previous posts, but they don’t always come to mind unless someone reminds me, the hard way.

It’s not rocket science, just plain old horse sense.

Maybe more like a Loading Question.

A friend called the other day and was telling me about a horse she was trying to load for someone.  It hadn’t been loaded in many years.  My first thought is, okay, why?  Is it because the horse doesn’t load?  Once again she was being taken advantage of.  She’s a kind soul who is willing to help anyone, when it comes to horses.  She doesn’t always make wise decisions about people or horses, but she gets excited and tries her best to help.

There have been many video’s, books, and trainers who have addressed the question of how to load a horse.  Many different approaches, many different answers, but it all comes down to the same thing.  Respect.

No I can’t give you the secret that everyone has been waiting to hear, but I can give you a few hints, that you need to do no matter what method you use.  They are so simple, that no one pays attention to them.

First thing, which is the most important – Never wait until you need to go someplace.  Start the whole process of training when you are not pressured for time.

Which brings me to the second tip –  Make sure your energy is calm.  If you are uptight your horse will know it, and take it for a bad sign that there is a horse eating dragon in that trailer.  Or he will just push your buttons.

Third and certainly as important as the first two – Make sure your horse respects you and moves forward on command.  If he’s flying backwards and dragging you with him, chances are there isn’t any respect going on there.

Fourth – Always make sure that the trailer you are trying to use is welcoming.  If it’s like the abyss, just a dark claustrophobic place, no matter how much grain or goodies you may have in hand, he’s not going to buy into it.  He knows that it’s the black hole that swallows horses live.  Open all windows, doors, and make it as light as possible. Paint the inside white if you have to.  Use a stock trailer if you can, it’s open, airy, and the horse can see outside.  Otherwise they believe it’s just an oversized tiger trap, and they are on the menu for the main course.

Bottom line is it’s your whole attitude about loading.  First get him to respect you (and I don’t mean fear, I mean respect), make the trailer welcoming, and then go with the attitude that he’s just going to walk into the trailer like he’s done it every day of his life.  If you approach the trailer thinking “he’s not going to load” he won’t.

Of course ideally, start quietly and let him look it over.  This way he will know that the boogie man isn’t hiding somewhere inside.  Don’t let him dwell on it, just walk him by with confidence.  Don’t let him think you are trying to load him, just let him pass by and look.  Keep walking with confidence, as though nothing happened, or is going to.  If it’s a young horse that has never been in a trailer before, I like to feed them in there for a couple of weeks.  So it becomes a fun place to be.  If it’s an older horse, just walk with the same confidence you had walking by, and walk into the trailer.  If he starts with the one foot, two feet, back up thing, you obviously do not have the respect and control you need, so back to square one.

It really isn’t as much about the horse, as it is about you.  Keep calm and walk on.

Yup, it’s still summer.  We’re right in the heart of it.  Just like the sirens of mythology, the water calls to us.  The break of the waves on a sandy beach, the calm of the lake that calls your name, you can smell that scent of water as you approach.  I’m not including the pool for a reason.  Why not take your best friend to a beach/lake adventure.  Yes I mean your horse.  It’s a sensation like you’ve never experienced.

Salt water is not good for leather.  If you can go bareback, or with a bareback pad, that is the best.  If you have synthetic tack that is also good, but don’t forget to wash, whatever you use, immediately after your beach party.  If you are using leather, oil it well before, and clean and oil it again after.  As long as your cleaning, don’t forget to hose the salt water off your horse when you get home.

We used to swim with our horses all the time.  Sometimes in a lake and sometime in the Atlantic Ocean off Staten Island, New York or Long Beach Island, New Jersey.  That was always a little unnerving.  They’d get in and start swimming out, towards Europe.  Hello!  I don’t swim.  I failed the YMCA swimming course twice.  I could see us hitting the shipping channel and me hitch hiking a freighter bound for New York.  The lake was always nicer, but you never knew what was down on the bottom, or what type of bottom it was.  Most of the time horses just like to get in, and splash around by the shore.

Toy, my husbands Appendix QH, was always a challenge.  He wouldn’t go into the water, because the waves were breaking and going after him.  So, rocket scientists that we are, we figured if we backed him in, the waves would be breaking in front of him and he’d stay in the water.  Yup, he did.  He turned toward England, and decided he’d get as far away from those waves as possible.  So let’s try the lake.  He was very quiet in the lake.  Just relaxing while our friends horse was trying to get into the idea that this was a good thing.  It was all good until a turtle hit toy in the legs and he leaped into the deep (13 ft.) end.  Bob went off and Toy was using him as traction to get out.  That was another Toy/Bob Emergency Room experience.

Take your horse to the beach.  Be careful, and have a great time.  I don’t think the Life Guards are required to save the horse, just the rider.  Actually where you swim horses doesn’t usually have Life Guards.  P.S – Manure floats.  The nuns at Mt. Loretto, who were in the water, can attest to that fact as the manure balls floated by.  Well we didn’t check which way the tide was going.

If you are going to race your horses on the beach, be sure to run where the sand is wet, otherwise it’s too deep and will blow tendons.

Oh yes.  Don’t forget it’s Shark Week.  Have a nice day!   🙂

Strange title, good insight.

When Hurricane Sandy hit the New Jersey coast, Staten Island, and Long Island,  (New York doesn’t have any beaches except Brooklyn) it caused major changes to the landscape.  Since I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Staten Island, and New Jersey, the pictures and stories really hit home.  I love Florida, I live here, and will be buried across the street from my farm here, but when they attacked the World Trade Center, I took it personal.  I used to work a couple of blocks from there.

Hurricane Sandy shifted the sands and made inlets that were never there before.  Other storms have closed inlets to form solid land.  Simply a little bit of intense water, with wind, and the whole topography of the land is forever changed.

Extreme tides can do the same thing.  We think of a simple tide coming in, covering a little more beach, and when it goes out we look for sea shells, and sharks teeth.  But look at the tsunami a while back.  It took people, animals, and buildings, forever changing lives, and a country.

As uncomplicated as these things are, they can have devastating effects on people, and properties.  So can horses.

What brought all this to mind?  Actually I was wrapping Friday’s leg.  Being a typical horse she wacked it somewhere.  No lameness, no cut, just a lump.  As I was putting the wrap back on, she shifted her weight.  Red Flag Alert!!!!  Yes it can be just a simple shift of weight to make her more comfortable, but what if it wasn’t.  Here I am squatting down by her back leg.  I don’t move as quickly as I used to, so I pay more attention to when I may need to move out-of-the-way.  She could have been just taking a step forward, she could have been placing her foot on more level ground, or she could have been readying herself to kick at a fly on her belly, or at me who may have been annoying her.

That’s just my point.  You don’t really know at first, what the intention might be.

Being a thinking, and hopefully, reacting horseman/woman, you should always be alert for a shift in weight.  It may not be anything, or it may create a new inlet in your forehead.  It is so important to be aware, at all times, of your horses body language, and muscle movements.

Today I was shaving the Clydesdale’s legs, and as I was poised under her belly I thought of the same consequences.  Clydes do have better brains and slower motions, but they also have bigger feet.

The first week you break a baby they are usually well-behaved.  At that point they are trying to figure out what is going on.  Once they get the balance thing going with a rider on board, they start testing you.  Usually you feel them tense their muscles and get ready to buck, bolt, rear, and you prepare to ride it out.  Zoey was different.  She’d be all on the muscle, and you’d think, ready to rumble.  I’d be ready for anything she could throw at me.  Nothing.  Then comes the Zoey logic.  Mostly when a horse has been poised and ready to do whatever, and they don’t, they will take a big breath and let it out and relax.  You in turn do the same.  That’s a Zoey got-you moment.  I learned a long time ago with babies to always be on the alert.  We were walking, I got that deep relaxing breath from Zoey and Bam! she took off.  To this day, twelve years later, when you think she’s ready to blow, she doesn’t.  When she relaxes and exhales, all hell can break loose.  Got to love her.  Hasn’t pulled it with me in years, but if I put someone else on her she does.  She still keeps me wide awake and on my toes.  I like that in a horse.  She, and the others I have owned, make me the rider that I am.

So my thought for today is:  Whether it’s a shifting of weight, or muscle movement – always be ready for the unexpected, it may not just be shifting sands.  It may be the tidal wave from hell.

I was watching TV again on Sunday and an ad came on for a Round Pen, and I thought back to how many babies I broke without one.

Now a days they really try to make you think you absolutely have to have a Round Pen, or training as we know it, cannot happen.  When I was young, no one owned a round pen.  I don’t even know if they existed.  Back in the old days, when we used to walk 5 miles, through the snow, up hill, bare foot, to get to school (only kidding), we used a lunge line and a lunge whip, and I have many calcium deposited on my fingers to prove it.

Not everyone has the room for one, or the money to purchase the materials needed to put one up.

There are pipe round pens, plank round pens, solid round pens, solid walled round pens where the walls are on an angle.  Each one has good points, and questionable points.

Free lunging is close to impossible without a round pen.  I have chased loose horses, trying to get them back while they were dragging their lunge lines behind without a round pen.  But what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger, and we don’t make the same mistake twice.

When we purchased this farm it already had a round pen.  Open planks, even planks on the gate.  Do I use it?  Yes.  Would I build one if I didn’t have one?  No.  I like the open planks because it allows air to flow through, and in Florida you need all the air you can get.  Many people don’t like the open plank, or the pipe round pens, because they want solid walls so the horse has to stay focused on the trainer.  Personally I think the horse has to learn to focus on the trainer with or without other distractions all around them. Eventually the walls will not be there and you start from scratch.

I understand the free lunging, but when I’m working with a horse I want him to also have the feel of me on the other end of the lunge line.  From lunging I go to ground driving so it’s one step of progress at a time.  I’m not in there to chase and play with my horse, as much as to teach them the touch communication of my hand through the line to his body.  Yes I teach voice commands too.  It makes it so much easier to get them to relate verbal to touch.

It’s so rewarding to get on the colt or filly you’ve been working with, and have him understand everything you ask the first time he’s ridden.  And it’s so less abusive to your body.  I disappointed my husband many times by not giving him a rodeo to watch, as my youngster and I just rode off into the sunset together.

So do you need a round pen?  It’s up to you and your pocket book.  Can you do it without one.  Oh yes you can.

I’m sure I’ve written about this before, but here goes again.

I was channel surfing on Sunday and I ran across a repeat of one of Clinton Anderson’s shows.  I recognized it as something I had partially watched before, but there was nothing else on, so I watched it for a little bit again.  Just like with the Dog Whisper, I sometimes pick up on something I didn’t really hear the last time.

He was working with a very aggressive horse.  It actually would chase it’s owner around, going after her with its teeth.  Most aggressive horses are not born that way (if any).  We have a habit of making them that way.  He was trying to point that out to the owner.

You personally know that there are days where you, yourself start out just fine, but people keep annoying you until you totally lose it.  You know the old saying “That was the straw that broke the camels back.”  Most horses won’t reach that point and become aggressive, but some sure will.  Most horses will just shut down on you, and not move, but there are some that will take matters into their own hands/hoofs/teeth.  This particular horse did just that.

I have watched horses being drilled on the same thing over and over again until they lose the life in their eyes, or their willingness to even do it at all.  It’s funny, but horse people usually don’t mind doing things over and over again in a barn, (like stalls or sweeping the aisle way) but mopping that kitchen floor over and over again can bring you to the breaking point.  How many times have I just finished washing the floor and my husband will come in (for just a second) with dirty sneakers and I freak.  Or maybe let the dogs in after they’ve been digging in the mud.

Yes this woman apparently pushed this horse to the limit (I didn’t really see the beginning of the program, but this is what I picked up on from Clinton’s comments), but the horses response of attacking, was not acceptable behavior.

My point is that you should always let the extent of the punishment fit the cause.  If the horse just steps on your toe, by mistake, I certainly wouldn’t chase him around with a whip and beat the tar out of him (as Clinton puts it).  Usually your energy changes as you stand there trying to push him off, yelling ouch, ouch, ouch, will make him aware that he made a unknowing mistake.  Except for my husbands first horse Rosie who did this on purpose.  She’d throw her foot sideways onto my husbands foot then look the other way putting all her weight on his toe.  She was very good at that, and did it often.  He was whining about it one day after hunting, and I told him to get over it, it had happened to me a million times.  Just clean up your horse and go in the house.  Well it got to him, he sat down on the hay loft steps, and when he pulled off his hunt boot his sock and boot were filled with blood.  She really did rip the big toe nail off.  Oops, I’m bad.  Oh well as my mother used to say, “It’s a long way from your heart.”

Clinton made the comment that some tree huggers aren’t going to like the fact that he beat this horse in the butt with a whip.  He also made the comment that if this horse actually ran this woman over, hurt, or killed her, that there would be no remorse on the horses part.  He was totally justified in his way of thinking.  Now I love trees, and I love all animals, but I’ve never seen a sapling beat a woman to death.  But a thousand pound, angry horse sure can.

Yes the crime should fit the punishment.  But we must always remember not to overreact with our discipline.  Always think – Did the horse knowingly do this, or just not realize what he was doing?  How serious was his offence?  Even if it was life threatening, whose fault was it?  Don’t ever punish your horse for your mistakes.  Just go back and correct the issue.  If you are going to react, do it immediately.  If you don’t, he won’t have any idea of what he is getting corrected for.  He’s just going to look at you as if you’ve lost your mind.

There can be a fine line between correction, and abuse.  Temper you reaction to the severity of the problem.  If he’s trying to eat you alive, don’t just smack him in the nose and say no, no, bad boy.  But if he pushed you because he was trying to get a fly off his nose, don’t let all hell break loose.

Be a thinking horseman/woman, but don’t let a bad day cause you to overreact either.

Let the degree of the punishment fit the degree of the crime.

Enough said.