TK Haflingers

11/21/2024

11/21/2024

I’m really feeling this 😩

😂😂😂

11/21/2024

We Are Excited To Announce...

We will be presenting at the Equine Affaire, Inc. (Official) 8n April. We hope to see you there.

11/16/2024

Posture is very important. Reading into and discovering pain signals is important too

But I’m finding the current climate is so unsure, so tentative, backing off for every potential signal of discomfort either physical or emotional, that horses are actually worse off for it.

If you never put the horse straight, they will BECOME painful. If you back off EVERY time the horse has a question, often interpreted as resistance, the horse WILL break down.

Why? Because without some guidance, some straightening, some questions and answers, horses and people will never get anywhere.

Imagine going to a fitness coach. Imagine he backs off every single time you’re remotely uncomfortable, a little sore, a little unsure, not perfectly comfortable. Imagine you need this for PT to recover from an injury.

Not only will you never get fit, you’ll actually become more anxious and more lame. Why? Because you have no guidance through and forward. Your coach will be feeding into, and building anxiety and weakness.

This is what I see in the world at large now- a well meaning attempt to create comfort in horses is actually building more lameness, more body pain, more anxiety.

Of course we need to address and solve sources of pain and discomfort.

Get good fitting tack, learn to sit WELL, and learn to ride straight. I’m not saying don’t listen to the horse - but don’t become so tentative you’re no help.

A lot of people are capitalizing on people’s good intentions to create confusion, dependence, and mystique. This stuff isn’t new - it’s been around for ages. We’ve known how to straighten horses and keep them sound for a long, long time, but suddenly it’s like the Tower of Babel out there and nobody knows what to do.

Calm; forward, and straight. Soundness is actually quite simple. Get your seat right, your tack right, and then ride them forward and put them straight.

—obviously there are some horses with lameness or congenital issues that this will not apply to. But a qualified vet or other professional will be the best help, not every Facebook post or forum you can find

11/16/2024

A choking horse is a scary sight! You may have heard about someone else's horse choking, but until you experience it firsthand it's hard...

11/12/2024

Prepare your young horses; prepare and prepare and prepare. Fill the holes with patience and dedication and good horsemanship. And then, when all else fails, and your horse has drawn a hard line defining what he will and will not do, pull out the stops and do the tough stuff.

Do it with patience and dedication and good horsemanship, keep your horse as safe as you can, but do it. Draw your own line and hold it.

In today's world of hurt feelings reports and learned helplessness, you can get a bad name very quickly for being a hard ass. I'll tell the world something though; when I bend over to pick up the front foot on a three year old gelding that weighs roughly a thousand pounds and he refuses my request (a request familiar to him!) by throwing a big dramatic toddler temper tantrum...just imagine for a moment a thousand pound toddler, folks...I become a hard ass in a hurry.

You see, if I'm not in charge of my horse's feet on the ground, how can I call myself in charge of them when I'm sitting in the middle of him? When I'm ten miles from camp pushing bush, gathering stray yearlings and we ride up on a scary old bear? Holler whoa all you want, if you ain't the boss he trusts to be in charge, then you don't get to set the ground rules when the winds of panic blow his proverbial skirts up.

Folks talk about trust like it's a gift. It isn't. It is something that is worked for. Trust between a horse and human is earned... sometimes the hard way, doing the hard work like drawing clearly the line between right and wrong. A young horse is not my partner until he has proven himself to deserve that spot. I'm not his friend... most of my friends can't hurt me as quickly and surely as a thousand pound equine can. So yes, I do the tough stuff. My training program isn't all cookies and kisses.

And in a case like this, my farrier will thank me, because he's not going to get hurt crawling around under a big four footed toddler who has never been told no before. 🤷

Have a good day folks! 😊

Pictured below; three year old Crew, being reminded how to give his foot AND hold his foot, NOT drag me around the arena and try to slap me with it.

No horses were hurt in the taking of this picture. Educated yes, hurt no. 😉

10/29/2024

Apple pie filling canned for longer storage $8 a quart. Please feel free to share.