09/12/2023
Please stop rewarding bad behavior and babying a 1200 pound animal. We get a lot of horses in training where people give you a long list of “behaviors” that they are justifying as playful and not disrespectful.. When in fact they are disrespectful.
Cookies and sedation are the two biggest enemies in this world. Stop sedating your horse for every stressful situation THEY WILL NEVER LEARN. Sedation is a helpful tool under circumstances, but not under “my horse gets nervous for the farrier” “there was fireworks” Desensitize your horse and teach it right from wrong, it is disrespectful..
It is not cute when your horse puts its open mouth on your arm trying to ask for a treat. It is not cute when your horse is pawing to china in a cross tie because it has no patience. Sadly, it is the humans fault NOT the horses. Too many horses have now been turned dangerous with a bad reputation becasue that is what a human once taught that horse was acceptable.
When I’m working a horse in the round pen, or saddling, or just grooming I want that horse to look at me as a teammate, NOT as a vending machine. Pockets full of treats to head in to “work” your horse is not achieving anything other than making yourself look like a life size carrot. After your workout, there is nothing wrong with a treat to reward a successful day, but don’t revolve your exercise around it.
As a community we need to be better. The saying “they just don’t make them like that anymore” is wrong in the horse world, they do make them like that and they are being ruined in the wrong hands..
