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Show : Wednesday, July THEi MRK GQALTRQN 10, 1974 CITY HORSES Years ago the horse was a much used animal. He was not a form of luxury or recreation as he is now. The cowboys of yesteryear had a job to do and the horse was one of his tools. And while it may be true that a good horse in those days was invaluable, very seldom was there any sentimental value attached to him. In other words, he could.be bought. Bad horses, on the other hand, were worthless and hard to sell. Sentimental value never came into the picture. If a horse was np good - it was for sale. For a cowboy to say a horse was no good was pretty conclusive evidence of the animals worth. A cowboy demanded alot of his horse as he did a variety of chores about the ranch. Therefore, he was a good judge of horses. The days of the horse as a tool have diminished quite a bit. With big ranches buying up surrounding land and becoming larger, they have gone to machinery for maintaining the ranch. Four wheel drive vehicles, planes, tractors and other equipment have cut down on the hqrses work load immensely. Even the big ranches with alot of livestock to control, the horse is not even used half a day, everyday. On smaller ranches, the horse may be used one or two days a week, and around the corrals once in awhile. In contrast to the days gone by, the horse is not doing the work load he was meant for. It would seem that there should be some effect pn the horse. The effect is known as spoiled. In this day and age, the horse is more of a luxury used for recreation, rather than for work. People who have horses now have them for their pleasure. The riding of the horse is quite irregular. It probably would go something like this : Ride the horse two days a week for 1 hour or so. Ride the horse one day a week for 2 hours or so. Even the best horses can become spoiled with this little riding. A horse needs a tune-u- p every so often and good, regular riding will do this. For some horses it may mean mean two hours a day everyday, and for others it may require six hours everyday. Even show horses are sent back to their trainers periodically for a tune-uMost of the reason for the show horse going back lies in the fact that he is a show horse. Just like a champion football player has to protect himself, so does the show horse owner. You wont see many show horses out on ed p. poR the finest in Steak, LobsteR CRab Legs. . . And an endless Salad BaR Dinner served 6-- 1 0 pm 18 Time & Patience, A Good Horse by Linda Powell well-train- Page - 6-- 1 1 pm weekends trail rides. The show horse is ridden in an arena and after an hour or so everyday he gets bored, and so does the rider. What they both need is a change of scenery. But because the show horse needs to be protected from cuts and scratches, he stays in the arena or in his stall. The rider and the horse being bored makes the experience unpleasant so they dont do it again until they have to - as for the next show. When we ride our horses today, we often experience problems such as my horse wont go in water, he wont step across ditches, and many more related difficulties. I believe 90 per cent comes from lack of riding that horses receive today. They are fed well but not worked well. What they really need is mileage, lots of it. It seems like everyday I have a call from someone who has a problem with a horse; I enjoy listening to them and try to be of help. The answer I give most frequently is ride your horse twice as much as you ever have and do it everday for at least ten days to two weeks.That may not seem like much of an answer, but it works ! It is true that there are some problems that need to be worked out in a corral for training purposes. For the most part, however, heavy riding will solve them for you. The reasons are simple: 1)- The more riding time you put in, the better you will know your horse and the more confidence you will have around him. 2)- The more riding time you put in, the healthier your horse will be hell be in better physical shape; you will be in better physical shape AND for a change your horse will be gettin the workout he needs and -- wants. Many people expect too much of their horses. They think if they dont ride for a week or so and then decide to ride for an hour that the horse will still be in good condition. Not so. You have to recondition most horses. It is just like putting them away for the winter and going to ride them in the spring. You take it a little easier for your horses sake and your own. There is an important readjustment period here. Dont attempt things on your horse that you know he is not ready for. Work him up to each challenge. Strive for successes rather than failures. Try to see things the way a horse sees them. When you receive a negative response - think about it and try to understand. Most of it stems from his handling and riding. Try to give your horse confidence in you. But most of all RIDE, RIDE, RIDE. |