Are Arabian Horses Different than Other Horses? Part 2

Again I want to plug the next Horse Lovers' Blog Carnival. It will be hosted right here on Feb 21. The theme is All Things Equine which means all things, not just horses but, donkeys, burro, zebras, you name it, if it's an equine you can add your blog post. You can submit an entry Here Entries must be submitted by Feb 20, 2007 by 5:00 pm PST.

Part One

I addressed in part 1 what I think is an important issue with Arabian horses, you can't bully them. I talked about the problems if you try, and the types of methods you can use. I included short scenrios on the trainers who have helped me over the years. These included John Lyons, Clinton Anderson, Harvey Jacobs and Cody Hurford.

Now, I want to address another issue that sets Arabian horses apart from other horses, spirit. It means different things to different people, I think. With all of the trash-talking done about this breed over the years, I think a lot of it is based in the spirit of the horse.

You would think that if someone knows up front going into their relationship with an Arabian horse, that they are more spirited than other breeds, that person would understand how that spirit relates to the behavior of the horse. Spirit in the dictionary is defined as temper or disposition of mind or outlook especially when vigorous or animated (in high spirits). Translating that to apply to the Arabian horse, I would say Miriam Webster has quite accurately described it as vigorour or animated temper or disposition of mind. It certainly describes every Arabian horse that I've ever known.

So how does that spirit affect how you deal with the horse? Here I think there needs to be some consideration of circumstances. If an Arabian horse is on a regular work schedule, they can and do get a quietness to their demeanor in their normal routine. Sometimes you can forget that they can be as animated as they are capable of. But if the horse gets a break in it's routine and ends up standing in a stall for days, you better bet that when it comes out, it's going to be doing all it can to contain it's animation.

For example, this has been a particularly bad winter here. I school my horses outside and the weather has made that next to impossible. My horses live in stalls and get turned out when the weather permits. Unfortunately, there's not been a lot of turnout time or work time for them in the past two months. So you can bet that when I do get an opportunity to get horses outside or time to ride, I do things a little differently the first time or two. All of that energy has to go somewhere, and I don't want to set my horses up expecting them to behave like puppes when they are spirited horses with days or even weeks of pent up energy to burn.

Normally, I lead my mares out to the field two by two, sometimes I take three. Even though I wouldn't recommend that to someone without a lot of skill, I do it because I can. The horses know the routine, they respect me. They do what I ask. BUT when they've been cooped up. I take them one by one. I know they will try their darnest to be good but I also know that they will be SO EXCITED to finally be getting outside they will have trouble containing themselves. I don't set them, or me up.

The same goes for the boys. While I don't lead them out by twos, I can be pretty relaxed with them when they're getting out regularly. But when they've been kept inside and are bouncing off the walls, I wouldn't think of leading them out with out a little lesson in the stall first, dropping their heads, backing, whatever, to tell them I have something I need you to do, pay attention. AND I will be prepared for rearing!! That means I NEVER take one of the stallions or colts out after they've been cooped up without taking along my old fork handle so I can deal with rearing. At the first sight of a horse springing up onto its hind legs, I put that handle up over its head and the rearing is stopped. Then I back the horse up, walk into it's space and a couple more Harvey Jacobs excercises before we proceed to turnout. This all takes longer but no one gets hurt and I haven't set my horses up to get into trouble.

To be continued.....
Part 3