Dear Shaboom and Clyde,
I found a draft horse for sale and I would like to buy her for riding but all my friends say draft horses are only for pulling. Is this true?
– Robert, Jackson, WY.
Dear Robert,
Many people do ride draft horses. They are generally not as fast as the light breeds and may not be suited for speed events. However, they make great trail horses and are often used for foxhunting and English riding. Many times, they do require special tack as they are built bigger than normal saddle horse but there is no reason that a draft horse cannot be a great riding horse.
Did you know…
Fun Facts About Horses
1. Although a foal's body is relatively small, its legs are almost the same length as its mothers. The long legs enable the foal to run quickly so it can keep up with the herd and escape any potential danger.
2. As a horse grows older, he slows down and finds it harder to do the tasks he used to be able to do easily. A horse needs more care and attention from his owner during old age to make sure he's comfortable.
3. Yearlings are three-quarters of their adult height. They haven't quite filled out yet so they look rather lanky.
4. Treat your horse to sweets every now and then but try not to give him so many that he comes to expect them all the time – it may make him bad mannered.
5. When startled by a strange or unusual noise a horse often prepares for flight. He pricks up his ears, points them toward the sound, tries to identify it and then decides whether or not he needs to take flight.
Don't Lose the Wisdom
Sometimes it is easy for us, as young people, to think that the latest is the greatest. We may forget that what came before set the foundation for today’s products and services.
Many trainers’ ads these days promote "Natural Horsemanship" as the big seller. It doesn't seem to matter which method it is as long as it's "natural." If one looks closely at the methods, they are fairly similar, just called by different names. I'm not knocking the methods, because they do seem to work well, but they aren't always new methods - just rediscovered ones. Horse training, like many other things in life, follows trends and fads. What's hot today may be hard to sell in five years. Twenty-five years ago, Western pleasure horses, for example, had a natural head carriage. Then they went to "peanut rollers," now they are back to a level line. Forgotten knowledge often becomes the "new" method. If we just keep handy the knowledge already learned, tried, and proven, we could apply it where it is best suited. The same method may not work for all horses or for all people; it may just need to be adjusted for different situations.
Talk to an old timer about how it was done in his day and I'll bet you will be surprised. It wasn't all whip and spur. Plus, many of the horses bred today are better suited to the training methods now used. It's a lot easier to start a horse with a willing attitude than an outlaw attitude. Granted we see very few outlaw horses these days but they are out there and some of the methods used to train them in the past are all but forgotten. How many horses today are trained to ground tie? Not many. Training aids such as Running W's, War Bridles, and simple cotton hobbles are rarely used, if ever. These are not needed for a good gentle horse, but the knowledge could come in handy if someone gets that rare bad one.
It is important for us to be able to look at the methods, decide which will work, and then use them, so we can benefit from the "old wisdom." However, remember that many of the old methods should be used only by a professional and some, maybe not by anyone. We really need to find a way to categorize and file the methods we run across so that we aren’t caught off guard, thinking that someone has come up with a "new" method.
Copyright © 2009 The NW Horse Source, LLC
Top of Page
|
