The horse industry has long lived on gossip, rumors and cliquishness. That's nothing new. The internet, however, allows it all to rise to a new staggering height and all players, regardless of education or credentials, to get a ticket to the party. I'm speaking, specifically, about the folks that seem to spend most of their working days on message boards and blogs spouting off about whatever the latest topic du jour is without taking any time to research facts or form opinions for themselves.
I don't mind controversy, I love well-reasoned discussion and I think that any question, no matter how basic or obscure, deserves a thoughtful and informative response. What I deplore is shrill declarations of wrongness, abuse and evilness based on pure emotion, rumor or the unsubstantiated story of one individual.
Time was, if you wanted to communicate with other horse people, you did so face to face, over the phone, or by written letter. You met people, you networked and you sought knowledge through books, lessons, clinics and mentoring. Now, almost anyone can be a Google Cowboy who is a self-appointed expert on everything and hides behind a computer monitor doling out advice on message boards or blogs. Worse yet, some folks long on time and short on knowledge build a giant bandwagon for themselves and others on some popular blogs. They take no critical view on information presented, but instead react in an entirely emotional manner and then start painting disciplines they have no knowledge of with broad strokes of contempt.
It is my position, that almost any discipline can be trained for with integrity and respect for the horse. By the same token, ignorant and backwards "trainers" can make even the simplest training abusive. No discipline is "pure" and no discipline is categorically abhorrent.
That said, there is certainly room for personal preference in our equestrian activities. Differences make the world go around, even the equestrian world. I prefer a good, solid stock horse with a naturally level topline. Other people prefer a more up-headed horse, a slimmer horse, a horse with more action or even a gaited horse. None of us are wrong and we can all have productive partnerships with our horses, given that we train with integrity and ride horses bred and built to our preferences (no forcing square pegs into round holes).
Next time you see an online witch hunt or someone gathering torches and pitchforks, take a moment and ask yourself what you really know about the situation or discipline. If you have time to post a flaming declaration yourself, you probably have time to spend a little of it on Google looking for a different perspective. Maybe you could even call up an experienced horse person that you know in real life and ask their opinion. At the very least, you'll be able to carry your torch with informed self-righteousness rather than the blind faith of an ignorant follower.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Making Good Horses
I am proud to say that my family makes good horses. They're sane, they're sound, they're uncomplicated, they have good ground manners and they're enjoyable to ride whether they're just started or getting close to broke. How do we do it? Leadership, consistency and a program.
The whole thing starts the day they arrive at my Dad's place where all the young horses go first. Most likely, the horse is a barely handled yearling colt or gelding. We don't buy horses started by other people anymore because we can't afford to buy horses started by trainers we admire and it's a lot easier to get one going right than to have to fix one someone else left training holes in. When the colt arrives, he goes into one of the smaller front pastures to settle in and graze for awhile. From that day forward, every day he will, at minimum, be caught, tied, thoroughly groomed and fed his grain ration while in a tie stall. If he doesn't want to be caught he can be run into a round pen from the pasture where the approach and retreat method can be used to catch him. After a few days, depending on the weather and footing, some ground training will start. He'll learn to give to the halter, respect his handler, navigate obstacles and tolerate scary stuff.
By the time he's turning two, the colt is easy to catch and probably comes when called to get caught and get his daily grain and grooming. He's pretty well sacked out, gives well to the halter and follows direction well from the ground. He then learns about the saddle; back cinch and breast collar included. He does everything he learned before while wearing the saddle. Pretty soon he gets his first ride. If all goes well, which it usually does, by his fifth ride he's heading out the gate to ride trails and logging roads. He walks most of the time, sees the world and builds his strength going up and down hills. As he gets older and stronger he learns more-- jogging, loping, good stops, leg yields, turn arounds, lead changes, etc. When he has a pretty good handle on him he'll get to meet some cattle. He gets arena or round pen work every so often, but most of his exercise and training is outside on old logging roads and trails. He works in a smooth snaffle bit his first year or two, but from the first ride he's ridden on a loose rein, except when he's being asked to soften, and gets the foundation laid for his future in a curb/bridle.
Through all of this, EVERY DAY of this colt's life in our program, he gets caught, tied, grained and groomed. If he gets pushy or nippy or obnoxious, he gets corrected. We realize that every time a colt is handled or ridden, he's being trained. Every day should be better than the last, and if you stopped at the right point the day before, it will be. We don't ride just to get through some time under saddle. We ride to make the horse better-- carry himself better, stop better, turn better, have better transitions, handle more obstacles on the trail.
Of course, not every ride is great. When things go wrong, we have to evaluate. Is the horse having a bad day, an awkward growth stage or a pain issue? Are we asking too much, asking the wrong way or having a bad day ourselves? That's part of responsible training and continuing to learn from the horses.
Overall, though, it's consistency in handling and riding that makes good horses. They tie, they hobble, they load, they haul, they take shots and dewormer, they stand for the farrier, they stand for saddling and stand when mounted until asked to move off, they ride outside and most of all they're just enjoyable to have around. It's not any grand expensive 90 day wonder training program, it's doing something every day to make the horse better. In the process, each horse makes you a better trainer, which makes the next horse even better than the last one, and so on goes the cycle of becoming a horseman and making good horses that go to good homes where they are valued. Or, in my case, keeping one around for awhile just because you like him and know that you can still do more with him.
The whole thing starts the day they arrive at my Dad's place where all the young horses go first. Most likely, the horse is a barely handled yearling colt or gelding. We don't buy horses started by other people anymore because we can't afford to buy horses started by trainers we admire and it's a lot easier to get one going right than to have to fix one someone else left training holes in. When the colt arrives, he goes into one of the smaller front pastures to settle in and graze for awhile. From that day forward, every day he will, at minimum, be caught, tied, thoroughly groomed and fed his grain ration while in a tie stall. If he doesn't want to be caught he can be run into a round pen from the pasture where the approach and retreat method can be used to catch him. After a few days, depending on the weather and footing, some ground training will start. He'll learn to give to the halter, respect his handler, navigate obstacles and tolerate scary stuff.
By the time he's turning two, the colt is easy to catch and probably comes when called to get caught and get his daily grain and grooming. He's pretty well sacked out, gives well to the halter and follows direction well from the ground. He then learns about the saddle; back cinch and breast collar included. He does everything he learned before while wearing the saddle. Pretty soon he gets his first ride. If all goes well, which it usually does, by his fifth ride he's heading out the gate to ride trails and logging roads. He walks most of the time, sees the world and builds his strength going up and down hills. As he gets older and stronger he learns more-- jogging, loping, good stops, leg yields, turn arounds, lead changes, etc. When he has a pretty good handle on him he'll get to meet some cattle. He gets arena or round pen work every so often, but most of his exercise and training is outside on old logging roads and trails. He works in a smooth snaffle bit his first year or two, but from the first ride he's ridden on a loose rein, except when he's being asked to soften, and gets the foundation laid for his future in a curb/bridle.
Through all of this, EVERY DAY of this colt's life in our program, he gets caught, tied, grained and groomed. If he gets pushy or nippy or obnoxious, he gets corrected. We realize that every time a colt is handled or ridden, he's being trained. Every day should be better than the last, and if you stopped at the right point the day before, it will be. We don't ride just to get through some time under saddle. We ride to make the horse better-- carry himself better, stop better, turn better, have better transitions, handle more obstacles on the trail.
Of course, not every ride is great. When things go wrong, we have to evaluate. Is the horse having a bad day, an awkward growth stage or a pain issue? Are we asking too much, asking the wrong way or having a bad day ourselves? That's part of responsible training and continuing to learn from the horses.
Overall, though, it's consistency in handling and riding that makes good horses. They tie, they hobble, they load, they haul, they take shots and dewormer, they stand for the farrier, they stand for saddling and stand when mounted until asked to move off, they ride outside and most of all they're just enjoyable to have around. It's not any grand expensive 90 day wonder training program, it's doing something every day to make the horse better. In the process, each horse makes you a better trainer, which makes the next horse even better than the last one, and so on goes the cycle of becoming a horseman and making good horses that go to good homes where they are valued. Or, in my case, keeping one around for awhile just because you like him and know that you can still do more with him.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Shopping for a kid's horse
I hear a lot about the current horse economy out there. Cheap horses, free horses, horses being dumped/turned loose.... I've heard it. Recently, I got to test the economy by being assigned the task of finding a good gelding for a teenage novice rider at a reasonable price. We weren't looking for anything fancy, show quality, registered or even perfectly sound, just something pretty broke with a good temperament for the rider to expand her skills on. We were even looking at older horses, around 20. Should be a piece of cake in this market, especially since we were willing to accept kind of ugly and deal with minor soundness issues, right? Wrong.... very wrong.
The biggest problem in the market out there right now, to my view, is older horses that aren't broke, aren't trained and don't even get handled much. I was upfront with everyone that I contacted that I was shopping for a safe horse for a novice teenager. I was able to weed out about 70% due to honest sellers or my own intuition based on the sellers' responses. I went out to look at horses that wouldn't stand to mount, then tried to take off under saddle, a horse that cow-kicked every time you touched a hind leg, horses that hadn't been ridden in years, but were allegedly very broke at some time in the past, but couldn't seem to recall any skills under saddle, a horse you couldn't bridle and various other equines with no manners or bad manners brought on by being spoiled or just flat not being handled for years.
In previewing advertisements I was appalled at the number of pasture pets for sale. Older geldings either never started or started briefly (30-90) days at two or three and then turned out back home where they've lounged about the pasture and now the owner is trying to sell them at 9+ years old. I have started and re-started older horses, mostly broodmares and recently-gelded stallions, and it's no picnic. It's much harder to develop a work ethic in a 15 year old that has gotten their way most of their life than in a 3 year old that's still figuring out the order of things. And, I have to say, with the market the way it is, if I want a project for myself I can find a nice two or three year old for the same or less money than the owners want for the spoiled 12 year old. But, I digress.
Back on the kid's horse shopping tour, I did manage to at least not get hurt and leave everyone with a diplomatic, "Thanks for your time, but he's not quite what we're looking for." Finally, when it looked like this was going to be a year-long project, I spotted an older gelding on Craigslist. He sounded nice and the owner was selling due to not having much time for him due to her career. She was honest about every quirk he might have ever had and had owned him for 15 of his 18 years so, feeling guardedly optimistic, I went out to look.
Unbelievable. The horse lead, tied, stood for saddling, was good with his feet, stood at the mounting block and is broke and trained and sound! Hallelujah! He's trained to second level as a dressage horse, although only shown through first level, was shown western at some point and rides outside on the trails. He's 18, but sound, and even a nice looking horse with papers. I actually enjoyed test-riding the horse. The true test, the teenage novice riding, went well, too. What a gem!
Needless to say, the horse was purchased and, even better, the teenager is taking lessons from the horse's trainer for a month while he stays at his current barn. Things are going well.
So, what did I learn about the market?
There are a lot of cheap horses out there, but, they should be cheap and they would have been cheap before the market crashed. The only market for a pasture fat spoiled brat gelding that's 15 years old and not broke is the slaughter market, and that's pretty much kaput. Before the slaughter market went away, those horses were worth around $500. Now they're worth nothing, since they don't have any value beyond being pasture decoration and winter feed is expensive.
There are a lot of sellers that really, truly believe that their horse is an angel and that being "spirited" or having issues with ground manners doesn't make them inappropriate mounts for novice kids. These aren't malicious people, they just don't know any better (often novices themselves), but they will waste your time when you drive out to find out what the horse really is.
There also are diamonds out there, that maybe aren't even rough, but just aren't marketed quite right. I inquired about the horse that was purchased after viewing a Craigslist ad that the owner had put up. I passed on the same horse when viewing the ad published on Dreamhorse by the trainer. The DH ad put the horse at a temperament rating of 8 and used the term "a lot of horse"-- both red flags for me when looking for a mount for a novice. What the trainer was trying to convey is the amount of training that the horse has, but she made it sound like he's hot and reactive, which he is not. At any rate, the teenager now has a great horse and the horse has his own girl again. The previous owner is happy, the girl is happy, the horse is happy and even I'm happy... so happy to not have to get on any more supposedly "broke" horses for awhile. I'll happily keep riding my four year old who is well on his way to being truly broke.
The biggest problem in the market out there right now, to my view, is older horses that aren't broke, aren't trained and don't even get handled much. I was upfront with everyone that I contacted that I was shopping for a safe horse for a novice teenager. I was able to weed out about 70% due to honest sellers or my own intuition based on the sellers' responses. I went out to look at horses that wouldn't stand to mount, then tried to take off under saddle, a horse that cow-kicked every time you touched a hind leg, horses that hadn't been ridden in years, but were allegedly very broke at some time in the past, but couldn't seem to recall any skills under saddle, a horse you couldn't bridle and various other equines with no manners or bad manners brought on by being spoiled or just flat not being handled for years.
In previewing advertisements I was appalled at the number of pasture pets for sale. Older geldings either never started or started briefly (30-90) days at two or three and then turned out back home where they've lounged about the pasture and now the owner is trying to sell them at 9+ years old. I have started and re-started older horses, mostly broodmares and recently-gelded stallions, and it's no picnic. It's much harder to develop a work ethic in a 15 year old that has gotten their way most of their life than in a 3 year old that's still figuring out the order of things. And, I have to say, with the market the way it is, if I want a project for myself I can find a nice two or three year old for the same or less money than the owners want for the spoiled 12 year old. But, I digress.
Back on the kid's horse shopping tour, I did manage to at least not get hurt and leave everyone with a diplomatic, "Thanks for your time, but he's not quite what we're looking for." Finally, when it looked like this was going to be a year-long project, I spotted an older gelding on Craigslist. He sounded nice and the owner was selling due to not having much time for him due to her career. She was honest about every quirk he might have ever had and had owned him for 15 of his 18 years so, feeling guardedly optimistic, I went out to look.
Unbelievable. The horse lead, tied, stood for saddling, was good with his feet, stood at the mounting block and is broke and trained and sound! Hallelujah! He's trained to second level as a dressage horse, although only shown through first level, was shown western at some point and rides outside on the trails. He's 18, but sound, and even a nice looking horse with papers. I actually enjoyed test-riding the horse. The true test, the teenage novice riding, went well, too. What a gem!
Needless to say, the horse was purchased and, even better, the teenager is taking lessons from the horse's trainer for a month while he stays at his current barn. Things are going well.
So, what did I learn about the market?
There are a lot of cheap horses out there, but, they should be cheap and they would have been cheap before the market crashed. The only market for a pasture fat spoiled brat gelding that's 15 years old and not broke is the slaughter market, and that's pretty much kaput. Before the slaughter market went away, those horses were worth around $500. Now they're worth nothing, since they don't have any value beyond being pasture decoration and winter feed is expensive.
There are a lot of sellers that really, truly believe that their horse is an angel and that being "spirited" or having issues with ground manners doesn't make them inappropriate mounts for novice kids. These aren't malicious people, they just don't know any better (often novices themselves), but they will waste your time when you drive out to find out what the horse really is.
There also are diamonds out there, that maybe aren't even rough, but just aren't marketed quite right. I inquired about the horse that was purchased after viewing a Craigslist ad that the owner had put up. I passed on the same horse when viewing the ad published on Dreamhorse by the trainer. The DH ad put the horse at a temperament rating of 8 and used the term "a lot of horse"-- both red flags for me when looking for a mount for a novice. What the trainer was trying to convey is the amount of training that the horse has, but she made it sound like he's hot and reactive, which he is not. At any rate, the teenager now has a great horse and the horse has his own girl again. The previous owner is happy, the girl is happy, the horse is happy and even I'm happy... so happy to not have to get on any more supposedly "broke" horses for awhile. I'll happily keep riding my four year old who is well on his way to being truly broke.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
A word, or two, about genetics and breeding
It is no secret to most folks who even have a rudimentary education in biology that the characteristics of living organisms are controlled by genes, which make up DNA. Genes come in pairs and in organisms, like animals, that reproduce sexually, the male and female each contribute one gene of each pair.
Some traits in horses are easy to see and are directly controlled by known genes, like coat color. Others are more complex and are controlled by multiple genes, some of which may not even be expressed in certain animals. But, almost everything, to some degree, is inheritable.
This means that if you are going to breed horses, or any animal, you have some responsibilities.
First, learn about equine genetics. You may not care what color your foals come out, but you are a lot more creditable and professional if you know that the two chestnuts couldn't have produced a bay foal and that palomino doesn't skip a generation. Also, there are a number of genetic diseases out in the horse world these days. If you're going to breed you need to know what your horses carry or express, what they might produce and what risks you're willing to take as a breeder.
Second, think long and hard before breeding any animal. If you wouldn't be absolutely thrilled to have a carbon copy of the mare-- conformation, attitude, way of going ~everything~, DON'T BREED IT. Yes, even disposition is, to some degree, inherited. You can't expect a good sire to overcome the genes of a dink mare. Nine times out of ten it's cheaper to buy a foal by the sire you want then to raise one, anyway, and you can usually buy one out of a better mare than you own. It's very time consuming and expensive to "breed up." If you're trying to improve your stock, the fastest, surest way is to sell what you have and buy better stock.
By the same token, if you have an exceptional mare, don't breed her to Joe Stud down the street thinking that she's going to produce something great. If your mare really is great, you can probably negotiate a discounted breeding to a really good sire. Only breed the best to the best.
I know someone out there is thinking, "But I just want a trail horse/4-H horse/buddy and I don't need those high-falutin' horsey ideals." All I can say is that I haven't set foot in a show ring for several years now, but I sure want the best looking, most willing, most athletic horse I can get my hands on to wander around the mountains on and chase cows.
Good looking, good moving, good minded horses aren't the exclusive provenance of the show horse world and the market for all disciplines supports that fact. If you want to breed horses, spend some time looking at the "sold" ads on Dreamhorse or other sales sites. Search by price and see if your horses measure up to horses selling in that price range. Search for similar horses to what you have and see what they are really selling for in your region.
Educate yourself. Knowledge is power and ignorance is no excuse.
Some traits in horses are easy to see and are directly controlled by known genes, like coat color. Others are more complex and are controlled by multiple genes, some of which may not even be expressed in certain animals. But, almost everything, to some degree, is inheritable.
This means that if you are going to breed horses, or any animal, you have some responsibilities.
First, learn about equine genetics. You may not care what color your foals come out, but you are a lot more creditable and professional if you know that the two chestnuts couldn't have produced a bay foal and that palomino doesn't skip a generation. Also, there are a number of genetic diseases out in the horse world these days. If you're going to breed you need to know what your horses carry or express, what they might produce and what risks you're willing to take as a breeder.
Second, think long and hard before breeding any animal. If you wouldn't be absolutely thrilled to have a carbon copy of the mare-- conformation, attitude, way of going ~everything~, DON'T BREED IT. Yes, even disposition is, to some degree, inherited. You can't expect a good sire to overcome the genes of a dink mare. Nine times out of ten it's cheaper to buy a foal by the sire you want then to raise one, anyway, and you can usually buy one out of a better mare than you own. It's very time consuming and expensive to "breed up." If you're trying to improve your stock, the fastest, surest way is to sell what you have and buy better stock.
By the same token, if you have an exceptional mare, don't breed her to Joe Stud down the street thinking that she's going to produce something great. If your mare really is great, you can probably negotiate a discounted breeding to a really good sire. Only breed the best to the best.
I know someone out there is thinking, "But I just want a trail horse/4-H horse/buddy and I don't need those high-falutin' horsey ideals." All I can say is that I haven't set foot in a show ring for several years now, but I sure want the best looking, most willing, most athletic horse I can get my hands on to wander around the mountains on and chase cows.
Good looking, good moving, good minded horses aren't the exclusive provenance of the show horse world and the market for all disciplines supports that fact. If you want to breed horses, spend some time looking at the "sold" ads on Dreamhorse or other sales sites. Search by price and see if your horses measure up to horses selling in that price range. Search for similar horses to what you have and see what they are really selling for in your region.
Educate yourself. Knowledge is power and ignorance is no excuse.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
A Conformation Evaluation
To start with, I'm going to post some pictures of horses that I or my family have owned or currently own. I'll accompany each with an evaluation of their conformation, as seen in the photo and a few words about how their conformation influenced their physical abilities.
First up is a grulla gelding we called "Tank." He was 15 when the photo was taken.
Tank is what most people call a "foundation type" Quarter Horse. Overall, he's an attractive horse with good bone and a nice long hip. He made a nice gelding, but he was a stallion until he was about 9 years old, which accounts for the slightly thicker neck and jowl.
What I don't like about this horse, conformationally, is the degree to which he is built downhill (he is 15.1 at the hip and 14.3 at the withers) and his steeper than ideal shoulder. I'd also like to see a bit more length in his neck. His head is also a bit coarse, mostly because it appears too long from eye to nostril. The picture makes him appear sickle hocked because he was backed into position for the picture. He actually has good strong hocks of proper angulation, but if a person was only evaluating based on this picture, it would be considered a weakness.
What I like about him, besides his hip and bone is that his neck ties in a reasonable distance above his chest. He also has a nice, strong forearm and gaskin with defined muscle. Although he is terribly downhill, he does have some strength in his loins. Notice that there is a nice strong band of muscle over the loin, rather than a weak dip as is often seen in downhill horses that are a little too long in the back.
So, how does this all translate into performance, and why did we buy this horse?
First off, the downhill conformation makes it more difficult for a horse to elevate its shoulders and properly step under and drive from the hindquarters. However, having a neck that doesn't tie in too low, strong loins, a deep hip and nice strong gaskins helps to mitigate that problem. Basically, you get the drive train (rear end) strong enough to overcome the problems caused by gravity. Tank could drive his hind end up and slide and he could also collect well enough at the lope to be both attractive and handy. He did have trouble learning flying lead changes, which a lot of downhill, long horses have problems with.
What this horse is really built for, what we bought him for and what his current owner uses him for is trail riding. We bought Tank for my mom as a sturdy, reliable trail horse. Keeping the front end elevated is not really a concern riding out on the trails. His strength behind made it easy for him to power up hills and balance nicely to go slowly down steep grades. His sturdy bone made him sound and reliable to go all day, if needed. He's a good, sturdy sort of gelding that most folks want in their barn to really enjoy.
Here's Tank, doing what he was best at: Using his strong hind end to stay balanced over his hocks while picking his way down hill through some rocky terrain.
As an aside, Tank sired several foals when he was a stallion. One of those foals is a point earner in AQHA barrel racing and pole bending. So, he was a producing sire. I still think he made a better gelding.
First up is a grulla gelding we called "Tank." He was 15 when the photo was taken.
Tank is what most people call a "foundation type" Quarter Horse. Overall, he's an attractive horse with good bone and a nice long hip. He made a nice gelding, but he was a stallion until he was about 9 years old, which accounts for the slightly thicker neck and jowl.What I don't like about this horse, conformationally, is the degree to which he is built downhill (he is 15.1 at the hip and 14.3 at the withers) and his steeper than ideal shoulder. I'd also like to see a bit more length in his neck. His head is also a bit coarse, mostly because it appears too long from eye to nostril. The picture makes him appear sickle hocked because he was backed into position for the picture. He actually has good strong hocks of proper angulation, but if a person was only evaluating based on this picture, it would be considered a weakness.
What I like about him, besides his hip and bone is that his neck ties in a reasonable distance above his chest. He also has a nice, strong forearm and gaskin with defined muscle. Although he is terribly downhill, he does have some strength in his loins. Notice that there is a nice strong band of muscle over the loin, rather than a weak dip as is often seen in downhill horses that are a little too long in the back.
So, how does this all translate into performance, and why did we buy this horse?
First off, the downhill conformation makes it more difficult for a horse to elevate its shoulders and properly step under and drive from the hindquarters. However, having a neck that doesn't tie in too low, strong loins, a deep hip and nice strong gaskins helps to mitigate that problem. Basically, you get the drive train (rear end) strong enough to overcome the problems caused by gravity. Tank could drive his hind end up and slide and he could also collect well enough at the lope to be both attractive and handy. He did have trouble learning flying lead changes, which a lot of downhill, long horses have problems with.
What this horse is really built for, what we bought him for and what his current owner uses him for is trail riding. We bought Tank for my mom as a sturdy, reliable trail horse. Keeping the front end elevated is not really a concern riding out on the trails. His strength behind made it easy for him to power up hills and balance nicely to go slowly down steep grades. His sturdy bone made him sound and reliable to go all day, if needed. He's a good, sturdy sort of gelding that most folks want in their barn to really enjoy.
Here's Tank, doing what he was best at: Using his strong hind end to stay balanced over his hocks while picking his way down hill through some rocky terrain.As an aside, Tank sired several foals when he was a stallion. One of those foals is a point earner in AQHA barrel racing and pole bending. So, he was a producing sire. I still think he made a better gelding.
Friday, May 16, 2008
A bit about the blog
Welcome to my blog. I've been considering starting a blog for some time, and the heat in the Northwest today has driven me inside to do just that. What I want to do here is to create a place where people can learn about conformation, training and horsemanship. My experience is with stock horses; mostly working horses, cow horses and pleasure horses. If someone wants to discuss the finer points of FEI dressage or gaited horses, I'm afraid I won't have much input.
I have noticed, that there is a fair demand out on the web for practice in evaluating and discussion of conformation. I'll be setting up at least one conformation corner post per week to discuss strengths, weaknesses and suitability to purpose. I also plan to create a post or two on the rewards and hazards of buying young horses. Over the years my dad and I have bought several yearlings that we got well started before selling at two or later. Some surprised us in a good way as they matured. Others....notsomuch. I have pictures, and I'm not afraid to let others learn what they may from my errors.
Well, I'm off to learn more about blogger and get some yard work done if it ever cools off tonight!
I have noticed, that there is a fair demand out on the web for practice in evaluating and discussion of conformation. I'll be setting up at least one conformation corner post per week to discuss strengths, weaknesses and suitability to purpose. I also plan to create a post or two on the rewards and hazards of buying young horses. Over the years my dad and I have bought several yearlings that we got well started before selling at two or later. Some surprised us in a good way as they matured. Others....notsomuch. I have pictures, and I'm not afraid to let others learn what they may from my errors.
Well, I'm off to learn more about blogger and get some yard work done if it ever cools off tonight!
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