Advice needed urgently

They some times swing calfs by their back legs to clear out their passages of mucus and fluid and help them breath..same with lambs.. not done to all of them tho just to the unresponsive or ones that seem to be having trouble breathing....an also seen ppl fling a calf over a gate if it hasnt started breathing by itself...seemingly the the shock and the blow can start up the to gasping reflex...iv never heard it done in a foal tho and i was mad confused when i read the first post!
 
This woman sounds like a liability. Remove your youngster at once before she causes her lasting mental trauma. Anyone worth their salt would spend time familiarising themselves with a horse and its little quirks before putting harnesses on, and if necessary teach it how to stand nicely. Her unwillingness to do this suggests she won't have the patience to do any part of the breaking process thoroughly and patiently.
 
My friend had a beautiful pony who had a freak accident whilst tied up. I have never heard of "swinging" and certainly would never do it especially after what happened to this lad.

He was stood on the yard whilst being groomed when he suddenly pulled back, although he was tied with a safety release rope he somehow managed to get it caught around the fence post so it didn't release.

To cut a long story short, he damaged the verterbrae (sp?) in his neck and had to be PTS with wobblers syndrome.

Do not allow them to do this to your pony, my friends was a freak accident but your situation is an accident waiting to happen.
 
have just read the first few posts so thought id answer. Swinging is a term thats hardly used now and if it is its by the oldschool dealers/breeders etc. Swinging is where a horse (normally a foal) gets used to being tied up and things happening eg rugs being thrown on, being moved around - all without pulling back on the lead rope. We used to throw rubber buckets under the horses feet, hang plastic bags from the ceiling etc all to get them used to everything you can think off.

You can swing a 3 year old - i did. Once she had been swung you could do anything - including walking underneath her belly and she wouldnt move at all. Personally i like swinging - it has nothing to do with nearly strangling the horse as i think i saw further down but more to teaching manners

oh and btw it will take a week if that to swing a horse so the person youve sent her to is pulling your leg by saying she ll break everything when she gets on her.


ETA - have now read all the posts involved and can say I have never heard the term -'swinging' used like what everyone else says eg tying up and causing the horse to pull back, throwing them to the ground etc. This just goes to show that one word can have seperate differences.

Our version of swinging is teaching the horse to tie up - using haynets as distractions at first, to bailer twine, and taking the time etc. Then once the horse is used to being tied up - thats when we 'swing' them. like i said above by getting them used to various things going on. So you know when your hacking down the street and a plastic bag blows between your horses legs you know he isnt going to do anything because youv taught him the lessons previous.
 
OP, are you in the States by any chance? I believe they still do this there. Otherwise, take your youngster away and take her somewhere where they know what they are doing.
 
It still happens horse gets tied to a strong post and it trys to pull back gives up after abit. People that have been doing horses along time still do it, very common round yorkshire.
 
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Troll.

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DOn't quite understand why the query makes the OP a troll. Yes swinging is a very old fashioned, not neccessary quite horrid practise but it does exist / has existed. As many people have said it's the supposed practise of teaching a young horse to tie up by essentially anchoring it when tied up and letting it pull back and so on (it's been explained better by other posters). I've seen it done once by a woman with very old fashioned views, I was only about 12 at the time but considering I'm only 25 now it wasn't really that long ago.

I would say to the OP, firstly don't let this woman swing your horse and find someone else to break it it. But also by asking you if the horse has been swung she is implying that the horse doesn't tie up very well so some ground work (not swinging I'm sure) may be required in this area by either the owner or a new trainer.
 
Only got to two pages of this, but I have seen this done
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It was many, many years ago in America. I lived on a ranch. I saw a cowboy do it to a foal. I won't put the details, only to say, I never want to see it done again.
 
would you lot stop standing on bridges and throwing food :P you just encourage them lmao.

if this is serious which i don't beileve it is, tell he we'll tie her up until she gets tired of pulling and she how she likes it. i would get more horse out of there fast than you can say no.
 
yeah or she is embarrassed i wondered what the rspca would say about this lady still swinging foals in that way :@
 
When my Section B (since sold) was bought as a weanling, I remember that we taught him to stand tied up but threading the line through the ring and someone standing there holding it firmly (ie not on baling twine that would snap).

If he had panicked, which he did not, the person could've let the rope slide through the ring. He pulled a few times, but as I say not in a panicky fashion, and soon realised that he was tied and stood there.

After a few tries like this we took to tying him up the normal way with a haynet whilst being groomed, feet picked out etc etc.

It's really not a big deal. Surely your youngster has been taught to stand still and tied up for the farrier, vet or when you groom her anyway?

Also, why is the person breaking her worried about her going over when she gets on because of panicking when being tied up? Surely the filly isn't going to be tied up when she sits on her for the first time?

Seriously, I don't understand her comments to you and would be as concerned as you clearly are by what she's told you. Indeed, my gut instinct, if this was my filly, would be to remove her pretty darned sharpish from this person's yard.
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I would have thought that in this enlightened day and age any foal would be handled from birth and would be used to being tied up, loaded, had it's feet trimmed etc and exposed to traffic and other things.

By the time it comes to being started/broken all these other isues would have been sorted out and the foal would be easy to handle.

If the person posting this post is genuine then I would suggest like everyone else that you find someone more enlightened to start your horse.
 
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