vicijp
Well-Known Member
Now this post is not meant to have a go at anyone, just hoping for general discussions/theories.
In my experience I find the fact that horses are sometimes labelled as bad in traffic a complte myth. When I advertise it is always the bit I leave out - I sort of take it for granted.
When I break a horse in I always go straight out and long rein on the roads, im lucky that we have a lane to my house with quiet traffic - everyone knows to go steady if they see a riderless horse so they all get a good 'test drive' first. We only have quiet lanes by us, but a lot of speeding cars and lots of farm traffic. Im struggling to remember a horse that has done anything worse than take a good look at a car and sidle by first time, then not notice them from then on. I find this with both horses we have reared and horses that have come from elsewhere.
The other day I took my 3yo out on the roads for the first time, and for a change met no traffic on my lane. Just as I got to the end I could hear a tractor and trailor rattling up the road so basically commanded 'stand still' and hoped for the best. Little star didnt bat an eyelid.
All of mine are trained strictly to voice commands, if I tell them to 'stand still' in the box I can walk around the yard for 5 mins, leave the door open, and they will still be there (bit of a b#gger sometimes when I have a new one and forget they are different!). Now are they good in traffic because they are so responsive and well mannered, or something else. For example, they get fed every day off the back of a quad bike when youngsters, none of them ever think twice about approaching (usually at fair speed). Also, the field the young colts/geldings are usually in (havent had many fillies lately for some reason) has the lane running down 2 sides of it. Not a busy road by any means, but probs about 20 cars down and up every day, few tractors a day, horsebox most days. Does this 'traffic proof' them?
Ive never felt the need to 'traffic proof' anything, never had a problem in that department, was wondering why?
In my experience I find the fact that horses are sometimes labelled as bad in traffic a complte myth. When I advertise it is always the bit I leave out - I sort of take it for granted.
When I break a horse in I always go straight out and long rein on the roads, im lucky that we have a lane to my house with quiet traffic - everyone knows to go steady if they see a riderless horse so they all get a good 'test drive' first. We only have quiet lanes by us, but a lot of speeding cars and lots of farm traffic. Im struggling to remember a horse that has done anything worse than take a good look at a car and sidle by first time, then not notice them from then on. I find this with both horses we have reared and horses that have come from elsewhere.
The other day I took my 3yo out on the roads for the first time, and for a change met no traffic on my lane. Just as I got to the end I could hear a tractor and trailor rattling up the road so basically commanded 'stand still' and hoped for the best. Little star didnt bat an eyelid.
All of mine are trained strictly to voice commands, if I tell them to 'stand still' in the box I can walk around the yard for 5 mins, leave the door open, and they will still be there (bit of a b#gger sometimes when I have a new one and forget they are different!). Now are they good in traffic because they are so responsive and well mannered, or something else. For example, they get fed every day off the back of a quad bike when youngsters, none of them ever think twice about approaching (usually at fair speed). Also, the field the young colts/geldings are usually in (havent had many fillies lately for some reason) has the lane running down 2 sides of it. Not a busy road by any means, but probs about 20 cars down and up every day, few tractors a day, horsebox most days. Does this 'traffic proof' them?
Ive never felt the need to 'traffic proof' anything, never had a problem in that department, was wondering why?