Calling horse people: opinion needed

[xander]

good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Rosemary]

Horsy, he will turn out fine. He has a very kind eye, and nice straight legs and right angle on the pastern, so he should be comfy to ride eventually. I would be giving him another wormer 10 days from the last one....this should clean him out totally.
Dont be put off by him being a colt. I didnt have my fellow gelded until he was nearly 3, as the vet wanted to leave him to mature more. He was broken in as a colt, ridden lightly after breaking in as a colt...........my 5 yr old use to lead him around and handle him. We treated him as a normal horse and thats exactly what he was!!

 

[Horsy]

Yeah we are gelding him in a few weeks. He's not stallion material, especialyl since he's a mix of everything and we have no idea what his bloodlines are. He's going to have a good little home.

 

[Rosemary]

I had my other horse gelded at 4 months, while he was still on his mum...........didnt inhibit his growth in any way..........ending up at 16.1hh. We had no intention of keeping the one I was talking about as a stallion even tho he out of my ASH mare out of a really well bred ASH stallion but the fellow who broke him in wanted to break him as a colt and our vet who is also a friend kept visiting and putting off gelding as he thought he needed a bit longer..............so we couldnt argue with him

 

[Horsy]

We're picking him up tomorrow now. Pity my camera is broken

 

[Miss B]

Cool!

Where's your new job?

 

[Horsy]

I went back to Big W. It was an easy job and I got paid alot of money. Haha. Plus I finish early enough that I can ride everyday after work.

 

[Miss B]

Yeah I used to work at Woolies, 38 hours per week on casual wages = $$$

Hope everything goes well with Ace tomorrow. Oh yeah... I am just scanning some pics you might like to see. My friend has a TB mare off the track, she is grey and looks a bit like Zukharla. Will post them as soon as I've finished scanning.

 

[Horsy]

Thanks would liketo see that. You should come on msn

 

[Wrasse]

Catch rope? Is this like lassoing? I dunno. Anyway, here are the photos.

I am surprised, with all the horse work and breaking you have done, that you don't know what this is. It is the rope, (even visible in the photo) left on the halter, with a fair bit of length, which the horse drags around. This means you don't have to chase and frighten a horse that isn't used to being caught and handled.

Instead, you pick up the rope and as the rope is fixed to the halter, you can stop the horse running away, you turn the horses head to you and you can walk down the rope to the horses head, talking and soothing as you go.

This method is commonly used on horses that are shy or nervous, particularly on station horses or horses kept in large areas. Or where many horses are being broken or handled and the handler doesn't have time to spare chasing and cajoling.

It does pose a risk of course, with ropes getting tangled around legs, trees and fences and with horses freaking out. Usually though you find the horse learns to adjust to it. And even, as an added bonus, this rope tends to teach a horse to be more calm later in life when ropes (reins, halters, martingales, wire) tangle around legs.

 

[Miss B]

^ Interesting Wrasse, I didn't know that. So the horse is left in the paddock with a halter and catch rope for extended periods of time?

I used to have to catch my mare by walking up to her with a piece of carrot or bread clearly visible (and the bridle or halter hidden behind my back). Even had to hold the bit so it didn't make a jangling noise :lol:

 

[Wrasse]

The catch rope would be used for as long as it had to be. The longer you have to use the catch rope method, the greater the risk of injury.

I have seen station horses that have this rope permanently in use.

A station owner I once knew had a failsafe method for catching those dodgy horses that didn't like to be caught. He shot them instead.

 

[Dragoness]

lol, I found that interesting as well wrasse, I mean that horsy didnt know what it was, but I guess you learn something new every day. Alot of QH studs uses these ropes, not only does it make them easier to catch, also teaches them to yield to pressure, so when it comes to tying up, leading etc for the first time, they already know to yield.

Glad to hear you're giving the little guy a go horsy (and glad to hear you are gelding him, its a myth that if left as stallions they will grow bigger) Looking forward to hearing update in the future. Hows Tia going BTW?

Cheers

 

[Miss B]

When I got my mare, she was extremely headshy - but the previous owner didn't warn me. A couple of days after we brought her home, I tied her to the big paddock gate. As soon as she felt the pressure behind her ears, she went nuts and reared up (eventually pulling the gate clear off it's hinges). I nearly had a heart attack, the whole thing happened so quick. Luckily she wasn't hurt, although I ended up slicing a finger open in my attempts to calm her. After that, I always kept a little loop of twine handy. Weird thing is; I never had any dramas putting a halter or bridle on her. Being tied up to something was the only thing that freaked her out.

I've never heard of a catch-rope either, but then I've only really been involved with Arabians and I don't think that particular method is particularly common with them.

 

[Horsy]

Catchropoe sounds dangerous to me. He's in the paddock with other horses and that rope is insanely long. What if he spooked or just wantd to run around like foals do and another horse stood on the rope. Broken neck =\

TIa's going great. Been riding her a bit, starting to educate her her. She's coming along very nicely and is a quiet a a lamb.

 

[Miss B]

Did you pick up Ace today?

 

[scout]

It may be an idea to get a nasal drench by a vet, and a vet check. worms do a lot more damage to the stomach wall when they are foals. These animals can be more prone to colic and other gastric problems, and are usually poor doers, I did the same thing as you and bought a foal like this, it cost me a fortune in vet bills over a period of 3yrs, in the end he had a bad case of colic and twisted a bowel. I never even got to break him in. I would worry why the people were soo keen to get rid of him after only having him for such a small amount of time .I have seen catch ropes used before and they have always been on horses that are impossible to catch, it can be a dangerous(for the horse)practice. I wish you luck and hope you dont have the heart ache that i did

 

[Horsy]

I'm picking up ace in just under an hour.

Thanks for those words scout. Hopefully he'll be alright. I'm sorry for your loss

 

[Dragoness]

Yes I agree horsy, the rope on him is very very long. Ours are only ever a few feet long, just long enough to catch them and long enough that they may stand on it when grazing, but not long enough to trail on the ground when the head is in the air, therefore eliminating the worry that another horse will step on it, or the foal themselves standing on it while hooning around.

Cheers

 

[Horsy]

That form of catchrope sounds fine to me. Poor little darling. He's going in a day yard for the first few days where i'll work on catching him and teaching him to lead, then he'll be going in a nice large paddock with lots of grass and hay with a yearling so they can play ^^ I wish my camera wasn't broken so I could take photos.