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A day at the stables

Some of the stallions we have (and have had) are gentlemen, unless they were "on duty." But I have seen some downright nasty stallions before. Most of the hot blood studs tend to get incredibly over-excited (Arabs, TBs, Saddlebreds, etc) but it really depends on how you train them. I'm always a fan of letting my stallions grow up completely before I ask anything grown up from them. Arabs mature much slower than most horses do, so asking a full breeding and showing regime out of a 3-4 year old Quarter isn't unheard of... try to force a schedule like that on an arab, and you'll push him before he's ready. The show/performance horses are pushed too early for me. We never even pushed our arabs before they were at least 5. We also turn all of our youngins' out with older horses... usually geldings. That way, they can learn how to be a horse. I have learned that comparing Arabs to some other breeds is like comparing apples to oranges... Arabs are a completely different kind of horse. Most other breeds will allow you to bully them... Arabs will fight back lol.

Also, alot of it has to do with technology nowadays. Most stallion services offer frozen semen... my parents farm does too. Its alot more convenient, plus safer for both the horses. My stallion only actually covered my mares. I wouldn't trust him to a rank mare that I didn't know. Granted, he was no *Padron, but I still valued his safety.

As for the head part, some will allow their heads to be messed with and some won't. I think some of it has to do with maturity level. I was lucky and had a perfect gentleman in my stud Sadar, but his son Smokey will nip, kick, head-butt... anything you'll let him do. In his defense though, he is only 3... still has a lot of growing up to do. Most colts eventually grow out of the biting and nipping. With all the stallions that I've been around, I've learned that as long as it isn't a full out ears back attack, it is a problem that can be solved.
 
He is an Andalusian right? The Arabians and Andalusians tend to hare some of the same personality quirks IIRC (its been a long time since I've played with Andalusians, but my uncle has a few). I'm sure he'll come around when he ages! I can't wait to see what a handsome fellow those stallions turn out to be! I just love the regal crested neck of a mature Andalusian stallion!
 
I've worked as a groom for some 20 years, mostly Standardbred racehorses, but then some show horses, park Morgans, minis, and both race and show Arabians. The last place I worked for was a stable run by a vet who had a specialty in the breeding end. He would have 200+ babies born every year at his farm. I started out doing foal watch and when that was over for the season, did regular groom's work. I'm very familiar with A. I. ( artificial insemination ) I wonder how many babies were concieved while I was holding the mare? The vet also did a lot of embryo transfer. We had lots of draft mares with babies gamboling at their sides you know weren't related to them! ( It's really weird seeing a Belgian mare with a leopard app. baby at her side! )

As far as the Arabians go, I've worked with the studs, Patriot Missile, Scud Buster, and 40 Thieves, all racehorse studs. 40 Thieves was neat! We used to turn him loose in the indoor arena with a horse ball to play with but he didn't like it if it wasn't moving. He wanted you to come in there and toss it around for him so he could attack it! I knew Patriot Missile when he was still dark gray and had a milky way of stars on one side. Now he's gone totally white and lost his starburst.

The farm I worked for with the Arabs really believed in having well behaved studs. I was the stallion groom so I had to deal with all of them. They didn't let me deal with Patriot Missile at first because he was so damned expensive! The horse was insured for half a million! Then they found out what a pussycat he was and I was allowed to lead him in and out to the paddock. But none of their studs bothered me much. Arabians really are gregarious horses and really enjoy human contact. I don't think I'll ever own one because I like a beefier bodied horse to ride but I do have a very fond place in my heart for them. My husband had his Crabbet Arab, Hamdan, for close to 23 years. We just put him down this past Sept. and he's still smarting over it. He even wants to get another Arab, perhaps a rescue. I just want him to get a horse better suited for him. My hubby's very tall and Hamdan was always too short and delicate for his weight. He ended up having back issues that made him dangerous to ride but on the ground, Hamdan was a sweetie.

Devon
 
I'm working all day tomorrow (boo, hiss), so I spent today at the stables seeing my favourite pony. He'll get his Christmas treats tomorrow, but we had big pre-Christmas hugs today!
 

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I went to the stables today, and thanks to a warm-up and some light drizzly rain, the school was thawed out enough for a riding lesson.
Merlin hasn't been ridden much since Christmas because the ground's been too slippery and slick with ice. So today he was full of beans, decided he was spooked by the wind rustling through the trees, and decided to mini-buck and bunny-hop around the school. The 'spooking' and 'bucking' was very slow and controlled, I was in no danger of losing my balance and I just sat him quietly until he stopped.
Kim decided she didn't want to risk my getting broken, so she got up on Merlin, who then produced a hilarious bronco impersonation of double-bucks, getting all 4 feet off the floor and plenty of air under him! Kim rode him for about 20 minutes until he settled, then I re-started my lesson.
Merlin wanted to tank off a few times, so I had to keep him collected in a nice trot and work on different sizes of circles, spirals and changes of rein to keep his mind off the scary trees.
Kim was full of praise for me staying calm when Merlin acted up, I reminded her that she's drummed into me from day one that I'm supposed to be in charge when I'm in the saddle and I'm not allowed to panic!
 
Sounds like a wonderful time! Sometimes, those boys just have to kick up their heels I guess ;)
 
Because the most I can manage is a lesson once a week, depending on my shifts and recently the weather conditions, I'm being very good about doing my homework in between visits to the stables. As well as reading my books I'm using an online site which gives good explanation of the 'how to' and exercises to do sitting on a chair to help get the balance and coordination of what you are supposed to do with your body position, hands and feet! Which is helping to get sequences of how to give the aids etc stuck into my head, rather than going blank and forgetting what I've learnt once I'm in the saddle.
Kim finds the relationship that's developed between me and Merlin hilarious, she said his bunny-hopping looked like the most careful bucks she's ever seen, like Merlin wanted to go nuts but was remembering to look after me at the same time! Once she was on his back, he cut loose with a display of proper bucking that relieved his feelings. (I swear Kim's got a velcro bum, she didn't move at all!) She took the time to let him work out his problems and soften to accept the bit before I got on.
A couple of times he decided he wanted to spook at a particular tree, so I just made him accept that I wasn't scared of it so he was in no danger!
 
That's so sweet! I can just picture that! "OOOooooo I wanna be bad but I can't hurt my human. The treats might stop!" Then when the trainer gets on, "Okay! You can take it! Yah!"

It's good that you are such a confident rider. I am NOT! But I also have the perfect horses for that. I forget how many times I've gone to a horse event and watched someone else's horse blow up while my guy is standing there staring watching the show. I am SOOO lucky when it comes to our guys!

We took our young guy and our stallion to a bombproofing clinic one time. Hubby rode the young-un, I rode the stud. I had only been on Alex a handful of times. He was the only stallion there and we warned all the other riders and even put yellow ribbons on his mane and tail. Through all the obstacles Alex was a champ! I was the one that needed the bombproofing! Alex acted like he had done this all before. Walk across a mattress? No problem! Walk past a speaker playing strange sounds like airplanes taking off and school marching bands and sirens? No sweat! Walk through a blow up tunnel with a grass skirt curtain? Well, I freaked out, Alex could have cared less! He took such good care of me.

Now if that guy with the beautiful Haflinger mare had stopped getting in front of me no matter what I did! ARRRGGGHHH! Alex was very well behaved but she did start to look very good to him after a while. Nature's wiring is very hard to train around! Don't worry. No foals were conceived at this event.

Having said all that, I still love stallions. They're very honest. You know exactly where there mind is all the time. SEX!

Devon
 
To be honest Devon, my friends have turned me around from a nervous wreck who couldn't be in a field with loose horses and would have cold sweats during a pony ride with the lead-rein!
(I rode as much as I could as a child, then a hunter bolted with me on board, from then on I didn't trust the darn things at all!)
Cathy is very much into the natural horsemanship aproach, and introduced me to the work of Monty Roberts, Bill Dorrence and Pat Parelli, all of which helped me to understand more about why things can go wrong and how to manage situations. While Kim also enjoys the natural approach, she's working towards her BHS training qualifications and has worked with horses since she was a teenager.
Kim's very good at instilling confidence in nervous riders, I enjoy going along to watch her giving lessons almost as much as I enjoy my own lessons. When we were talking after my lesson, we concluded that having to take control of bad situations at work is probably the reason I stayed cool. At work I have to manage medical emergencies virtually every week, being the most senior person on shift in most cases, having to direct junior staff and keeping them and the patients calm no matter what's happening. So I'm probably now using those skills to an extent when I'm in the saddle.
Besides which, Merlin and I are pals! I do trust him to deal with most situations, and he's learning to trust my leadership too.
 
My bravery depends on the horse I'm riding. I refuse to ride my hubby's young gelding because, although his heart is in the right place, he's terribly young and inexperienced. Alex, the stud, I trust and my bud, Tassletop, I trust enough to get him through whatever he's scared of. But I would LOVE to have an instructor talented in getting a person over their fears because I can see where it wouldn't take much to make me a timid rider. I'm so envious of my hubby. Although sometimes I think he's makes very foolish decisions with riding, he rode his Arab for many years and Hamdan did not suffer fools gladly and dumped him many times. He never took it personally and was never afraid to get back on. Most of Hamdan's problems came from being a delicate little horse ridden by a very tall man, sometimes in armor, for many years. He developed back problems in the end and we had to retire him. Now hubby is still riding a little horse with Alex but I think Alex can take his weight better, being a beefier breed and Alex has tons more sense than Hamdan ever had! If Alex complains about something, something is majorly wrong!

Most of my riding fears came from having my first riding instructor send me over jumps long before I was ready for it. I took a spill and now I won't jump.( I also jumped ship to western!) Then I had a young bratty filly run away with me and I fell off, lost consciousness and landed in the hospital for a day. Since then I really appreciate a horse with good brakes! Tassletop and I have been together 6 years and I know what I can expect of him. I know his fastest speed is not that fast, he has always stopped when I told him to and he has only dropped me once and that was MY FAULT for having the stirrups just a bit too long that day when trying to get him over that ditch. Otherwise, I know where his head is when I get in the saddle. He has taken really good care of me.

I really appreciate a horse I know well.

Devon
 
That's the thing Devon I don't think I'm anywhere near just getting on any horse, like I used to when I was a kid! As long as Kim's happy for me to ride Merlin, or select rides on trusted old troopers like Pye, I'm happy. I do plan on a riding holiday next year, so I have to get my general fitness and confidence improved by then.
At the moment I've been looking at holidays in the Camargue region of France, but it wouldn't be much more expensive to go on a riding holiday in the states!
 
Well, I could put you in touch with some horse people over here if you want to go riding and you plan on visiting Pa. If you plan things right, maybe you could coincide your holiday with our Medieval Horse Guild's Horse War, a great photo opportunity. How do you feel about riding in a dress????

Or not. There are loads of other horse related events going on over here, English or Western. Gettysburg is not that far away from us and you could even trail ride on the battlefield.

Just a thought.

Devon
 
I just googled the Medieval Horse Guild and it looks pretty fun! It reminds me of participating in the Jousting events at the Renaissance Festival. You're right in saying that hubby was just too tall for Hamdan! I have to admit though, I'm in love with those Frisians! I wanted one for as long as I can remember. My uncle has a Frisian stallion that he often crosses with in Andalusian mares, and man are those pretty babies!

Is Tassle Top a Haflinger? He looks like a trusty mount :) I think we should all make a separate thread to showcase our mounts!
 
I think we should all make a separate thread to showcase our mounts!
Click to expand...
I second that motion! I just vicariously live through all of you by following this thread. I don't own any horses nor do I have anywhere currently where I could take lessons again. I did when I was younger and was jumping before I quit, and I miss it. I just got tired (being a teenager and all) of riding where and when I was told. I always wanted a horse that I could just take out whenever I wanted for trail rides and whatnot. Maybe someday....
 
Jynx said:
I just googled the Medieval Horse Guild and it looks pretty fun! It reminds me of participating in the Jousting events at the Renaissance Festival. You're right in saying that hubby was just too tall for Hamdan! I have to admit though, I'm in love with those Frisians! I wanted one for as long as I can remember. My uncle has a Frisian stallion that he often crosses with in Andalusian mares, and man are those pretty babies!

Is Tassle Top a Haflinger? He looks like a trusty mount :) I think we should all make a separate thread to showcase our mounts!
Click to expand...
You certainly should show them!
 
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