Thursday, February 9, 2012

Horses Can Be Naughty...

I swear, she does not mean me!  (Photo taken before the demise of the right cross tie.)

I trimmed Harley's feet today.  I didn't take any pictures, because the lighting was poor, but his feet are looking very good.  I cross-tie my horse when I groom him, tack up, or work on his feet.  I know a couple horse people who prefer ground tying, but this is something that I have not taken the time to teach Harley.  I am sure that he can learn just about anything, but I consider cross ties one of my chosen "conveniences".  Thankfully, I have a horse who stands between the ties for as long as necessary.  Even if he shifts around, he respects the ties.

Today, I went to attach the right cross-tie and I saw that the clip was broken.  Apparently, one of the other horses spooked and busted the clip.  The bailing twine tied at the top of the tie held sturdy, even though the metal clip snapped in half.  Horses are strong.

I tied Harley's cotton, blue lead line to the hanging, lifeless cross-tie with a slip-knot.  This made for a longer tie than usual, but it held fast and I could pull the slip to untie it quickly.  As I was trimming his feet, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.  It was Harley's muzzle sniffing the ground.

"Harley, How is your face on the ground?"

Since, he stayed still and seemed pretty content to stretch his neck down while I worked on his feet, I just let him be.  Before long, I felt my jacket russling slightly.  Harley's muzzle wiggled like the end of an elephant trunk as he nosed my back pocket.  I kept working, ignoring him, but vigilant for any teeth or test nips.  None came, but his nose did leave and return a few times once he realized that he had more freedom than usual in the long cross-tie.  Hopefully, his gentle nosiness meant that he liked the grooming his feet were getting.

After his feet were finished, it was time to eat, and then time to go out for the night.  I walked Harley in my left hand and his buddy in my right.  Harley is a pretty big walker when his hay is waiting, but his equally food-motivated buddy, walks like a slug.  Harley and I had to kind of drag him along.  I gave him a couple looks that said, "What is your problem?"

Once at the paddock, we walked through the gate together and both horses turned to face me, which is polite horse manners.  Harley made a motion to nip his buddy's chest.  I corrected him and made him move over so that he could not pick on his buddy while I was taking his halter off.  Harley is the alpha, but he is not a nasty alpha.  I was wondering why he was so bitey toward his paddock mate as I removed his halter and then I understood why.  His buddy committed a huge bad-horse behavior.  He ran threw the gate.  The gate that was right next to me.  I am always mindful of where the gate is, because a swinging gate can be a dangerous weapon.  Of course, this time I was not mindful of shutting the dangerous weapon behind me.  I foolishly thought that the horses would be more interested in their hay.  Harley was.  My good boy did not follow his buddy.  He turned and headed for the hay.  "More for me!'

When I went to catch his buddy, he started to trot away from me, so I gave him a hard whack on the butt with my lead line, which had a leather popper on the end.  He trotted off and headed for the barn as if he was about to receive his second dinner.  This horse is allowed to run in from his paddock to his stall for dinner at night.  Many other horses on the property are also granted this "privilege".  I ask that Harley always be walked in, and this situation is a good example of why I do not approve of this practice.  Since the horse is used to running through the gate, he looks for opportunities to do just that, even when dinner has already been served.  A friend intercepted him in the barn and I took him back out.  I was very annoyed.  Not only was his behavior potentially dangerous, but the "habit" was not going away anytime soon.

I think Harley knew what the other horse was thinking, because he had been making to bite him on the chest, which would have sent the horse backwards.  I stopped Harley's correction, only to the have the offending horse rudely run past me.  I was reminded of another similar incident about a month ago.  I was holding the same horse from Harley's back.  Harley was fussing over his buddy and tossing his head at him.  I made Harley quit, and then his buddy bit him on the neck!  I think that I have learned my lesson this time.  Harley knows his "nudgey" paddock buddy better than I do.  If he feels that the horse needs a correction, I should just let him give it to him.

Oh yeah, and next time, close the gate!

14 comments:

  1. I hate that habit... On the one hand, it's great if they run back to the barn every time (let them run into the stall, shut them in!), but as someone that's been knocked down and dragged by that behavior, I can vouch for how dangerous it gets.

    Too funny that Harley reprimands the bad behavior... I've had Willie do that to other horses, too, although he's never been the alpha -- just a wise old man that occasionally reminds the whippersnappers of their manners!

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    1. Harley lives at a farm where ground work and manners are highly valued, so I do not understand the disconnect with the running in practice. This horse has busted through the gate while I was closing it on previous occasions. That was totally unacceptable, but not enough to motivate a change in practice.

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  2. Funny - I just used the cross ties the other day for the first time in ages, other than for the farrier. Val is actually much better ground tied, or single line tied, than he is in cross ties.

    He's not terrible, just fidgety and a little anxious - flipping his head and grabbing the ties in his mouth. According to his previous owners he came to them that way. I wonder if it's left over from track life?

    Apparently, Harley knows best! ;)

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    1. Maybe Val finds the second tie annoying. I think it is great that he ground ties well.

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  3. Very interesting. Harley is a very smart boy!

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  4. He's brilliant! Now, if only he could talk...;-)

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    1. If he could, he would be asking for carrots constantly. ;)

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  5. I bought a sign to put on our patio/visitor area (if we ever finish it) that says, "When in doubt let your horse do the thinking". *giggle* Sounds like Harley had his number, all right.

    Rina has done that before, when I've chastised another horse she'll lean over and give them a nip. I have a hard time keeping a straight face, as I have "Yeah, what she said." *chomp* running through my head ;o)

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  6. Seems Harley was trying to be your assistant and was all for teaching his buddy some manners. I do think they know what's going to happen before it does. I'm not a big fan of letting them loose to find their stalls either.They can get into a lot of trouble when left on their own.

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    1. I think that Harley was let loose once, without my permission. I was told that he could not be let lose again, because "he wanders too much." I could have told them that!

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  7. I'm not a big fan of letting the horses run from pasture to stall either. That's how my mare went five years without being handled much less halter trained!

    That Harley is on top of it, he knows how to keep those pushy buggers in line!

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    1. Yeah. It is not good for the horse and the person who has to handle the horse.

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