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Discussion on Trail Riding Surprises
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Member:
dustee
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 2, 2010 - 2:52 pm:
This subject has been approached before, and after my recent experience, I guess maybe it needs to be brought up again. Things that we tell each other spark lights in our brains - so another person does not repeat a problem/tragedy. I'm sure everyone can add to this - - this is my latest:
I own a horse who is very close to me, and I totally adore her. I try to keep an open mind about things that happen. Maybe I need to keep it a little more open.
We purchased a chunk of property, and nothing much is on it right now. Some fruit trees, old electrical poles and wires, an old well - which is well marked. So, I hop on my horse and we are going to ride around and have a look-see and it needs some clearing and tidying up. But, I would like to have her get used to this place, as this is where we are going to be moving.
After a while she just plain stops.....hello...what's this all about!! I asked her several times to move forward with no results. I let it go for the minute - and later --- after she was back on the trailer - went over to this area to see what was going on. I could see a hole and later my husband and I investigated with a friend who brought over his front end loader. It was an underground bunker - about ten feet by ten feet - and about 7-8 feet deep. We ended up having to get a tow truck to get his front end loader out - after it fell in. So, the lesson to be learned? Glad I listened to my horse when she was insistent, instead of copping an attitude with her. Could have been a horrible aftermath. On new grounds - we need to stay very alert. Luckily I was walking through this area - and nothing faster. We have filled this in with several truckloads of fill/dirt.
Anyone have something that has happened to you to add??? Dustee
I am bringing this up for all of us to stay alert.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 2, 2010 - 5:18 pm:
Glad you listened to your horse! Too often the first response of many people is to try and make the horse do what we want using progressively harsher means, getting more and more angry and frustrated. Granted, there are times when a horse, usually a young horse, will balk. But, like you, I believe we should try and figure out why the horse is acting the way it is, and be willing to listen to what it is trying to tell us, especially if the horse is a seasoned trail horse. My horses have a lot better senses than I do! I ride where there are mountain lions and bears and if my horse starts acting nervous, I listen and go a different way. More than once I've gone back to the area and seen recent tracks.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 2, 2010 - 8:06 pm:
Thanks for sharing this story.
It is a good lesson!
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Member:
dustee
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Posted on Friday, Dec 3, 2010 - 8:08 am:
I don't know Sara, I think you are much braver than I am, riding with mountain lions and bears. Ok, we have gators and rattlers and cottonmouths, but I guess knowing your own area is key. Hope you ride with someone??? Dustee
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Member:
lilo
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Posted on Friday, Dec 3, 2010 - 11:58 am:
Well heck, we have the mountain lions year round, bears only periodically, and rattlesnakes in the summer. I don't know if I would feel more comfortable around gators and cottonmouths!
I also believe in listening to one's horse. Sometimes it is something benign, like a deer hiding in the bushes. But I have had deer jumping out of the bushes without warning and scaring both my horse and me because of the suddenness! Horses are much more aware than we are to potential dangers. With my gelding I have to learn to differentiate, however. He is not beyond using some excuse to avoid leaving home. But very often he is aware of something long before I am. If in doubt, I'll listen to the horse. Sometimes you can get off and investigate on foot - however, in the case of a bear or mountain lion, that might not be the safest option!
Lilo
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Member:
lynnland
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Posted on Friday, Dec 3, 2010 - 1:45 pm:
Wow..quite the story. We have all kinds of wildlife that pops out of the bushes to keep us on our toes (moose, bears, deer, wolves). However, my young horse has spent far too much time watching my old bird dog when we all go on hacks. Now...when the horse spots a grouse he feels the need to attempt to drag me through the bush for a look. As the dog is getting older he is managing to spot a few that the dog missed. It is more than a little odd and I am hoping he will outgrow it sometime soon!! 
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Friday, Dec 3, 2010 - 2:10 pm:
hahahahha Lynn! A birddog horse. I love it. We have a Doberman who thinks she is a horse.
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 4, 2010 - 10:10 am:
Lynn, if you could teach your horse to point like a bird dog, you may be suddenly surrounded by very interested hunters. My hubby isn't interested in horses in the least, other than to occasionally ask me "how's your horse?" If he knew she pointed pheasant and grouse, his interest level would perk up immensely and I might find him sneaking her out when I wasn't looking!
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Member:
lynnland
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Posted on Monday, Dec 6, 2010 - 7:07 am:
Hi Fran,
Yup...my husband, who has absolutely no interest in horses, was asking if the horse would stand still if you fired a gun from his back. Hmmm... 7 year old Hannovarian, doubt it!
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Dec 6, 2010 - 10:20 am:
It could give a whole to meaning to the phrase " excitement of the hunt!"
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Member:
lynnland
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 9, 2010 - 8:08 am:
Back to Dustylin's point ...I have no doubt they notice a ton of things that we don't. Always wonder how they can be gawking at something way off in one direction and still carefully lift their feet over a log on the forest floor. Someone years ago had suggested to me that it might be like some human disease's where the person cannot filter out all the information that is coming at them. For example, the great success Dr. Temple Grandin (who suffers(?) from autism)has had in designing humane slaughterhouses. She attributes it to her perceiving things as the cattle do; she cannot filter out what most of us see as "meaningless" stuff. As horse people, I think we tend to be more aware of the effect of slight changes in the environment (such as that scary piece of paper towel on the floor) than cattle people. As a side note, I hear the are doing a movie based on her life story.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 9, 2010 - 8:28 am:
I had a discussion on Grandin's movie awhile back. If I remember correctly it was on HBO about last February; I bought it from Amazon. Great movie!
I think horses "feel" through their feet also. And probably have a 6th sense we have lost with time.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 9, 2010 - 9:36 am:
Angie,
I agree with you completely about their "sixth sense." Often I think that they must have this because I know that they cannot physically see through stall walls but it seems as though they can.
They also have a great sense of smell, direction, hearing and probably see better than we do.
My horse Lance has always reacted more to the unseen than the seen but will fortunately just stop out of concern rather than attempting to flee.
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Member:
dustee
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Posted on Friday, Dec 10, 2010 - 6:32 am:
Well, it's early in the morning - and you have got me wondering - could my mare have "felt" the change in the floor density of the woods? Could she have felt it wasn't as stable as it should be? That make sense? And knew it wasn't safe?
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Dec 10, 2010 - 8:35 am:
Here is a story of a horse that sunk in the mud and had to get rescued. Awesome horse in that he stayed calm and responsive to his owners help.
https://harnessphoto.blogspot.com/2010/11/ozzy-gets-rescued.html
One thing that I noticed as I just skimmed through it for the 2nd time is the owner says she trusted him if to make the choice as to go or not on questionable footing. NOTE: She got OFF him and was going first to test the footing when he got bogged down in the mud!
My guess is if she had stayed on him he would not have got in the bind he ended up in. We have lots of swampy areas around here, footing can change in a heart beat, and I trust my horses if they absolutely refuse to go. I think if you know your horse and have a good relationship you know when to insist, and when to take their word for it!
I bet your mare not only "felt it" but maybe she "heard" the footing change too. Maybe an echo? Along with a change in vibrational feeling through her feet? Maybe crazy sounding...but even we have a 6th sense if we quiet our minds and pay attention! Like the hair standing up on the back of our necks, or butterflies in our stomach along with a strong sense of "DON'T DO THAT DON'T GO THERE."
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Dec 10, 2010 - 3:47 pm:
What a story.
That's enough to cause one to be extra-careful!
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Member:
jowidner
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Posted on Friday, Dec 10, 2010 - 11:22 pm:
Wow! Reading about Ozzy's misadventure helps me to understand how the ancient animals from prehistoric times became trapped in mud pits. How fortunate Ozzy was to have been rescued before he became hypothermic and exhausted to the point of shock.
I used to take a trail that skirted the edge of a graveyard. My horse was fine on the nearby wooded path with solid, undisturbed ground, but when we got to the edge of the cemetery where the earth had been removed and replaced he would become very careful and cautious. I think he could feel the change in the footing.
Also, be careful of the ground around construction sites. One time we were riding around the edge of a new subdivision where the ground had been worked and then scraped smooth. The ground looked fine, but it gave way with the weight of my horse. Luckily we didn't have a fall or an injury, and were able to scramble back to solid footing.
Sometimes horses can tell what's safe, other times not. Always best to error on the side of caution!
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Member:
dustee
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 11, 2010 - 6:07 am:
Jo Ann - That's a good statement - I hate to have people think that I am a disaster in motion, but I was around a construction site one time and got caught in quicksand. Needed help of several men to get out. Terribly embarrassing, and perhaps I should have known better, but I was in it without any warning.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 11, 2010 - 8:54 am:
I had a little mare that was a great trail horse, she'd go through everything. We were in a pasture with a creek we had crossed dozens of times, this time she refused, I tried to encourage her and she planted and said NO. I told the person I was with I believe she is trying to tell me something and I'm not going to press the issue and go cross somewhere else. Her horse was refusing also, but her horse always followed mine. I moved on, she decided to press the issue with her horse and got stuck in the mud and got hurt. We had some flooding rains a few weeks before and obviously the horses sensed the creek had changed.
If you listen to your horse well you usually know when they are being stubborn of "somethings up" They must have instincts we just are not aware of.
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Member:
lilo
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 11, 2010 - 1:39 pm:
What a story. That the horse stayed calm was a big help. A funny story about my daughter's quarter horse gelding: I was riding with my husband. I was leading with my mare Moonlight, he followed on my daughter's horse. There was a creek crossing, and the opposite bank was slippery. Moonlight just made it, but the gelding slipped and slid back into the creek, which was fortunately not very deep.
My husband had stepped off in time, but the horse was lying on his side, saddle and all, in mud and water. So - what did the horse do? He nibbled some green grass that was just in front of his mouth, while still lying in the creek. My husband encouraged him with his voice, and he struggled to his feet. He just had a few scratches on his legs.
Too bad we lost him to cancer at age 16 - he would have been the perfect first horse for my grandsons.
Lilo
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 11, 2010 - 4:22 pm:
Thanks all for sharing your stories. Very interesting to read.
Although they had been unheard of here, we had a mild earthquake tremor a few years ago. A friend and I were out on our horses at the time and they reacted although it was barely perceptible.
About old graveyards, sometimes there are old, unmarked graves outside of what appears to be the official boundaries.
I've talked a lot with an old gentleman who is known as "The Cemetery Man" because he helps search for and preserve old cemeteries and he told me that is not unheard of to fall through and into old grave sites by accidentally walking over them unaware. They can collapse just as old cisterns can and do.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 11, 2010 - 4:37 pm:
A question that I've been pondering:
I wonder if it makes a difference if the horse has always been micromanaged while handled and ridden; or if the horse/human relationship is one based on trust and respect? I've become more interested in what the Parelli's do in their methods and find it intriguing how they can change a horse after so little of time working with them.
If the horse is used to thinking for himself and knows his choices are o.k., and never punished versus a more typical situation where the rider wants to make all the choices?
I'm not sure I am saying what I want to say the best way and I am not suggesting if your horse fell in a hole, or slipped on a muddy bank your relationship is messed up!
Might be an interesting separate discussion?
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