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Discussion on Training yearling
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 - 6:46 pm:
Hi. My weanling is now a yearling. I plan to continue work on leading, tying, trailering and ponying. Is there anything else I can do with him beyond that? I'd like to get as much done with him up front, so he's easier to work with down the line.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Apr 14, 2006 - 8:17 am:
I'd get him used to everything you can think of. Put a saddle pad on his back, and work up to a light saddle; used to horse blankets and sheets; equipment running; bicycles going by; anything you can think of that you can do safely.
Also, you can start walking him over ground poles and cross poles; getting him to yield to pressure...a lot of ground work. By the time he is old enough to ride, he will be almost trained and the riding will be just the next easy step.
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Member:
Alden
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 15, 2006 - 4:37 pm:
I'd add ponying, get him behind a good horse and take him all over. He'll get confidence from the ridden horse and become comfortable with the big world.
Good day,
Alden (HTG)
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 20, 2006 - 2:05 am:
Alden, what do you do if you are "ponying" and the yearling stops and plants its feet?
I have been thinking of doing this around the farm (would not like to risk traffic) but the only way I could think of dealing with stopping would be to circle around on the horse and use a stick gently on the yearling's rump.
Thanks
Imogen
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Member:
Maggienm
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 20, 2006 - 12:16 pm:
Hi Imogen, I have ponied colts and horses for years and teach it routinely to all my horses. I find it a very useful to exercise two at once, accustom a horse to the feel of moving with a saddle, as well as to re-educate an older horse that has a leading issue and more.
If your rope is long enough that you could circle the colt and get behind him (if he would stand still long enough for you to do that) your rope is too long.
Since he is a yearling he won't be very heavy, if he resists just ask your pony horse to take a step forward. This is different than allowing a horse to pull back when they are tied solid, that can be dangerous and injure the horse, if the colt really freaks out with additional pressure you can instantly give him some slack or keep your saddle horse butt to the colt and keep going.
I have never had a colt resist but briefly and have never had one get hurt in any way with this method.
May I assume you are riding with a dally and not hard and fast. The only safe way is with a dally.
The colt may jerk and 'bounce' a bit, this is not unusual, keep going and very soon the colt will learn to follow.
If you haven't ponied with your horse before it is a good idea to start with dragging a log or whathaveyou, when he accepts that with no issue increas the weight a bit so he feels the pull, will you use a breastcollar? (recommended) not so heavy that he has to strain just enough to feel the difference between the saddle pressure when you are riding without ponying and when you are. This way he won't suddenly give you something else to think about. 
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Member:
Terrilyn
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 20, 2006 - 4:03 pm:
Lori, reading this with interest as I have a 3-year-old I'm "training" (my first attempt at this) and I would like to start ponying her soon. Can you explain "dally?" Is this a knot? Or just one wrap around the saddle horn?
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Friday, Apr 21, 2006 - 1:05 pm:
Hi Lori can you post again assuming NO prior knowledge? I am in Ireland and barely know what ponying means let alone dallying... I thought it was a term from English folk songs for going out for a walk with your beau...?
I used to use this yearling's dam to ride and lead for exercise with another mare who could be a bit of a maggot about stopping when she was being led. I don't have a worry about the horse I would be riding as a result, I am just worried that as the yearling is about 300 kgs now I don't know that her Mum could pull her along (we ride English) if she decided to stop.
I like to know what to do before I try it out...
Thanks
Imogen
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New Member:
Sdms
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 22, 2006 - 1:55 am:
I thought I might just jump in here and add my two cents worth. Terri, a dally is a single wrap of the lead rope around the horn. This gives you some extra leverage but you still have complete control of the horse being ponied since your hand never leaves the lead. If for some reason you had to quickly release the ponied horse you'd be able to whereas if you were tied "hard and fast" your two horses would be connected with no way to get apart if you were to get into a wreck.
Imogen, your situation is a little different since you don't have a horn. You can still pony with a lot of success but it's helpful if your groundwork with the young horse is well established and s/he knows how to yield to pressure moving both the front and hind ends away. It's also helpful if your riding horse knows how to move off your leg and yield both the front and hind end. If your ponied horse gets sticky feet, rather than trying to pull it forward you can move into a position where your horses are parallel to each other and yield your riding horse (front or hind end) toward your ponied horse. Even if your youngster's yielding isn't the greatest your riding horse (in most cases) is going to be bigger than the horse you're ponying (and even if it's not you're still okay) and will easily push his front or hind end off balance and unstick his feet. After working with him this way you should eventually be able to get some forward movement.
I hope this helps.
Sara
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 22, 2006 - 1:41 pm:
I'm glad everyone asked those questions about ponying because I hadn't thought of them myself and might have run into problems. I have ponied older horses just for the exercise and, from that experience, would like to throw in my two cents and recommend that you wear leather gloves.
Sara Wolff, I appreciate your suggestion about ground poles. That's one I hadn't thought of.
Along the same line (training young horses), I'd like anyone's input on leading. I used the technique recommended by this site, and ran a chain over the nose and up to the top right ring. It worked like a charm. He stayed right with me, stopping and turning with my every move. However, when I tried to "wean" him from the chain after a few months, he discovered his own strength and is now pulled away some. I can get him into line with light jerking, but wonder if this is the right approach. Should I go back to using the chain? If so, at what age do I remove it?
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Member:
Maggienm
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 - 1:17 am:
My apologies for the tardy reply. The weather has been marvelous for the pst few days so I have been outside all day. If this keeps up we will have leaves on the trees by Mom's day!
Heidi made a very important point...always pony with gloves on.
As Sara explained a dally is a wrap around the saddle horn starting on the inside and going around so you end up with your hand holding the rope over the rope going around the horn.
Imogen, hmmm I've been giving it some thought and not having had to pony without my horn I think it might be tricky. Sara had very good suggestions.
Similar to what Sara said if the colt gets stuck ride your saddle horse in a tight circle around the colt, this should get the colt turning thereby unsticking his feet.
If stopping to r/r I wouldn't let the colt have enough rope to graze, if possible practice in a fenced pasture, do put protective leg gear on the colt
As Alden suggested ponying is a wonderful way to get a horse used to different experiences just be sure that the horse you are riding is already used to them.
If you have more questions please don't hesitate.
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Member:
Maggienm
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 - 1:24 am:
Heidi I don't want to hijack this post but I'll give you a quick answer.
It sounds like your horse is only respecting the chain, not you.
With the chain on work at getting the reponses light and faster so he is responding to your arm movement, not waiting for the chain to tighten. Take the chain off and practice some more. This will take days of consistent work.
Do a search on leading and if you still have questions start a new post.
Been there, still there
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Member:
Erika
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 - 9:01 am:
Heidi, go back to the chain for a refresher course, then use a rope halter like the one Parelli offers. It is a narrow gauge rope and the horses respect it really well. A thick leather or nylon halter doesn't have enough bite to give a balky horse incentive. And the nice thing is that the rope halter gives instant release when they move forward. Sometimes a chain can stay engaged, which takes away that instant reward.
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 - 10:40 pm:
Those are helpful hints. I confess I haven't worked with Coyote much lately, and that certainly could be contributing to his resistance. I did try him today with the chain in the safety of his pasture (i.e., returning to an earlier step), and it was like starting all over except that we progressed much more quickly. He tested quite a bit at first. He did finally give in, and he walked nicely all over the place, turning and even backing like an old pro. The rope halter is a good idea, too.
If you don't mind me asking one more question, I'd like to know what to do when he's responding well with the chain off, and then he comes up against something scary and "rediscovers" his size and strength. I believe that's what got him acting up in the first place (in addition being out of practice). Anyway, I was attempting to teach him to load beside his pasture mate, and a car DrOve by on the road. Coyote got so excited he reared straight up. I was able to calmly get him back into position, but the experience still tipped him off that he was stronger than me. I guess that's why I'm asking how long to keep the chain on. Should I keep it on while introducing him to a few new obstacles so he feels the bite of the chain when he spooks? Or will this cause a worse reaction? I realize this isn't the same as belligerence, but the end result is that he's learned he can yank me around.
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Monday, Apr 24, 2006 - 12:46 pm:
Thanks Sara and Lori, great suggestions which I shall report back on.
My own experience of leading (ponying) other adult horses for exercise is that it's best to use a longish polypropylene (smooth woven) lead rope (2-3 metres), NEVER wrap it around your hand but loop the excess instead gripping two pieces of rope (the lead and the excess) to avoid a trailing hazard, and don't bother trying to use a lunge rein which is often recommended because they are too messy and complex to handle.
My main worry now is that my nutty mare will teach my nice calm yearling to spook at things!
Imogen
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Member:
Maggienm
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Posted on Monday, Apr 24, 2006 - 6:14 pm:
Imogen, excellent advice to loop the line.
Heidi, It isn't so much that the horse spooked. Any horse may spook, what I look at is.. did he calm down right away or run to the next county?
If he spooked and got over it, super, give him a big rub and then act like nothing happened. As much as we want our horse to never spook, they might, so we also want to teach them that its OK to have a fright(spook) but then get over it.
To work on this, in a safe place increase the emotional level of your horse, expose him to more- louder, faster, have a vehicle come close to the corral and gradually rev it up. You don't want him to spook but increase his tolerance and teach him recovery skills. Hope that makes sense.
I can't tell you when you can take the chain off, it is more your call, when you feel confident that you can handle what ever happens.
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 7:25 am:
I know and expect horses, especially young ones, to spook. Coyote spooked big time (rearing and all) and then calmed down nicely and even went back to checking out the trailer. I am very pleased about that. The problem is that in rearing and turning hard to the right, he came to discover that he was bigger than me and started to pull on the lead rope where he hadn't in the past. It looks like I need to go back to the chain indefinitely, if nothing else to keep him contained and me safe. It does provide self-reward for yielding. My concern is he learned a bad lesson early in his training and I just hope it doesn't cause additional trouble down the road.
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Member:
Dtranch
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 8:48 am:
Heidi ..... I would strongly recommend you develop a good program of lunging to gain respect and control from your horse. This will also help prepare for ponying as your horse will already understand what you want when you actual start ponying. The "sending exercises" are especially effective. I will teach to lunge and then refine my lunging into little exercises and "games". Send to the right, then to the left only allowing half circle in each direction, then start with obstacles. I will stand a barrel a couple of feet from the rail and get the horse to walk calmly between barrel and rail on the lunge, back and forth from both sides. Then I will lay barrel down and get horse to jump from each direction, and so on and so on. You will need to perfect release of the rear in order to get nice soft direction changes on the lunge. You will be amazed at all the other problems that disappear once you and you horse are accomplished at these drills. Trailer loading becomes just another exercise, and most horses will nearly run right in to the trailer when you send them on the lunge in the same way you do the barrel exercises. This is "always" the first thing I do with young and inexperienced horses after initial groundwork. You will notice an almost immediate attitude improvement.
DT
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Member:
Dtranch
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 8:53 am:
Oh yea ... one more thing. If you can do this in a round pen or a confined area of some kind, lose the chain. Get him used to responding to you, instead of the the pain of the chain. If you can't hold him, let him go and then start all over so no one gets hurt. Trust me, he will learn very quickly.
DT
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 9:14 am:
Dennis, that sounds like just the ticket for what I'm struggling with. I don't want to depend on a chain to hold Coyote's respect and I don't want to let that bad lesson go unchecked. What you suggest also fills the bill for the kind of training regimen I was seeking when I started this thread (see my first question). It didn't seem right to teach him to lead, load and tie, and then just idle in the pasture until he was big enough to ride. I confess I have little experience with lunging, but I'm eager to learn. I'll be on the lookout for a good book on the subject. If you or anyone can recommend one, I'd be most appreciative.
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 9:21 am:
I should mention that I still plan on ponying this yearling, and thank everyone who offered tips on handling it successfully. I do think I will feel more comfortable tackling it after I've got the lunging down. Coyote is my first and likely last birth-to-who-knows-when project, and I want to do everything I can to ensure we both enjoy the journey.
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Member:
Green007
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 9:49 am:
Heidi,
The best book on longing I have in my huge library is published by the US Pony Club. It explains things from "never ever" to advanced stuff in plain English. There are also great books written by the German Equestrian Federation and the USDF. Anything by Cherry Hill is also good, lunging or otherwise (she also covers Western).
Here is a site with leads to several of these books, but you may be able to find these and others for less money somewhere else if you put Google to use.
https://www.knightbooks.com/lungelongline.html
Here is a link to USDF (scroll down to longing)
https://www.usdf.org/Store/Books.asp
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Member:
Terrilyn
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 10:00 am:
If it's a good book you're after, try Clinton Anderson's on ground work. Very concisely written and easy to study. Parelli's "Seven Games" are invaluable as a foundation to groundwork. And, I also really like Anderson's video series on groundwork. If you can get your horse well-versed in the techniques presented in these resources, you'll have a great start. Have fun! Because it really is fun.
Erika mentioned rope halter above. Essential. Spend the money and get a good one...the Clinton Anderson rope halter and lead are $60 and in my opinion worth every penny...you really need the heavy snap and weighty line. I used to use a lighter weight rope halter and lead that was knotted to the halter...not effective enough if you have a horse that hasn't learned enough about getting off pressure (learning to back, for example).
Thanks for the "dally" definition folks!
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Member:
Dtranch
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 10:08 am:
Ditto on Clinton Anderson ... "Lunging for Respect"
A valuable tool for learning proper lunging. Best I've seen.
DT
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Member:
Ilona
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 10:20 am:
Heidi
For what it is worth, you may want to consider Pirelli's 7 games. They give ground work a focus and you end up with a horse that both respects and trusts you.
I purchased a 21/2 year old filly who didn't know forward from back, left from right. I have spent the last 6 months doing these 'games' with her and what I have is a fabulous filly. I personally don't put my horses under saddle until they are 4, but she can now lunge around me (I stand still and do not drive her) going at different paces based on voice command only with no lunge rope. She moves sideways with voice or hand gesture only, same with moving forward or backwards. So when she goes under saddle and I give her cues she will know what to associate them with, what I want from her. She will now go over things, under things and around things, as I choose.
It, in my humble opinion, is a great system for focused, progressive ground work, that results in a calm horse. I would check out his web-site which I think is Pirelli.com.
There is a Pirelli instructor by the name David Lichman and he will do instruction by video. He is a 5 star Pirelli instructor, and his web site is www.davidlichman.com. He specializes in gaited horses, but is wonderful in every way. That may be a good option for you, because you can be sure that you are on the right track
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 - 3:32 pm:
Great suggestions, everyone. I can hardly wait to get started!
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Member:
Heidim
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Posted on Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006 - 7:40 am:
Just wanted to let you know that I was able to order the videos through a special interlibrary loan program that runs in conjunction with our state's 4-H program. The videos are actually being borrowed from libraries outside our area cooperative. I mention this in case others want more affordable access to the videos or prefer to view them before purchasing them.
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Member:
Alden
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Posted on Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006 - 7:04 pm:
Imogen,
Sorry, it's been a busy week and this thread really took off 
You may have your answer already, but I do the same as I would if I were on the ground leading. Just turn your horse and pull from an angle, the baby will have to follow or fall. He'll follow rather than loose his feet
Good day,
Alden (HTG)
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Member:
Lorid
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 27, 2006 - 5:37 pm:
Hi All. I am contemplating buying a two-year-old Morgan. He is a beauty....but I have never owned a baby and, in fact, I just started riding about two years ago and have owned my own horse (a calm but a little spooky Morgan) now for just over one year. I have a trainer that has been training for about 30 years and he will be helping/teaching me. The question I am asking is, how do I know if this horse is too much for me? When I went to look at him the other day, he had that wild eyed look. He has only been in training since Dec. and he goes in the bitting harness nicely with stretchers on his feet no problem. He is all saddleseat, probably will be a park horse. Lots of animation and front-end movement. I love this, but I don't want a crazy horse (sorry.....no pun intended) just one with lots of motion. My trainer says that all babies just starting training have that look in their eye at first and that much groundwork and handling of him will calm him and he will learn to trust me in time. Does anyone have anything to add to this? Is it true that I will be able to mold or, I think I've heard the word used to imprint him into the type of horse that I want (disposition wise)?
With many thanks for your input,
Lori Doyle
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2006 - 2:21 am:
Lori one thing I have learned with horses is that first impressions are extremely important. If you didn't warm to that horse, if it didn't have a good attitude to you and other humans, it ain't going to change much.
That's what I would call a "necessary" but not "sufficient" condition for purchase - it also has to have the right conformation for the job you want it to do, etc. not just be a "nice" animal, but even if everything else is perfect, if you didn't warm to it immediately and want to see its face over the stable door on those winter mornings when you're juggling work, family, animal care, don't buy it.
This assumes you are buying for pleasure not business.
Just my prejudices showing!
Imogen
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2006 - 7:38 am:
I have a general rule of thumb Lori: take the number of years you have been riding regularly and subtract it from 10. You should not buy a horse that has been undersaddle less than that number of years. Of course there are exceptions but not many.
DrO
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Member:
Terrilyn
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Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2006 - 8:57 am:
Our trainer has a favorite saying regarding choosing horses (and she always says it with a wide, knowing smile...):
"Beauty is as beauty does!"
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Member:
Lorid
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Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2006 - 9:45 am:
Thanks for your input. Imogen, it's not that he showed any attitude problems, it's just that he "doesn't know" much yet. He has come a long way since starting his training in Dec. Apparently, he was turned out for a year-and-a-half and nothing was done with him until Dec. He was two in March of this year. His conformation is to die for. We watched him being tacked up, he was a very good boy. We all stood in the center of the round pen while he was free lunged and he kept to the rail. There was a mounting block right in his pathway, but he nicely avoided it. I thought to myself, oh, no, he's going to mow that over, but he went around everything very collected. Afterwards, my two daughters and I stood with him on cross ties for over a half an hour and he was VERY good. We talked to him, pet him, etc. It's just the white of his eyes and I know that some horses have this and are gentle......but then there are others........so the thing is I have two people that will be training him (my trainer, plus his friend who both have 60+ combined years with horses). We will be doing walk, trot, canter at shows with him and then my three daughters and I will be riding him as well. We have this beautiful Saddlebred at our barn who is all show, but gentle as they come. He has this switch.....it's so cool.....when you want high performance he delivers. When you want to go plop, plop, fizz, fizz; he obliges. My trainer raised him from birth. He's amazing. I would like a horse like that.
If I buy him, "Gucci" will begin training to saddle immediately because he is quite big for two. I won't be able to ride him myself for at least a year anyway. He will learn to drive as well.
Does anyone have any opinions on imprinting? Can we mold him or is that a stupid thought? He has never been abused or anything of that nature. He doesn't seem wild, just the eye is troubling me. He just doesn't know much yet and I have had no experience with young horses (yet) LOL. I will still keep my other Morgan to ride to get ready for the "big ride" down the road. I will have loads of help at my barn too.
Thanks, Lori
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Member:
Lhenning
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Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2006 - 12:05 pm:
Hi Lori,
I bought my quarterhorse at age 2, and had only two years of riding experience before that. He is now 5 and it's been the adventure of a lifetime. I am also lucky to have good people around me to help guide me, and this webpage has been invaluable. However, it is a big task to train and mold a young horse. If I had known then what I know now, I would have looked for an older horse with at least some saddle skills. On the other hand, the bond I have with my horse is unlike anything I have ever known. We have been through so much together already, and we are successful at least up to this date (don't ask me tomorrow because every day is different LOL). As much as your trainer can help you with this horse, the bulk of work will fall on your shoulders. What level is your riding at? You will need to ride better than the horse moves. By that I mean, your own balance and aids must be very clear to help this youngster to move properly. Green riders are still learning the basics themselves and tend to make poor teachers. For my own situation, I am working through this by moving very, very slowly. What takes some folks a couple of months to teach, has taken me a year or more, but I am in no hurry and feel comfortable with this because I only ride for personal pleasure. I learned how to lunge with a purpose and be able to teach Cutter what I want before I get on him. I read every book I get my hands on and learn from training videos. Mostly, I've learned patience and persistence.
To answer your question, in my situation Cutter was a sweet, calm, good-natured fellow when I met him three years ago. Since then, he has tried everything to push me around and be an all around stinker. He is like a teenager now and I had to learn how to handle this and not let him get away with it. Inside, I do think he's still that good-natured fellow and that comes out from time to time, but first we have to get through this sassy period. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
I do not know if whites in the eyes have anything to do with personality. I'd guess it doesn't anymore than color of our eyes has to do with it. Seems like more of an old wives tale to me. I'm sure others will have more experience with this than I.
Good luck,
Linda
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Member:
Leilani
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Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2006 - 3:47 pm:
Linda,
I am so glad that your post finally appeared. I, too, have a 5 yo QH mare that I purchased at 2.5. After rather unsuccessfully trying to rip her right hoof off, I was able to send her to Lester Buckley for her foundation training. Lester had a few set-backs with his back and ending up having her for over a year. Needless to say she was perfection when I took her home and that lasted about 3 weeks.
I'm sure you know what has been going on now for about 8 months. She has tried every trick in the book to get out of work. I don't have a fenced arena so I work her in the large pasture. We are also adjacent to 65 acres of mac nut trees to ride in.
Anyway, she has slowly developed an aversion to going down the hill, through the gate to Mr. Oe's to ride. First she tried spinning to the left, which didn't work, then she tried evaded her bit by shaking her head and trying to touch her nose to the ground. She attempts all these maneuvers in places that we (me) could get hurt, e.g., step hill, etc. Once on the trail she has a great time, and once we turn to go home (predictably) she is PERFECT.
Last night she tried to buck me off. Fortunately I supple her everyday before we ride and I am very confident that I can stop her by pulling one rein to my hip before we 'rodeo'. I calmed her down and down the hill we went.
I have received a lot of 'advice' which I readily accept with a smile, but I am confident that we will get through this. I am going back to some basics today (lungeing) to try and see what part of her training is missing. I do not blame this on her (just her age ).
Just like your gelding, Anuhea is a pleasure to be with. She is kind to my other horses and moves immediately when my older mare, Mele asks. I think I need to buy those clip-on mare ears I read about. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Leilani
PS Members please feel free to jump in!!! Hope this is posted in the right place even though she's not a yearling.
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Member:
Maggienm
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Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2006 - 5:00 pm:
Lori, Imogen has good advice. Every horse has a fault or two so having a special feel for the horse is quite important, esp if you are looking for a buddy to keep into old age.
Yes, its true some horses do have white showing around their eye. Look at the horse when he is relaxed, Is there white showing then?
Personally when I am starting a horse if they show white it means I am asking more than they are ready to give(lack of understanding, confidence)or it does mean attitude. Attitude is not always a bad thing if you have the knowledge to direct it. You said he has been in training since Dec, after three months of traing he should be confident and relaxed by now.
Forgive my bluntness but avoiding an obstacle should be expected and standing quietly while being petted is not a good indication of temperament.
There are success stories of an inexperienced rider and a young horse doing well together but truly they are not the rule.
Ask yourself why you are looking at a young, untrained horse?
A horse tht is two can have two groups of 30 day rides, at three they can go more but still relatively lightly, at four they are ready to go. You are looking at two years of training, feed and other care, now he is considered well started.
He needs at least several more months before the girls can ride, assuming they have experience.
I
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 29, 2006 - 4:08 am:
I wouldn't mind just white eyes (eg Appaloosas usually have this and I've known some extremely quiet ones) - I think that the prejudice about white showing is more that it can indicate a nervous animal that is constantly moving its eyes around - but of course if it has white surrounds to the eyes you notice it more than one that doesn't.
My black mare is 15 completely black eyes and as mad as the proverbial hatter. Her filly is 1 has white surrounds (because her Irish draught sire has the double grey gene) and is 5 x calmer than mum.
Good luck but heed Dr O's advice about your level of experience in making your decision.
Imogen
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Member:
Lorid
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Posted on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 10:07 am:
Thanks, Imogen for your "more positive" advice. I think everyone is assuming that I will be embarking upon this venture alone. That is not the case. I have many friends who train at my barn as well as the man who will actually be training this young horse. Another will be helping me with the ground manners, etc. They are aware that I am "green" and so is the horse. They won't put me in danger and will let me handle only what I am capable of. In the meantime, I will practice and practice and work very hard on my riding skills and knowledge. I know I will learn A LOT and am very excited. I think this will be the opportunity of a lifetime for me and my girls. I just wanted to know from all of the members' on this site vast experience (that I don't have)what the "white eye" could mean. You cannot, in a hour, completely tell what type of disposition (or faults) a horse has at 2 years old. From what I've read, many of the bad habits horses have are caused by people. He was very good when we were there to see him, but the white eye kinda unnerved me and I wanted to ask about it. Thank you for addressing that for me.
Lori
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