Humane treatment of Horses?

[happyhappy]

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You never really forget the full run straight toward a barbed fence with a street on the other side, all I was thinking is we're going over or stopping really fast ..... how do you think it ended?

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

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I was not close enough to see if the whip was making contact with the horse, I could only see an obviously agitated horse. When my DH went to get the mail, he had a closer look, and saw that it was a whip in the man's hand. He had originally thought it was a tazer, which I couldn't fathom using on a domesticated animal, so that was sort of a relief when he came back with that report.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Just a word to the unfamiliar - there actually really are times when a handler DOES - REALLY - have to be very firm with his horse. Most likely the horse hadn't been ridden all winter, and someone who doesn't want to die by being catapulted off a wildly bucking horse, decided to try and give the horse some exercise on the only dry spot he could find - before he went for a ride!!!! Given the behavior - not being able to keep the horse moving at a steady smooth rate - him stopping like that, I'd assume that guy had a danged good idea trying to get the horse a little exercise before putting his rear in THAT hot of a saddle!

For most people, longeing is a tame jog. However, you should come over to my house sometime. Evidently, longeing is actually the perfect time to display all of one's mighty and uncontrollable splendor.

One horse is very elderly and is under strictest orders to not do anything to aggravate injured cartilage in one ankle. HIS idea of a tame longeing session involves leaping through the air like one of those Lipizanners, he turns around and checks my reaction when he's six feet off the ground.

The other is recuperating from serious hoof destruction. HIS idea of longeing is to fly over the ground like a deer, in gigantic leaps, snorting like a devil.

The THIRD one is the kamikaze who thinks that longeing is REALLY just a lovely way to make mommy go sailing through the air like a kite! If that one got any higher in the air, she'd have wings!

The basics of horse treatment, though, they're simple - adequate feed and water, skilled trimming of their hooves, enough room to get exercise, treatment of injuries and disease, vaccinations, treatment to eradicate parasites/worms.

Horses are unusual pets as they are hoofed animals, and in many ways, due to size and special feed and exercise requirements, much more like livestock than pets. Sudden changes of diet/exercise can actually harm the hooves in alarming ways, and they really do require some knowledge and expertise to handle and treat well.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Our next door neighbors freaked out when I was round penning (similar to lunging but without the rope) and they thought I was whipping the horse. It was a new whip so it really had a "pop" to it. Most of the time the whip never touches the horse. The only time I touch a horse with it is to direct them in turning or if they refuse to move. I can imagine it looks strange to someone not familiar with horses though!

But to answer your actual question - yes it is very common!

 

[welsummerchicks]

oops

 

[lorieMN]

I dont use whips myself,,I use a 30 foot rope,with a leather popper on the end,,and yes,every once in a while they get it across the rear if they have it coming,and by that I mean the older ones that full well know what I want but they dont "feel" like it at that moment,its no different then another horse giving them a nip or little kick,used correctly it is a tool,not abuse.

 

[babyblue]

yup totally normal. lunging is used for exercise and sometimes taking the edge off a very full of them self horse. think of the whip as an extension of the arm and voice used to direct the horse. and even if a horse is being extremely ignorant and wild a lunge whip does not hurt badly if you pop them with it, its not a bull whip or anything like that. my sisters and I used to play who could pop each other harder whilst running and screaming at home. never left a mark, let alone permanent damage.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Ok so THAT is a fairly disturbing picture! LOL!!!

 

[babyblue]

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haha, even better was waiting till someone was not paying attention, cracking them and running like hell. my parents should have had a house full of boys instead of girls lol.

 

[Akane]

Sometimes you do have to touch a horse with the whip or rope. I've got an ornery cutting mare that will attack people lunging her if you aren't firm enough. When she lashes out I'll duck in and give her a good solid whack across the rear with the whip or rope. She behaves after I prove I can touch her without letting her touch me. Now if I did that with my barrel mare she'd go through the fence and be traumatized for the next few months. Every horse requires a different amount of firmness.