Horse Talk

[WallabyOfChaos]

And I didn't know slaughter wasn't illegal, so that's interesting to learn.

It's a complicated issue, and I'm not going to get into a debate regarding what one side or the other is hailing as proof or fact. There are still horses being legally processed on a small scale in the U.S., but not for human consumption. Zoo animals are big time customers when it comes to horse meat, big cats especially so. The big cats can't digest fat very well and beef doesn't agree with them for the most part. Horse is very lean and an ideal meat for big cat diets. I imagine it is probably as close to zebra as a zoo-kept lion ever gets.

Now on to a happier note - how is June coming along?

 

[abigalerose]

Yeah talking about that was starting to bring me down. June is.. Mostly good! She gives to pressure when leading so easy. She whoas great. Picks up her feet. Backs better than any horse I've ever had (and she was STUBBORN at first), flexes really easy, we're still working on yielding to fore and hind quarters, sometimes she's perfect and sometimes she doesn't quite go the direction I want but we're getting there. She lets me hop up on her back no problem, flex her from up there, sometimes she'll walk when I say walk (we're working on voice commands, walk and back right now), then I can whoa her, and back her up with very light pressure and a voice command. We're still working on lunging. Tomorrow I'll be working with her, so I'll do some good desensitizing to the lunge whip, and then I'm going to apply slight pressure and as SOON as she takes a step, I'm going to drop all pressure. And repeat. Repeat. Repeat. All the way around the round pen. It'll be a slow process I'm sure but I think it's the only way I'll be able to teach her with out scaring her. If she hadn't of had a bad experience the first time lunging I'm sure it'd be easier, but I've already tried everything I can think of and she still gets too worked up. Once we get past this lunging ordeal we can really make some progress. When I'm on her back I do not spend any more than 3-4 minutes on her, becuase I don't want to mess up any of her training before we get to long lining, etc. but I do want her use to me being up there and I don't want her to get bored and start acting out becuase I'm not doing anything but sitting still. If all that made sense.. Sorry for the rambling.
Oh, and I have saddled her up a couple times, and she doesn't think anything of it, but I haven't sat in the saddle yet.
She's a great horse though. She's very affectionate to me and seems to have a lot of trust in me now. She'll follow me anywhere, even when I fixed up the new round pen and was carrying panels around and banging them on everything, she was right there with me instead of getting spooked like my last horse would have. I haven't worked on getting her to lay down with me (no ropes) lately, but last time I did she was seriously thinking about it.

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

Good deal. I hope she keeps progressing. Patience is everything.

 

[abigalerose]

Agreed. And I went and looked at the mustangs today.. I found one I liked! They're bringing him to me Saturday. His names Lucky (which I want to change), he's liver chestnut, she believes he's a kiger mustang, hopefully I can find out more when I send in his brand and get his papers. He's broke to ride and very sweet. The only problem we'll have to work through is he is jumpy when it comes to being mounted (just walks sideways like yielding).But he's so cute. I'm very excited. He was pulled from a kill pen in Louisiana.

 

[Talithahorse]

If he truly is a Kiger you have a gem on your hand. They have a very interesting history as they were isolated and contain a very high percentage of the original Spanish bloodlines. I would so love to get my hands on a Kiger.

 

[abigalerose]

That's what she was telling me, I'm about to do more research on it. Once I get his title will I be able to find out?

 

[Bunnylady]

I think you will find that he isn't a Kiger. From what I understand, Kigers are mainly Spanish blood, and generally carry the dun factor. This guy clearly isn't a dun, and he seems to be very "drafty" in type - Spanish horses are a bit more refined. Whatever he is, he looks like a solid, useful sort, and that's what really matters!

 

[abigalerose]

See I thought he looked drafty at first too. But she was saying that he's from Oregon and that his mane/neck comes really far down on his back, and he has a short back, etc. and definitely doesn't look like any of the other mustangs she has, that's why she thought he's Kiger. I'd say it's a pretty slim chance. But I don't care either way, I'm still totally in love with him! And yeah I like his drafty build. I wish I had a picture that really showed how huge his feet are. I'd say he's got some power to him, but he really prefers to go slow. And even though he's only 14.2 hands he doesn't have any problems completely clearing a 4 foot fence haha. I think he's gonna be a great confidence builder for me. We have a few things to work on, he yields sideways when you're trying to get on him, he doesn't know how to flex, and he doesn't neck reign. But that's okay, I don't mind working on those things with him. I just can't wait until they drop him off Saturday

 

[abigalerose]

I looked up a kiger mustang stallion and started comparing pictures, and I do see where she's coming from now. He has the neck/mane that comes far down, deep chest, short back, big feet, feathering, and although he's not dun, he does have a stripe down his back. I still think it's a long shot, but it's kind of fun trying to figure him out!

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

A lot of mustangs have low tying necks and big feet. Those are things that have been selectively bred out or culled against in many breeds because those traits are considered either not "pretty," or not functional.

I am not being mean here, so please don't take offense, but... He does not have a short back. Nor does the dun horse in the profile picture. He is somewhat long over his back, but he has a good shoulder. I really can't say much for his hip because he is standing a bit awkwardly on his back end and isn't square, so there is no way to make an accurate determination there. A lot of people criticize horses for being long, but long isn't necessarily bad. Balance is what is really important. If you broke the horse apart into three pieces - shoulder, back, and hip - you would want all those pieces to be as close to equal in length as possible. It's okay for a horse with a big, long shoulder and a big, long hip to be a little longer in the middle than a smaller, shorter coupled horse. Most western performance horses are actually pretty long-built. In keeping with balance, you want the horse to have a shorter topline (wither to hip) compared to a longer underline (armpit to flank). He actually has one of the better shoulders I have seen on a mustang, which is a good thing because a longer, more laid back shoulder typically indicates a smoother ride. I really think he's a nicer made horse than those duns you are comparing him to. I hope he's a good fit for you.