Horses!!!!!!!!

[Quack House]

I'm not sure my horses know they are protecting the chickens, but the ducks and chickens do stay close, and my mare would kill coyotes for pleasure

 

[ederob]

It is rather neat they protect the chickens. Sadly they aren't very effective against owls and hawks. Khemo adores them, to the point of sticking his face in the the chickens to see if they are okay. This has upset a few of them but others seem to think it is pretty neat this huge animal loves and wants to know if they're okay.

Cool. What does he protect against?

 

[ederob]

Well, I can't say it's easy. First there's archery, then there's riding, then there's training a horse to ride with just seat and leg aids, at a gallop ... and then of course they have to be content with the bow. So, it's actually pretty complicated. The two point position and balance on the horse has to be pretty solid. For the back shot you have to twist ... It takes a lot of core strength. I do yoga to help.

I learned mounted archery from the ground first. It takes a special bow and a different release (the way you hold and release arrows) than the standard archery. The bow is very light weight, and smaller, but holds a lot of poundage.

Then once my ground shots were good enough I started shooting from a walk. Then I began training my horse the leg work. As I improved we both improved and we're still learning. Hitting targets from a fast moving horse is definitely a challenge. There's almost no time to aim.

I have another ( an appaloosa) that I'm training right now with the bow. He's pretty good. Fast learner.

A couple more pics.

My Appy's first time with the bow.




It's the most fine I've done with horses, though

You look like a pro! Your horses are beautiful! It is amazing how many people own horses on a chicken website! Were do you live? The land in the back of the pictures is beautiful!

 

[ederob]

That is SUPER cool Quack House!!!!

And welcome Sassmygirl!

I got a lot of pictures of my chickens and horses today, and this one was my all-time favorite

That horse is funny!

I guess I'll join in!
I have one horse at the moment, Nova, who is an 8yr old OTTB. I rescued her in January and she was really thin.
But now she's starting to put on some weight!

She's still too bony to be ridden bareback and her back and withers still need to fill out before I can use my saddle on her.

Welcome to the thread! I wish I could adopt a horse, but I already have to many!

haha!

my horses are 34 inchs or smaller.

Mini's are the cutest horses! For such little horses they each have their own big personality.

 

[Quack House]

LOve the minis!!! The faces!!!

 

[Ponyfeather]

Cool. What does he protect against?

Foxes, Coyotes, Feral cats anything that stalks the chickens from the ground.

 

[PBGGG]

Our horses don't do much, but the electric fence keeps everything away. Especially because the duck pen is right next to it, it wards off any unwanted visitors.

 

[Quack House]

Thanks ederob!

I live in Ontario, Canada. It doesn't look like that right now!!!! LOL!!!

 

[Sassymygirl]

Okay, so I looked up my horse's pedigree and her great great great grandsire is Northern Dancer.
Aaaaaaaand, she can even be traced back to War Admiral.

 

[PBGGG]

Poor horses are soaking wet. It was snowing all day and they wont go in the barn.