In a strange turn of events, I finally found a GOOD reference and experience where I could soundly put to rest that no, you can not learn how to ride and train from a box set of DVDs.
It's just not possible.
Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I went to go see a horse for sale who goes by the name of "Jasper". The add placed him as a pretty quiet animal, a lesson horse and good trail buddy. They wanted $1000 for him, and it seemed a little high priced (especially for these days) but I figured that if he could keep me safe while I'm pregnant, it'd be well worth it.
Besides, I don't have anything against retraining a little for right now.
So we get there. The seller's story (we'll call her Jane) is that she is pretty new to horses and Jasper was sold to her from a friend. As time went by, it was clearly evident just how new she was.
She brought him out and started lunging him. She had the trademark 12ft long lungline and a long fiberglass pole that could only be recognised as the usual "I'm new at this and I've been suckered into Natural Horsemanship". This fiberglass pole is commonly called a "Carrot stick", but instead of the trademark orange, it was purple. I'm not sure if Parelli sells purple ones, but I could only imagine.
She begins to spin this horse on a tiny little circle, waving the pole around. The lash at the end of it was wrapped around the pole, indicating that she really didn't believe in using a whip-like tool. Ugh.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this horse's knees are ready to break. Take a look at the front left. The tendons in the back part of his leg are in such stress that it's popping the joint forward. He appears to be over at the knee, but he truly isn.t
More of this and he will be in the future though.
So I give it a shot at trying to lunge him, and it just wasn't going to happen. I was handed the carrot stick and I unwrapped the rope from around it. This didn't help at all.
I touch his hindend with the carrot stick and he didn't respond. Jane tells me to really smack him if I need to, so I try and crack him on the ass. The pole obsorbs most of the impact and I can feel it with how it vibrates upon contact. Ugh. The horse didn't even flinch.
I finally got a few circles out of him but I didn't want him to do much because of how short the lungeline was.
We saddle him up.
Things didn't get much better. Jane hops on and instantly starts tearing on his mouth. Pulling his head around until his chin touches her knee, spinning in him tight circles. She says the videos told her to do this. I literally have to look away.
I hopped on shortly after and this horse didn't know a straight line for the life of him. He kept trying to spin in circles. If he didn't want to go a certain direction when I asked, he'd simply turn his head to the side (like he's been taught to do) and continue on his way.
It was a mess.
So when it comes down to it...if you want to own a horse, of you want to ride a horse, if you want to enjoy a horse...
TAKE A FEW FRICKIN' LESSONS!!!
Those box sets won't teach you a damn thing other than how to abuse your animal and they justify it by placing the word "natural" in the title.
It makes me sick.
It's just not possible.
Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I went to go see a horse for sale who goes by the name of "Jasper". The add placed him as a pretty quiet animal, a lesson horse and good trail buddy. They wanted $1000 for him, and it seemed a little high priced (especially for these days) but I figured that if he could keep me safe while I'm pregnant, it'd be well worth it.
Besides, I don't have anything against retraining a little for right now.
So we get there. The seller's story (we'll call her Jane) is that she is pretty new to horses and Jasper was sold to her from a friend. As time went by, it was clearly evident just how new she was.
She brought him out and started lunging him. She had the trademark 12ft long lungline and a long fiberglass pole that could only be recognised as the usual "I'm new at this and I've been suckered into Natural Horsemanship". This fiberglass pole is commonly called a "Carrot stick", but instead of the trademark orange, it was purple. I'm not sure if Parelli sells purple ones, but I could only imagine.
She begins to spin this horse on a tiny little circle, waving the pole around. The lash at the end of it was wrapped around the pole, indicating that she really didn't believe in using a whip-like tool. Ugh.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this horse's knees are ready to break. Take a look at the front left. The tendons in the back part of his leg are in such stress that it's popping the joint forward. He appears to be over at the knee, but he truly isn.t
More of this and he will be in the future though.
So I give it a shot at trying to lunge him, and it just wasn't going to happen. I was handed the carrot stick and I unwrapped the rope from around it. This didn't help at all.
I touch his hindend with the carrot stick and he didn't respond. Jane tells me to really smack him if I need to, so I try and crack him on the ass. The pole obsorbs most of the impact and I can feel it with how it vibrates upon contact. Ugh. The horse didn't even flinch.
I finally got a few circles out of him but I didn't want him to do much because of how short the lungeline was.
We saddle him up.
Things didn't get much better. Jane hops on and instantly starts tearing on his mouth. Pulling his head around until his chin touches her knee, spinning in him tight circles. She says the videos told her to do this. I literally have to look away.
I hopped on shortly after and this horse didn't know a straight line for the life of him. He kept trying to spin in circles. If he didn't want to go a certain direction when I asked, he'd simply turn his head to the side (like he's been taught to do) and continue on his way.
It was a mess.
So when it comes down to it...if you want to own a horse, of you want to ride a horse, if you want to enjoy a horse...
TAKE A FEW FRICKIN' LESSONS!!!
Those box sets won't teach you a damn thing other than how to abuse your animal and they justify it by placing the word "natural" in the title.
It makes me sick.
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