- Location
- Aberdeenshire
My farrier literally flipped over backwards our Fell foal who was ordinarily a lovely critter but who mid way through having his feet trimmed (he had been done before) threw a hissy fit. Foal reared, farrier put his shoulder under his brisket and helped him complete the circle. The foal stood up nice as pie, shook the dust from himself and never again tried to assert his dominance over any other farrier. One instance of discipline established a behavioral pattern that stayed with him for life.
My friends daughter has fur baby horses that bite, kick and rear when you go near their feet and have to be heavily sedated before the latest of a long string of farriers unwilling to be hurt will attend. I often wonder what effect a single well timed noisy but in reality harmless slap would have had if they had had a different social hierarchy as foals and been taught respect for the hand that feeds them.
When you look at your horses and they have hoof prints or bite marks on them a slap or indeed a kick from a person, even Bruce Lee or his modern day equivalent is nothing compared to what mares do to unruly foals, and what mares a few days from heat do to lusty stallions is incredible to watch in its ferocity.
When I was at school our punishment 'lines' to write repeatedly were 'Disciple is fundamentally essential to a well organised society'. It is as true now as then and as true with our pet dogs and horses as it is with people. It is becoming trendy among the more 'woke' to describe discipline as cruelty, it is a world apart and makes a world of difference yet to the unobservant and ignorant of all the facts may be difficult to distinguish.
My friends daughter has fur baby horses that bite, kick and rear when you go near their feet and have to be heavily sedated before the latest of a long string of farriers unwilling to be hurt will attend. I often wonder what effect a single well timed noisy but in reality harmless slap would have had if they had had a different social hierarchy as foals and been taught respect for the hand that feeds them.
When you look at your horses and they have hoof prints or bite marks on them a slap or indeed a kick from a person, even Bruce Lee or his modern day equivalent is nothing compared to what mares do to unruly foals, and what mares a few days from heat do to lusty stallions is incredible to watch in its ferocity.
When I was at school our punishment 'lines' to write repeatedly were 'Disciple is fundamentally essential to a well organised society'. It is as true now as then and as true with our pet dogs and horses as it is with people. It is becoming trendy among the more 'woke' to describe discipline as cruelty, it is a world apart and makes a world of difference yet to the unobservant and ignorant of all the facts may be difficult to distinguish.