Behavior....

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Permalink Reply by Shirley on June 22, 2010 at 8:09pm

That does sound like alot of fun. Even done on a smaller scale then all day wouild be fun to get started.
I need help with JMO. I don't know what that stands for.
I agree learning and understanding horses is a great education. That's what I meant by horse psychology. I'm sure the orphans get even more complicated but how exciting and rewarding when something clicks and you do figure it out.
Very cool.....

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Siler on June 23, 2010 at 12:07am

JMO=Just My Opinion.
I think starting something like orienteering on a small scale would be a good way to introduce it to people, get some interest up. The events I've heard most about were done in national forests and over quite a few miles of trails, I'd think something on a smaller scale would be just as much fun.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Lamm on June 23, 2010 at 1:43pm

There isn't very much info on orphans.... maybe we are getting somewhere with this thread..... I've only met 3 people in 5 years and Sarah is one of them.....

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Lamm on June 23, 2010 at 12:35pm

That sounds really really fun and something that Oliver and I could practice even alone and the game would be fun for him.... !! Thanks for that.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Siler on June 23, 2010 at 2:26pm

@ Jennifer, you know I got to thinking...you and I and only one other fellow I've met have had an orphaned foal. This other fellow had a filly that was orphaned at about a month of age. Like you, he'd raised her. She was one spoiled little thing, even he admitted that...and yes he had some trouble with the whole 'respect' thing, I'm not so sure that was because the filly was an orphan...more because he did the spoiling, not giving her boundaries/discipline; which I think can cause problems with any foal/horse whether orphaned or not. He also enlisted the help of a trainer when the horse was old enough to start being ridden, it was an uphill battle, but he stuck with it, he even took her to shows and won quite a few ribbons on her in western pleasure classes. While I wouldn't say she was aggressive, they boarded at the same facility as I did. The horse wasn't real friendly towards strangers, she was just fine with the man and his wife, and would tolerate being introduced to strangers...she just wasn't happy about strangers just coming up to her stall and trying to touch her; again many horses are like that, orphaned or not. Once you/Oliver feel comfortable around others, maybe a very small orienteering event, making up a team of horses/riders that Oliver has been exposed to often enough for him to be comfortable with, would be good for him/you. Usually there's enough time/space between teams you hardly ever see anyone but your own team on the trail and a small event wouldn't have a lot of teams. Maybe your trainer knows of a barn that would like to put on a small event.

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