Just got The Journal in the mail

[Leeana]

mydaddsjagIf I were someone who had Shetlands, I would be insulted just by the title of your thread, and tone of your posts.

Just a little.... :arg!

I have tried not to reply to this as I only own one true modern pony, who happens to be a Congress Reserve Grand Champion, and she has been only a broodmare since I have owned her, but she is trimmed down short out in the field and still moves pretty wicked. I would not hesitate to have a modern or aspr pony on my show string at any point and intend to have some in the future, although my program revolves and is centered around classic ponies and foundation ponies. But it is all relevent and I follow the modern division as well as the ASPR and what is going on with the hackneys.

I personally like a show pony, that is on and wants to show and will stand up and look at you wild eyed and wicked. I guess not everyone likes that or can handle that. Oddly enough, my Congress Res. Grand Champion mare is among one of the easiest going ponies I own...I can take her out and pose her up and trot her and she will turn it on. Would you believe at the same time, my 8yr old nephew helped me wash and put her tail up last night? He also brought her out of her stall and led her while I cleaned her stall.

A lot of the people who breed and show moderns, have done it for a very long time and am sure know a lot more about the showing, fitting and caring for the breed then you do I am sure. Three of them have already posted on this thread, consider yourself lucky to have them impart such knowledge for you to take in.

 

[Karen S]

Sandy,

I invite you to go look at my website: www.fiddlestixponyfarm.com.

I raise Foundations, Classics, a Classic who could go Modern Pleasure and I have a Show Pony.

Foundations: To show a Foundation pony, it first must meet certain criteria:, Have a Foundation Seal to prove that there isn't any "Modern" ponies in it's background for four generations (you have to look at five total). That pony CANNOT go over 42" for the show ring. A pony can carry a Foundation seal and be over the 42" and it can re-produce smaller than it is. I know mine has.

Classic: are ponies that might have some Modern blood in their pedigree. Some Classics are a step up from the Foundation pony and some Classics can be extreme but not quite a Modern Pleasure pony.

Moderns Pleasure Pony: is a Modern Pony that doesn't have as much action as a Modern, still beautiful animals to work with and show. Can be shown barefoot or with a shoe

Moderns: Which are some that you are seeing in the Journal.

Show Pony: The Show Pony division was created for those Modern ponies that went over the height limit of 46" but could not go over 48" (on my website my Show Pony Big & Rich is such a pony). He holds Modern papers but was too tall for the Modern Division. Because he held Modern papers he could also get Show Pony papers to continue his career. I had been looking at this division for a very long time. I came from the western world so was use to a bigger horse. I finally bought Big & Rich from our current president last year. I wanted a pony that a 50+ year old women could drive without getting hurt. This pony was driving in Roadster and could be turned on but I wanted a Country Pleasure driving pony. Last year I developed RH arthritis in my wrist and hands. I told this pony he has to be feathers in my hands so I can drive. He does just that. He takes care of me, but if I ask him to turn on his power he can. I call him my little red sports car. We are a team and it shows. If anyone would like to drive a Show Pony, I would not hesitate to sit anyone behind him. Like Jason said about Wy they know when to show and when to turn off.

If you don't understand the different divisions of the Shetlands, then sit down with your rulebook and read. You will need to be sure to download all of the supplements too as there are changes in those that go hand in hand with the rulebook. Yes, it can get confusing and even I have to highlight what the old rule was and make notes on the new rules.

There are shoeing rules to each division even in the Miniatures. One thing you have to remember: Shetlands that meet the height requirement of the AMHR (38" & Under) can obtain miniature papers. The main thing with a Shetland showing as a miniature, they cannot have shoes ( with the exception of the draft driving miniatures) and you have the watch the razoring rule. Miniatures can be razored and Shetlands cannot. So if you happen to own a double registered ASPC/AMHR you have to be very careful about showing. If you show that horse as a miniature and razor it and then show up at a show to show as a Shetland and not enough time has elapse for the hair to grow you will be protested.

Now, if I owned a double registered and wanted to show it as a miniature, then I wouldn't spend my money putting shoes on that horse unless I was going to take it to Congress and then it would depend on what class I would show in. All of my driving horse do get shoes. Some get shoes on the front only and some all the way around. If I had that horse qualified for the AMHR nationals as a miniature, I would have plenty of time to pull shoes from the Shetland ring, trim that horse up and show in the miniature ring. My horses are all on a 6 week farrier schedule all year long. After the holidays, I bring up those horses that will be driving, start working on getting feet in good working order and then plan when they will have a set of shoes put on. It takes a lot of time working and putting on a foot that can hold a shoe. Some horses I've had have had terrible feet that would crack and crumble. Those are ones that had little to no care back when they were younger. It may take me a year to get them where they need to be and if putting a keg shoe on to protect those feet I will. Those that have a tendacy to founder are also canidates for shoes to protect those feet. I see more feet problem with white hoof horses and then some problems with stripped hoof horses. Horses with black hooves I don't see hardly any problems. There again, each reagion of the US can dictate how good your horses feet are as well. Wet weather is the hardest on feet.

If in doubt on anything that you see in the Journal ask questions as to the in's and out's. Go to a Shetland farm close to you and visit and see for yourself. I enjoy when a new comer to the Shetland world calls me and ask to come see the ponies. They are very suprised at how our ponies act out in the pasture, everyone wants to ge loved on and they do love the attention. I don't have to chase anything down to catch and those ponies that we've sold have all gone to great homes from youth to senior's.

 

[PamH]

I think there is also another point that a lot of people here with Moderns are not thinking of. I am a relative newbie when it comes to this rated show circuit of the ASPC/AMHR world. Over the years though I am NOT a newbie to ponies or miniatures. I cannot tell you how many miniatures and Shetlands have come through our ranch to be trained and made kid friendly, saddle broke, and safe. I have seen many turn into wonderful children's mounts and go on to make some lucky kid very happy. I currently run a small to medium herd of Ponies with just a couple of Miniatures in there....at least one Shetland Miniature size. My experience is from the big horse world and particularly working cow horses. This past year we purchased a couple of Modern Shetlands. Which by the way are registered ASPC with only one we could have double papered to ASPR. The first two had hooves that completely grew differently from each others. Our bigger Mare, who could ASPR due to size, has what I would call the closest hoof to that of my Quarter Horses of any pony we have ever had. It is a good foot with a normal shape. My second Modern, a now gelding, has the LONGEST hoof I ever had on the place. Even without shoes he grew hoof faster than the rest and very upright. I did shoe this one when he was a stallion and showed him just a bit. It wasn't a matter of hard work to grow that hoof, but a matter of management and keeping it trimmed back. This just goes to show that genetics has a lot to do with the Modern's hooves. I now own 5 total Modern Shetlands and 3 of them have hooves that are like my first geldings. I can trim them back, but within a week they seem to have a ton of hoof growth. They generally stay pretty long and grow more upright. My other two have a more normal hoof, but do grow pretty quickly.

Even though this thread is not considerably about the Mind of the pony I have to say that these Moderns are the MOST trainable Shetlands or Miniatures we have had here yet. And some of the most handler/rider protective animals. They have an incrediable sense of the age of their handler and their need to please is super refreshing. My three children really enjoy a hot mind because that means there are brains up there working!

Sorry to say Sandy, even to this poster, new as I am to this board and only a couple of years in the rated circle, you do have a tone about your posts that insinuates and insults. I am not surprised at the response you have gotten. Now you are getting a bunch of extremely knowledgeable people on here trying to explain this division and I hope you go and see these beautiful Ponies first hand. Maybe then your understanding will be different with education.

 

[LaVern]

I thought this was the miniature forum.

 

[Sandee]

I thought this was the miniature forum.

It is and I believe that this forum is best when it educates.

Sandy B started out as saying that she thought theses long heeled ponies were shown in AMHR. I can assure you that AMHR does NOT allow shoes. My double registered ASPR/AMHR modern is only shoed when he is shown as a Shetland in ASPR classes. What may be confusing is that some shows have classes for both minis and shetland and each is shown under the rules for that division. So if my double registered horse is at one of these "double" shows we have to choose which way he will be shown as a Shetland or as a mini. He cannot go back and forth at the SAME show. If he shows as a Shetland he can have shoes. If he shows as a mini he CANNOT. So often before the Congress show, which is what the Journal was all about this time, we show him as Shetland and after Congress we pull the shoes and go to mini shows to qualify for Nationals. For someone like me who LOVES TO SHOW he's a great as we can go to so many more shows and show different ways all in the same season.

Disneyhorse said "who knows how that horse was handled before the client sent them to them? Clients expect a lot for their money in a short amount of time."

And I just want to comment to that. She is SOooooo right. I too thought the Modern Shetland way to highly exciteable. Mine is not but the first year we had him he was very aloof, didn't like to be haltered, and I didn't think I'd ever like him. After the second year with Jason showing him, I have a whole different horse this year. He loves to be petted, he accepts the halter, and is much more confident around other horses. He always was a sweety IN halter but this second year has really brought a change in him. Jason says he didn't really "DO" anything different that "he just needed time". It's not that he was really young as he was 5 when we purchased him.

Now does he have more energy than my minis -- YES. But not Hyper nor Distructive energy. He gallops around the field once or twice before he can calm down and eat but when leading him out just a simple "WALK" calms him immediately. He will romp and buck in the stall if he has been confined for a day or two from bad weather and I believe that this "pent up" energy is what we see at shows from many Moderns that earn them the "crazy" title. In fact this boy is probably going for saddle training this spring for my grandchildren to ride.

 

[ahrobertspony]

Yes, Renee ... you are right. This is the Miniature forum. And, a Miniature person brought this up. Therefore, this thread has expanded to overall education. There are still many who can benefit from education if they don't know the difference between the Congress and AMHR Nationals ... that this registry has many divisions, not just one ... what good society ponies are .... and how the American Shetland Pony Club, including the AMHR actually works and goes together ... as well as a reminder that the rules from a division that is 80 years younger don't apply across the board to the other divisions much, much, much older.

 

[LaVern]

Yeah, your right. Just when I thought I had let it all go, there it pops up again. I forget that there are so many new members and all this is new to them. All one big happy family.

 

[Minimor]

To answer the question of "what is too much weight" I would say any amount of weight that causes the horse to have to jerk the feet up off the ground--I simply don't care for that at all--and certainly whatever weight causes the horse to have labored action. That will vary from horse to horse, because some can handle more weight than others. What one person may consider excessive may be someone else's idea of 'enhancement'

I've had a couple people tell me that they've seen some very crazy acting horses at Nationals--horses they say would scare them if they had to be out in the ring with them--so it would seem that there are a few of "those kind" in AMHR too. What I have found is it isn't so much the true temperament of the horse that causes "crazy" behavior, very often it is the training (or lack of same) and handling the horse has had that causes the horse to act in a 'crazy' manner. I've got Miniatures (no ASPC breeding for generations) that would get revved up & start acting crazy if someone mishandled them. My ponies, yes certainly them too. I don't have crazy ponies but they are spirited and have lots of go and they could certainly get hotted up if someone chose to handle them that way.

 

[~Lisa~]

the beauty of this registry and any other is that no one can tell you what you have to do to your mini or pony. If you are not into shoeing them and feel it is excessive or causes ugly movement you simply do not have to do it.

As far as temperament goes it is the same thing mini or pony or T/B or Arab there is not one personality every horse has no matter what the breed. Some prefer a hotter personality some do not again a horse for every person

I have a couple hot ponies I in no way feel the need to defend their personality. I have a couple of hot or "crazy" minis as well and it is just who they are has nothing to do with training. THere are plenty of well mannered well trained horses or ponies that some will choose to perceive as "crazy" I assure you they are not mistreated or abused they are happy healthy ponies who have more energy then others

I also have a couple of total dead heads and those that are inbetween the one thing you learn about horses and ponies quickly is they all have their own personalities and usually it is just a matter of finding those who mesh well with your own

 

[Sandy B]

I'm not sure where this thread is going either. It seems to now be on temperaments which was never part of the original post until someone mentioned that people assumed moderns were hyper or something along those lines. I have not said a lot of things people keep saying I have said and have asked several times for people to copy and paste what it was that I said and they have not. How can someone judge "my tone" when they do not hear my voice? I find this very fascinating!

Im not quite sure where this thread is going, you strongly insinuate things, then when people comment on them, you come back with "I never said that". If I were someone who had Shetlands, I would be insulted just by the title of your thread, and tone of your posts.

 

[Sandy B]

Can someone please tell me where I have made negative comments about Shetland Ponies temperaments? Honestly, I can not find where I posted anything about their manners or such.

I have enjoyed all the history lessons about the breed and information that people have shared. I have heard several Shetland exhibitors/owners state they have amazing snappy movers and they have regular shoes or barefoot, so why do some grow their hooves so long and pad and have heavy shoes when so many have the movement without all the help?

Just a little....

I have tried not to reply to this as I only own one true modern pony, who happens to be a Congress Reserve Grand Champion, and she has been only a broodmare since I have owned her, but she is trimmed down short out in the field and still moves pretty wicked. I would not hesitate to have a modern or aspr pony on my show string at any point and intend to have some in the future, although my program revolves and is centered around classic ponies and foundation ponies. But it is all relevent and I follow the modern division as well as the ASPR and what is going on with the hackneys.

I personally like a show pony, that is on and wants to show and will stand up and look at you wild eyed and wicked. I guess not everyone likes that or can handle that. Oddly enough, my Congress Res. Grand Champion mare is among one of the easiest going ponies I own...I can take her out and pose her up and trot her and she will turn it on. Would you believe at the same time, my 8yr old nephew helped me wash and put her tail up last night? He also brought her out of her stall and led her while I cleaned her stall.

A lot of the people who breed and show moderns, have done it for a very long time and am sure know a lot more about the showing, fitting and caring for the breed then you do I am sure. Three of them have already posted on this thread, consider yourself lucky to have them impart such knowledge for you to take in.

 

[Sandee]

...........I have enjoyed all the history lessons about the breed and information that people have shared. I have heard several Shetland exhibitors/owners state they have amazing snappy movers and they have regular shoes or barefoot, so why do some grow their hooves so long and pad and have heavy shoes when so many have the movement without all the help?

I think you know the answer. The longer hoof and the heavy shoes make them lift higher. Saddlebreds without weights or chains or bands often do not have the "natural" knee action and loose what they do have if the weights are off too long. The same with any horse asked to perform with LOTS of action. Since the length of hoof and the weight of shoe is covered in the rules of the ASPR, I'm sure those in the pictures were within the regulations. My modern breaks almost level with his knees on a lunge line but in a cart (as with any horse in harness) he isn't quite so high. Add a shoe and he lifts his knees again.

Everybody likes pretty or the "wow" factor. As long as the horse isn't hurt I see nothing wrong.

 

[Sandy B]

Sandy,

I invite you to go look at my website: www.fiddlestixponyfarm.com.

I raise Foundations, Classics, a Classic who could go Modern Pleasure and I have a Show Pony.

Foundations: To show a Foundation pony, it first must meet certain criteria:, Have a Foundation Seal to prove that there isn't any "Modern" ponies in it's background for four generations (you have to look at five total). That pony CANNOT go over 42" for the show ring. A pony can carry a Foundation seal and be over the 42" and it can re-produce smaller than it is. I know mine has.

Classic: are ponies that might have some Modern blood in their pedigree. Some Classics are a step up from the Foundation pony and some Classics can be extreme but not quite a Modern Pleasure pony.

Moderns Pleasure Pony: is a Modern Pony that doesn't have as much action as a Modern, still beautiful animals to work with and show. Can be shown barefoot or with a shoe

Moderns: Which are some that you are seeing in the Journal.

Show Pony: The Show Pony division was created for those Modern ponies that went over the height limit of 46" but could not go over 48" (on my website my Show Pony Big & Rich is such a pony). He holds Modern papers but was too tall for the Modern Division. Because he held Modern papers he could also get Show Pony papers to continue his career. I had been looking at this division for a very long time. I came from the western world so was use to a bigger horse. I finally bought Big & Rich from our current president last year. I wanted a pony that a 50+ year old women could drive without getting hurt. This pony was driving in Roadster and could be turned on but I wanted a Country Pleasure driving pony. Last year I developed RH arthritis in my wrist and hands. I told this pony he has to be feathers in my hands so I can drive. He does just that. He takes care of me, but if I ask him to turn on his power he can. I call him my little red sports car. We are a team and it shows. If anyone would like to drive a Show Pony, I would not hesitate to sit anyone behind him. Like Jason said about Wy they know when to show and when to turn off.

If you don't understand the different divisions of the Shetlands, then sit down with your rulebook and read. You will need to be sure to download all of the supplements too as there are changes in those that go hand in hand with the rulebook. Yes, it can get confusing and even I have to highlight what the old rule was and make notes on the new rules.

There are shoeing rules to each division even in the Miniatures. One thing you have to remember: Shetlands that meet the height requirement of the AMHR (38" & Under) can obtain miniature papers. The main thing with a Shetland showing as a miniature, they cannot have shoes ( with the exception of the draft driving miniatures) and you have the watch the razoring rule. Miniatures can be razored and Shetlands cannot. So if you happen to own a double registered ASPC/AMHR you have to be very careful about showing. If you show that horse as a miniature and razor it and then show up at a show to show as a Shetland and not enough time has elapse for the hair to grow you will be protested.

Now, if I owned a double registered and wanted to show it as a miniature, then I wouldn't spend my money putting shoes on that horse unless I was going to take it to Congress and then it would depend on what class I would show in. All of my driving horse do get shoes. Some get shoes on the front only and some all the way around. If I had that horse qualified for the AMHR nationals as a miniature, I would have plenty of time to pull shoes from the Shetland ring, trim that horse up and show in the miniature ring. My horses are all on a 6 week farrier schedule all year long. After the holidays, I bring up those horses that will be driving, start working on getting feet in good working order and then plan when they will have a set of shoes put on. It takes a lot of time working and putting on a foot that can hold a shoe. Some horses I've had have had terrible feet that would crack and crumble. Those are ones that had little to no care back when they were younger. It may take me a year to get them where they need to be and if putting a keg shoe on to protect those feet I will. Those that have a tendacy to founder are also canidates for shoes to protect those feet. I see more feet problem with white hoof horses and then some problems with stripped hoof horses. Horses with black hooves I don't see hardly any problems. There again, each reagion of the US can dictate how good your horses feet are as well. Wet weather is the hardest on feet.

If in doubt on anything that you see in the Journal ask questions as to the in's and out's. Go to a Shetland farm close to you and visit and see for yourself. I enjoy when a new comer to the Shetland world calls me and ask to come see the ponies. They are very suprised at how our ponies act out in the pasture, everyone wants to ge loved on and they do love the attention. I don't have to chase anything down to catch and those ponies that we've sold have all gone to great homes from youth to senior's.

Thank you so much for the detailed descriptions. I had no idea that there were so many ranges of Shetlands. You have some very beautiful ponies. I enjoyed looking at your web site.

All that back and forth showing would be a bit crazy at times. LOL! It would be a benefit though to have one registered in both AMHR & in the Shetland assoc.

I see the differences in hoof growth in all my horses both full sized and minis, but especially our minis. We have some that grow straight up with lots of heel and others that grow only toe and some that grow very fast and some that only need shaping when the farriers come. Each animal is different.

 

[Sandy B]

I think there is also another point that a lot of people here with Moderns are not thinking of. I am a relative newbie when it comes to this rated show circuit of the ASPC/AMHR world. Over the years though I am NOT a newbie to ponies or miniatures. I cannot tell you how many miniatures and Shetlands have come through our ranch to be trained and made kid friendly, saddle broke, and safe. I have seen many turn into wonderful children's mounts and go on to make some lucky kid very happy. I currently run a small to medium herd of Ponies with just a couple of Miniatures in there....at least one Shetland Miniature size. My experience is from the big horse world and particularly working cow horses. This past year we purchased a couple of Modern Shetlands. Which by the way are registered ASPC with only one we could have double papered to ASPR. The first two had hooves that completely grew differently from each others. Our bigger Mare, who could ASPR due to size, has what I would call the closest hoof to that of my Quarter Horses of any pony we have ever had. It is a good foot with a normal shape. My second Modern, a now gelding, has the LONGEST hoof I ever had on the place. Even without shoes he grew hoof faster than the rest and very upright. I did shoe this one when he was a stallion and showed him just a bit. It wasn't a matter of hard work to grow that hoof, but a matter of management and keeping it trimmed back. This just goes to show that genetics has a lot to do with the Modern's hooves. I now own 5 total Modern Shetlands and 3 of them have hooves that are like my first geldings. I can trim them back, but within a week they seem to have a ton of hoof growth. They generally stay pretty long and grow more upright. My other two have a more normal hoof, but do grow pretty quickly.

Even though this thread is not considerably about the Mind of the pony I have to say that these Moderns are the MOST trainable Shetlands or Miniatures we have had here yet. And some of the most handler/rider protective animals. They have an incrediable sense of the age of their handler and their need to please is super refreshing. My three children really enjoy a hot mind because that means there are brains up there working!

Sorry to say Sandy, even to this poster, new as I am to this board and only a couple of years in the rated circle, you do have a tone about your posts that insinuates and insults. I am not surprised at the response you have gotten. Now you are getting a bunch of extremely knowledgeable people on here trying to explain this division and I hope you go and see these beautiful Ponies first hand. Maybe then your understanding will be different with education.

Once again, my "tone" is being judged and I believe to know the tone of someones voice, you have to hear it.

 

[Minimor]

It's the tone of your posts, not the tone of your voice. One does not have to hear a voice in order to detect the "tone" of what is written!!

I'm not sure where this thread is going either. It seems to now be on temperaments which was never part of the original post until someone mentioned that people assumed moderns were hyper or something along those lines.

Seriously? It was you yourself who turned this thread toward temperament. You opened the door with this post:

Again, I can only draw on my experience from the Morgans, but I will tell you very few of the Park horses were pleasant to work with, most were at times flat out crazy. The Pleasure horses were a bot better to handle, but even then there were many crazy ones. You would get them hitched and it was stand back and heads up when it was time for them to move forward. They were rearing and leaping until they got going. It was like a barrel horse getting ready in the chute to run the pattern. It is nice to know that these ponies behave much better than that. At least they are smaller if the do carry on.

 

[SweetOpal]

I just got The Journal in the mail and am disgusted and appalled at what AMHR allows as far as shoes on these "over" ponies! One photo in particular of a Champion at Congress looked like his hooves were built up to the same length of his cannon bone. This is just wrong on every level. These are fine boned ponies (not that full sized breeds are ok to shoe like this either). And some of the tails? What the heck, they look broke to stand the tail bone straight up as well as gingered. I am not naive on what goes on in the performance horse world, but this extreme manipulation is way to excessive, especially for ponies.

Personally myself I find it disgusting that someone would run the heck out of a quarter horse, to only make it slam on the brakes and sit its arse down on the ground and call that a sport! That has to be wrong on so many levels!!!! I can't imagine the pain this horse suffers long term on its hind end.

 

[disneyhorse]

Personally myself I find it disgusting that someone would run the heck out of a quarter horse, to only make it slam on the brakes and sit its arse down on the ground and call that a sport! That has to be wrong on so many levels!!!! I can't imagine the pain this horse suffers long term on its hind end.

Although I don't feel that strongly about it, at work some of my Quarter Horse-owning friends bring in their breed magazines. I am not surprised at the sheer number of advertisers in their magazines for joint supplements and injections. The magazines tailored for Jumpers also has a very high percentage of ads for joint pharmaceuticals, too. Those companies go where the money is... obviously there is a bigger demand in the reining and jumping markets...

Adequan is the "Official Joint Therapy" of the AQHA and the NHRA. They are also big-time sponsors for a lot of the hunter/jumper circuits.

If there was a bigger demand from these Shetland ponies, I'm sure the joint therapy companies would seek them out. Instead, we've got RaDon blankets and Farnam products. That's not a bad thing!

Andrea

 

[valshingle]

I want to publicly applaud all the pony people who have taken the time, effort, and seemingly endless patience to reply to the questions and topics that have arisen. I have always enjoyed watching the Moderns and other Shetlands. I am happy to say that I now have 3 Shetlands (one is straight ASPC) and I am excited about the caliber of owners and trainers out there. If it didn't require a bigger cart and a specialized farrier - I would own a Modern in a heart beat!

I hope everyone appreciates the wonderful education we are receiving here about these marvelous ponies.

 

[Sandy B]

Ahhhhh, but you do not show the post that I was replying too

Very interesting how I am flamed for what others start.

Yes, this was my reply to the quote below from Kaykay-

"That is nice to know that some people do take the shoes off. Do they trim the hooves back to normal state too? I know the Morgans were never taken off.

Again, I can only draw on my experience from the Morgans, but I will tell you very few of the Park horses were pleasant to work with, most were at times flat out crazy. The Pleasure horses were a bot better to handle, but even then there were many crazy ones. You would get them hitched and it was stand back and heads up when it was time for them to move forward. They were rearing and leaping until they got going. It was like a barrel horse getting ready in the chute to run the pattern. It is nice to know that these ponies behave much better than that. At least they are smaller if the do carry on."

This was posted from Kaykay on page 8 and the above was in reply: "No they were not shod. As Andrea said a lot of farms take the shoes off in the off season (but not all).

 

There is a huge misconception about Modern ponies from their temperment to their movement. These ponies know when to turn it on and when to be at home."

It's the tone of your posts, not the tone of your voice. One does not have to hear a voice in order to detect the "tone" of what is written!!

Seriously? It was you yourself who turned this thread toward temperament. You opened the door with this post:

 

[Sandy B]

You are right, improper shoeing and improper confirmation is not in the best interest to any horse that are forced to do something that they are not physically made to do. When we start our 2 yr olds that are bred to rein, they do sliding stops on their own in the round pen and when you first start riding them. You know almost immediately which one is going to stop and made to do it and the ones that don't'. If we do not put sliding plates on them they actually will hurt themselves as they try to tuck that hind end they do more damage then good. I am sure that if you go to a reining horse forum that more people would be happy to help you with your thoughts and explain. This is a mini horse forum.

Personally myself I find it disgusting that someone would run the heck out of a quarter horse, to only make it slam on the brakes and sit its arse down on the ground and call that a sport! That has to be wrong on so many levels!!!! I can't imagine the pain this horse suffers long term on its hind end.