OH MY GOSH ENOUGH !!!!!!! BACK OFF!!!!
HUH??
Back off??!!
I for one have trouble many times putting my thoughts down on a message board and trying to find the right words to use, but come on folks, some of you have your claws out and fangs showing and you know it!
No - I do not "know it".... and I only offered suggestions and my opinion - I did not have the claws out and no fangs were showing. Frankly - the way some of you jump on some of us who may have concerns is the rudest stuff said in this thread. Telling people
how to post and
what they are allowed to say and what concerns they are "allowed" to have.... and PMing them to tell them to shut up....
God forbid they got in trouble tonite with their horses but were too scared to come back here for help because your wrath. You are going to run them off like so many others have been run off of here so knock it off.
Wrath??? What wrath??! I saw no wrath in this thread - except perhaps what some of you have directed at some of us who shared our concerns - because we cared about the people and horses involved.
Marty - I think that perhaps as you said - you did not find the right words....
Speaking for myself - I have never run anyone off this forum.... and I am one of the original members.See the member number to the left?? I have been raked over the coals at times for not having the "right" opinion, though...
Welcome to the wonderful world of message boards,
Charlotte & John.
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Anyway.... I agree completely with what
Lisa said here...
I dont know that I would catch them every time you go in there, in fact I often go into the pen and sit down on the ground or a chair and just sit there. I have with harder to convince foals just sat and read a book- foals by nature are very curious and really cant stand it for long they will have to come up to you. When they do.. I dont even reach out for a pet at first Ilet them check out the book the chair my shoe.. then I pick up and leave. Every day depending on how quickly they come to me I do more a scratch- a pet but I always am the one to walk away after just a few days of doing this a couple times a day they are fine coming right up to me for scratches and pets and they usually do it pretty quick before I decide to leave. Once I have that done then the halter and such is easy sometimes I put the halter on, pet scratch and then take it off and walk away, others I lead them, sometimes I groom them I dont always make it the same thing and dont always make it seem like something not fun (compared to running and playing with there friend)
Usually if I take my time and do it slowly and make my being out there something pleasant and I leave before they want me to (that seems to be a key part for me) then on the days when I dont have time to take such a long time and I need to just go and catch it isnt such a big deal to them.
Just my advice from my own experience.
Well said.
A few years ago, I bought a very nervous 2 year old Icelandic gelding who had been handled very little - and night after night I simply stood quietly in the corner of his box stall and read my book aloud.... as he plunged about and fretted. If he got close - I would scratch him or pet him lightly.... and in time he realized that I was not a threat... and that having me around was actually....kinda fun. Being scratched and stroked... was cool. Having your halter go on and off was a good thing! And in less than a week he was calling to me... and coming up to me... but I always made sure that I broke the contact first - that it was my idea and not his.
Charlotte & John - here is a little experiment you can do.... the best way to get foals to come up to you - is get below their eye level. Now if you had Clydesdale foals it would be a lot easier :bgrin ... but sit down or kneel - as
Lisa said. They cannot help but come over and sniff and investigate. Chat away to them... stroke if they will let you... and then make sure that you decide when the session ends - not them. You leave before thy do... what's the saying?? - always leave them wanting more!! :bgrin
If you have them haltered.... slip the lead shank around their neck when you take their halter off - and do not let them simply pull away... scratch their itchy spot - make them relax and enjoy it - slip the rope off from around their neck but keep scratching... and then
you move away from them...
And as I tell my students at the therapeutic riding center... speak to them as if you are falling asleep... in a soothing, sing-song way that trails doooown at the end of the sentence...
goood boooooy... whoa noooooow .... almost as if you are sleepy. Let out a big breath slowly... to relax you - and the foal as well... watch and you will likely see them working their lips and relaxing... "chewing on the thought", so to speak....
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Nathan, How could you let such a thing like that happen right next door to you??
I'm not
Nathan... and I do not play him on TV.... but I can try and answer this. I have spent many years working in the horse industry... not just a hobby or for fun... not owning my own place... not breeding my own stock... but working on many different farms in a variety of disciplines. The scenario Nathan described happens All. The. Time. Over and over again...
No one "lets" it happen. You try to help. But some people always know better - and suddenly they are in over their heads and everything is going wrong and they just dump everything and get out of horses completely. It is not easy, this life in service to the horse. There is great joy - but also tragedy and indifference ... and when you see the same mistakes being made over and over again, as with
Nathan's tale, and try to help only to get brushed aside... it is disheartening... and very, very frustrating at times....
ETA:
The moisture content tolerances are very different between 1200lb bales and 40lb bales. Too much and you'll ferment it; too little and it'll combust. The tolerances are much higher in smaller bales since they can breathe better than the larger, more compact bales. PROPERLY baled hay doesn't matter how its baled, but improperly baled hay has a much greater chance of being healthy and nutritious if stored in smaller bales.
Bolding mine. That was my point...
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Square bales - especially the condensed ones for the overseas markets - can also ferment/go moldy very quickly - if not properly put up...