The importance of proper manners.

Some horses naturally have acceptable ground manners. Dixie, for example, is quite genteel in dealing with dry Italian reds.




Austin, on the other hand, chugs like Happy Hour was still legal.



Bad Austin!





It's important that one's horse behave well on the ground as the farrier doesn't care for unruly horses, "if that horse bites me while you're holding him, it's you I'll kick". A threat to be taken seriously when Tammy issues it.



Tammy's very nice, while trimming Dixie she pointed out the thin walls of her hooves and talked about the importance of rasping any chips before they become a bigger problem. She demonstrated for Anna and gave her a rasp. I look forward to seeing that rasp used.

Tammy also talked about donkeys. Donkeys are commonly used locally to guard other animals from coyotes, guard donkeys are often not socialized at all and are left to grow long, very hard, hooves. Eventually the farrier is called and has to struggle to cut into the hooves. While the farrier works on the hind feet the donkey tends to kick with his fore feet. "And it's not like a horse, you can discipline a horse. If you hit a donkey you better know where the gate is". Tammy used to do a lot of donkeys but now she doesn't take calls from sheep keepers "I leave that to some newbie".

The topic of donkeys came up because of the companion animal issue. If you have two horses and take one away the one that's left gets upset and causes trouble. If you have a third animal and take one away then there are two animals left to keep each other company. The third animal need not be a horse and donkeys are cheaper. Of course, if you have three animals and two of you want to go out riding together ....