[Hal]

Very interesting thread. I hope this isn’t too much of an aside, but why would someone choose to use a unicorn hitch like the one shown in the picture instead of a three abreast? Is there a historical reason for this configuration of horses?

[Hal]

Interesting post. In regards to your thought that the round pen is a location as opposed to a method, what would count as a “method”? Is it the attitude that the trainer takes towards the training or the techniques used or both? I am just curious to know what different kinds of methods might be and what they might consist of.

[Hal]

Those were really interesting responses. That gives me a new outlook on the round pen idea; I didn’t know that it was so grounded in horse psychology.

Jen, why would your explanation annoy some people on the forum?

[Hal]

I hope that I am not going off on a tangent here, but I have a question in response to Jen Judkins’ post about positive/negative reinforcement with horses. Is this idea of using body position and movement to provide reinforcement for horses the basis for the practice of training in a “round pen”? I have read some things about round pen training but I am still confused by why it is supposed to work and why horses respond as they do to this method.

[Hal]

It is really interesting to see the repeatedly virulent and angry comments of humble1. I cannot understand why there is such a difference in this user’s angry comments about horse pullers and in the much more moderated response of other posters. Perhaps humble1 just fell in with a very bad group and cannot imagine because of that experience that others are different? I am sure that humble1 has not met every horse puller in the world. Just a thought.

I am sorry to hear that humble1 had such a bad experience with pullers, either way. I hope that this does not make this user assume that all people who use their animals to pull loads are abusive, as that seems to be obviously untrue based on the responses of so many others (not that I have the experience to say, but I trust the experienced words of others). I doubt very, very much that anyone on this forum has the intention to “sugar coat criminality” or hose abuse.

[Hal]

Donn Hewes, the article (from Rural Heritage Magazine, as a side note) was kind of general in its scope. It didn’t talk about specific incidents where bitless bridles were used, but it did say “bitless bridles are used in combined driving over courses where speed and accuracy count.” It showed two designs of bitless bridles, one called “doctor Cook’s bitless bridle” and one called the “Nutural bitless bridle.” Both kinds relied on loops going over the poll and the nose and under the chin to control the direction of the head (at least that’s how I saw it).

[Hal]

Hello again,

Thanks for all of the continuing comments. I did not mean to say that disagreement is all bad. It is just sad to see people start bickering and being extreme in their views on the forums. And I certainly hope that I didn’t suggest that teamsters are unpleasant people, because I didn’t mean to.

[Hal]

How can you tell when a teamster is pushing their horses too far and being abusive? Horses are supposed to work hard when pulling, aren’t they? I am sure that this seems like an obvious and dumb question to some out there, but I am a novice and I have no idea. Obviously (I guess) whipping or pushing a horse is bad, but what other signs should you look for to find abusive or uncaring teamsters? I certainly wouldn’t want to associate myself with any.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far. There certainly is a lot of disagreement on this forum, and it can be discouraging to someone starting out, but I am sure that everyone here just has the animals’ best interests at heart. Right?

[Hal]

The most recent post by “humble” was quite unnecessarily polarizing. Please calm down.

What experience has lead you to believe that this is such a terrible sport? Some explanation would be helpful.

[Hal]

Hello all,

Thanks for all of the thoughtful replies. Biological Woodsman, what would you consider the “serious pulling circuit”? Would a pull put on by the Southern Draft Horse Association be such an event? I am a novice and I would like to go to more draft-horse oriented events, but I don’t want to go to a dishonest or egoistic event that does not work in the horses’ best interest.

[Author]

Posts