Please, Please, Please don't try anything like what we did with your horse unless both you and your horse are ready. What we did takes a lot of trust on both parts - the simple fact is that any of the three of us could have been seriously hurt if our horses didn't trust us and/or weren't desensitized to having things wrapped around their legs.
As they say, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
So, if you want to try out the Million Dollar Idea, please:
- Do it when other people are present to help out
- Make sure your horse will stand still, either on the end of the rope or with the strap tied around their leg
- Make sure your horse doesn't panic if the strap slips or is difficult to untie
- I spent time with Estes just getting her used to the pressure along her leg and across her back before I even attempted (and failed) to use the strap
- Ranger's just a good dog, not much bothers him anymore, but the level of trust that Ranger has in Bill is astounding, so he'll go along with pretty much anything. If Ranger had been at all concerned, Bill would have backed off and continued to work with him until he wasn't worried any more.
- Washoe concerned me the most, but he doesn't care. I'm sure he thought it was a crazy game or something.
5 comments:
No worries...I'm not trying that! :-)
I have something similar that I bought at Brighton Saddlery that is a stirrup that hangs down from the saddle horn. But I can't even figure out how to use that correctly. Last time I had to mount on the trail, I found a good tree stump, but I almost needed a mounting block to get on top of the tree stump. It's a problem for sure.
It was those cheater straps that gave me the idea in the first place.
I'm the queeen of finding tree stumps for the extra boost to reach my stirrup, but I usually can't find something tall enough to launch myself up onto her bareback.
Good disclaimer! Not everyone has a brain in their heads, haha!
But I would hope most people would exercise caution before trying anything new.
Talking with GunDiva earlier, we came to the realization that a good way to see if your horse is ready for this would be to throw yourself, screaming, on the ground under your horse. If he doesn't stomp you to death, he might be ready for "the strap of anguish".
I've been thinking about the foot thing - and think that part of OUR problem is that we have barefoot mustangs. They are very careful about how things feel under their feet, i.e., if one of my guys happens to 'step' on my foot, they pick their foot up before they ever put their full weight on it. So my thought is, when they feel the pressure or weight on the strap, they will just pick up their foot. I still have to try with Jesse, who is better about standing in place as instructed (but also more sensitive with her feet!).
Bionic Cowgirl
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