Pasofever said:
I have shown WP for years...we tie around...up ...and lunge bitted but never tie down for hours...expain this to me ...teaching a horse to give works with all disciplines and if a horse does not give..tieing around works great....again for around here you will be fine but when you play with the big boys you have to up your level of horse..and a supple giving horse is a better horse..
You dont think this gray mare in this video has not been tied around some do you? Or hung from the wall for hours teaching patients...
I customary tie my yearling's and 2 yr olds in the stall for several hours at a time...
I have heard of so called "trainers" who tie their horses heads low so they get that WP headset. I understand that you should teach your horse, but I think tying at such an unnatural position for hours is cruel. If you're tying young'ins to learn to stand, that's once thing...as long as you're tying at a natural head level. I also agree when you say about playing with the big boys...but some people try to get certain horses to do things that that horse probably can't ever do well. (that was confusing, could you understand what I meant?)
I guess my problem is with showing in general. I think we sometimes go overboard in asking animals (or making animals) be so unnatural so we get the "look" we want. I mean, it's not natural for horses to jump vertically....Please don't attack me, I'm not trying to bash hunters/jumpers...just saying it's not natural for horses. Also, look at ranch horses...how many do you see holding their head so darn low? I mean, I think WP horses look pretty sometimes, but I also think they look dead!
I'm really not trying to be extreme here...but I think we sometimes don't treat our animals the best...drugging them to compete. Sorry, but if you have to drug your horse, you might not want to compete in the first place. Would you give your child a cortisone shot in the knee if it was injured just so he/she could play a school sport?