AboutDenise LaChapelle www.Laurelmountainfarms.com Expertise I am a student of the Horse. How to deal with "problems" and find SOLUTIONS with real QUALITY that RESPECT the HORSE is my goal for this site. It has been my great fortune to be able to focus the last 10 years studying the Buckaroo/Vaquero style of horsemanship, this is what the Natural Horsemanship movement is based on. Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman, and Ricky Quinn are my teachers and mentors. I continue to study and ride with these great horsemen.
I am happy to offer help in starting colts, re-starting troubled horses, helping you find a "better way" with horses and sharing with you what it means to be a student of the horse. Western show disciplines; Showmanship, Trail, Horsemanship, Western Pleasure, as well as Hunter Under Saddle and Three Day Eventing are my passions. I enjoy sharing my 30+ years of experience with all levels of horse owners; children, amateurs and serious competitors. Please visit me at:
www.Laurelmountainfarms.com
Experience My Equine model to the left is my AQHA gelding and super pal, "Hip Chip". I have been fortunate to learn from some of the top horsemen in the nation over the past 30 years. It is now time to start giving back to those who truly love and appreciate the horse. Laurel Mountain Farms was founded with the purpose of sharing good horsemanship. I have had a broad range of experience from Three-Day-Eventing, to the western show disciplines. I understand the common thread of good horsemanship that runs through all types and styles of riding. My goal is to assist people in better understanding their horses as horses. To build an excellent foundation on which many different disciplines can continue to grow.
Organizations American Quarter Horse Association, USEA
Education/Credentials Learning good horsemanship is an oral tradition passed from master to student. At an early age I started riding with noted clinician Richard Sharake at Horsemanship West. Although I have ridden with many top flight trainers and instructors, Ray Hunt has been the most influential and has had the greatest impact on my horsemanship. To be a student of the horse and to in some small way pass along the gifts Ray has offered to me, is my greatest educational accomplishment.
Awards and Honors I have campaigned horses to many State and Regional titles. My horses and I have earned 14 AQHA High-Point All-Around titles, won multiple AQHA year end high point awards, and have qualified for the AQHA World Show.
Question I have recently traded my mare for a gelding QH. He is supposed to be "quiet" for me. Well, I think he hasn't been trained like the folks said he was. He is 6 years old and has terrible ground manners. I cross tie him to groom him in the wash stall. He moves his hind quarters from one side to the other one. He throws his head. He stomps. I'm afraid to get too close to his hind quarters because he will hold one back leg up at times as if he is thinking about kicking. He wants to chew on the rope, he wants to nibble on my butt if he can reach it. He seems aggitated when I brush along his spine with a soft brush. I am still a beginner, but I have groomed many horses and his manners are just atrocious! He wears me out! Sometimes, he is almost perfect. He is very curious about everything and wants to put everything in his mouth. Im afraid if I leave him tied for a long time to teach him patience in being tied, he will break the cross-ties and I board him and I don't want anyone mad at me. He has never pulled on them like he would break them, but I am just afraid to leave him for too long. He loves attention and working in the round pen and loves to go ride on the trail. He stands perfectly still when I put the saddle and bridle on him and mount him. His ground manners just need help. Shucks, I need help! Thank you.
Answer Hi Lisa!
Boarding barns are some of the most difficult places to keep horses. It is such an un-natural environment and does not allow the horses to be horses. Your gelding is screaming at you to give him more pasture time. He is young, energetic, and stall bound. He is agitated, impatient, and full of excess energy!
I really, really hope he has access to a pasture and is getting turned out daily!!! If not, you may want to consider finding a boarding barn that has turn out on a daily basis for your horse, and an hour or two will not do it. All day and if possible 24 hours a day and being fed outside in the summer with a run-in shed would be the best! This will really help him feel so much better. Imagine for a minute that YOU were locked in your bathroom for 20 hours per day, fed twice a day, no TV, no exercise equipment, no one else to hug you, only cell walls to talk through and maybe, if you were lucky, a window to look out of and then only a small amount of very controlled exercise with the warden. THIS is what it is like for your horse. Horses are grazers, herd animals, their body hooves/legs do not function properly unless they are MOVING, and yet we STILL trap them in tiny cells barely large enough to turn around in. It is NO wonder your horse is so touchy and sensitive. I would be too! I would be flipping back flips the second I was let out of the stall if I were a horse. How would YOU feel!
So, TURN-OUT! This is critical. With proper turn-out your horse will be feeling better in just a day or two. Then, Don't take him directly to the cross-ties and expect him to stand, and don't ever expect a horse to "learn" patience by being tied up, not gonna happen. Take him FIRST and do all of your ground work. This is NOT lunging. The ground work I'm talking about is communication that speaks to the horse's mind by getting control of the feet, suppling the body and putting them to work mentally. It is yielding hind quarters, getting the weight to balance over the hocks in order to step the front quarters around, backing circles, leading by on the fence, using your flag/tarp/slicker to build confidence and security with the unknown, exposure to the lass rope, hooking on in the round pen or small corral, this is your ground school. After you have taken your horse and put both his mind and body to work, THEN take him back and groom him and prepare him for your mounted ride. Do not tie him at all. Make him part of the grooming and saddling process. Don't expect the cross ties to do the work for you. I have to say here Lisa, if just his dancing around tires you out, maybe horses are not the thing for you. This is something you will really have to do some soul searching about. Maybe long walks or a bicycle will be better choices for you and the level of attention and energy you have to give. Horses are alive, thinking, feeling individuals. They are not "things". They change from day to day. They are very intelligent on par with dolphins. So, if you are not up to the challenge (you said he wears you out) of owning, caring for, and dealing with a horse maybe it is time to move on. If not, and you still want to be around horses, I'm thinking an older schoolmaster is a much better choice for you and your level of thought, involvement and activity. A 6 year old is a young, vital horse that really wants a job and to go!
You said your self that he stands for the saddle and loves to go out on the trail so it is activity that he craves just not all of the boring, slow, tedious stuff that goes on prior to it. So, Go-GO-GO first! Turn out is a priority! Spend time grooming when he has had the chance to do something first so he will come to enjoy grooming. Just knock the big chunks of crud off him, toss on your saddle and go! With just these simple steps you will see huge changes in your horse the first day you try it!
Sounds to me like this horse is trying his best for you. Do everything you can to help him. He sounds like a pretty nice horse to me. Give me a shout and let me know how things are going!
