Saturday, March 30, 2013

Watching the foal's abilities




 

The horse by nature already knows the way he or she is supposed to move, to keep up with the heard in the wild or in the field, for his/her survival. Not too long after the foal is born, he/she will get up and begin to nurse on it’s mother and move around. With in a few hours he can carry himself and move around as he wishes. In a matter of weeks the foal can run and play with other youngsters, rearing bucking, running, striking and terrorizing his mother. If we pay attention, real close attention we can see an approximate set of skills that the foal will have when he/she is older; at the same time we can kind of see what kinds of faults the horse will present later in life during his training. The experienced trainer/rider will be able to determine an approximated training regime for the horse simply by observing him/her at his mother’s side and by watching him play in the fields or turnouts. We can see, depending on the foal’s conformation, disposition and natural movement, in what areas we will have more difficulties and in which areas we will consider a walk in the park. Common sense will tell us that depending of the breed of the horse, we will have an approximate idea of the range of careers that horse will be suitable for. Like people, not all horses have the same abilities and/or attributes however, all horses have the same basic movements, and the same basic reactions, more or less. Keeping this in mind we know what to look when choosing a horse as a foal for a certain career in the future. Judging the youngster, by the way he plays in the field, is not always a guarantee that he/she will be what you expect in the future. Some breeds of horses mature relatively late as does the Iberian and Lipizzaner breeds and therefore, sometimes we must wait until the approximate age of three or four to really determine if their movement, disposition, morphology and over all appearance of the horse matches what we wish to use for our personal goals and purpose. Certain breeds of horses, and especially some of the working type of horses are started under saddle too young and therefore aged prematurely, because of the strenuous work on their limbs and joints. All sorts of artificial aids and tools are used to “train” the horse forcing him into desired frames, whether it’s for dressage, reining, or other sports, over taxing the front limbs, shoulders and withers by false flexions and wrongful practices. The horse knows how to carry himself. We do not need to teach the horse collection, because he knows how to collect himself and show off, such as the stallion when he approaches a mare in heat or a mare who looses sight of her new foal. The horse by nature knows how to collect his energy and use it when he needs it. As riders we don’t teach the horse collection as much as we think we do, instead we shoot to get the horse collected on command, and we hope to do it correctly in a way that it is useful for us as riders and comfortable for the horse at the same time. Like collection, everything else that the horse does by nature we only ask on command hoping to get it as perfect as can be, and as useful as can be given the circumstances. Three quality basic gaits are essential for any breed of horse regardless of the future career of said horse. However, it is absurd in my opinion to overlook the walk, and canter, and focus in that way only on the trot of the horse especially when he is very young. Many “professionals” judge a young horse’s movement based on his/her extension at the trot or lack of it. Many amateur breeders, and even many seasoned breeders overlook at times the importance of the walk and canter over the trot, due to the demands of their market. Sadly enough, many of these said professionals DO NOT understand what they are looking at when judging a young horse and therefor misjudge the colt or filly's movement due to lack of understanding and lack of exact knowledge of the aero dynamics of the horse in movement and the use of the horse’s muscle skeletal structure in movement. As mentioned, many times the horse will be judged by an exaggerated front end movement of the front legs at the trot, and even believe that the hind legs have correct hock action, ignoring the way the hock should move under the mass of the horse driving the front end forward and not leaving an exaggerated bend of the hock behind the movement. The trot of the horse can always be developed and even perfected to an extent over time if worked correctly. The walk on the other hand is also judged based on the abilities of some handlers who DO NOT understand once again the exact way to present a horse in hand and therefor interfere with the natural movement of the horse. Sadly the canter is hardly ever seen as important even though the young horse tells us at this natural gait if his hind leg, loin, and back are physically strong or able enough to carry out this natural gait more comfortable. We know all of the three basic gaits are important, the walk the trot and the canter, since from these gaits we will develop any sport or job in the future of the horse. Even though the trot is the gait in which the young horse will take our breath away while he trots in the field at play, it can be improved with time and work when he is older if it is not very good at a young age. The horse will have a good walk or he will not. But, we must discern when it is and when it is not, and when we think the young horse does not have a good walk, we should step away and let him grow for some time before we make a hasty decision. We do not need to be experts to know when a colt canters correctly or not, when he has natural born talent or not. Patience is usually key, luck and a gifted eye are also key when patience is not an option, and a truly trained and gifted eye is the only thing that can save us time and luck. I wish you all to enjoy your foals this spring and don’t judge too soon what you see, but be realistic at the same time and don’t praise what you are not 100% sure of either.