| I have been a horse nut for as long as I can | | | | him use his brain. I would work with him and think I had |
| remember. I had owned a number of horses which I | | | | him fixed until a turkey would fly up on the trail and |
| had some training to do on each horse after my | | | | suddenly I was without a horse under me! |
| purchase. But it wasn't until I purchased a totally | | | | A flighty horse has to be fixed and until he is, the horse |
| untouched horse, raised in the wild that I had the | | | | will be dangerous to handler, rider and the people that |
| challenge to correct a horse that was prone to flight. It | | | | are around him as well as dangerous to himself. The |
| took me a while to correct and thankfully my horse, | | | | final straw was when I was camping, I got two horses |
| myself and others around him never got hurt in the | | | | saddled and ready to go for a ride, I tried them to a |
| process. I hope this article will help you correct this | | | | hitching post and went to the outhouse. When I came |
| problem in your horse, quickly and without injuries. | | | | out I noticed that something was bothering my horse, I |
| I was tired of retraining horses and tired of trying to fix | | | | don't know what, could have been a horsefly or |
| a problem that someone else had created in a horse | | | | something. I started over to him at a quick walk so I |
| that I purchased for my own. So in order to fix this | | | | could untie him and find out what was going on. As I |
| problem I found a yearling that had been field bred and | | | | got to him, and before I could get the quick release |
| spent the first year of his life in the Cascade | | | | knot untied he exploded. Now this is a big horse, about |
| mountains. He was untouched and totally wild. I | | | | 1400 pounds, at a standing position he sprung off the |
| negotiated his price, and an agreement to get him to | | | | ground like he sprouted wings. He came down on the |
| the sellers home with the understanding that I have the | | | | hitching post which broke off at each end and was |
| use of her round pen for 2 weeks. | | | | now a log tied to him which scared him even more |
| The first four to five days it seemed as though there | | | | and he took off. Now my other horse is still tied to the |
| was little to no progress made, but on day 6 I started | | | | log and as he takes off she has no choice but to |
| to see improvement and by day 14 I had him in a | | | | follow. There I was watching my two horses running |
| straight load trailer without a fight. I was truly amazed | | | | off in the camp with a log between them. What a |
| that an animal so wild just 2 weeks before could be | | | | wreck! |
| transformed in 14 days with just 2 to 3 hours a day of | | | | From this story you can see that something very slight |
| slow gentle work on my part. | | | | can create a terrible situation and a flighty horse needs |
| This was just the beginning of many years of training. | | | | to be corrected before these things happen. This was |
| He is now 12 years old and is a wonderful trail horse | | | | the hardest thing to correct in this horse and I attribute |
| and a true companion of mine. He is not fully trained as | | | | it to the first year of his life when he had real |
| I don't think any horse, at least any of my horses ever | | | | predators like bears and mountain lions. It took a lot to |
| are. I believe in the saying, "always be training", and I | | | | get him to think before flight but I did get that result and |
| always will be. He is smart and gentle now but he was | | | | so can you. |
| a problem to get the flight instinct out of him and make | | | | |