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Hey, Rodney!! I know just how you felt! My partner, Les and I run a boarding stable, and now I am one of those responsible for the care, feeding and disciplining of horses and riders I've learned that people just don't listen! Green riders, (or gunsels, as Art used to call them) haven't got a hot clue on how to deal with horses, but they sure think that they do.
Picture it, a new rider getting off the horse in the yard after a lesson, and standing, holding the lines, while the horse does his level best to scrape his headstall off on the "greenie's" shoulder, arm, back, chest. You can't turn your back for even a second, and there's your student, most of the lesson shot to you-know-where, saying: "isn't this cute, he loves me already!" Try explaining to a sixteen year old girl, with stars in her eyes, that the horse is considering that she is no more than a fencepost, and has about the same amount of respect for her, as he does for a fencepost.
My next bug is the hand-feeding issue. "He just loves his treats". Yeah, right, and later, in the barn or some other time when you've run out of treats, that horse will get you, or me. Ever been bitten by a horse? I'm sure that they have some fantastic jaw strength, akin to that of an alligator or piranha. And so it goes, I try to teach my students how to gain a horse's respect on the ground, and next thing I know, I'm riding the lesson horse, dismount, and have my jacket, and skin (depending on the season), excoriated by the buckles on his cheekpieces, or, he's walking all over me (pushy as all get out), nipping at my jacket, hands, etc., looking for a non-existent treat. This behavior, on the part of the horse, earns him a swift uppercut to his lower jaw. (Amazing how quickly a horse learns). But, next lesson, same old thing.
I can't abide a horse with no manners. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to teach a horse basic manners. It only takes a little common "horse sense". Obviously, I'm not too effective at this teaching thing. Or, just possibly, the "cuteness" of the act is irresistible to my students. When I tell the students that it is not 'cute' and could be dangerous, they "pooh-pooh" me. But most get the message when I tell them the price of horsemeat by the pound, and what could happen to a mannerless horse... ALPO.
I have resolved for 2002 to beat them (my students) upside the head with my quirt the next time I catch someone being used as a scratching post, or hand-feeding one of our horses. Twelve hundred pounds of horse can be pretty pushy, I know, I made all those "greenie" mistakes, and paid dearly for it in the form of a horse who didn't respect me on the ground, or in the saddle. But, having learned from my mistakes, (after a lot of nips and scratches, crushed toes, bumps and bruises), I now have learned how to discipline with assertiveness. I now have a very well-mannered horse/friend (same horse, different attitude) and when he gets his treats, he gets them in his oatbox.
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