| (Little things you won't want to ignore) | | | | 5. NEVER tie to a stall door or anything that could pull |
| 1. Always leave your horse's halter on the stall! Living | | | | out or break! I actually saw this happen once at a |
| here in So. Cal. It is imperative that the halter and | | | | barn we stabled out. A horse after being tied to the |
| lead be left on each horse's stall because of the ever | | | | sliding box stall door set back and in an instant pulled |
| present threat of a fire where it's sometimes | | | | the door right off of its track and went flying all over |
| necessary for total strangers, (firefighters and | | | | the ranch with a steel door dangling from his head |
| volunteers) to evacuate your horse where minutes | | | | taking out everything in their path as well as banging |
| or perhaps even seconds count. | | | | up the poor horse's legs. |
| 2. Never leave your lunge line out in the arena or | | | | 6. NEVER teach your horse he can open his own |
| anywhere the horse can reach. If you turn your | | | | gate. We think it's really cute behavior to have the |
| horses out in your arena never leave the lunge line | | | | horse push a gate open for us while we're on them. I |
| where the horse can get to it. I made the mistake of | | | | used to think it was adorable too until my very |
| doing so more than twenty years ago when I came | | | | determined Appy mare went to push the gate open |
| down to the arena to put a sweet Quarter horse | | | | to leave the arena and finding it latched pushed so |
| away after a turnout only to find him literally hog tied | | | | hard that before I could pull her up she flattened the |
| with all four legs wrapped up together in a bunch. It | | | | whole side of the arena pushing every bit of it down |
| was absolutely comical except for the disaster | | | | flat to the ground. Boy did I feel stupid as she |
| potential it possessed. Luckily he was a very calm | | | | casually strolled across the mess to return to the |
| horse that didn't panic as I methodically proceeded to | | | | barn. |
| unwind the line. Any other horse that didn't possess | | | | 7. Never leave the lead from the halter dangling in |
| his calm attitude could have been tragic. | | | | your horse's stall. Had this happen also where one of |
| 3. Be careful leaving a treat bucket in your horse's | | | | my students didn't properly tie the lead to the halter |
| stall. We often leave a bucket of carrots or other | | | | on the stall in a way to keep it out of the pony's |
| supplements in the stall with the horse as we run off | | | | reach. The result was a horrible rope burn across the |
| after a ride to our busy lives but it's really quite | | | | back of the pony's fetlock because he had pulled it in |
| dangerous as the horse can easily get its hoof stuck | | | | and got it caught around his ankle causing a nasty |
| between the metal handle and the plastic. Play it safe | | | | infection and a hefty vet call and antibiotics. |
| if you must leave something in there and opt for a | | | | Of course this is not a complete list of all the little |
| rubber flat feeding bowl. | | | | things we do that can get us into trouble but it's a |
| 4. Be careful feeding your horse its treat by hand. | | | | start with the point being that we just need to be |
| Before you know it you can train your horse to not | | | | more mindful of all the dangers out there no matter |
| only be a biter but he can become a complete | | | | how trivial they may appear. Remember one hard |
| nuisance constantly probing you and other things | | | | and fast rule; if there's any possible way a horse can |
| searching for a treat. Such behavior can wreck havoc | | | | get hurt you can be sure he'll find it! Don't give him |
| upon your grooming routine and cause a simple tack | | | | the chance! |
| up to take forever. | | | | |