Zen Horse

If you’re going to catch a horse out of a herd, always catch the horse that is easiest to catch first.

If you try to catch the spookiest horse first, he may try and run away and will influence the rest of the horses to do the same. But if you catch the easiest horse first, his calm attitude sets a good example for the rest of the horses and they can see that being caught is nothing to run from.

Continue catching all the horses until the hardest one to catch is left. Once this horse is by himself, he will be easier to catch because he will want to be with the other horses that have already been caught. Also, when it is just you and the horse in the pen, he will be more inclined to pay attention to you because he won’t be distracted by the other horses.

Clinton Anderson's Tip of the Week.

All of us horse owners have stories of trying to catch our horses out of the herd. Many of mine should be written up and used for Funny Friday, I can think of several off hand, most include gate issues. Trying to take out just the one I am going to ride can be a real challenge especially since I brought grain in, my speed method turns out taking longer than Clinton's method. Of course I always need an adventure story for the campfire later.

Happy Trails,

Danna