Filly refuses to train

[Jessi P]

If an exercise rider is scared it is time to call it a career.

I ask incredulously.there are places that don't require a trainer to have comp??

There is a difference between being scared to be on any horse and being smart enough to say "No thanks, I wont get on this one." Every experienced gallop person has a healthy dose of fear that comes from experience - it's called self preservation and respect for what can happen with horses. Its the people WHO HAVE NO FEAR who get horses and other people hurt.

Tuc, how old are you?

Yes, there are tracks that do not require trainers to have workman's compensation. To be honest, Tuc, the idea that you rely on workman's compensation in the event that you get hurt is a bit scary. What if you are paralyzed? Having workman's comp wont change the fact that you can't walk. Orlando the gallop boy, jockeys Gary Birzer, Tony Dlugopolski, Donna Zook, Michael Strait, and some 18yo girl my ex bro-in-law put on a horse she never should have got on - they are all paralyzed, and that is permanent. It happens far more often than you might think. Clyde Bramble was galloping a horse at Turfway a few years ago when he was thrown into the rail - and the end result was he LOST AN ARM. Mario Calderon was killed at Phila Park a couple weeks ago, God bless his soul - dead is dead whether he was covered by workman's comp or not.

My ability to earn is never a thought. If I get hurt I still get paid. So I have and will ride whatever is under me. If I go down in a grande wreck, so be it, it's my job. snip It doesn't scare the good riders. Good riders aren't smart enough to be scared.

PLEASE have a care for your own self. Odds are, if you don't look after yourself and your safety, no one else is going to care either. Maybe you will get covered by workman's comp for the duration of your injury, however weeks or months that might be but what if the end result is that you can no longer gallop horses for a living? Do you have a contingency plan?

Yes there are good and bad gallop boys and girls, no one disputes that. Some are green, some experienced, some are smart, some arent so smart. Everybody gets hurt at one time or another - horses will be horses and even the quietest ones will sometimes get a bee in their bonnet. That's inevitable. The point I am trying to make is that its the rider's responsibility to draw the line at what they will, and wont get on in order to protect themselves - hedging their bets, so to speak. Like I said earlier, there is always some young, dumb cowboy type that will get on anything, but they are the ones who don't last very long. There aren't too many OLD and dumb ones that get on anything. And I wont say anything else, I dont want to preach; I just want Tuc to watch out for herself because there are trainers and horses out there who WILL GET YOU HURT.

[Jessi P]

Sorry for the sidetrack from the original topic.

[Tucumcari]

Absolutely. Smart isn't scared. I am a firm believer of not riling up more horse than you can ride. I was taught that a lifetime ago and that still rings true. Smart is saying that the horse is too much horse and there is zero shame i that. I wouldn't necessarily call that self preservation. I'd just call it smart.
As for my age. Old enough not to answer that. And it's far from relevant.

I don't have self preservation. Sometimes I wonder why I don't. But why think about what could happen. If I was worried about being crippled or killed I would have stuck with cutters and reiners. OR have been a school teacher. Sure it is a little sobering when I hear that an exercise rider has died or is paralyzed somewhere in the world, but it doesn't sit in my mind like a weight. I certainly don't let it affect my ability to do my job. I am not he exception in that.
Stories of people getting hurt just make me think "occupational hazard."
My general health and well being is daily in someone else's hands IF I can't trust that person to make good decisions for the horse's life as well as mine, I am not compelled to work there.
As far as working for people that don't care. I am fortunate enough to have already done my time for the less concientious of the racing world. I have never been a bottom feeder.
I don't just gallop horses for a living. It is a part of the role that I play.

I'm a big girl. I have been doing this a while. Thanks for your concern

[Entry Blank]

Some horses are spolied and when they learn a behavior that they have gotten away with more than once I think its safe to say that could be the reason they are trying it again and again.
I am of the school of thought that not all horses are having a soundness issue when they start doing things wrong like lugging in or getting out some are just being jerks. Having said that even if the horse does have a problem and you let it get away with doing things wrong then a habit developes and even after the physical problem is solved you still have the mental one of a habit formed. Good luck getting your filly figured out!

[onalimb]

I think your filly has been talking to my gelding....

[Mood Swings]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I helped to break this filly and I can say from my own experiences with her that she has a streak! I recall having to coddle her a bit because even in a round pen she would decide she didn't want to go forward and she would rear and nearly flip over. I distinctly remember remarking she would need to be handled with kid gloves as you couldn't get upset with her without exacerbating the problem.
She is back at the farm for a rest and my friend the owner is away on vacation so she will get a mental break at least until he gets back.
She has been with a few astute horsemen and most if not all of the suggestions mentioned have been tried I believe she was going to be checked for ovarian issues the other day and I haven't yet heard the results but pain has been ruled out elsewhere. I realize it is not looking very promising for her as a race horse ...

[griff]

Sounds like she is going to have problems with more than race training..

griff

[Daisy Jal Dastur]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I helped to break this filly and I can say from my own experiences with her that she has a streak! I recall having to coddle her a bit because even in a round pen she would decide she didn't want to go forward and she would rear and nearly flip over. I distinctly remember remarking she would need to be handled with kid gloves as you couldn't get upset with her without exacerbating the problem.
She is back at the farm for a rest and my friend the owner is away on vacation so she will get a mental break at least until he gets back.
She has been with a few astute horsemen and most if not all of the suggestions mentioned have been tried I believe she was going to be checked for ovarian issues the other day and I haven't yet heard the results but pain has been ruled out elsewhere. I realize it is not looking very promising for her as a race horse ...

I had a grand daugther of Theatrical a couple of years ago and she started off the same way, and I'm sorry to say, she was a dud! The dam (by Theatrical) was an apparent nut case (a fact we found out much later) and none of the other foals have even made it to the races. I don't mean to discourage you, but I'd try selling her off.... just MHO.

[soft hearted]

Funnily enough, when I started galloping (this will tell you how many years ago ) I was told NEVER get on a Halo or a Triumphant. That a Stonewalk would kill me out of sheer stupidity and a Triumphant because they can't think straight. But a Halo would do it out of sheer joy.
Years later I think back...
The ONE filly I started out on the farm with (it was her 3rd! re-break) was a Stonewalk. Confirmed flipper and when she couldn't do that, she'd run backwards. Through countless fences. Got her out of it (don't ask) and saw her go through an auction with a "meat only" tag two years later. Yep, she decided on some new tricks and went through another 4 re-breaks.
Funnily enough, every SINGLE horse I adored (yes, I was one of those dumb, "bring the tough ones on", I lived for adrenaline types), was a Halo.
Tough horses, but fair. If they argued, you had to either win the argument right off the bat, coddle them enough to keep their pride intact or just not get on. If they "beat you" (mentally) then you were done.
Get them to give you their heart, they'd kill themselves trying for you.
Stonewalks.. well, let's just say I wasn't mislead.
Yes, great and grandiose broad brushes that were painted with, but sometimes, ya just gotta believe when someone with 30 more years experience than you tells you something.
Just saying that I *get* what Tucumcari is saying. If your immediate reaction is "how do I get out of this?" then you need to stop. If it's "Eff this, you're going to DO this and we'll both get out alive!" then you're still all right.
If this filly's been tough all along, you probably know she isn't going to change with one simple adjustment.
Sorry.