# Is your horse Handy or just useful?



## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

My horse is Handy. Yesterday i went to clear trail, carried a machette in a holder on the horse and when I got to the places that needed cutting I just dropped the reins, grabbed the machette and went to town. At times I was more then 100 feet from him and he acts as if he is rooted to the ground, never a move from him. Gates he has down to a science and he never makes me let go of the gate nor stretch.
If I meet strangers in the bush he stands perfectly still, not even attempting to touch noses with a strange horse.
Everything he does he does quietly and efficiently. In the farm yard with big equipment working, honey wagons running past he doesn't care.
Yes he is handy, all my horses in the past have been handy
I believe strongly in hobbling and teethering by a single hind foot. I demand a horse that can be tied anywhere for any length of time without fuss. I attend the market on horseback and tie in the sheds with all the other amish horse and again I demand a quiet horse.
I beleive in handy horses.
This one has not been trained to the harness and driven but in the past I have broke my saddle horses to pull a buggy. I sold my harness so I will not be driving any horse in the future.


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

My horse is useful, but he is on the road to becoming handy. He stands quietly for me to dismount and open and close gates, and is learning to sidepass and otherwise manuever himself to work gaits with me aboard. He stands tied like a gem at home, and the only difference away from home is some whinnying and looking at other horses, which I expect will be remedied with more exposure to strange places and atmospheres. He is learning that cows are not horse-eating monsters, but on my family's little farm we have no need for horses with great "cow handiness," but simply "cow fearlessnes/toleration." He is very rope safe, from dragging a rope along the ground behind him to spinning the rope over his head, to ropes on and around his legs. I have future plans to add a tire or other load for him to pull, as a matter of being well broke. He comes flying to the sound of my whistle, I have never chased him. He is very traffic safe, even tractor-trailers speeding past hold little interest for him beyond acknowledgement. He loads into trailers without batting an eye, and unloads sanely, his cheekbone at my shoulder the entire time. He crosses bridges and water on the trail without any more difficulty than entering his own stall.

Yes, I think I would call Scout useful. At 8 years old, he has a good way to go before he is handy, especially in the more western riding style sense of the term, but even hunter/dressage/trail/companion ponies like my fellow can learn a lot and be a better horse for crossing the line from useful to handy.


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## GottaRide (Dec 10, 2007)

I expect every horse I ride to be handy. If they don't start out that way, they learn real quick. I'm lazy & I prefer that my horse do most of the work rather than me have to get off and do things afoot.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

My horse is ... um ... cute!


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

my horse is soo handy she feeds herself. (more like helps herself to the grain lol.) 

I dont think my horse is really either. Shes still green undersaddle, going on 11, but because I cant really ride her anymore. She goesnt understand we have to stop to open the gate. She genunily require alot of effort to ride. Although she does follow me around the ring on foot, and stop when I stop. I guess shes handy in that way.


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

My first horse came to me handy. Since then I refuse to have just a "useful" horse.
Even though my horse is trained in dressage, mainly arena ridden and too valuable to do much adventurous stuff with, when I take him out "on the trail" he does gates, walks over stuff quietly and never makes a fuss (unless there's a coyote upwind or a motorcycle lol) even though he can be high strung.
He ground ties, leads properly (pet peeve, lol) and stands for mounting, equipment adjusting and if I need him to move I simply use my body language and he scoots.
I don't put up with less than impeccable ground manners/riding manners.
PS. my horse is 6 and I've owned him for 18 months.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I also expect my horses to be handy. All will sidepass up to a gate and allow me to open the gate from thier back. They know how to bend their shoulder into the corner of the gate so that I can reach the chain on a gate in the middle of a fence. I thoroughly dislike having to sort cattle on my own feet because I have been run over too many times by cattle that outweigh my by several hundred pounds. They tend to respect a horse that is bigger than them better than a human that isn't. Plus, my horse is more agile and faster footed than me. LOL. If there is something that can be done from the back of a horse, at my house, it is done from the back of a horse. My Dad can even open and close wire gates from Pokey's back. I can't do it on Dobe cause he has a phobia about wire.

One thing that I do like about my horses is that I can bend over completely to get under the top poles of a cattle crowding tub and leg them over to open the gate. For those of you who don't know what that is, here is a pic. The gate is on the left and will pivot all the way around inside the circle.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Soda isn't either unfortunately, but he is pretty . Ha, but the goal is for him to be handy. We're getting good with gates and the ground tie is getting more solid. Side pass is getting better too. He just needs lots of wet saddle blankets and he'll get there.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I'm with Smrobs - All my horses become handy quick smart. I have no use for a horse I can't do gates on - I regularly do up to 10 gates on a ride and i'm not gonna get off every time. They will all stand while I hang off them to pick something up from the ground - They will all sort cattle quietly and calmy but will also pick up the pace if one makes a break for it or a bull challenges us. I can crack a whip off them, carry a polocrosse racquet and throw and catch a ball around their head. I have no use for a horse that isn't handy - Most of my riding is on the farm and you need a handy horse to get jobs done.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Good post Kevin.

My new guy, Hollywood, came to me useful. I've only had him for a few weeks and we are working on handy. Unfortunately I no longer have access to cattle but I can now throw a rope off him and ground tie him to clear a trail. We are working on gates. Not having the ability to ride every day slows things down for me.


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

I think people who get horses handy, are/ or get lazy. they dont take the time to teach the horse themselves.


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

iridehorses said:


> Good post Kevin.
> 
> My new guy, Hollywood, came to me useful. I've only had him for a few weeks and we are working on handy. Unfortunately I no longer have access to cattle but I can now throw a rope off him and ground tie him to clear a trail. We are working on gates. *Not having the ability to ride every day slows things down for me.*


Big ditto to this. I like college, but only seeing my boy on weekends and rapidly losing my weekend rides to weather and homework is getting old fast, ha ha.



sillybunny11486 said:


> I think people who get horses handy, are/ or get lazy. they dont take the time to teach the horse themselves.


I like putting a finish on my horses myself. I'm no bronc rider or colt starter, nor do I have delusions of grandeur in that department, but I like to get broke horses and give them some education. Scout came to me last May, underweight and basically just saddle broke. Even the saddle broke designation was iffy at the canter. He's made great strides in a few months, and I can't wait to see what next summer throws at us.

I do like taking my self-trained (minus the saddle breaking...) horses to shows and ribboning with the people who have their trainers calling instructions over the rail. :twisted: To me, to buy a handy horse (at least in the show world) seems like paying waaaaay too much for a ribbon. To me, 90% of the fun of showing my horse is the training, and competing against myself, so to speak. I can definitely see, though, buying a finished and handy horse if you have a job to do, and putting him right to work. It's like the difference in being a hobby mechanic and needing a daily driver to get to work tomorrow. I won't go to the junkyard and get something that needs work if I need to be somewhere reliably any time soon.


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

When people buy handy horses, they (USUALLY) dont really understand the mechanics and thought behind conditioning/training of a horse. I had a trainer who would buy push button horses for kids. When their horse was lame and they have to ride someone elses, less handy horse, they didnt know what to do, sometimes it was dangerous.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Sillybunny, I agree with you up to a point. I honestly believe that a child or a beginning rider needs to have a handy, well trained horse as their first horse (and maybe the first few). That way, they can understand what a good horse is and later on, if they choose, they can learn how to make a handy horse. I feel so sorry for people who honestly have no idea what a good horse is; that the only horses they have ever been able to ride where broncy, or bolted all the time, or wouldn't stop/turn, or was just generally frustrating due to behavior. I was incredibly fortunate that I had a parent that knew what a good horse was and always made sure that I had one to ride when I was growing up. Now I know how a good horse should behave and am making progress towards learning to train good horses. I have a long way to go as far as being good at making handy horses, but I know what I can expect of them and when a horse is behaving badly.

Ideally, a person should be able to work their way up the ladder from a good broke horse, to one more challenging, and more challenging, then maybe one that needs finishing, then one that is green broke, then one that isn't broke at all, then maybe one who has some training issues.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

sillybunny11486 said:


> I think people who get horses handy, are/ or get lazy. they dont take the time to teach the horse themselves.


Sillybunny! That's a silly statement. Many people just don't have the time or the inclination to fine tune a horse to be handy - not necessarily lacking the skill. 

Personally, I used to enjoy starting a horse but now, I just don't. Does that mean that I shouldn't own one because I didn't do it myself? I can take a handy horse and make it better but just don't have the inclination or the proper amount of time to take a green horse and turn him into what I ultimately want.


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## justsambam08 (Sep 26, 2009)

I think "handy" means different things for different people, and its something that everyone always works towards. Why would you not want something that you have to tiptoe around and make accommodations for?

I haven't had many opportunities to test my geldings "handiness" but I think he's going to be pretty able. If he's not I'm going to teach him to be that way, because he's 16hh and I'm 5'2", so I can't exactly afford to be jumping off of him in the middle of nowhere to open a gate.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

sillybunny11486 said:


> When people buy handy horses, they (USUALLY) dont really understand the mechanics and thought behind conditioning/training of a horse. I had a trainer who would buy push button horses for kids. When their horse was lame and they have to ride someone elses, less handy horse, they didnt know what to do, sometimes it was dangerous.


 
The solution isn't to give the kid a horse that's less broke. The solution is to not let the kid ride over thier ability.


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## ShutUpJoe (Nov 10, 2009)

I'm trying with everything I have in me to make my horse Handy in every aspect of the word.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

sillybunny11486 said:


> I think people who get horses handy, are/ or get lazy. they dont take the time to teach the horse themselves.


Horses don't exist in a vacuum. You don't just say one day "hey my horse is one broke SOB" then stop training it. Even if you buy a push button horse you have to ride it in a way that will keep it push button. That takes study and work and is not done by lazy people. I make money riding the dead broke horses of people that don't realize what it takes to keep a horse sharp. They are the lazy ones but even that is better than the stupid ones that buy half broke dinks for thier kid to ride because thier pretty.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

I would say Zierra is probably more useful. Which is my own fault. She has all the ahility to be handy, but because we typically just trail ride, we don't have a lot to practice being handy with. She's handy on the ground, does that count? :lol: In the saddle, she's a very go-go kind of horse, again my fault. I could easily dismount and drape her reins over a tree branch and have her stand while I cut branches, but she'd not stand very well to let me cut branches from the saddle. 

Good post kevinshorses. Really gives you something to think about, and realize when there aren't neccesarily "holes" in the training, but moreso a lack of training to complete ability. I could excuse myself by saying we never encounter situations where we have to open a gate, but it's still an aspect of her training that was never finished upon which I used that as my reason not to. Which really isn't a very good reason at all. You never know when that situation may arise from nowhere!


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I like a handy horse, and all of mine have been quite handy by the time their training was done; My new mare has a long way's to go, but she'll get there.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

My horse is handy. We are now opening gates like old pro's and a few weeks ago I was able to drop the reins while I went to pull a lamb out of a creek. This saturday gone we were riding beside a river and a duck with ducklings flew out at us, Phoenix got a hell of a fright but within a space of about 30 seconds she had stopped herself and stood there waiting to be told how to react. I rode her over to the duck (who was doing an oscar winning performance of 'duck with broken wing' to lure us away from her ducklings) she had a look and went "oh, ok". I consider that handy and I like it.

Not bad for a four year old in her first of year of being ridden.


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## bubblegum (Oct 6, 2009)

i would say mine are useless, they are babies and have learnt how do to nothing other than show me what their bums look like,  but they are getting easier to lead around


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## shesinthebarn (Aug 1, 2009)

My 2 are useless! Well, to be fair, one is a weanling and the other is a 2yr old who was a victim of "redneckitis" all summer - it's taking time to strip away the negative training and habits. Hopefully one day he'll be a very handy horse though!


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

I agree that kids shouldnt be riding above their ability. But if you cant keep a horse away from the gate, or keep it from walking out of the ring, you probably shouldnt own a horse in the first place. I can say from my expereince I've gotten lazy riding a past "handy" horse. If I had a choice of lesson horses I would choose the one requiring less work, so I could jump higher and do more. Now I have a mare who cant canter without lots of work, and jumps cross rails like shes drunk. I have to relearn/refresh everything I learned way back when.


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## SmoothTrails (Oct 1, 2009)

I used to have a handy horse. The horses we have right now are useful,but working on becoming handy. You can open a gate off of any of them. That is one of the first obstacles they learn to get over. They ignore traffic, and some ignore all the other horses. Mostly ours are working on getting used to different places and ignoring buddies. 

I agree with a lot of what was said about kids horses. We got lucky that my brother didn't end up scared of horses forever after how his first pony was. Unless he was ridden for about 2 hours everyday he may or may not be good. He ended up giving my brother 3 bucking fits in one trail ride. He only came off on the last one when tender areas hit the saddle horn. ( He didn't act like this when we first bought him, but he was not in great shape at all. When he got in better shape he was hateful)

That being said, he is no longer scared of getting on any horse. After fighting his idiot pony, he thinks it is normal to fight a horse every once and a while. He also knows that he has to win any fight. His horse now is wonderful. He has a little fight but not buck, and he is very forgiving.


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

I think it depends on "what" you consider handy versus useful. Opening gates might be handy for some but I can't honestly remember the last time I needed to do that. None of my horse's will ever work cows, but they will trailered to clinics, go on full day trail rides and be expected to cart around my niece and nephew and be gentlemen. 

I expect to get on them after the winter for our first ride and have them behave the exact same way they did at the end of the summer. I expect them to go anywhere I ask them to go without a fuss, whether it be onto a new trail, new trailer, new facility.

If you think chasing and stopping runaway horse's is handy, then I have that horse: H4 Services -

If you think a horse defending one of his owners from danger is handy, then that's my horse: H4 Services -

If you think having a horse that will defend his territory and turn a coyote into a bag of mush is handy, that's my boy:
H4 Services -

It's all in the eye's of the beholder!!


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Good stories G and K!


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## letsgetserious (Apr 17, 2009)

my horse isnt handy or useful and i dont care hahahaha


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## SmoothTrails (Oct 1, 2009)

Wow G and K. I've had some stomp dogs that had been chasing the herd, butnothing like the stories you shared.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

G & K, your 'coyote story' reminds me of riding back home, where we had to train our horses not to be afraid of dogs on trail rides...if you didn't there was no doubt that someone's mutt would ruin a good ride, because they would come out and chase. We taught ours to turn around and face a dog; usually that in itself was enough to send the dog packin' it back into his yard, but there were dogs who still kept coming, so we'd give the cue, and our horses would run those dogs back to their yards. After a while most of the neighborhood dogs knew our horses, and would maybe come to the end of their driveways, but never came out...other riders weren't so fortunate!


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## SmoothTrails (Oct 1, 2009)

mom2pride said:


> G & K, your 'coyote story' reminds me of riding back home, where we had to train our horses not to be afraid of dogs on trail rides...if you didn't there was no doubt that someone's mutt would ruin a good ride, because they would come out and chase. We taught ours to turn around and face a dog; usually that in itself was enough to send the dog packin' it back into his yard, but there were dogs who still kept coming, so we'd give the cue, and our horses would run those dogs back to their yards. After a while most of the neighborhood dogs knew our horses, and would maybe come to the end of their driveways, but never came out...other riders weren't so fortunate!


haha That is how we teach our personal dogs ont to chase. They can follow or come beside us, but if they try to chase I will turn the horse and chase the dogs around the pasture. It's pretty funny.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

We don't work cattle but we do extensive trail riding, parade riding, and extreme cowboy type obstacle course riding with our club. Both of our mares I would say are handy. They are fearless, loyal and intelligent. I think that makes them very handy. They didn't come to us that way either. Its taken time and training to make a horse handy.


ETA- I knew someone would have to give me flack about the video. Its been removed


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

Vidaloco said:


> . It doesn't look that difficult but it takes time to teach a horse the right moves.


You should also take into account the location of the hinges, whether you are right handed or left and that decides if it is a gate to back through or ride through.
The posted video is a gate that should be backed through.


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## Appy Luvr (Mar 16, 2009)

1 handy horse, I can do anything with him, gates, roundups, cattle sorting etc. and 3 useless babies that will someday grow up to be handy horses, they have an excellent role model in horse #1, I hope they are paying attention!


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Vidaloco said:


> ETA- I knew someone would have to give me flack about the video. Its been removed


 I am sorry you felt you had to take that video off. I liked it and thought your husband did a good job. I don't think there is any "right way" that gates have to be opened. Some swing in, some swing out, some go both ways, you do what ever is most expedient. I thought your husband did a great job of getting the gate open and getting his horse out of the way for you to go through. 

My theory on gate opening: gate open, horse through, gate closed - good job!

Gate open, stock escaping, rider hanging on fence, horse galloping off into distance - bad job!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Dang, I missed the video!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

OK I'll stick it back in here. He is left handed and its a little short 4' gate with a home welded closer on it. 




I'm on Vida so the camera work is jumpy and the audio is windblown.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

kiwigirl said:


> I
> 
> My theory on gate opening: gate open, horse through, gate closed - good job!
> 
> Gate open, stock escaping, rider hanging on fence, horse galloping off into distance - bad job!


If you ever compete you will find there is alot more to openning and closing a gate then open gate, horse through, gate closed-maybe poor score


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## Lis (Oct 29, 2009)

One of the two I part loaned I would class as high useful/low handy as he was very good but due to being left for two years he thought he could take the mickey when it came to gates although by the end I could drop the leadrope while I closed the gates, we never met gates out riding. He also learnt to ride with dogs and my dog learnt to be good round horses to the end where I could set off in a canter and Indy would run along side, not chasing but running with us, mainly because he didn't want to leave me. The other horse was no where near being useful as he was spooky and too flightly.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Aww Riosdad! Just when I thought we were getting along, you have to go and post something anal!

Of course I understand that in competiton things are different but sometimes a trail ride is just a trail ride. Clearly the vid was not in a competitive arena, just a guy enjoying being out on his horse. The horse clearly did as it was asked, the rider made the decision on how the gate was to be opened, had he been at a competition I am sure he could have and would have done it "correctly".


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

In ASh events - The gate must be done with one hand - Except for the latch, and the hand must not leave the gate while moving through etc. except to do up the latch. But no way do I do that at home! Too much effort :]


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

wild_spot said:


> In ASh events - The gate must be done with one hand - Except for the latch, and the hand must not leave the gate while moving through etc. except to do up the latch. But no way do I do that at home! Too much effort :]


 
That's the way we try to do it. Hand not leaving the gate. My husband can do it. I'm not coordinated enough. :lol: Its just for fun though no competition for us.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

Oh good grief, honestly now, you'd criticize a pickle for not doing a somersault properly, I swear. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone is just aching for you to correct them, especially when they're not doing anything wrong. I find it BEYOND amusing how you're so quick to judge others and yet we've seen what, ONE video of you riding a horse with a severe attitude problem? Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and start showing us some footage of your perfect training methods?

Lovely video VidaLoco, extremely fluid and well done, it was a joy to watch!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

kevinshorses said:


> What makes a horse 'handy'? When you come to a gate on a useful horse it will stand quietly while you get off and open the gate. When you come to the same gate on a horse that is handy you sidepass up to it, open it, ride through, then close it behind you.
> 
> A useful horse is good for gathering and penning cattle and will stand indefinately tied to the fence while you sort the cattle prior to loading them. A handy horse is also good for gathering and penning cattle but once penned you can easily ride in and sort and load the cattle quietly and efficently.
> 
> ...


- *Back to topic*-


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

wild_spot said:


> In ASh events - The gate must be done with one hand - Except for the latch, and the hand must not leave the gate while moving through etc. except to do up the latch. But no way do I do that at home! Too much effort :]


You never loose control of the gate, never and if taught properly the horse just seems to flow through the small opening in a smooth way . You never stretch, you never fumble. The horse puts you at the latch, you open it , put your hand on the gate and he flows around it putting you right back at the latch. 
Absolutely no effort on your part.
I am going to run a post this morning on the technic


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

Vidaloco said:


> That's the way we try to do it. Hand not leaving the gate. My husband can do it. I'm not coordinated enough. :lol: Its just for fun though no competition for us.


That's the proper way. Never every loose control of the gate. Pushing a gate open ahead of the horse is loosing control, taking the hand off is loosing control. Switching reins hand to hand is loosing control.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

MacabreMikolaj said:


> Oh good grief, honestly now, you'd criticize a pickle for not doing a somersault properly, I swear. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone is just aching for you to correct them, !


I actually saw alot of good things in how the horse moved. Just the technic was lacking. Maybe he just doesn't know the correct way and a little coaching and he could score a perfect 10 in any tial on gates. 
The horse was very responsive, he just had the horse set up wrong for closing and had to release the gate, loose control for a minute while he switched sides. A slight change in technic would allow him to not loose control of the gate.
One picture of your horse and equipment told me a whole story.


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## hiwaythreetwenty (Oct 2, 2009)

Riodad all they are trying to tell you is that this isn't a posting on being critiqued it was about discussing the handiness of horses but if you are uncapable of doing that then keep your thoughts to yourself unless asked. It isn't very polite and your way isn't the only way and don't judge people. I am sure you are not perfect. 

As for my horse Shadow is very handy - she's also a real thinker. On trail rides I can drop the reins and use my legs to free my hands to cut a trail - she is also very good at finding the best path when making a new one. If I have to get off and cut some bigger brush she follows right behind me so when I am done I can get back on. Also since I had three knee surgeries I use a mounting block to get on and no matter where I am at I can use a creek, a ditch, a log, a stump to get on my mare and she steps right up. On top of trail riding I have evented her up to novice and schooled up to training and she is one of the best horses in poor footing as she takes her time and makes sure she'll jump clear. On the few occasions I took a fall she stops immediately and waits for me to get back on. Then on top of that she was just trained to pull a cart and does a fantastic job doing that. She is a great all round horse now I just need to find her a man to get me another awesome all round smarty pants.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

hiwaythreetwenty said:


> keep your thoughts to yourself unless asked. It isn't very polite .


thank you for setting me straight. I will try harder to mind my own business.

There is an old saying 

"knowledge not shared is knowledge lost""

Wonder what that means???

I can only guess? I think old farts like myself should just shut up and keep their thoughts to themselves..


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Lacey is almost useful. She's pretty bombproof most of the time, but she does get hyped up on new roads (she's totally fine with new trails etc she just doesn't like roads...) which gets pretty old, pretty quickly. We don't come in contact with gates so I really don't know how she handles them, but I'll find out this summer since where we're spending the summer has tons of gates. I'm sure she'll do well since she's very maneuverable and responsive. 
I'm working on getting her useful then handy. In her case, handy would entail being calm in most any situation, being able to stand still anywhere (she's the type that HAS to move >.< ), being less argumentative about everything (it's a work in progress), and being able to have anyone ride her without worrying about their safety (people always fall off of her for no reason, the only people that haven't fallen off her in the last year are people who have been led by me on her and myself). She'll get there. She's getting better every ride and she ground ties, neckreins, and jogs like a pro now which is distinctly a quality of handiness to me.

She's also one of those horses that you get on and feel safe of because you feel like she'll take care of you. She might pick a fight with you but she's not trying to hurt you/make you fall off. She's the kind that you feel like you could get in a bad situation with and she'd get you out no problem, in a safe, smart manner.


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## hiwaythreetwenty (Oct 2, 2009)

RiosDad said:


> thank you for setting me straight. I will try harder to mind my own business.
> 
> There is an old saying
> 
> ...


Knowledge is great to learn and trust me I love nothing more then to learn whenever I can but I also know there is a time and place and manner. But there is knowledge such as hey if you continue to let your horse plow over you like that it could cause serious injuries and then there is someone shows how they open the gate on there horse and we need to tell them they did it incorrectly. The job was done and at no point did they look out of control or unsafe. Thank you for joining this forum and passing your years of knowledge to others but don't assume they don't already know and chose to do it differently. One thing I learned in my shorter years of working with horses is that everyone is different, the method that works for you may not work for me and vice versa. We have different personalities and different ways about us. It is easy for us to tell someone what they could or need to do better but then we aren't there and we aren't riding the horse everyday or working with it everyday. I am just saying please critique when asked or in a less "know it all way" then when they inform you they know that and didn't care don't say something along the lines of I saw your saddle and it explained a lot (or something along those lines I'd have to go re read it) Enjoy your day


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

RiosDad said:


> You never loose control of the gate,
> I just have to tell you the picture I get in my head for this!
> 
> Horse and rider stand dumbly in the middle of a gate way, gate gallops madly off into the distance! Rider looks blankly at horse and says "**** it! If only I had never taken my hand off the thing I never would have lost control of that gate!!"
> ...


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

lol, Kiwigirl you are hilarious!


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## BaliDoll (Sep 21, 2009)

Bali... Attempts to be as handy as he knows how to be, but fails because of poor planning on my part mostly I think. For instance, there is a gate in the outdoor arena that I didn't know had a spring on it.... he side passed for me to open it, and started to go through when I lost hold of it while holding it open and it almost hit his neck... he backed out with light speed (clever boy!) and then wouldn't let me try it again- even though I promised I'd hold on tight this time! hahaha
I think he has the potential to be handy, because he's curious and likes to explore/learn (i can go bareback on trails he's never been on before because he isn't ever looking for a reason to spook!) but he doesn't have a lot of opportunity because of where I ride... Los Angeles county isn't exactly horse country...


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Dang, I missed the video again!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I'm never posting another video/photo ever never again


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

^ Aw! :[


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

kiwigirl said:


> RiosDad said:
> 
> 
> > You never loose control of the gate,
> ...


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

Vidaloco said:


> I'm never posting another video/photo ever never again


Vidaloco, don't let one person poop on your party. It was a good video.


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## hiwaythreetwenty (Oct 2, 2009)

Vidaloco said:


> I'm never posting another video/photo ever never again


Vidaloco, don't let one person get to you everyone else enjoyed the video and by the way your husbands horse looks beautiful I need to find one like that for my husband he has a thing for chestnut quarter horse types (I like more of the heat - Arab and TB) Keep your chin up not everyone is bad.


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## whitetrashwarmblood (Aug 24, 2008)

My horse is handy, but there are no gates that we need to open or cattle to sort. But I can clean up the trail while I'm on her back. There's no creek she won't cross. She'll go out by herself, or with a big group and she won't cause trouble. She'll sidepass. She's handy for what I need her to be handy for. I honestly have no idea how she would react to cattle. She's only seen them from a distance.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

In the OP I used the example of cattle work and gate opening because that is the world I live in. The way my horse moves to sort cattle or open a gate is really what I was refering to. I have two horses that are handy. The best one is a bay gelding that I have had since he was a weanling. He is a little spooky about some ti=hings but that is his only hole. He's real sensitive and quick. My other handy horse is a roan gelding that is nice a quiet but can flat move when he needs to. He probably has the potential to put my other horse to shame but he is gentle enough for my kids to ride so that is what I use him for more than anything else. I have a useful 4 year old stallion that will soon be handy. He is just sensitive enough and nicely gentle and really confident.


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## paintluver (Apr 5, 2007)

My horse is useful right now but I hope in the near future we will work him into being handy!


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## 1dog3cats17rodents (Dec 7, 2007)

My horse is useful in that he does the job I ask for (riding). Handy? About as handy as a chunk of mud. He would probably (scratch that, he WOULD) just try to eat the gate. Cows? He'd want to know if he could wipe his mouth on them. I have opened the big, sticky sliding door on our arena off him, but more through personal talent and sheer stubborniss then any help from him, he tried to walk through when it was 6 inches open, lol

That said, I have no need for a handy horse. I'm an arena rider, the most I can do (due to location) is take an occassional gallop through the big pasture to loosen him up. I don't run into gates, cows, brush, etc


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

1dog3cats17rodents said:


> That said, I have no need for a handy horse. I'm an arena rider, the most I can do (due to location) is take an occassional gallop through the big pasture to loosen him up. I don't run into gates, cows, brush, etc


When I used the analogy of working cows and opening gates I was actually refering to the yielding of hindquarters and forehand, backing light and collected, turning on hindquarters and generally being a responsive light horse. If you want to do flying lead changes or half-passes then you need a horse that is more than usefull.


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