Conference noted::equitation

    I don't know anything about stables in Texas, but I can certainly
    recommend a trip to the library. Horses are the subject of an
    incredable number of books, and a great deal of basic knowledge can be
    learned from them. Also a trip to a tack shop,(horsie toy store) can be
    very interesting to a budding horse lover. Titles you may want to look
    for: The Backyard Horse, A Horse Around the House, The Official BHS
    Horsemanship Manual. 
    Sandy
    

Suggestions for finding a stable for lessons:

1) go to tack shops and check advertisements
2) go to shows and see what stables are there and ask questions.  You don't 
   say whether you want to learn to ride english or western, but that may 
   make a difference
3) pick up horse-related literature and check for ads.
4) as uncomfortable as you may be about going through the yellow pages, it
   may help - get the names and drive by and visit and ask questions.  You 
   can sometimes get a pretty good feel  for the place just by looking. (this
   way you can also see if this might be a place where you could lease or 
   board any particular equine in the future)
5) Make horse-related friends (you got 'em here in the conference, but a 
   local human really helps, unfortunately, the only person I know in 
   Houston is my cousin, who is a student at Rice and he's not 'horsey')

There are other notes in this conference that deal with 'how to find a good 
instructor'.  (John, can you point her in the right direction?)  Read these 
for some example questions to ask anyone you might take instruction from.

If you find a stable you like, you can offer to work there in exchange for 
lessons, or some such deal.  You can learn lots just by hanging out and asking 
questions.

As far as cost, that's sort of area dependent, so in your travels, ask, and 
you should be able to get some idea of the average ballpark $$$.

    Hi Rita,
    
    Nice to see you in this file after reading about Worf and your birds.
    
    My advice to you, based on more that 20 years' experience, is: read all
    you can!  Read everything you can.  Eventually, you'll get a feel for
    what's good and what's not.  There seem to be a lot of books available
    that were written 40 years ago and some still are pertinent and timely.
    I would say find more recent ones for references to nutrition and
    health care.  A good magazine is Equus.  When I first started reading
    Equus, it scared the bejezus out of me every month.  Some really
    terrible things can happen to your horse even if you do everything
    right.  "What if I make a minor mistake?"  But, I think it must be
    sort of like having children -- after a while you sort of settle into
    it and get confident that you can handle whatever may happen.
    
    My other piece of advice is: stay away from "trainers".  Find a good
    instructor.  There's a difference.  And when you get ready to buy, as
    I'm sure you will, hire someone to help you who has no financial
    interest in the sale and only works for you.  Some folks who are
    agents collect a fee for helping the buyer and the seller.  
    
    And finally, what follows is part of a letter I wrote to a very nice young
    lady who was interested in purchasing one of my horses.
    
    Congratulations!  Your decision to buy your own horse is one that, I
    believe, will truly enrich your life.  A horse of your own, especially 
    an Arabian horse, will be one of the best friends you can ever have.  
    I have owned horses since 1967 and Arabians since 1979.  My experiences 
    with them have been some of the most rewarding of my life.  I will never 
    forget the thrill I felt when my mare, Emazing Grace, was named Most 
    Classic Mare at the Arabian Horse Association of New England annual show.  
    That was ten years ago and I still get goosebumps when I think of how 
    beautiful she looked that day.  Watching my stallion, Back Bey, win 
    in halter and performance (and riding him to a couple of those wins!)
    is an experience I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.  Nor would
    I exchange the opportunity to sleep in the barn night after night,
    freezing my toes off, waiting for my perfect filly to be born.  Seeing 
    that baby for the first time, and realizing that, once again, my Gracie 
    had given me a filly, was an experience beyond words.
    
    Emazing Grace is my first Arabian.  I bought her, sight unseen, when she 
    was ten months old. She stood up on the trailer with an older mare 
    all the way from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, to Harvard, Massachusetts, when she 
    was only eleven months old.  She has been a halter champion, she has been 
    shown and consistently placed under saddle, she has been the best mother 
    any filly could ask for...she has been my friend.  
    
    Rita, good luck and have fun.  Ask here for help.  The people in this
    file are wonderful about sharing their experience and knowledge.  They
    will never make you feel anything but welcome.  This is a terrific
    investment you're about to make for yourself.  The payback is more
    than you can imagine.
    
    gwen  
    

    Note 4 is a compilation of notes arranged by keyword. Note 4.2 is an 
    index for the rest of the replies. You can look at it for keywords that
    look interesting and then read the reply in Note 4 for those keywords.
    For example, keywrord BEGINNER can be found in reply 4.20 and lists all
    topics which have that keyword assigned.

    
    Ask and ye shall receive, huh?  Thanks for all the response, here and
    offline!  I think I'll be heading to the library this weekend...
    
    I've been skimming through this file, too - lots of good info.  One
    thing that seems interesting to me is that the majority of folks here
    seem interested in a ride first and a pet as a secondary benefit, where
    I feel pretty much opposite of that.  Maybe that will change once I
    start riding, though.  Or perhaps (being mom to several big birds,
    useless large dogs, and delicate reptiles :) I'm just abnormally
    adjusted to expensive, high-maintenance pets that don't do much :) 
    Remind me to tell you some day about the untamed $12 budgie that got
    $350 in the vet's intensive care ward and died anyway :-(
    
    I've located someone here in Houston that has horses!!!  I learned that
    a coworker's wife has a horse that she boards at a local stable.  It
    seems she would be willing to show me how to groom her horse and let me
    get to know him.  If I like him, she may even be willing to lease him
    for a while...so after the holidays we'll be getting together.  In the
    meantime, I'll be reading up so that I can stop calling horse parts
    "the front, the back, the middle, the foot, etc."  - I know they all
    have real names which I should learn to use if I'm going to show up and
    not get laughed out of the barn :-)
    
    Thanks for your help, keep the suggestions coming, and I'll let you
    know how things come out with my coworker's wife and (hopefully) my new
    horse friend.
    
    
    						/Rita
    

    
    BTW, Gwen, I am eagerly looking forward to the day I bring my own
    horse/pony/donkey/whatever home.  I'm betting bad-boy Worf gets kicked
    a couple of times before he learns respect for horses!
    
    
    						/Rita
    

    
    Rita-
    
    Just be aware that 1 well placed kick could kill Worf!
    
    Don't allow him around horses unless on a leash and well supervised...

    
    > Don't allow him around horses unless on a leash and well supervised...
    
    Understood - I don't actually let Worf around ANYONE - human or beast
    unless he is leashed, MUZZLED, and well supervised!  He just too much
    of a nut case to handle it any other way.  I don't have a clue about
    how he'll behave around horses, I have never seen him interact with
    one, other than to bark at the ones that folks are riding by the house. 
    He could surprise everyone and be a perfect gentleman, or he could be a
    major lout.
    
    Reminds me, though, of a woman that rides by our house pretty
    regularly.  She rides a big old appy gelding.  She has a white shepard
    that walks beside them, and a little amstaff that rides DRAPED OVER THE
    FRONT OF THE SADDLE IN HER LAP!!!  Funniest thing I've ever seen!
    
    
    					/Rita
    
    

    I think we for the most part take for granted our horses are pets! It
    just doesn't cause any need for help or discusion like trying to RIDE
    them does! I certainly would not bother with my horse if he was not the
    neatest pet I ever had. Imagine a thousand pound animal that thinks he
    is a puppy, likes to lick and everything. Riding is just a way to take
    him for long walks without wearing myself out! The fact that eating
    meat has no appeal to a horse helps also, very few bite and those are
    youngsters or have been mis-treated.
    

    With the same thought in mind, I bought my horse for the primary reason
    that I wanted a BIG pet.  My Great Pyrenees dog was the biggest, most
    solid dog I could find, but I wanted something bigger that would be
    easy to keep and not dependent on me to let it out every so many hours. 
    Gosh, and I thought my dog was great to hug!!!  Suz (my mare) rests her
    big head on my shoulder and goes to sleep if I hug her long enough.  I
    did learn, however, that a horse is entirely different as a pet than
    any other domestic animal.  I learned not to be timid when working with
    her.  It's not too hard to be freight-trained by a spooked horse. 
    Getting used to being around her included establishing good habits. 
    She will be impossible if I let her get spoiled.  Consistency is very
    important.  During the first few months, I never took my eyes off of
    her when I was near her.  She got spooked in the cross-ties one time
    and nearly flattened me.  Had I been watching, I would have noticed her
    lay her ears back and set her rear end to jump.  How was I to know she
    hated cross-ties?  She got aggravated by a dog one time and kicked. 
    Someone was standing behind her at the time.  Fortunately, she missed
    them.  She's like a deer in that her fight-or-flight instinct is
    very sharp.  She can also read me.  If I'm nervous, so is she.  What a
    learning experience!  Suz is a challenge and a best buddy that I
    wouldn't trade for the world!
    
    Good luck!

    
    re: .9&.10  Great notes!  Its super to hear that you feel that way
    about your "kids".
    
    >Getting used to being around her included establishing good habits. 
    >She will be impossible if I let her get spoiled.  Consistency is very
    >important.  During the first few months, I never took my eyes off of
    >her when I was near her.  She got spooked in the cross-ties one time
    >and nearly flattened me.  Had I been watching, I would have noticed her
    >lay her ears back and set her rear end to jump.  
    
    This sounds awfully familiar!  I've spent the past year working with a
    neglected/abused/aggressive rescue boxer dog, and I've had to really
    learn consistancy and attention to body language (mine and his).  It's
    paid off - he's much more manageable now.  Maybe that's been good
    training for being around horses.  Is there any sort of source/reading
    material on "horsey body language", or is it covered in the books on
    training/riding? 
    
    re: .9 and licking - one of the reasons I am considering a backyard
    donkey/burro is that I was seriously licked by one recently - and I'm a
    real sucker for that sort of thing :-)  Couple it with those huge ears
    and big eyes, and, well, I wanted to take the little guy home right
    then and there!  
    
    I've put "The Backyard Horse" on my Christmas list, and I'm really
    psyched about meeting/grooming/hanging out with my friend's horse in a
    few weeks.  (His name is Jet, he's unregisterd, not sure of the
    ancestry, and is a gelding - that's all the info I could get from her
    husband who claims he "tunes out when his wife gets horsey".  Oh well,
    my husband will probably acquire that skill, too! :-)
    
    Love the stories, thanks!
    
    
    					/Rita
    

    Re ...Is there any sort of source/reading material on "horsey body 
    language"...
    
    Yup.
    
    Two books that I can recommend are Henry Blake's "Talking With Horses"
    and "Thinking With Horses". Both are available from
    Breakthrough(1-800-824-5000) at $9.95 each. I'm sure they are also
    available from Knight's Equestrian Books(207-882-5494) but I can't
    quote a price because I haven't got her catalog with me. 
    
    A *great* book on the subject is Bonnie Ledbetter's "Body Language of
    Horses" but it's a little more expensive at $20.

    
    >Yup.
    >
    >Two books that I can recommend are Henry Blake's "Talking With Horses"
    >and "Thinking With Horses". Both are available from
    >.
    >.
    >A *great* book on the subject is Bonnie Ledbetter's "Body Language of
    >Horses" but it's a little more expensive at $20.
    
    Very cool.  Books are my drug of choice :-)  (And why *don't* bookstore
    have shopping carts, anyways?  Maybe I can train a donkey as a
    book-carrying pack animal and...naw, nevermind..)
    
    Since working with the monster-dog and the big crazy birds, I've been
    fascinated by animal body language, pack/flock behavior, etc., so this
    sort of stuff is a real thrill.  When I got my TTEAM catalogue (I use
    Tellington Touch for the monster-dog) I wanted to order EVERYTHING
    (despite the fact that I will probably never need to know how to train
    llamas:) - until I added up the cost - sigh, I HATE it when reality
    rears its ugly little head!
    
    
    						/Rita
    
    
    
    

    Another body language book is by Horsewatching by Desmond Morris.
    The same person who wrote The Naked Ape.  Published by Crown Publishers,
    Inc. in 1988.  ISBN # 0-517-57267-2.

    Yeah, Gwen's right. "Horsewatching" does have some body language
    discussion in it. It also describes general behavior patterns, etc.
    A reasonable book for a beginner. I picked it up on impulse about 4
    years ago when I first saw it in a bookstore. Read it and gave to a
    friend's kids who were just getting started with horses. They liked it.
    
    Can you tell books are my "drug of choice" too? BTW, mail order book
    sellers(See Note 1651) *do* have shopping carts! It's called UPS or the
    Post Office!

    
    >Can you tell books are my "drug of choice" too? BTW, mail order book
    >sellers(See Note 1651) *do* have shopping carts! It's called UPS or the
    >Post Office!
    
    Dangerous, John.  VERY dangerous.  
    
    
    						/Rita