I'm going to shoot Spirit.

[Mellifluous]

The little punk is going to be the death of me!!!!
:realmad

I stopped going into the pasture to feed because Spirit is like a shark when he sees a human with a feed bucket. He would circle and come in to "attack" (buck, kick, snake head, etc). I now have their feed pans tethered to fence posts and I dump the feed over the fence into their pans. He still comes up and makes nasty faces and snaking his head while I dump the feed. I can puff up at him and he will run away but he will still look nasty at me.

His new thing to do at eating time is to kick. When I throw the hay out beside him while he eats, he kicks at it. If anything moves behind him (even 30 feet away), he kicks. These are the sort of kicks that would really be harmful if they connected, not half hearted. He puts everything he has behind them. Now, if I go in the pasture to catch one of the other horses I have to keep a VERY close eye on him. I make sure that I stay away from his rear end at all costs. I also watch for a spin and kick if he is facing me. :sick

I used to go armed into the pasture with a length of bamboo. I would whack the crap out of him at any sign of aggression. He quickly learned to stay out of range but did not change his behavior. If I go in unarmed his tries to get all over me looking for cookies. I know that this is my fault, but I am laying the bulk of the blame on NANNY. Spirit spent the first 3 years of his life being fed Nilla Wafers multiple times a day. All he had to do was stand at the gate and Nanny would run out and feed him some because he "looked so hungry." When he started being really aggressive with me in the pasture, I got a little nasty with her and told her to quit feeding him treats. I don't give him any treats, period. He is way too nasty about mugging humans!

Some days I really really really HATE that horse. So, where is that magic spot? Do I draw a line from eye to opposite ear, X marks the spot? :dead horse

Ok, rant is over. :D

[CarolU]

You could start your own resturant, Spirit Steaks in Spicy Cajun sauce, Spirit Chops, Spirit Burgers with avacado and sprouts.

I'd go back to the stick. Lots of horses get aggressive about their food. I'd make him back away from his feed bucket until he comes in with his ears UP. Bruiser started kicking when he ate, so I drove the hay cart hehind him. He kicked it twice I think and decided that maybe kicking wasn't such a good idea.

Spirit needs some human space lessons...back him away from you and make him stay there a minute. Then bring him in. If his ears are back, do it again and again until he comes in like a gentleman. Then I'd go ahead and treat him. Treats are fine...but they have to EARN them.

[Mellifluous]

Spirit needs some human space lessons...back him away from you and make him stay there a minute. Then bring him in. If his ears are back, do it again and again until he comes in like a gentleman. Then I'd go ahead and treat him. Treats are fine...but they have to EARN them.

I hate to say this, but I am at the point where I am not wasting any more of my time on Spirit. I can spend time, get him acting like a gentleman and the family will ruin it. I know how to teach him about human space, I just don't feel like doing it over and over and over and over and over. I would rather spend my spare time with Phoebe. She is worth it.

Honestly, there are times when I wish that Spirit would have a bad accident so that I could have an excuse to put him down. :roll:

[Beth Worden]

Mel - Forgive me cause I don't read all posts and don't "chat" so a few questions...

Who is Spirit?

How old?

Broke to ride yet?

gelding?

[Mellifluous]

Mel - Forgive me cause I don't read all posts and don't "chat" so a few questions...

Who is Spirit?

He is my "Gold Plated" home raised Arabian gelding.

How old?

3 and a half.

Broke to ride yet?

No, he is due to go to Cowboy U in the near future.

gelding?

Yes, laproscopically.

[Mellifluous]

Oh, and to top it all off. I think he is turning grey on me. :realmad

[Beth Worden]

Well...if you REALLY don't like him, send him to a trainer to get him saddle broke and sell him for what you can get. Tell the trainer to find him a home. Nobody wants an unbroke horse these days, and keeping a horse you don't like is just, well, stupid. A waste of a (possibly) good horse and a waste of your time. Anyone who has had horse for more than a couple years will end up with one they just plain don't like. I've had a couple that were not worth the gas to get em gone, as far as I was concerned. I see people beating themselves up about parting with a horse. It is just plain unnecessary.

[Mellifluous]

Well...if you REALLY don't like him, send him to a trainer to get him saddle broke and sell him for what you can get. Tell the trainer to find him a home. Nobody wants an unbroke horse these days, and keeping a horse you don't like is just, well, stupid. A waste of a (possibly) good horse and a waste of your time. Anyone who has had horse for more than a couple years will end up with one they just plain don't like. I've had a couple that were not worth the gas to get em gone, as far as I was concerned. I see people beating themselves up about parting with a horse. It is just plain unnecessary.

That is why I am going to go ahead and get him trained. No one in their right mind would want him as is. I figure that I will be doing right by him to get him trained before I sell him. My plan is to campaign him at some endurance rides this fall and hopefully sell him ASAP.

My plan has always been to sell him as I have a limited amount of time and space and he is not part of what I want to spend it on.

[CarolU]

What Beth said.

It's really not worth keeping him if you don't like him. He's a pretty boy and once trained should sell for at least enough to pay for his training. I feel for your situation. Most horses do fine with a lot molecoddling, but a dominant personality horse can be downright dangerous if spoiled.

[Mellifluous]

What Beth said.

It's really not worth keeping him if you don't like him. He's a pretty boy and once trained should sell for at least enough to pay for his training. I feel for your situation. Most horses do fine with a lot molecoddling, but a dominant personality horse can be downright dangerous if spoiled.

I can only hope that I can get the training costs back out of him. I will mark him up a bit just because he does have nice bloodlines and is a sporthorse type of arab. He is a darn site better prospect than many of the other "prospects" I have seen in the classifieds.

I hope to have another paso in the future. It will probably be a dominant personality paso. If the horses stay where they are at, I am going to have to be rude to the family. They won't so much as look at one of my horses once I set them straight. I don't want this to happen again.

[cowboy ed]

heh, heh, i can hardly wait to get my hands on him........ :lol:

[Beth Worden]

Mel - www.endurance.net
THese gals just might want your horsey before training. THey ALL ride Arabs and want a horse with good blood and alpha personality. WHat the heck...put an ad in and see what shakes out.

[motorgypsy]

Have you considered a hot wire to keep him six feet back from the gate where he has been given treats? I bet it would keep the treat giver away also. We started doing this when our bottom of the hierarchy decided she was very brave across a gate and would kick and bite over it. We use step ins and a single strand.

On the other hand perhaps you should put one outside the gate to keep the humans away from the gate. Most humans are terrified of electric :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

I hope you don't mind Mel if I tell his story. For those who don't know Spirit's story he is a miracle boy and I know Mel loves him but like Kyle feels about our goats, barbecued Spirit sounds really good right now. Spirit managed to rip his scrotum down the center on a boundary marker that Mel begged her family to remove but they refused to do so. So his testicles had no place to descend so UGA had to go looking for them. He is drop dead GORGEOUS too. Like a beautiful and brilliant child that the grandparents have spoiled rotten.

Mel knows he'll be great once he gets away from the bad influences and to someone who understands Arabians and doesn't have family who don't.

Maybe it's rabicano Mel cause there's a lot of Rabicano in Arabians which you know I'm sure. Is his face going grey and the lower part of his tail? Arwen was black at 3 but if you looked closely you could see the "ice hairs" in her coat. I think grey is translucent and white aren't. Carol was going to look at them but I can't remember what she discovered????

[Mellifluous]

Mel - Endurancenet.net

THese gals just might want your horsey before training. THey ALL ride Arabs and want a horse with good blood and alpha personality. WHat the heck...put an ad in and see what shakes out.

Yeah, I hang out on there. I thought hard about putting an ad on there before traning but decided not to. Spirit will be fine once he has some training. I think I can get more for him and give him a better chance if I let Ed start him before I sell him. Spirit will go on their classifieds once he has some education.

I think I will hang some for sale signs off the saddle when I ride him.

Some of the people on endurance.net have some strange ideas about horses, I would not want the wrong one to start Spirit and end up with a disaster.

[Beth Worden]

Mel - starting a horse is starting a horse, whether it is for endurance or trail or show. I think Ed will agree with me. It's all the same. Good choice, BTW and ED - DO NOT get a big head, OK? Your avatar is already big-headed enough!

And you are 100% correct. He will sell much better under-saddle.

[Mellifluous]

Mel - starting a horse is starting a horse, whether it is for endurance or trail or show.

I agree. I also think that there are good ways and bad ways to start a horse. I have seen how some of the endurance people accept bad behavior from their horses. They think it is normal for their horse to dump them on a regular basis. :roll:

A solid foundation by Ed will set Spirit apart from the rest of the "crazy arabs." That is what I am banking on. ;-)

[Pam M]

Hey Mel, don't shoot him...do it the redneck way...dynamite, big bonfire, all the trappings...and charge admission!

Joking aside, good luck with him. I sometimes feel the same about Maggie and she's not even 2 yet. Can't wait till she grows up :roll:

[moonrize]

Well, if you're going to bar-b-que Spirit, I think I will come and bring my hubby's goats for desert :roll:

[SandyMM]

I have seen how some of the endurance people accept bad behavior from their horses. They think it is normal for their horse to dump them on a regular basis.
I think people familiar with other breeds could add to the list of breeds and venues where getting dumped is almost a badge of honor...

As for me - getting dumped means pain and a long walk to find something I can step up on to get back on my horse.... I _never_ accept getting dumped as 'normal'...

[Cindy]

Hey Mel, don't shoot him...do it the redneck way...dynamite, big bonfire, all the trappings...and charge admission!


And I'll still bring the beer. :D

[PasoVicki]

Mel,
Before you blow him up, would you post a photo? I've always had a soft spot for Arabians.
Not that I want one, mind . . . especially not a spoiled one . . . but I would love to see a picture.

[Mellifluous]

My two favorite pics.

Newborn
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/spieit_baby.jpg

Headshot
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/SPirit_Best_S.jpg

[motorgypsy]

Told ya he was GORGEOUS!!! I LOVE Arabians - love seeing other people ride them!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[PasoVicki]

He doesn't look spoiled . . . ;-)

And he's too pretty to blow up or barbeque.

[ASB.Immortality]

His looks fool you.

Get the fire ready. I think we could do it the weekend of the 31st. Do you think anyone would know? ;-)