I am new to horses and have tons of questions but I will not get into all of them on this post but will eventually post more questions (hopefully I can continue through the forum to find more help or a willing ear...lol). I am posting my main concern on this one. A brief history on my horse Whip,(short for Whipperwill) is an 8 year old Appaloosa gelding. I purchased him this past Father's Day weekend. He is a sweet horse and is mindful in some respects. His previous owner I do not believe did much with him other than ride (with spurs I might add). The owners before that left him tied up in a junk yard for three years. He is not malnourished and is a health horse. The vet will be coming out soon to give him a check up soon. He is good under saddle except for throwing me which was partial my fault but that is a whole different story. I want to bond with this horse and I feel that Join-up is my best answer, but there is my concern. He is blind in his left eye so he is spooky of everything at first but in order for him to stay calm it has to be constant. You cannot do something one day and do it again two days later and get the same results of being calm. He does not really have any ground manners yet and can sometimes be disrespectful, I am just now able to fully start working with him since my throw. Back to my concern, is it still possible to do join up with Whip because of his blind side. My husband tried to do join up with him and our other horse yesterday but to no avail. Whip will run with his right side out so he can see but he could not get him to turn the other direction. He said he might have been doing something wrong, he got the ear, head down, somewhat smaller circle (no round pen, large square pen) and chewing but no licking and no join up. Our other horse is a 15yo Quarter Horse gelding. My husband also tried join up with him, but to no avail either. He got all the gestures and the horse just stopped as if to say ok now what do you want me to do. We will watch the video again and again . Any help or advice would be much appreciated. If you need any additional history that would be helpful I am willing to post.
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Dear angie, you are spot on when you say the horse wants to have his eye he can see with to the outside, it makes much sense if you are a horse. A half blind horse will be able to learn how to move its head so to see a little on the off side and they are also very good at using their hearing. Instead of trying to do another join-up the "normal way" I would like to offer you some advice: the horse speaks equus and is ridable, that means he will be able to communicate with you. I have worked with many "one eyed horses" and find them always placing me on the side they do not see so to be able to see the rest of the world. I have gotten super "join-up´s" with all of them modifying it by working on the Dually - it is all about the 4 signs, and you will get them by working on the Dually. Remember, the horse will know were you are and they feel any change in your energy! So, watch every film you can find on Join-Up® and take the time to have A LOT OF FUN with your husband and practice on each other before doing join-up® on your quarter horse - I promise this is what we do with our students BEFORE they go out and practice on the horses, also remember to let your horse have fun - it is their language and when they realize you are there to practice on your skills, they will help you to be good! Have fun, practice on each other, it takes time to learn a new language, and Keep on Equus! Warm Regards and best wishes Certified Instructor Ann Lindberg sweden
Thank you for your response. I appreciate all the input. I do have a question, when you say working on the join-up using the dually what do you mean. I have ordered the dually just waiting for its arrival. :)