Blinders or no blinders

[Robert MoonShadow]

Hey Plowboy… don’t apologize for not knowing more; it all helps, really. What I’m having trouble understanding is what to look for; your’s & Donn’s comments on some being a bit spooky or uptight about noises behind them gives me a little bit to think on… I’m guessing that just experimenting when they get that way, with & without blinders, to see if it makes a difference. I’m hoping to get a bit more concrete indications, but maybe there aren’t really any.

[Plowboy]

Drove Dixie and Dan on monday both in open bridles. He is just starting out this was his second time open and pays no attention to the big trucks or traffic. He doesn’t even look at them and never reacts. These two are laid back so I can’t make a concrete decision. For these two I think they will be fine open. I guess I’ll have to find a more lively one to try it on. We did use our Belgian gelding one time to cultivate potatoes. He hadn’t done alot of precision work single so I led him while Dad held the cultivator. He didn’t pull well because I think he was confused being led while pulling. We had a brief conversation about what to do. We didn’t think driving him was the best option because of his inexperience and our need to have those potatoes unscaved. We agreed on a plan so I reached up and unbuckled his throat latch and peeled his bridle off. When we started to go again he saw the cultivator chasing him. It made him uneasy and we cultivated alot of potatoes in a hurry “Mister”. He was never out of control just a little speedy. After he got used to it he was fine with it. He also jumps when things come up on him quick so maybe he might be our next experiment but at 13 I wonder how he would transition? He is dopy and the only thing that remotely bothers him is when something comes up suddenly. His reactions are insignificant but I wonder if he would react at all If he could see what is coming? There is always something new to learn or try to keep things interesting!

[J-L]

That’s a good point you make about your jumpy horse. I have a mule who has that same affliction. She could care less what she’s dragging, but when things ‘pop out’ from behind her blinders it makes her jump. I’m thinking of putting her in an open bridle to see what she does. Let us know what comes of your experiment there.

[Plowboy]

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This is a photo of the first time we drove our youngest horses together. Dixie is in the open bridle. Dan is only 22 months and coming along well. He is in an open bridle now so I’ll try and post some newer pictures soon now that I’ve figured this out somewhat.

[grey]

I have really enjoyed reading folks’ thoughts on this topic and feel inclined to share my own.

I have one horse that was started in a closed bridle as a youngster. I bought her as a stale 5-year-old who’d sat in a pasture for a few years. Re-started her in an open bridle. Started a second horse in an open bridle as well. Things were going great, I rode and drove them both, never had a problem.

Talking with other teamsters about blinders/no blinders got me to thinking and I transitioned both horses to closed bridles as an experiment.

It has been two years since I started using closed bridles part-time and the results are measureable. Let me preface this by saying that I had never had cause for complaint about the obedience of my horses. I do take them out in public. We do ride and drive roads and trails. We’ve done shows. Occasionally there will be a new object or a new situation that gives them pause and brings a round of snorts. But I can talk them through it and there’s never been a situation they couldn’t handle.

Since initiating use of closed bridles, I have found that my horses trust me more. I didn’t notice a LACK of trust prior to using closed bridles, but I did notice an INCREASE in trust after I began using them. I currently use closed bridles about 50% of the time. I have noticed that regardless of whether they have blinders or not, my horses are now more responsive and more trusting than before I started using closed bridles at all.

I think it must be something akin to those awful corporate retreat things I’ve heard about where you do team-building exercises such as fall backwards and have your co-workers catch you. Wearing blinders caused my horses to develop “blind faith” in my leadership. They have never come to harm while under my instruction and guidance, blinders or no. Taking away some of their ability to see and judge the situation for themselves forced them to place their safety in my hands and at the mercy my good judgement. When I continued to guide them safely and competently, their esteem for me and my judgement increased measureably.

In my case, adding closed bridles to my horses’ wardrobe also added a whole ‘nother dimension to our working partnership.

[Plowboy]

Grey, That’s a unique philosophy you have. I can’t say wether it’s entirely probable because I wonder if your trust/ communication improved by the actual amount of work you were doing with them instead of blinders or no blinders. It would be hard to measure either way there are too many variables, different horse personalities being the most difficult to assess. I can’t say for sure because we are still experimenting with open bridles. The one thing I will say is the trust/communication improves dramatically the more the animals get used and that I know for certain. We have some friends with horses that are always having problems and the real problem is that they won’t make the commitment to use their young animals several times a week. They want a miraculous transition without the effort. I commend you for being a doer and maybe I’ll give your theory a go sometime and see how they react to being put back in blinders.

[grey]

You could possibly attribute it to the overall number of hours and miles the horses had worked. However, I would like to state that at the time that I began using closed bridles, I had been working the one re-started mare for four years and the “new” mare for one year. It was only about four or five months after I started using closed bridles part-time until I realized that I was definitely seeing more trust from both horses.

I had not anticipated this change. I had not decided to start using the bridles hoping for or expecting any particular results. I just thought I’d “try it and see” – largely because I’d been heckled and hassled by other teamsters for working in open bridles. Part of my reason for experimenting with closed bridles was because I wanted to be able to have the option of using them in situations where I did not want to be judged by other teamsters for having the unconventional preference of using open bridles.

[OldKat]

@Plowboy 6315 wrote:

Grey, That’s a unique philosophy you have. I can’t say wether it’s entirely probable because I wonder if your trust/ communication improved by the actual amount of work you were doing with them instead of blinders or no blinders. It would be hard to measure either way there are too many variables, different horse personalities being the most difficult to assess. I can’t say for sure because we are still experimenting with open bridles. The one thing I will say is the trust/communication improves dramatically the more the animals get used and that I know for certain. We have some friends with horses that are always having problems and the real problem is that they won’t make the commitment to use their young animals several times a week. They want a miraculous transition without the effort. I commend you for being a doer and maybe I’ll give your theory a go sometime and see how they react to being put back in blinders.

Plowboy,

Since you bumped into an issue that I have with my horses I’ll address this to you, but really anybody that has an idea is welcome to respond. My issue is this; due to my work schedule I am at work roughly half the month, in other words I work 14 times out of a 28 day cycle. When I am working it is 15 hours from the time I leave the house until I get back home. Not good for trying to put in some harness time.

The good news is the other 14 days of the cycle I am off and I have some fairly big blocks of time to work with them. The days working are broken up into “sets”, no more than 4 in a row. Between sets I am off twice for 3 days in a row, once for only 1 day and once for 7 days in a row. The days off are great for working the girls; the days I have to work are a non-starter. I never thought this would be an issue, because I thought I would have been retired by now … BUT that didn’t happen & isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. So if anyone has any ideas on how to keep them going in the right direction when I literally don’t have time to work them I am all ears.

Thanks in advance for any feedback that you all have to offer.

[Plowboy]

Old Kat , Work them all you can whenever you can and you are going in the right direction. The folks I was referring to work conventional 8 hr 5day jobs close to home and leave there horses idle for months on end. If you are working with them as much as you can then thats all you can do. Good luck with them you sound like you are commited to it and thats the first step to becoming persistent and success should follow.

[Author]

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