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Don't be one of the sheep. Many equine training techniques are followed mindlessly. Remember, the worst training techniques are practiced widely by experienced horseman. Most of them got their experience from other sheep. Unfortunately, most people have not seen a horse trained without the usual excessive drill and use of tack. Even if they have, there is more comfort in following the traditional practices and slowing draining the spirit that made us admire the horse in the first place. Some of these techniques are so widely followed it is heresy to question them such as driving them into the bit and a lot of other crazyness. However, most horseman lack the confidence to go their own way. It is more comfortable to simply follow the herd and do what others are doing. Does Majo look as though he responds and is collected? I never drove him into the bit. As in most things, independent thinking weighs in far behind acceptance by others and the safety of doing what others are still doing. A good example is what appears to be an inane activity, lounging. I hear all kinds of excuses for this excruciatingly mundane drill. I generally observe there is no well defined goal and it is just a quick way to bore a horse to death! More of this notion of putting a horse in his place and making him passive. Essentially, if lounging is at the foundation of your training scheme I will never sell you a Majo Foal. It is a substitute for positive teaching. If a horse needs lounging in order to ride he hasn't been "Broke". I know I will hear from all the would be experts on this. They will have numerous explanations of the benefits of running a horse at the end of a thirty foot lead while chatting with a friend. But watch most horses as they are lounged. What communication is really going on? Is the horse annoyed or bored or maybe even learning bad habits? Is the human even paying attention? Does the human have a way to describe the desired result and a way to measure the success? Is the horse really calmer at the end of this activity or just a little more fatigued? Exactly what is the horse learning from this drill other than deciding being with us is not much fun. In my view the best partner is a happy one. A horse that likes their life and regards being with me as special. It doesn't make sense to associate mindless work with my presence. It doesn't make sense that the first thing I will do when we get together is initiate such work. Between my job and other responsibilities I have little precious time for the horses. I don't want to spend what time I have lounging horses. Lounging is anything but quality time. In fact I suspect it is a substitute for meaningful activity that is used by people afraid to mount their horses until the horse is tired. It simply makes more sense to have a warm up activity for the horse that reinforces desired behavior such as giving to the bit or moving away from my finger. His Self Esteem is important too! We are told the horse must be submissive. Don't let that horse take advantage of you! Don't touch his head! Don't feed him by hand! Are you going to let him get away with that? Boy if that horse did that to me I would ...! This type of instruction is repeated so often by the professionals and long time horse people that we are of the notion that it is true. Ironically, many people that own horses do not love them. I assume they started out with the right values but as beginners they needed advice. Traditional approaches lean heavily against the development of a positive relationship with your animal. They discourage, rather than foster a natural relationship. So , before you know it, desire to follow the "Experts" and "Be In Control" has people treating their horse in such a way that the concept of partnership is left behind. I know I am easier on my stallion than many others are with their geldings. My stallion has endured 10 months of little handling. Bad weather, moving from Coast to Coast and now tremendous heat have cut into training time. But I know in a few months I can bring him back. I have confidence and trust in Majo. I do not feel the need to overpower his spirit to be safe around him. This is a relationship where his self esteem is as important as mine. I like the GaWaNi Ponyboy principle that the relationship is more important than any specific exercise you are doing with your horse. Yes I do enforce my request to move forward with a tap of the whip if my cue is not respected. But I want to avoid situations that requires me to make him hate his work to prove I am the master. Wouldn't you really have more fun with your horse if you could relax and know your horse will listen because you can get respect without a fight. Training through fear and submission does not build the relationship I want with my partner. I find it unfortunate that today's pleasure horse is used for competition and we call it pleasure. The dominant interest is to prove our superior horsemanship by winning in competition. The interest is not in developing a foundation of communication with our horse. I am convinced the majority of horses are trained to satisfy other peoples expectations and to gain recognition for the rider. The development of a positive relationship with the horse falls way to getting the horse to do the things that provide recognition to the rider and owner. Earning trust takes time and requires setting your priorities. I passed when more traditional horseman offered friendly advise. I passed when I was told pull that stallion's head back. I passed when those in the know told me I didn't know. I care more about Majo and less of what people think. You got your horse to enjoy. Trust your good sense and train your horse with the expectation of building a relationship. Majo just keeps getting better! Respect His Fears! You get in fights when you expect more than what your horse is emotionally prepared to do. I remember seeing a woman loosing her temper because her young foal reared up out of fright while outside the arena at a large show. This foal was being asked for the behavior of a seasoned show horse and it was barely halter broken. Instead of teaching this young foal that he was OK and showing him how to yield he was punished. He was afraid and did not understand. Yet this woman yelled at him and told him she was not going to tolerate that kind of behavior. This woman's behavior is extreme because the foal was very young and we know a more seasoned and patient handler would have had a more gentle reaction to this foal's rearing. They would have ignored it and moved toward getting the foal more comfortable in his new surroundings. But we do the same thing when we ask our horse to cross a river but he has yet to cross through a puddle. Before each Parade I expose MAJO to some new and frightening object and help him deal with this new emotional hazard. If your horse cannot handle the situation it is your failure as his trainer. If he handles it well then you both succeed. I have covered Majo with tarps, walked him over big black plastic snakes, exposed him to the loud noises of chain saws, guns, and music and taught him to turn and face chasing dogs. This is just the beginning of his emotional preparation. Lead for him to follow. Majo followed me around like a puppy long before Monty Roberts was preaching the gospel. He even followed me in open arenas with large crowds and music. Those days have passed for now, but to have a horse latch onto you and feel secure is not a voodo whose secrets are only known and practiced by Monty Roberts. Anyone can do it and it has been done before Monty was selling his books. To have a horse desire to follow you is not difficult to teach. I learned the principles from John Lyons videos and clinics. It is based on the principle that the best place in the roundpen is near you. I think this is possibly one of the most important drills you can do. You lead and your horse follows closely. Don't put the Discipline before the Horse! If you like your horse, if you experience real joy in this cooperative effort, then maybe you can wait a little to teach a perfect side pass or slow down the lope! Using horses for pleasure clases we tend to rush to teach desired movements and skip fundamentals. I am having so much fun with Majo I haven't really worried about teaching him skills beyond not spooking and going forward in a willing, and calm manner! What I have said is I do not let disciplined instruction get in the way of actually enjoying the experience! That is tough concept for most Western Europeans! We are capitalists that crave competition. We want to win, we want to compete, we want to control nature. We must be better. Our horse must be better. We must have acceptance and we win it by being the best. We spend a lot of time educating our minds and too little time experiencing our hearts. Relationships are better built on trust, concern, and values that going beyond winning. I believe your relationship with your horse is the most important result of training. It is measured by the harmony you have between you. Your horse is not dreaming of satisfying your competitive wishes. He might, if your lucky, be looking forward to his next ride. Time with Majo is for something far above the rewards of competition. The skill is less important than the relationship. He needs the time! It is a busy world out there. You can "BREAK" a horse in one lesson without a fuss. A horse doesn't have to fight you at all. There, the horse is green broke. But "breaking" a horse and developing a relationship are two different things. The relationship is the lesson that counts and you cannot shortcut that. Time spent on constant drill just sours any horse. In order to teach a specific movement you don't want to bore your horse to death. Repetitive drill can quickly sour a horse. Time spent improving the relationship pays the long term dividend. A horse at one with rider is the goal. Define your goals carefully! One goal is to get a halter on our young horse for the first time. A better goal is to get our young horse to willingly accept the halter. The latter takes more time and the ability to remind ourselves our goal is broader than simply to get our horse haltered. I can see a big difference in our young filly that Pam taught to want the halter. Sugar simply wants to be near you and readily accepts a saddle on her back as a yearling! It is getting to where most new things are learned very quickly. It took several weeks to get Sugar to accept the halter willingly. At times it was tempting to just corner her and put it on. But the real objective was for her to accept an unatural object on her face without a fuss. This taught me to question myself and define my real objective. John Lyons mentions the same thing with regard to loading a horse in a trailer. If you goal is simply to get your horse in the trailer then you can use a backhoe to get the job done. But that really is not your goal. Well guess what. Teaching a horse to accept a halter willingly is the first step in loading willingly. It is one of the first steps to doing evrything willingly. Sit Back and experience the ride! Fear is another problem. Our fear of horses causes mistakes. When afraid we pull on the reins too much while riding or get too aggressive while doing ground work. Fear causes reactions directly opposite to what we need. It takes confidence to be light with your hands and control your aggression. If you keep needing tie-downs, stronger bits, new trainers, or new horses perhaps you are in the wrong activity. This is not a machine you are on but a living being and therein lies the joy. The measure of good horsemanship is defined in the relationship you have built. You must eventually relax and enjoy the ride. I know the sting of fear. It took my appaloosa mare's departure for me to resolve my fear. Only then did it dawn on me we would have no more time to share. Our summer was over and we hand never said goodbye. What we had not done, we would never do. I shall never forget my Princes. She was a prankster with a sense of humor. Now she was gone from my life. A few months later a very special guy entered from left stage. I call him MAJO. |
Might As Well Drive Into The Invisible Bit |
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Most people starting with horses at age 50 do not get a YEARLING COLT to ride and train for parade work. Such a practice breaks all the rules! A green and terrified human has little business attempting that. But my relationship with Majo made it a piece of cake! Not having been indoctrinated with bad information turned out to be an advantage. I have never made a better choice in my life. |
