Old Wine in a New Bottle

I was thinking about the "new age" of horse training. The kinder, gentler, methods, using body language and the timing of the release. Training by merely asking nicely for a response to a stimulus. Today's training styles go by many monikers, including the ever popular "horse whispering", or as I prefer to refer to it, 'horse listening'. However re-packaged, whether mailed in monthly installments or hawked from round pens at equine expos across continents, the concepts are not new, in fact, far from it.

The most exciting thing about getting old is that you are able to witness the recycling of cast-off ideas from many years before, and as the concept becomes new again, a whole generation may never have heard about it. The best part is that we old folks know how to perform these "dated" skills with relative aplomb. So, as new students oooh and aahh when the lesson goes well and the results are unexpectedly rapid and precise, we old timers smile and nod, keeping the secret that we have "been there" before.

As a horsemanship teacher (different from riding instructor) the first thing I am asked is, "Are you certified?" and "Whose methods do you use?" I reply, "Well,.. my methods, of course. My methods are really not mine, after all, but were honed over a 45 year span by taking lessons under many instructors from several countries, riding many seats and breeds of horses, driving racehorses, and much trial and error as a kid. The things we did to young horses when we just got on and rode alllllll day! When I was 11 I did not know about the "wet saddle blanket method", but our horses were certainly kid-broke. When I could not catch my new field hunter, I learned to single him out of the herd and essentially, now, I realize that I was performing liberty work and relationship-building using equine psychology and my body language to make him follow ME. It was amazing to me to learn later that my discoveries about training horses were not mine( to label and copyright and sell to others) ...that others had discovered the WAY as well. But, others were making money naming, guarding and selling the secrets.

Old wine in new bottles.

In fact, I had been using the words natural horsemanship for several years and at my booth at a horse expo I was informed that I needed to take natural horsemanship off my cards because the phrase had been copyrighted and they were going to sue me for infringement.

So, I am still thinking about the way horses are trained today. The best methods are the ones that work for YOUR horse. Not all curricula is good for all learners...(wait, that is my No Child Left Behind discussion) and that goes for kids and horses too. The basic rules for training horses are the same that can apply to relationships with any entity:

1. Less is more
2. Timing is everything
3. It is not in the placing of pressure that we learn, but in the release...the attaboy.
4. Moving feet are usually happy feet...if we are moving forward, less time to get in trouble
5. If you ask, mean it. Do not be wishy-washy. Take a stand. Less confusion (for the horse)
6. Allow think time, time to process. Horses and people learn at different rates. Be patient and kind.
7. Do things the same way every time if you want the same result.
8. Pull your belly button in, get straight in your core to be fair to the horse that is carrying you.
Crooked people lead to crooked horses.
9. Horses do not act out for no reason. There is always a reason.(people too). Check saddle fit; rider fitness; bit fit, teeth for soreness (see bit fit) , check tongue so that the bit is not shmushing it, check palate so that your snaffle is not forming a ^ and poking the poor bugger in the gums, check side of mouth and cavesson for pinching (loose-ring snaffles pinch too); pull up the saddle pad into the gullet of the saddle so the pad is not crushing the withers (too long like that and the nerves die); fit the saddle to the horse, not your fads, fashion or just your own butt; remember that the bit is metal, cold, clanky and vibrates when you have snaps on the reins..(.it would sure irritate me and get my head to movin..); Foot ANGLES MAKE THE HORSE.

10. Remember, we are just now finding out what animals know and do not know. Autistic children are a lot like horses...Would we punish a child who does not know our language or who has an inability to understand and relate to us? That is what the horse is like. They are amazing creatures, with amazing abilities to teach and learn. Just see how many lives are being saved by equine therapy programs......Be kind, attend to their needs well because we have trapped them in our smelly stalls and make them live in their own filth...they would not do that in the wild. They would eat and sleep and poop all in different areas. Tune in and be present for your horse.

Old wine, new whinny, packaging smakaging...Keep your mind open, read a lot, play with your horse and do not get angry. In this information age there is plenty to choose from to make your relationship with your horse work.


Ride On!