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My Training Perspective / Attitude
Over my time dealing with and training horses and my experiences with thousands horses (here in the UK I have conducted more than 4000 sessions so far), I have been lucky enough to have run across (in person as well as in other mediums) a growing number of trainers with similar training attitudes as myself.
These trainers not only want to solve problems for
horses (rather than intimidate horses) but also
want to teach owners to carry on in the correct
/ best ways with ongoing exercises and attitudes
towards their horses - as well as generating true
understanding between the horses and their owners
and riders.
Theses trainers not only want to produce good, |
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well trained horses and educated owners, but also truly
“care” about each horse “as an individual”,
no matter what breed, size, color, age the horse happens
to be and with no bias as to which training discipline
the horse happens to have been trained.
By working with and treating each horse truly as an
individual - listening to and learning the horse's point
of view / current understanding (or misunderstanding)
of the (our) World in which we have forced it to live
in, there is a much better chance of being more effective
in generating a true “two way” communication
with the horse and lasting relationship.
When a horse truly believes that we are truly listening
to it's replies / comments (it's tries, efforts, etc.),
the horse will gain much more self confidence and believe
that his best interest is being looked after and will
not feel so much that he must look out for himself (acting
alone) with no help from the trainer and/or rider. This
aspect of communication is not all that different from
humans when involved in conversations where one is talking
over the other and not really hearing the other's point
of view. Confusion is generally the result in such conversations
and that is often the same result between horse and
human. Horses, not being used to humans truly listening
for most of their lives will check or test this premise
from time to time and we must be patient with them as
they reaffirm this.
By working with each horse as an individual whilst attentively
listening and paying attention to replies (even when
ever so slightly given) – the speed of the training
process is often sacrificed (sometimes to the chagrin
of the owner) in exchange for the quality of the result.
But to the trainer (myself included) this should not
matter, as a good horse with a sound mind, is much more
important than having a mechanical horse with no calm
/ sound mind. By mechanical horse, I mean one that is
doing things because, during his training, he has been
forced to do them. The horse doesn't end up working
because he wants to ; he does everything because he
has to . The is no feeling in what he does – just
a mechanical motion.
This “mechanical motion” is generally the
result of the old “speedy” training methods
of “DO IT NOW AND THIS WAY OR ELSE !” as
well as from the over-use of mechanical / equipment
based methods for control -- such as incorrectly using
martingales, draw reins, double bits, etc. and the list
goes on.
Trainers should tailor training methods to fit the personality
(or horseanality) of each individual horse. By doing things
in such a way, the mechanical feeling you sometimes get
from a horse can generally be avoided. In its place, a
more natural flow and genuine willingness will come from
the horse. Put more succinctly, it is forming
a partnership between horse and rider.
Another important point that applies to many horses
is the herd mentality requirement of having a "Firm
Leader". As we humans are predators we must also
include with Firm Leadership a clear understanding of
"Benevolence" toward the horses as well. Therefore
an effective paradox is to become a "Firm and Benevolent
Leader" for our horses so that they can expect
and trust us to take care of any of their fears when
they are with us. With their millions of years of DNA
programming they will always need some one to kill any
attacking predators and we must be that protector. Our
ability to redirect and control their energy and footfalls
rather than confining / stopping them (holding them
back) from running or moving is an important factor
in that line of thinking.
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