Q & A

 

With a great many thanks to the exposure that I received at the Northern Illinois Horse Fest, I have been receiving a lot of emails from some really nice horse owners. Some of them email to say how much they appreciated my presentations and thought my philosophy on horses and natural horsemanship was different from what they have been hearing and seeing lately. Others simply wanted to know more. And then there are those who questioned my philosophy because it went against everything that was ever taught to them...or because my philosophy goes against what is currently being presented even within natural horsemanship circles. In reality, my philosophy on horses and natural horsemanship isn't all that different than what others are teaching. Clinicians probably have more in common than we have differences. The main difference is how we choose to implement those commonalities.

But as I have been stating in my last two articles, for the majority of horse owners "it is always easier to imitate rather than to create". We just do things with horses because that's the way it has always been done. Because their trainer tells them it has to be done a particular way or someone's grandfather taught them, etc., etc. and no one ever seems to question the methods. Why? Because it works. Well, it works well for the human but it is not necessarily the best working deal for the horse. In horsemanship it has always been "monkey see, monkey do".

I choose to take what I have learned and make it fit my personal goals and philosophy. And while I do achieve the same results, sometimes it will take me an extra day or an extra week. I truly don't care. Remember, my first training principle and tool is TIME. I refuse to concede to peer pressure or current fads and will not compromise my personal philosophy with horses.

I am striving to CREATE rather than to just imitate. Right or wrong, at the end of the day and at the end of my life, the only ones I have to answer to are my horses. Period.

So here are some questions as they were emailed to me. Even though this may be a long article, I will try my best to answer them to the best of my ability without writing out volume after volume and page after page.

1) OTHER 'NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP' TRAINERS, AND CLINICIANS, ARE GENTLING AND STARTING COLTS IN ONE HOUR (OR LESS). I SEE THEM DO IT AT THE HORSE FAIRS AND ON RFD-TV. WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE IN DOING IT THAT WAY?

2) WHY ARE YOU SO ADAMANT ABOUT PEOPLE LEARNNG THE PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS OF NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP AND NOT JUST LEARNING THE TECHNIQUES?

3) HOW CAN ANY TRAINER OR CLINICIAN CLAIM THAT WHAT THEY DO WORKS ON EVERY HORSE IF EVERY HORSE IS AN INDIVIDUAL AND LEARNS AND REACTS DIFFERENTLY?

4) WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD BE WORKING WITH YOUNG FOALS, WEANLINGS AND YEARLINGS WHEN WE DON'T PLAN ON STARTING THEM UNDER SADDLE UNTIL THEY ARE OLDER?

5) WHAT AGE DO YOU RECOMMEND STARTNG HORSES UNDER SADDLE AND RIDING THEM?

6) I HAVE HEARD YOU SPEAK OUT AGAINST STALLING HORSES. I HAVE ALWAYS SEEN HORSES STALLED. I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS ADEQUATE HOUSING FOR THEM AND THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE STALLED. WHY DON'T YOU LIKE HORSES TO BE STALLED?

7) I'VE NOTICED THAT SEVERAL TRAINERS AND CLINICIANS ARE BEGINNING TO STUDY MARTIAL ARTS. PAT PARELLI HAS STUDIED KUNG-FU, MARK RASHID SPEAKS OF STUDYING AIKIDO AND RECENTLY YOU POSTED AN ARTICLE IN WHICH YOU STATED THAT YOU HAVE BEEN STUDYING MARTIAL ARTS FOR A LOT OF YEARS BUT MOST RECENTLY BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU. WHY IS EVERYONE HOOKED ON TO MARTIAL ARTS ALL OF A SUDDEN, AND SHOULD I BE STUDYING SOME FORM OF MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING? WILL IT REALLY HELP MY HORSEMANSHIP?

8) HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN TO PUSH A LITTLE HARDER TO GET THROUGH A TROUBLED SPOT IN TRAINING, AND WHEN TO BACK OFF? HOW FAR DO YOU PUSH THE HORSE'S ENVELOPE OF COMFORT, ABILITY AND TRAINING?

9) I NOTICE THAT YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO BE RIDING YOUR HORSES IN HALTERS, OR BRIDLE-LESS, AND NOT IN A BIT. WHY?

10) EVERYTIME I OPEN A MAGAZINE AND THERE IS AN ARTICLE ON NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP, ALL THEY EVER TALK ABOU IS "FEEL". WHAT IS "FEEL" AND CAN YOU TEACH ME "FEEL"? CAN ANYONE TEACH WHAT "FEEL" IS?

 

1) OTHER 'NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP' TRAINERS, AND CLINICIANS, ARE GENTLING AND STARTING COLTS IN ONE HOUR (OR LESS) I SEE THEM DO IT AT THE HORSE FAIRS AND ON RFD-TV. WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE IN DOING IT THAT WAY?

Good question, and I get asked this all of the time.

The main reason I don't do one hour colt starting demonstrations is that just because we CAN do it doesn't mean we SHOULD do it.

Just because we can get a horse to accept horse and rider in less than an hour doesn't mean it is always in the best interest of the horse mentally and emotionally. But I have several more important reasons for not demonstrating or teaching "one hour sack, saddle and lopes". One main reason is that just because a big famous named clinician borrows a horse for his horse fair demo and does a one hour sack, saddle and lope, doesn't mean that particular horse is "started" and ready to go home with the owner and that owner ride that horse safely on the next day. Most people who allow the big clinicians use of their colt for a colt starting demo do so because they are not experienced horse trainers themselves. So the clinician comes in and gets this horse sacked, saddled and loping around the pen a few times. And we all sit there and applaud, etc., etc., etc. but what happens the next day or the day after that?! The clinician isn't going to go home to further this horse's training, is he? Of course not, he has other obligations to attend to. So what happens. This horse cant even be considered "green" yet. All that we can say is that it was ridden around the pen a few times. That's it. Now the owner with little to no experience is supposed to take this horse home and saddle it and ride it and give it a foundational training. Man, that's a train wreck waiting to happen!!!

See, most of what you see as 'natural horsemanship' is either being demonstrated or taught as coming from a Vaquero/Californio way of training...or...there are a lot of ranch cowboys going around and demonstrating it. But there are a couple of VERY IMPORTANT things you must remember here...

One, most of those cowboys were NOT doing natural horsemanship 20years ago. Most of them have only been training this way for about 10-15 years. A lot of them still have the mentality that on day one the horse costs you money...on day two, you break even...and by day three that horse is on the payroll working cattle etc., etc.. Well that's not realistic of 90% of horse owners, is it? The majority of us did not grow up on big cattle and horse ranches. For the most part we are backyard horse owners. What the cowboy type of clinician fails to realize is that most backyard horse owners do not have the experience to keep a colt out of trouble during those first few rides. The cowboy clinician knows how to keep the colt on this side of trouble, but also knows how to read the signs that the colt is close to being troubled and can adjust to fit the situation. And if all else fails, the cowboy clinician has the experience to ride through that trouble and come out on the other side in fairly decent shape. How many of us can truly say that we have the experience and knowledge to keep a colt out of trouble and ride that troubled bucking horse all the way through if need be?

The other thing that bothers me about these colt starting demos is the mindless round penning. Yes, we can run a horse around a pen in endless mind-numbing circles until they are completely exhausted and will do just about anything to be able to rest and get along, but is that the best way for the horse? Absolutely not! A big famous clinician made his reputation on doing that very thing and claimed that a horse could be saddled and ridden in less than an hour....in fact, even under thirty minutes. Next time you watch his tapes, or see him in person, count the number of times that the horse is run around the pen. It will astound you. He isn't working the mind as he claims...instead he is exhausting the physical body so that the mind surrenders. Anyone can do this....in fact, everyone seems to be doing this and there are a lot of horses that are almost ruined by mind-numbing round penning. Please read my round penning article for details. Getting back to the clinician, has anyone ever seen him actually mount and ride these horses? Nope. He always has someone else mount them for him. Check out the tapes that cover day two, three and four. Same method as on day one and the jockey is still "sneaking up on the horse's back". He is not riding this horse alone but rather is still being lead around on the lead rope by the clinician. Wait, if this is supposed to be so good for the horse, why all the caution and fear? Because this horse was not prepared well enough mentally, emotionally and physically.

The other thing I am against is that ordinary backyard horse owners like you and me will go and watch the clinician and then go home and mimic the techniques without ever having a real knowledge of the principles and concepts behind those techniques. What happens most of the time is that the backyard owner doesn't always get the same results and then blames the horse or the techniques, when the truth is the fault lies on their shoulders. Again, horses are put through things unnecessarily. Why? Because it is better to imitate rather than to create.

Funny thing...years ago, it would take a good horseman a few days in starting a colt...then all of a sudden it was one day....then it became one hour and now we are down to thirty minutes. How much faster are we going to push horses? Just because they lick their lips doesn't mean its okay to keep doing it. Talk about fast food mentality and microwave horsemanship!

As Ray Hunt is fond of saying, "It's amazing what a horse will put up with and go through just to get along with the human."

I SIMPLY REFUSE TO BE PART OF AN EQUINE EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT IS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD.

I will not do colt starting demonstrations.

It is not fair to the horse I am starting...
It is not fair to the people who are watching because they go away with only half the information...
And it's not fair to their horses.

Now we have these colt starting competitions that are al the big rage…..in these competitions, three well-known clinicians each are assigned horses at random. They walk into a round pen the with the horse and given a specified time limit to get the horse gentled, sacked, saddled and ridden by the end of the imposed time limit. Then they each must perform certain basic tasks and objectives such as walk, trot and canter, drag a log, go over, around and through obstacles, etc. A panel of judges decides on who has started the horse and completed the tasks better and then declares one of the clinicians the champion of the event.

The event is very popular. I have even watched three of them myself, and although these clinicians are very gentle in their methods, this is still about the clinician and their methods and not about the horse. Yet, it is spouted as being for the horse and that the horse is the most important thing. Funny thing, each of these clinicians has preached that it “takes the time it takes” but then will enter a competition where they have a set time limit to get it all done. This is truly a case of “do as I say, not as I do”.

If one hour sack, saddle and lope colt starts are what you like to see, then please look elsewhere. I have nothing to offer you. There are more than enough of these videos and demonstrations out there for you to spend your money on. I don't need your money that badly.

2) WHY ARE YOU SO ADAMANT ABOUT PEOPLE LEARNNG THE PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS OF NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP AND NOT JUST LEARNING THE TECHNIQUES?

Because techniques will fail you!!!! Plain and simple. If it was all about techniques, then every NH clinician and horse trainer out there would look identical. Parelli would look exactly like John Lyons who would look exactly like Pony Boy who would look exactly like Klaus Hempfling, Who would look exactly like Clinton Anderson, etc.,etc....But each of those clinicians does things in their own way And yet, each is successful with horses time and time again. Why? Because they understand the underlying principles and concepts of natural horsemanship. They understand herd dynamics and horse psychology. Its that simple. Yes, each horse is an individual and what works for one may, or may not, work for another. So how can those clinicians succeed every time they step toward a horse? Principles and concepts. And because they work solely within those principles and concepts, the individuality of the horse makes no difference. See, even though all horses are individuals, they are all horses and they all speak horse. Period. A Mongolian Pony doesn't speak any different horse language than say an Australian Brumby or a Peruvian Paso. That is what makes what we do so great...and that's what makes all those clinicians so successful.

If you go to your local library and stand at the end of one aisle and look straight ahead, there will probably be tens of thousands of books (depending on the size of your city and the size of your library). These thousands of books are individual. No two are alike. They differ in height, weight, thickness, number of pages, font, layout, subject, hard cover, soft cover, some with no pictures, some with no words, etc., etc...Again, no two are alike.

These books can range from the stories of 'My Little Pony' all the way to books on quantum physics. Yet, we can read every single book. Why? Not because of special tack or equipment that comes with the book, but rather that we have been taught the principles of reading. If the book is written in English we use the reading principles of reading left to right, top to bottom, and front to back. Right? In other words, we read starting at the top left of the page and read left to right...as we read left to right, we also read that page top to bottom....and as we read through the book we go from the front to the back. Simple. These are the principles that we read by and by so doing it this way, we can read My Little Pony or the latest computer software manual. Doesn't matter.

Well, as I stated above, horses are just like the books in your local library. Each is truly an individual, but they all speak horse exactly alike. It is the universal language of Equus. Principles and concepts not written by man, but written, taught and lived by the horse. These principles are the very same as saying right to left, top to bottom, front to back. So while horses are individuals, much like those thousands of books in the library, we can, in effect, read every one of them. We will learn from them, refine what we already know from them, teach others with them, and share with others what we know....AND... we are able to leave our own impressions and language on every horse that we touch. It's like writing your own book. The horse is a blank page and its up to you to fill in the words of that book. Good, bad or ugly. Hope that makes sense.

My job is to help you understand, and connect, the principles and concepts to the methods so they can be successful for you and your horse. Every day I strive to find new and easier ways to teach the fundamental principles of training to which horses respond. If I can explain them easily to others, then horse owners will begin to offer their horses a better partnership.

3) HOW CAN ANY TRAINER OR CLINICIAN CLAIM THAT WHAT THEY DO WORKS ON EVERY HORSE IF EVERY HORSE IS AN INDIVIDUAL AND LEARNS AND REACTS DIFFERENTLY?

I love this one! Yes, horses are indeed individuals, but we tend to overlook one thing, we tend to ignore the fact that THEY ARE HORSES. They speak only one language and that language is horse. It does not matter if you have an Egyptian Arabian, an Irish Cob, A Mongolian Pony, An Australian Brumby, A Peruvian Paso or an American Mustang...they all speak the exact same language!!! But a lot of the horse trainer and clinicians out there don't ever really tell you that do they?

Why is it that the clinicians can all have success with every horse they touch? The reason is that the clinician understands that regardless of the fact that each one is an individual, they still all speak the exact same language.

We have been told for so long that each horse is an individual and what works on one wont necessarily work on another that we have taken that as gospel and has become a hindrance to a lot of people. Yes, each horse is an individual. I will never argue that point. However what has happened is that we have had that sentence repeated to us over and over again for so long that we believe it as gospel, and when something doesn't go perfectly well for us when we are training horses, we chalk up to the old "each horse is an individual" rhetoric. THAT ONE SHORT SENTENCE HAS BECOME A CRUTCH! Yes, that's right. It is a crutch!!! It has kept good meaning people from having great relationships with really good horses. Why? Because when something doesn't work as planned, the person automatically gives up on the horse and begins falling back on that old standby line. Instead of looking for ways to overcome their problem they readily dismiss it and use the "individual" comment as a crutch. WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!

Read the above question and my answer concerning the principles of reading a book.

4) WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD BE WORKING WITH YOUNG FOALS, WEANLINGS AND YEARLINGS WHEN WE DON'T PLAN ON STARTING THEM UNDER SADDLE UNTIL THEY ARE OLDER?

Well, when it comes to young horses, there are two schools of thought. The first school believes that other than some halter and leading lessons and feet handling for farrier, the colt should be left alone to grow up in the herd and learn to become a horse. The second school of thought lean toward the learning starting as early as possible teaching the colt from an early age with short progressive lessons and teaching all that they need to know and understand before they ever have a leg over their back.

I subscribe to the second school of thought. First off, let's look at the first school...leave the horse alone in the herd as much as possible so that it will learn to be a horse. A horse is a horse regardless of how it is brought up. There are certain innate qualities that are within their DNA structure that we cannot change. While we can influence some outcomes by controlling a horse's environment, a horse will always be a horse. Period. Doesn't matter if it is born in your living room or foaled out on the wild prairie, it is still a horse. But this first school also comes from the cowboy/ranching culture. With cattle to tend to and ranch chores, wranglers and cowboys just don't have time to teach all the important little foundational things to each and every colt. Time simply does not allow it. So we get the colts "halter broke" and teach them to lead and how to have their feet handled and then turn them loose. Then when the horse is three years old, they begin the gentling and starting process. ..but in this day and age of natural horsemanship, that means putting them in the round pen, running them in circles and then doing a one hour sack, saddle and lope. We have already discussed my personal views on that type of colt starting. If the average backyard horse owner did this he would find that he doesn't have the experience to tackle the job of starting a horse who has been left alone for so long.

With the second school of thought we begin the horse's training as early as possible. Let's take a 6 month old weanling for sake of argument here. From basic imprinting on up until maturity. We begin by teaching them to accept haltering, touching all over their bodies, standing to have their feet handled, vaccinations, de-worming, grooming, bathing, dental work, how to stand tied to a hitching post, ground tying, trailer loading, accepting fly spray from a bottle, how to yield to pressure in all directions, crossing obstacles, creek crossing, tarp desensitizing work, etc., etc., etc. Even saddling early so they understand how to carry a saddle on their back. (albeit it may be an 8 pound small English style saddle - but it is a saddle none the less)

This gives us two to three years to prepare this horse for the eventual day of carrying its rider. There is no stress. Everything that has ever been taught has been taught in a slow progressive manner. What happens is that the horse just accepts this as the next normal thing to do. There are no surprises. No mental and emotional stress. We have found that horses brought up this way do very very well and usually have a mature mental capacity and mature amount of trust in their owner.

Now the cowboy/rancher types will say that this type of everyday handling will cause a young horse to become a spoiled brat and disrespectful. Causing problems for the owner as time passes. Normally I would agree. I have seen far too many extremely spoiled horses...however, this is because they have been left alone and never been taught how to yield to their herd leader - YOU. They have been babied and raised similar to raising a puppy. This will get you into serious trouble when that "puppy" is now three years and weighs close to 1000 pounds!!!

By constantly teaching the horse, you are building Trust, Respect and great Communication. These are the very building blocks that you need when the horse begins his under-saddle training, right? Right! By constantly teaching the horse in progressive logical lessons, you are also establishing yourself as the leader. This keeps the horse from becoming a spoiled brat who is disrespectful of your personal space.

I can also promise you that your little one hour time frame with this horse is NOT going to distract from what they are learning from their herd the other 23 hours of the day. Too often I hear those cowboy clinicians state that the horse needs to grow up and learn to be a horse. What in the world do they think is happening the other 23 hours a day. There are more lessons learned there then what the cowboys will teach in one hour.

Let's face it, what else do we have to do with this horse until it turns three and we begin preparing it to carry us? Not much. Too many times I hear people whine about how they wish they could ride their young horse. Well, just because you cant throw your leg over his back and ride doesn't mean that you cant have a lot of fun teaching your horse and spending quality time with him! Get creative!!! I took my young horse on trail "rides" every chance I could. In the beginning, we went for a hike together. I was on foot with my young horse in hand. We walked down to the creek and while we were there, and after she enjoyed a long drink of cold fresh water, we worked on water crossing. I even walked into the creek and just waited for her to eventually come in to join me. It was her idea. (This is a perfect example of Training Principle #4 - THINK. FEEL. Remember you're working with a mind, so create a way for your idea to become their idea)

She has been crossing water without hesitation ever since. As she got a little older, I would pony her off of my other horse so she could be mentally and emotionally stimulated by going out and 'site-seeiug' with the rest of the herd. She learned to wait her turn, walk in line behind and in front of others, etc. We also learned how to communicate together while I was somewhere other than on the ground in front of her. Again, this amounted to a lot of trail savvy and maturity by the time she was actually old enough to be ridden on the trails.

This is what I am talking about.

Look, we don't send a child to first grade without them at least knowing their ABC's, how to count to ten, and basic colors and shapes, right? So why do we expect more out of horses? We should prepare our horses for the day when they enter first grade.

Even Ray Hunt in his book "Think Harmony With Horses" says the exact same thing...

"It's like a child learning. You want the child to write his name when he goes to school - that's your goal. He's going to write his name as soon as he can. Whether it's the first day or the next month, it doesn't make any difference. First he has to get ready to write - he has to prepare. If the child has never used a pencil, he first has to learn to pick it up, what it means to pick it up, what it feels like. Then he gets to scribbling, making lines, Then he begins to make letters of some kind. Later he'll put the letters together. We don't expect the child to write his name the first day or two in school. As soon as he learns to sit down in class and listen to the teacher, he is not immediately expected to write his name...but we expect immediate learning from a horse. We expect him to go from kindergarten to the eighth grade, to high school, to college without enough time, preparation, or consideration for his thoughts and feelings. We often don't even get him into a learning frame of mind before we begin to train him. We don't even have him relaxed and confident, where he can sit down in class and just listen. We skip all that preparation because we are so superior, or neglectful, or lazy. Because we haven't prepared ourselves to recognize the horse's feelings."

If not, you wind up on some internet message board asking for help on how to teach your five year old horse how to stand still for fly spraying from a bottle, or how to stand still for the farrier, or how to teach them to stand tied. It is ridiculous how many relatively young horses have HUGE holes in their foundational training. Things like that should have been taught way early on in your horse/human relationship. No excuses.

There is a good rule of thumb to employ when working with young horses.....only 15-20 minutes at a time. As a general rule, this is a good one to follow...however....it doesn't mean that you have to put your young horse away after 15 minutes......you can go on to another very short simple lesson...or do what the old Vaqueros used to call 'Colgado' which translated as "hanging out". After your formal lesson...or instead of a formal lesson...take your young horse around with you as you go about your chores. Perhaps you have stalls to clean....or fence to check, clean out the horse trailer, or water tanks to fill, etc., etc.....take your young horse in a halter and lead and walk them around with you. Don't pay too much particular attention to them. Just go about your regular daily duties with your young horse at your side. In this way, your horse learns that to be with you and that sometimes there is work to be done. It also helps to build a wait in your horse. It helps to build patience.

While you are going about your chores, you will be asking your horse to lead up freely and follow you, move over, back up, disengage the hindquarters, stand still for a short period, etc., etc. Get it? This is still training. We tend to call this "incidental training", but it IS training none the less. Vaqueros used to do this with young horses. They would saddle them up and pony them along as they went about their duties tending to cattle etc.....they would stand tied when the older ones were tied, drink when the others drank, 'worked' when the older ones worked, etc....finally the day came when it was time to saddle up and ride out into the hill country to work cattle ...and they were adequately prepared for the task at hand. Nothing was a mystery to them.

Friends and strangers will come over for a trail ride and see my young horse "Desi" leading trail rides and acting very mature out on the trail. In fact, she is almost bomb-proof on the trail and will go anywhere I ask her to. This is mostly because she completely trusts me and I completely trust her. But it is also because we did a lot of "trail riding" when she was very young. Ponying her along every time we went out. She learned to cross water, go up and down short hills, etc. After a hard rain, there will usually be small trees down or branches blocking the way of the trail. To the shock of those who ride with us, I will just dismount Desi and begin to clear branches. Desi will remain standing there as long as I need her to. One, this is a testament to her trust and respect for me and the bond that we share. Two, this is because she has been taught that sometimes we go out but we have work to do. Third, if I am doing work, she gets to stand and rest. Sometimes she will graze a bit on the leaves or grass. So she doesn't mind at all.

People assume that I spent every day with Desi or hours upon hours with her. Nothing could be further from the truth. I only spend maybe 2-3 hours on Saturday and/or Sunday with my horses due to my regular job. But those hours were spent in QUALITY TIME with her. This was accomplished not be doing one hour sack, saddle and lope, nor by the "on the third day they are on the payroll" routine, but rather with time, patience and a logical progressive order in her early training....along with a lot of "incidental training".

If you truly want that type of relationship and partnership with your own horse when they are adults, then put in the time now while they are young teaching them all the things that will make them successful when they are older.

Teach them EARLY the things that makes them the greatest horse in the world, and then sit back and have pride in your partner.

5) WHAT AGE DO YOU RECOMMEND STARTING HORSES UNDER SADDLE AND RIDING THEM?

Well, here again is where I go against the grain! Three years old!!!
I believe that too many horses are started too early and much too hard!!! Period. Look on just about any internet message boards and check out how many people are asking for help in trying to teach their two year old how to do flying lead changes, reining sliding stops, etc., etc. Or they rode their horse extensively out on the trail last year when it was two, and now this year they are having "issues". Or they will ask what bit to use with their two or three year old now that they have had 30 (or 60) days training in a snaffle.

It is unbelievable what people put young horses through. Again I fall back to, just because we CAN, doesn't mean that we SHOULD.

One of the BIGGEST LIES ever told about starting a horse...especially by horses trainers and even clinicians....is that it depends on the horse and the breed. BULL HOCKEY!!!! These supposedly well known trainers and clinicians will spout off that as soon as the "horse's knees close, they can be ridden". Green horse owners have repeated this ill advice for years and they cant even tell you why. Remember the words of martial arts great Ed Parker? "It is always easier to imitate rather than to create!"

Yes, it is extremely important that the young horse's knees are "closed" and ready to handle the task of carry a rider. ...but that is not the only consideration.

We should be paying much more attention to the horse's overall structure. The vertebra are delicate in a young horse especially in the neck. Too often we see very good, and promising, horses ruined by chronic injuries. This can be attributed to too much pressure in training at too early in age. Here below is a portion of an online article that will give much better detail than I ever can.

To determine the best physical age to introduce your horse to regular work we need to understand the way horses develop. Newborn foals only have 17% of their mature bone mineral content and 10% of their ultimate body weight. At a very young age, relationship between growth, nutrition, bone strength/development, body weight and the forces applied to the bone need to be are fully balanced otherwise optimal growth can be affected increasing the risk of disorders at a later age. It is understood that foals undergo their most rapid growth during their first month of life. The 2nd growth phase is around 6-12 months followed by a third phase from 15-20 months. We need to consider height in relation to weight and bone mineral content when determining physical development.

6 months 12 months 22 months
Height 84% mature height 94% mature height Adult height
Weight 64% mature weight 65% mature weight 90% mature weight
Bone mineral content 68.5% BMC 76% BMC Max BMC is not achieved until the horse is approximately 6 years old
(Figures are based on thoroughbred and light horse breeds)

As we can see from the chart above, height or long bone growth is the developmental priority of young horses. Optimal growth rates vary between breeds but there are several critical factors governing bone growth and development. Developmental orthopedic disorders and unsoundness have been implicated to extremely rapid growth caused by overfeeding. With rapid growth changes between slow or decreased growth, followed by rapid growth being particularly dangerous. Bone development abnormalities have also been linked to an imbalance in calcium, phosphorous and trace mineral as has been forced or very strenuous exercise.

One renowned horseman, Tom Roberts (dec'd) was considered ahead of his time in terms of is philosophies - stressing the important of only riding young horses within the bounds of their natural strength. Here are some of his training ideas.

"Many aspects of a horse's education can begin as early as possible such as handling, floating, grooming and ground education without detrimental physical or behavioural consequences. There is little dispute among trainers and owners alike that a correctly handled youngster is more readily accepting of being ridden than those untouched until commencement of ridden work. Research has substantiated that horses constantly handled as weanlings and yearlings were less emotional and more trainable".

Foals, Tom Roberts concluded, are designed to gallop at high speeds for relatively short periods of time in order to flee from danger. This exercise was followed by extended days and even weeks at rest as danger from attacks occurs infrequently in the most natural settings. Hence his philosophy on riding 2 and 3 year old horses is based on the belief that a young horse's strength is for emergency use. Due to this, he surmised, they are not developed enough to withstand a prolonged continued physical effort.

Recommending trainers should aim to mimic nature by allowing young horses long rests between rides, Tom Roberts believed this approach allows time for any minor problems to settle. Tom's teachings state that 2 years of age is not too young to "break in" a horse as long as they are only ridden lightly by a light rider then turned out. He felt the first series of rides should just be a case of allowing the horse to become accustomed to the rider, as opposed to being "worked". This way the horse tends to grow up accepting the idea of being ridden.

To ensure 3 year olds would not become jaded or tired, Tom's philosophy was only to work them for a total of 3 months or less over the course of a year. This was not to be condensed into one time period. He suggests a 4 year old can be worked for 6 months in a year allowing for long periods of rest between riding sessions.

At 5 years of age, most horses are ready to cope with a regular work load and should be brought into regular work gradually in order to adjust both mentally and physically.

Note that Tom Roberts spread out the horse's training over a period of two years...or slightly more. WOW! But that goes against all the trainers and clinicians out there, doesn't it? But those of us who believe that you should wait until a horse is mentally, emotionally and physically ready are a minority. You would think with the advent of the internet, DVD's, RFD-TV and magazine articles that waiting until a horse is older would be fairly common. NOPE!

In fact, here is an excerpt from another online article by a well known "horse trainer" (well known in his own mind perhaps)...

"I've started 12-month-old horses under saddle with no ill effects by taking a week to introduce them to their equipment, a week to get on them, and a week to walk them around. They don't panic, they don't buck, they don't get hurt. Then they get a few months off with no riding. At 15-months of age they get saddled and ridden off without trauma or fretting. (Each horse is an individual, and the physical attributes of each must be taken into consideration. There is no hard and fast rule which applies to all horses at all times.)"

Did you read that carefully?! He started riding a horse when it was only 12 months old!!! He spent a week introducing them to the equipment (saddle, pad and bridle), one week actually sitting them, and then ride them for a week!!!

AT ONE YEAR OF AGE!!!
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

In another online article, Jeffrey Rolo states,

"Personally I do not longe my horses, but I will do some low intensity groundwork with the younger ones in a generous round pen. My goal during this round pen work is not to drive them heavily, but rather to continue building the foundation for all future training. Most of the time spent with younger colts is controlling movement and defining cues and behavior, and in fact the horses rarely break a sweat during the lessons.

Once a horse reaches about two years of age I will introduce some very light saddle work to his regimen. This consists of getting the horse used to a saddle and girth; it does not consist of intense riding. Unless the horse is very developed for his age I won't even sit atop him for another 6 months to a year. Of course a child or light woman could safely sit atop most horses in this age, but even so the physical work should be kept to a minimum such as a gentle walk.

I envision training a horse to be the same as cooking a hearty beef stew. If you attempt to rush the stew by stoking the temperature in one intense hour, you may be successful in creating the stew, but it will not have the hearty taste and goodness that comes when you allow a stew to cook slowly and simmer. Like a stew, you can attempt to rush training and you may even succeed in putting a horse under saddle safely. But in your haste, you'll pave an inferior foundation and potentially harm the young horse in the process.

It's very safe and beneficial to start training a horse from day one, but be patient, be slow and be sensible. Allow a horse to grow to a healthy adult before you place the stresses of hard work and riding upon him. Don't risk inflicting bucked shins, lameness or unhappiness upon your horse just to start riding a year or two earlier - such a rush could potentially haunt you and your horse for many years to come."

What extremely sound advice...but I am afraid that no one pays particular attention to this type of advice. Especially with contests such as two year old futurity competitions. If a young horse doesn't cut it for futurity competition he is sold...if they don't cut it on the track, they are sold...and who gets these worn out, mentally fried horses who usually wind up with chronic injuries later in life?! You do.

So we should be considering the horse's other joints and his vertebra before training them so early, regardless of peer pressure and regardless of what your famous trainer told you or what your grandfather did with his horses.

The whole horse should be taken into account....mentally....emotionally...Brio....and then physically.
But wait.....let's go back to what I said in the question posted above....
Can we start a horse young? ABSOLUTELY!! We can START horses but we don't have to BREAK horses. You can get a very young horse saddled and used to the equipment. Sure. Early on in Desi's training I found a very small and very lightweight English saddle. I bet that little saddle didn't even weigh 5 pounds! This is what I used to saddle her her first year.

I "sat" her at age 2...but that's all I did. Early on in her training I would saddle her up....then I would saddle her and using my hand apply pressure to a stirrup as if I was about to stand in the stirrup. All the while, I am teaching her how to stand square and stand still for mounting (again, incidental training) ....then I would put a foot in the stirrup and bounce up and down a few times.....some time later I would stand in the stirrup for about 3 seconds. ....then I would do the same thing on the right side....then as she got older, I would stand and sit on her back and then immediately dismount....I would do this on both sides....finally, when she was three, I waited for her to walk off and begin moving around. Sometimes when we would go out to the pasture to fly spray the herd, I would slide up on her back and just sit there and then slide off before she would move. Later, I would allow her to take a few steps and then I would quietly slide off. She regarded this as a 'normal' way of doing things.

It was a logical progressive training, and TIME, that made her mentally, emotionally and physically sound.

So what age do I feel is appropriate for "starting" young horses?....day one! At what age should we begin their training?....day one or as early as possible.....at what age should they be started under saddle? As early as possible....at what age should they be ridden? Three!!!

Don't believe the lie about it being about the horse's knees, or breed, blah, blah, blah...

Again.....just because we CAN doesn't mean we SHOULD.
Step out from the lies and be a better partner to your horse!!!

 

6) I HAVE HEARD YOU SPEAK OUT AGAINST STALLING HORSES. I HAVE ALWAYS SEEN HORSES STALLED. I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS ADEQUATE HOUSING FOR THEM AND THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE STALLED. WHY DON'T YOU LIKE HORSES TO BE STALLED?

Fantastic question! Boy, I could write volumes on this subject alone, but I won't over-burden you. I will try to be simplistic and use generalizations.

Let me start by directing all of you to what I believe is some of the best reference reading on the subject of the natural pasture kept horse versus the traditional stalled horse - "A Lifetime Of Soundness" by Dr. Hiltrud Strasser.

I do not personally subscribe to her methods of hoof trimming, however, the first 80 pages or so of her book is some of the best scientific reading on the subject of a horse's natural physiology. She even compares, in very good detail, the difference between the natural (pasture kept horse) and the traditional stalled horse.

Horses are prey animals. It makes no difference if they were born in a wild mustang herd in the Pryor Mountain Range or in your backyard. A million years of evolution (or by God's own creation - your choice) has ingrained certain instincts in a horse that cannot be bred out of them. Being a prey animal horse's need to see open spaces and at great distances so that a predator cannot sneak up on them. Also as prey animals, there is safety in numbers. Horses are very social and need the company of their own species. Prey animals are also built for speedy flight.

This Self-Preservation is what keeps them alive as an individual, as a herd and as a species.
When we stall a horse we take away the most fundamental needs the horse must have...being able to watch for predators, safety with the herd, and flight. It is essentially dooming them to death (at least in their eyes).

I know that some of you are sitting there right now saying to yourselves, "Yeah, but my horse likes his stall and goes in all by himself when it is feeding time, or when it is time to come in for the evening." Probably so. Like Ray Hunt always says, "It's amazing what a horse will go through and put up with just to get along with the human." The horse has just adapted to his environment even though it is completely unnatural to him. He has no choice, he is basically a captive to the human who owns him.

As herbivores, horses were designed (again by God or evolution - your choice) to graze for food several hours a day. Most scientific estimates state that horses graze between 70% - 80% of their entire day. They were never meant to eat just once or twice a day but rather graze 80% of their day. Giving them bulk foods for digestion only once or twice per day can actually increase the stress on their digestive system causing episodes of colic. In nature, the nutritional requirements are met as food is almost continuous due to proper and constant grazing. Look at the percentages I quoted above...by those percentages, horses graze approximately 20 hours per day!!! A horse requires 24 hours a day freedom to move....if there is no reason to move, it will certainly not move and will conserve energy on it’s own.

Stalled horses are unable to choose how, where, when and how much they eat but are rationed out certain portions of food by well-meaning owners. These portions are often lacking in specific nutrients, thus we have to make up for what we deprive the horse of naturally getting by providing mineral blocks, grain, supplements, hay, etc. Large amounts of bulk grain are something that is completely foreign to the horse.

Other considerations are how we feed horses. We usually feed in a hay bin, or hay bag hanging head high. Horses are designed to eat with their head down and yes, while they do sometimes eat leaves from tree branches, 95% of their nutrition comes from forage that is growing next to their own feet.

A horse's stomach is also designed to digest small amounts of food throughout the day. Feeding a horse only once or twice per day causes this digestive system to overload and not function properly.

A horse that is kept out on pasture is usually able to maintain a decent body weight without too much fluctuation (under normal circumstances). Strasser, and other equine experts agree, that during the growing season a horse will be approximately 20% heavier than his average weight and yet at the end of winter, they will be approximately 20% lighter than their average weight. But it is a slow gradual change that is healthy for the horse's well being. A stalled horse will lose weight and gain it back drastically. Usually gaining it back because of the added grains, and supplements that their well-meaning owners give them.

Horses that are stalled have more chronic hoof and ligament problems. If horses are designed (by God or evolution - again, you pick) to walk 15-20 miles per day while grazing for 20 hours of that day, stalling them actually hinders their natural born mechanism which keeps them fit. Now I know, all of you bleeding heart horse owners say you're worried they will step in a hole and twist their leg and come up lame, etc., etc....well, by not allowing them to move and exercise their legs, AS THEY WERE CREATED TO DO, you are actually increasing their chances of lameness....or prolonging it if they are already lame. Also, by not getting the adequate amount of walking, the horse is getting robbed of valuable blood supply, and moisture, to the hoof. Remember the old adage NO HOOF, NO HORSE!!!

Horse owners also blanket horses. Horses do not need artificial blanketing or warmth systems (unless they are newborn or very old horses who may require some assistance). Horses are designed to retain warmth in their bodies and also to release excess heat from their bodies with a self-cooling mechanism. They are able to raise their hair on their bodies and face away from the wind so that cool air actually gets underneath and cools them. Horses roll in the mud to help protect from insects. Also the thinner lower legs are designed that way to be able to cool the horse quickly by cooling the blood in the lower vessels which pump that cooler blood up back up into the body. Keeping horse's legs wrapped hinders this process.

Horses that are stalled also exhibit a vast number of vices ranging from excess weight loss, cribbing (wind-sucking), weaving, head bobbing, chronic lameness, chronic coughing, chronic colic or colic-like symptoms, changes in disposition, hyper-activity when taken outside, anti-social behavior, buddy sour or calling for the herd, constant pawing the ground, constant kicking the stall walls, anxiety, respiratory problems, chronic need for chiropractic adjustments, dulled responses under saddle, etc., etc.

People will put a hanging "stall ball" in the stall for the horse to play with to keep him mentally stimulated. This is artificially trying to give the horse stimulation that he needs to get, and should be getting, outside naturally. Why is this product so popular? Because we keep stalling horses. We are trying to simulate a stimulation that horses get naturally being outside. How ridiculous is that?! Do you want to mentally, emotionally and physically stimulate your horses and keep them extremely healthy? Get them out of that stall!!!!! Not just for one hour...not just for a couple of hours...not just during fair weather or only during the daylight hours.....

GET THEM OUT OF THAT STALL....PERIOD!!!

All of my horses have always been pastured 24/7 /365 a year. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. They have natural shelter of the woods to get out of the blazing heat and they know how to utilize the deep ravines to get out of the winter blowing wind and snow. It is perfectly natural to them. Its ingrained in their DNA. They are the most healthy AND HAPPY herd of horses I have ever seen. They have never been sick, lame or needed a chiropractic adjustment. Other than the annual vet visit in the Springtime, they never see a vet.

Do you want your horse to stop being hyper-active and stop having to lunge him for 30 minutes before you can ever do anything with him or ride him? Then get him out of that stall!

Let's face it folks, the stall is a convenience for the human because we don't want to go out tromping through the mud to catch our horse...or we don't want to have to spend an hour grooming and cleaning our horse before our lessons or before riding.....Don’t think stalling is a human-imposed device?

Think about it....we even bring horses in for the night.....what on earth for?!!! Horses DO NOT operate on daylight and nighttime hours. Just because it is dark doesn't not mean it is time for the horse to go to bed. That is a human need, not a horse's!

But again you will probably say that your horse's do sleep at night in their stall. First I would respond, "How do you know they sleep all night?" And then I would tell you that if they do sleep it is because they have nothing else to do....they CAN'T do anything else....they CANNOT graze...CANNOT go to the pond for water....they CANNOT groom each other....they CANNOT play and frolic with each other....they CANNOT exercise .....they CANNOT do anything...depending on teh size of the horse and the size of the stall, they CANNOT roll to manipulate their spines in a healthy way....nothing at all.....they are captives. No different than prisoners in a state penitentiary who are in isolation or lockdown in a small cell 23 hours a day.

But like everything else that we do, we tend to anthropomorphize everything. We tend to project our own thoughts, feelings, ideas and emotions onto the animals. We feel that if its too chilly for us, then they must be cold too.....if it is 9:00pm then they must be sleepy and tired and ready for bed as well.

Mentally and emotionally, stalling is very detrimental to a horse's overall well-being....as well as physically. Think about the horse who gets out of the stall and all he wants to do is run hard and fast down the fence line hollering for his buddies. He cant hardly control his physically, mental and emotional energy. He is a like a child with ADHD who has been fed a bunch of sugar and red kool-aid and who is now bouncing off the walls. There he is, a natural born mover who is bound up in a stall 23 hours a day, breathing gaseous ammonia fumes, unable to see the horizon, unable to enjoy the company of other horses in a social herd setting, being fed only once or twice per day and given a high percentage of protein in his diet which is like adding rocket fuel to his engine. Then you wonder why he wont come to you, or you cant catch him, when you turn him out to pasture or in a paddock.

And what do we do to compensate for his behavior of hollering for other horses and running up and down the fence line? Well, for one, we round pen the horse in endless, mind-numbing laps….supposedly to ‘exercise’ them and to help ‘knock the edge off of them’. Or the human puts them in a smaller paddock or ties them to a post. After all, they don’t want this horse with pent up energies running like crazy and possibly twisting their leg or injuring themselves, right? Absolutely ridiculous. That horse NEEDS to run….he needs to get out and play and chat with his buddies.

I know what you are saying...."BUT... BUT ...BUT, THAT'S THE WAY WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT!! I WAS TAUGHT TO DO THOSE THNGS AND THERE ARE EVEN VIDEOS AND BOOKS BY WORLD FAMOUS HORSE TRAINERS TEACHING ME TO DO THOSE THINGS. HOW CAN YOU SAY IT IS ALL WRONG?!"

<SIGH> Again, it is easier for us to IMITATE rather than to investigate or to create.

Step out from the lies and become a better horse owner and partner for your horse!!!

 

7) I'VE NOTICED THAT SEVERAL TRAINERS AND CLINICIANS ARE BEGINNING TO STUDY MARTIAL ARTS. PAT PARELLI HAS STUDIED KUNG-FU, MARK RASHID SPEAKS OF STUDYINGAND TEACHING AIKIDO AND RECENTLY YOU POSTED AN ARTICLE IN WHICH YOU STATED THAT YOU HAVE BEEN STUDYING MARTIAL ARTS FOR A LOT OF YEARS BUT MOST RECENTLY BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU. WHY IS EVERYONE HOOKED ON TO MARTIAL ARTS ALL OF A SUDDEN, AND SHOULD I BE STUDYING SOME FORM OF MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING? WILL IT REALLY HELP MY HORSEMANSHIP?

Wow, how do I go about answering these questions? Let's see...
I guess I could sum it up this way...the reason why studying martial arts and horsemanship go together (on one level) is that it is not about techniques. It is about principles and concepts. It is about the philosophy and the individual expression of a particular art. No, the 'techniques' will not directly translate into horsemanship. If, during groundwork, I ask my horse to move off to my right and he decides to go left I am not going to perform an Irimi-Nage (entering throw) followed by a Juji-Gatame (arm lock)...that would be silly (mostly because my horse knows the defense for those techniques - a spinning back kick which would send me straight to the moon. hee hee) ....

HOWEVER.....
The principles and concepts of harmony, redirecting one's energy to either marry with the opponent's (or partner's) energy or redirect the opponent's (or partner) energy is a valid one for horsemanship. We could also replace the word energy for the horsemanship term "FEEL". In martial arts my opponent or partner might feed me a certain "FEEL" and I have the choice to either marry with that "FEEL" or redirect it....likewise, when I am dealing with my horse (partner) she may feed me a certain "FEEL" and depending on the situation or the request that I have made, I have the choice to marry with that "FEEL" (go with the flow) or redirect it into the direction that I want and thus achieving the desired effect/response.

Unlike a lot of typical Karate systems which employ a direct force -against-force response, Aikido, Aiki-jujitsu, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Japanese Jujitsu systems, Judo, some Chinese systems of martial arts, and Filipino/Indonesian systems of martial arts all favor not meeting direct force with force but rather redirecting the opponent's disharmonious energy (FEEL) and controlling them by circular or indirect means of redirected transferred energy (FEEL).

As you can see, this has a direct relation to good horsemanship on the ground AND in the saddle. So the direct correlation between martial arts and horsemanship is common within the philosophies, principles and concepts of each.

TaiChi and QiGong has become popular as well for its meditative qualities and proper breathing which benefits riders and also aids in achieving good balance when riding. I am seeing more and more riders turning to Tai Chi and QiGong. For those of you who have satellites, I know there is a channel which airs TaiChi and QiGong programs. Check out your satellite listings for times. There are several fantastic books addressing TaiChi and there are even a couple which address TaiChi and horse riding.

Also, martial arts tends to help us better balance ourselves. Not only physically during training, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well.

When you get a few minutes, please read through my article entitled, "Martial Arts and Horsemanship". Even though this rather rambling article was written with my martial arts friends in mind, it may answer some of your questions.

By the way, Mark Rashid’s newest book, “Horsemanship Through Life” discusses his martial arts training and how it relates to his life and his horsemanship. Everything about this book hits home with me. It’s phenomenal how closely it resembles my life as well. Even my wife thinks it’s scary how closely it mirrors my life. Its great reading and should be on everyone’s bookshelf at home.

As to the question of whether you should, or should not, study some form of martial arts training....

WHY NOT?!!

First off, it is a healthy form of mental and emotional exercise... not to mention the physical exercise and benefits. So you cant go wrong. Also, it is mentally healthy to have other interests besides horses. (OMG, DID I JUST SAY THAT?!!!) but it's true. It is mentally stimulating to have other interests. It keeps our minds clear, reflexes sharp and improves our overall health.

For a few years, I taught women's self defense course at the local YWCA during Domestic Violence and Awareness Month. While there is a big difference between the sport TaeKwonDo schools that seem to be popping up everywhere and a good solid self defense school, anything a woman can learn to make her less of a target, to have better body language and less of a victim is a great thing to pursue. Don't be shy ladies, and don't worry about all the male macho egos in class, they usually fizzle out fairly quickly and only the true students will be left in class....and those are the ones you want to be partnering with anyway - the dedicated disciplined partners.

For the men....well.....a little extra exercise is always a good thing and helps get rid of that extra weight we tend to put on during the winter while watching football, drinking beer and eating pork rinds and brats. (not that I would eat or drink any of those things. <wink wink>)

I'm usually pretty sensitive to my weight since I have smaller horses. I can tell when its time to lose weight when I go to mount my horse and they grunt and groan a lot and we haven't even gone anywhere yet!!!

Winter time is a great time to take on the extra exercise and hobby. Why? Well let's face it, we all eat more due to the holidays ... studies show that we tend to consume a lot more 'comfort foods' during the winter. Since our riding time decreases measurably during winter months (for those of us who live up north), why not take up that slack with some good exercise like martial arts? We do more sitting around during those colder winter months with little else to do...and let's face it guys, once the Superbowl is over, what else is there?!

Usually, I try to ride at least once a week during the winter as long as there isn't any ice. Don't mind the freezing cold at all, nor do I mind the snow, but if there's ice, well, even I admit its comfort food time!!!

8) HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN TO PUSH A LITTLE HARDER TO GET THROUGH A TROUBLED SPOT IN TRAINING, AND WHEN TO BACK OFF? HOW FAR DO YOU PUSH THE HORSE'S ENVELOPE OF COMFORT, ABILITY AND TRAINING?

This may be one of the hardest questions to answer.

As ambiguous and as middle-of-the-road as my answer is going to sound, I have to say it this way....

FEEL.

Well, that and a whole lot of experience.
I know, I know, that didn't really answer the question. Let me try to explain...

The learning curve and pressure threshold for each horse is different. The patience, experience, abilities and talent of each trainer are different. So in this case, there can be no A + B = C

However, I still believe that if you follow the principles and concepts than you should have no real problems...or you should be able to minimize those greatly. But I do recognize that sometimes we do need to push our horses just a little bit to get them through something.

Here we are going down the trail in heavily canopied woods and we come across a mud puddle. Now to your horse, who has limited depth perception when it come to mud puddles, he thinks this is a big bottomless hole that will suck him down straight to the middle of the earth and his doom. And even though we know its only 3 inches deep, you aren't going to convince him of that. He is snorting and backing up and his feet are getting jiggy. What usually happens is that the rider begins to squeeze harder with his legs or even begins to kick him trying to spur him forward into the puddle. The more the rider forces him toward it, the more the horse is going right-brain and wanting to get out of there. Remember, the right side of the horse's brain is his Self Preservation flight side. So "right means flight" as the old saying goes.

Now an experienced horseman or horsewoman would know to shut this horse down a bit and let him go back to his thinking logical left brained side and THEN begin to work. Now if he was a student of mine he would understand the "One Foot/One Inch" concept of approach and retreat and would work through this in just a few minutes. Other riders might do a modified approach and retreat and eventually get through it...while yet other riders would just push the horse until he made it into the puddle at which time they would let the horse just stand there getting used to it.

There are two types of desensitizing. Simply put, one is called habituation. This is where we slowly, logically and progressively get horses used to things. The other type of desensitizing is known as "flooding". This is where we get it all done right now. Get it over with. We sort of over-stimulate the horse so we can get through it and move on.

We have all done the flooding with our horses at one time or another....perhaps while teaching to accept bathing from a garden hose, or accepting fly spray from a bottle. Sometimes we will be going down the trail and our horse will spook at something and we will make our horse face the object and walk up to it and put their nose on it to show them that there is nothing to be afraid of, etc. These are examples of flooding.

My only concern with flooding or with pushing horses past their comfort zone, is that sometimes the rider's experience, FEEL, and riding ability may not be able to handle the response the horse gives. They may wind up over their head. With limited experience or riding ability, they may not be able to adequately keep the horse, and themselves, out of trouble...or as the old saying goes....keep them on this side of trouble. And if the horse does in fact get into trouble, do they have the experience and FEEL to get the horse through it...or ride the horse through it...? Horsemen like Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman, Curt Pate, Mark Rashid, Leslie Desmond, Gail Ivy, John Lyons, etc. have that ability, experience and FEEL to keep a horse out of trouble o bring them through the trouble easily. Truly I feel that if you don't have that kind of experience and FEEL, then don't do it. Leave it to those who can help your horse and who can teach you and help you raise your level of horsemanship.

I will stand on my philosophy and belief that if you properly prepare the horse you should, at the very least, minimize the need for pushing a horse past his envelope. Instead, what should happen is this ever growing and expanding zone of comfort (his envelope). It is a continual building of Trust, Respect and Communication between you and the horse. So the horse raises his level of tolerance or reaches his edge of comfort...you then raise your own level of horsemanship to meet your partner's level....then you raise your level and you bring your partner's level up to meet you.....its ever evolving and growing and expanding. This is how we grow in our horsemanship and this is how we help to make mentally and emotionally mature horses.

 

9) I NOTICE THAT YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO BE RIDING YOUR HORSES IN HALTERS, OR BRIDLE-LESS, AND NOT IN A BIT. WHY?

Why not?!!! It is not an issue of not being able "control" them. To the contrary, I am proving and demonstrating absolute control of my partner through Trust, Respect and Communication.

While I do have an online article on my Horse Training Page entitled, "Bits Do Not Control Horses", I will try to simplify an answer here for you.

I don't particularly find the need to have a horse so collected so that I can compete in Dressage. I am not looking for a horse who can pirouette or piaffe in place perfectly. I don't need to have my horse in a frame the entire time I we are riding together on long rides. There is just no need for it.

As far as physical control, again, control and/or stopping power does not come from bits. If it did, then we wouldn't have horses who "run through the bit", and we would only have a couple of different bits instead of hundreds of them.

My older horses have not had bits in their mouths in a very long time. My young partner "Desi" will never have a bit in her mouth. I don't compete and so I don't feel a need to follow the rules of competition...and if I did compete, I would ride her in exactly what I am currently riding her in right now.

I answer to no one when it comes to my horses.
People still have HUGE misconceptions about bits and their PROPER use.
Bits were not meant to be used as brakes. They are not meant to be used for stopping power on a horse that wont slow down.

If you have a horse who runs away with you or who wont slow down, no bit in the world is going to control him 100% of the time. What you really and truly need is more training. Somewhere back down the line there is a HUGE hole in the training...either in your horse's training or your own.

Bridle-less riding makes you rely heavily on trust...not only your horse trusting you but you having explicit trust in your horse. There needs to be absolute respect and of course, clear and concise communication. It isn't for everyone although I wish it was. I wish everyone could experience riding their horses bridle-less, even within the confines of a large arena. Perfection of bridle-less training is riding your horse on the trail or in a parade bareback and bridle-less...but wait...before you headhunters start emailing me and telling me how unsafe riding in a parade or on the trail bridle-less is because "stuff happens", let me tell you, if the "stuff hits the fan" no bit in the world is going to save you anyway. I wouldn't do it with just any horse either. Heck, I haven't ridden all of my horses bridle-less. I think that is reserved for that special bond between two partners who know and understand that nothing will come between them.

Bridle-less riding, even in a large arena takes some skill and a great deal of horsemanship on your part. If bareback tested your balance and skill in using an independent seat and leg aids without being able to balance and brace against the stirrups, how much more does bridle-less riding test your level of horsemanship? No reins to use for balance. No reins to plow through a turn with your horse. No reins to pull on their face to back up. No reins to perform lateral flexion or vertical flexion.

I am not referring to just jumping on the back of a horse and just sitting there holding on and just being a passenger. I am talking about riding bridle-less and being an ACTIVE rider in complete control.

Ladies, (and I am speaking to the ladies here because this applies to them more than it does men) you know that one of the main reasons you took interest in horses in the first place is because you had this dream about being on a horse bareback and riding like the wind through the surf on a beach somewhere, right? But somewhere between that dream and where you are today, someone told you that you had to have a saddle to keep your balance on the horse and to sit straight and ride proper and to post the trot and to look straight ahead and to hold the reins and keep contact on the bit and drive the horse forward and up into the bit. Someone else along the way also led you to believe that you needed a bit to control and/or stop your horse....and you believed them....and if you didn't have enough control or collection, then you needed a bigger bit. (and of course spurs to drive them up into that bit, right?)

Did they ever really teach you about how to have a willing partnership with your horse? Did they ever teach YOU to trust in your horse, or did they only preach to you how your horse had to have absolute respect for you and you needed to show him you were the leader....? Did all they ever teach you was how you had to be riding in this rigid frame and posting on the diagonal and be in contact with that horse’s mouth all the time?

What happened to that dream or riding like the wind bareback and bridle-less on the beach. That dream has been replaced by lunging your horse for 30 minutes before you can ride him. Using a large saddle with too much padding underneath which interferes with using your seat effectively as an aid. It also interferes with you feeling your horse through your seat. Rear cinches were added. Long shanked curb bits. Tie downs/martingales. Riding crops. Helmets. Spurs. Fighting with the horse more than being in harmony with the horse....but, by golly, you are riding a horse and supposedly having the time of your life.

What happened to that dream that you had when you first became interested in horses?

What happened?!!!

People tell me all of the time how they grew up with horses when they were young, there was always some small rank pony that everyone used to jump on and ride with nothing on it and just go wherever it went. And they would fall off and they and their friends would laugh hard and just jump back on and ride all over the farm playing on summer afternoons. No saddle. No bridle. On rare occasions they used a halter and lead rope. They rode horses and lived life to the fullest laughing. Others tell me how they had the best horse in the entire world when they were nine or ten years old and they would compete and win all these ribbons with them and their horse would come to them out of the pasture and they would spend all summer day long walking around together playing in the woods and pastures.

What has happened to us as horsemen and horsewomen that we have become paralyzed by the fear that adulthood brings with it?

What has happened to that dream?!

I think its truly sad and disheartening that we have lost this "age of innocence" in our own horsemanship as we grew older.

Let's get back to bridle-less riding. Participants in my "intermediate clinics" get to experience what it is like to ride bridle-less to a certain degree. In the beginning, I have them ride around with their reins draped over their saddle horn using a flag stick as an aid to help support their focus, legs and seat in turning and guiding their horses. If you have ever seen some of Pat and Linda Parelli's students riding with their Carrot Sticks guiding their horse with it as they ride bridle-less, then you get the idea of what I have my students do when they first try bridle-less riding. The flagstick is just a back-up to their other aids. It is not meant as a replacement for the reins. Students learnt to use their focus, shoulders, hips, seat and legs as a way to 'steer' their horses....if the horse doesn't immediately respond to the aids, then the flagstick comes quietly into play...and only in extreme circumstances do the students grab for the reins that are draped on the horn. By the advance clinic, the students are able to direct their partners with only their aids. They save the reins for important communication like vertical flexion and collection.

I never ask a student to go completely bridle-less or have them remove their halters or bridle. It is entirely up to them (and their horses) if they have enough trust in each other to ride completely bridle-less. It is never a requirement for anything that I teach.

Bridle-less riding is the ultimate in Trust, Respect and Communication between a horse and rider. It is an immediate report card as to your partnership with your horse.

Should you ride bareback and bridle-less? NO. If you aren't 110% sure that you have ABSOLUTE Trust , Respect and Communication with your horse. Then don't try it. It may not be right for you. Or if you feel you want to try it, try it under the supervision of a good clinician who can help you and your horse together.

But I promise you this....once you feel what it is like to ride in absolute harmony, with nothing between you and your horse but Trust and Respect and Communication, you won't ever be the same again.

10) EVERYTIME I OPEN A MAGAZINE AND THERE IS AN ARTICLE ON NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP, ALL THEY EVER TALK ABOUT IS "FEEL". WHAT IS "FEEL" AND CAN YOU TEACH ME "FEEL"? CAN ANYONE TEACH WHAT "FEEL" IS?

This is another subject that I could write volumes about. I have already written an article on FEEL on my Horse Training Page, but I will try to answer this again. First let me repeat a portion of what I wrote in my article on FEEL.....

FEEL...that elusive intangible ghost which horseman desperately seek to glimpse, understand and grasp at, usually without much success. FEEL is as slippery as a greased piglet, yet always within our grasps.

FEEL...that mysterious entity of communication which, once grasped and understood, somehow magically transforms horse and rider into a seemingly mythical unity of beauty, balance and harmony...opening secret doors of communication never before seen, heard or felt.

But what is FEEL? The answer to that is about as varied as the answers you would receive if you asked the multitude the question "Who and where is God?".

While FEEL may be mostly intangible and abstract, it is most certianly a concept. I can tell you this...whatever else FEEL may be to a human, to the horse it is their true and only language.

That being said, I am going to vent a little bit here. My problem with natural horse trainers is their ability to just spout off nonchalantly that horsemanship is nothing more that "Feel, Timing, and Balance". That may be well and good to those who have worked with horses for years or who have studied natural principles for years, but to the majority of backyard horse owners, it means absolutely nothing. It is as if the clinician is speaking some mystical and foreign jargon that only he and the horse understand. Somehow having attained this "Feel, Timing and Balance" has magically transformed them into a true-to-life 'horse whisperer'. This tends to lead to a lot of disappointment with backyard horse owners who truly want to have a better relationship with their horses. Modern clinicians speak so flippantly about 'Feel, Timing and Balance' that the first time horse owner tends to think that it is almost unattainable. Something very much like having to graduate from medical school or having to pass the bar exam.

Let me offer these words of encouragement...FEEL is very attainable and everyone can experience it and work with it...IF...they can understand what it is in its simplest form...and IF...they have the desire to have an open and willing mind to try something different...and IF...they are willing to invest the TIME in letting their horse help them experience what working with FEEL is all about.

I believe that no one can teach FEEL. Tom Dorrance couldn't do it. Bill Dorrance couldn't do it. No human can truly teach what FEEL is. What they CAN teach is the proper mechanics of making requests to the horse. How to help the horse respond to those requests. Assist the rider in knowing when the horse is responding and how to reward that response. Request. Response. Release. Mutual communication. There are certain intricacies involved that someone may be able to teach that will eventually lead you to find and develop your own FEEL. Now THAT, I believe can be taught. And I believe that the Dorrance brothers were probably the best at teaching others to develop their own FEEL. I also believe that they were the best at figuring out, and following, each individual horse's FEEL.

See, my FEEL will be different than your FEEL. The way I present a FEEL to a horse will be different than the way you would present something through FEEL to the same horse...even if we were using the same technique. That same horse would respond back with a different FEEL to each of our requests.

FEEL is truly as individual to the human as it is to the horse.
Now, let me state this.....I was reading an article in a recent issue of Gaited Horse Magazine.

In the article, the author, who is a cowboy/horseman/clinician/trainer claims that there is no room for "cookie cutter" type of horsemanship programs. They those programs and techniques don't work on every horse because each horse was an individual. And that all anyone needed was FEEL to work with their horse. Well, we already know my feelings on the old "each horse is an individual" comment, don't we? Well, he beat that quote to death. Over and over he repeated it. Then he followed that up by saying that all anyone needed was "FEEL".

I have HUGE problems with this....
First off, FEEL, as an intangible, cannot be taught in anyway shape or form. Now the tangible parts of "FEEL" can be taught. These are the mechanics of good horsemanship. How much pressure, or how light a pressure to apply, when to release that pressure, when to step toward a horse, when to soften and create an opening, when to hold on the rein or lead rope, and when to release that rein or lead rope, etc., etc., etc.

Only with TIME will a person begin to understand what FEEL is....and each person's FEEL will be different. In my article I used the analogy of two people taking ball room dancing classes. Well, how about this....

We can take the best musicians in the world...let's say 10 of them. All 10 of them are accomplished professional musicians. 5 of them have listened to, and played jazz music their whole lives. The others, while equally skilled musicians, have never been introduced to jazz.

Now, the last 5 are taught how to play jazz...and because they are world class musicians, they can play it very well. But something will still lack. It will sound almost too perfect. Too stiff. The first 5 musicians who have listened to and played jazz, play with the exact same degree of accomplishment but the music seems different. It is better. It is more emotional. More flowing and free.

The difference?

FEEL.

Now apply this to the cowboys who are going around and teaching that all you need is FEEL to work with your horse..... yes, all you DO need is FEEL...but if you have never known what it is, then you do need a program to help you along the way. It is a strange two-sided coin, isnt it?

When I finished reading the article in Gaited Horse Magazine, the sidebar told how the author has come from a long line of horsemen and ranchers on both of his parent's families. Again, this is like the jazz musicians who have played jazz and listened to it their entire lives. They can speak jazz all day long and tell you how to play it and try to explain it to you, but you will never get it...or at least not right away. You need to study first. You need to become a very good musician. And then it takes TIME to refine that and become even better. Then at some point, way down the road, you begin to find a FEEL for the music and your playing gets better....it smoothes out...it flows....it has FEEL.

But first you needed lessons on the very basics of music. How to hold that Saxophone. How to breathe properly and how to breathe through the reed. How to hold it and when to use pressure on the pads to make certain notes. You needed to become a musician first before becoming a jazz saxophonist.

Same thing with horsemanship....these cowboy clinicians spouting off about FEEL forget that for those hundreds of thousands (or dare I even say millions?) of people need to start at the beginning. There needs to be taught a baseline of communication between them and their horses. They need to stop trying to make jazz musicians out of them and teach them the notes in each key, and their scales, and how to read the music and how to use rhythm and timing. Only then, after some long invested TIME will they begin to understand what is happening when they listen or play jazz.

Let's teach students a baseline of communication. How to handle the lead rope. The dynamics of a herd, horse psychology, Trust, Respect, Communication, pressure and release, approach and retreat, how to do groundwork, how to ride, etc., etc.etc.

Then in TIME these people can develop their FEEL and understand how to listen to a FEEL coming back from a horse.
Clinicians and trainers need to stop making it sound like if you don't know what FEEL is, then you aren't in the inner circle - the secret society of horsemen and horsewomen. We need to stop using the term so matter-of-factly and begin to find ways to teach it and develop within students.

Can anyone teach FEEL? I don't think so. Not in the strictest sense of the word. If anyone can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can teach FEEL, or their new DVD will teach it to you once you purchase the DVD set, then hold on to your wallet, get on your horse and ride away as hard and as fast as your horse can run!!!

Well gang, that about wraps it up for this article. Hope this helps somewhat. Feel free to drop me an email or post on the message board if you want to chat about my philosophy, natural horsemanship or just horses in general. Hope to meet you this coming year on the road somewhere.

Yours In Horsemanship….
Michael