Tip of the Month
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Many years ago I remember watching a horse do a side pass and I thought to myself, neat trick! The same went for backing up, pivoting and so on. As time went by I was informed that these were not tricks, but things all well trained horses should know, and everyone strives to get their horse to do. "Necessities" they are called. Later on when I began to train my own horses, I strived to think of the "necessities" that I would like my horses to do. (Not knowing, of course, that I would be criticized by some for going beyond the norm.) Lay down I thought might come in handy in case I should have an accident on the trail. My horse could lay down, I could crawl upon him, he could simply stand up and take me home. Stay would be another, to ensure my horse would not leave me if the same incident occurred. What if he could pick up my reins and give them to me while I was on his back? Oh yes! Don't forget my hat. "Okay", you say. What about having that horse get up on a box? What's that all about? Well, if I could get my horse to put four feet on a twenty two inch box, I would have no problem getting him to climb over obstacles on the trail. It also might come in handy when I ask him to step up into the trailer and puting one foot on the farrier's pedestal would be a snap. Maybe I would have him come to me and square up, I don't think that needs any explanation. Having my horse load himself into a trailer, (even from 120 feet out), is certainly not a trick, but if it is, more people should work on this one. So here's the deal. The more creative we become with our horse, the more he is required to think, which improves his ability to learn and takes the boredom out of his training. You must remember that we are always working the horse's mind. We put ideas in his brain, and his brain tells his body to move. Stop here for a moment and think... you must understand you cannot move a horse. The horse must make a conscious decision to move and that requires thought process from his brain. From what I find, this is not the way of your average horsemen or trainer, as I too often see people trying to get the horse to do something with his body and never considering the fact that he needs to know it first in his mind so he can transfer it to his body. Though it is not meant to be a compliment when people say to me, "You have trick horses." or, "You are a circus trainer", I take it as if it were one. When they say these things, maybe what they really mean is their horse can't do that. I try not to buy the same shirt that everyone else is wearing this season simply because it is said to be the style, and I am certainly not going to do the same things with my horse that everyone else does simply because that's what everyone is doing. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Let's remember that our horses are suppose to be fun and a good relationship is really what it's all about. And that's no trick.
Be good to your horse Dennis |
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