HORSE TRAINING – MAINTAIN A BALANCED OUTLOOK

HORSE TRAINING – MAINTAIN A BALANCED OUTLOOK

Natural horsemanship has changed the way horse trainers approach a horse for the better, and for ever. “Horse Breaking” is a practice only applied by those who are sixty years behind the times.

However, even this wonderful approach can be misinterpreted by inexperienced newcomers, such as I have recently discovered.

In my life I’ve made contact with a section of the horse industry with whom I had not been acquainted previously, and I realized that these people need some coaching in the “opposite” direction.

I am a staunch supporter of natural horsemanship, and kind and non-abusive training techniques. I’ve written a manual on training techniques which beginners and novices apply successfully, and even top trainers are applying many of the techniques described in it. This whole e-book is based on mutual trust, confidence and discipline, the natural horsemanship way.

But I’ve also discovered that horsemanship hasn’t only got one extreme – abuse, force, cruelty – but also another opposite extreme: timidity.

This is found mostly among inexperienced newcomers to this beautiful industry. Let me hasten to say that this is by far preferable to cruel, abusive techniques, but it is still far from optimal horsemanship.

To get this in perspective one should use the horse’s nature as a starting point. Bear in mind that horses are herd animals , and in the herd there is a hierarchy. While the stallion protects the herd, a mare is the matriarch or leader. In their natural state there is a leader and subordinates. That is just the way it is with horses. In a one on one situation a horse will always test the other party – equine or human – to see who is the leader – the person or other horse, or itself.

Of course the degree of testing differs between individuals, like it does in humans. Take a class of school children as an example. A certain group will willingly submit to the authority of the teacher, while another group will always challenge the authority of the teacher. If the teacher has a strong personality, he assumes control and authority, the rebel (challenger) knows where he stands, there is order, stability and progress. If the teacher is timid, there is confusion, instability and turmoil. This doesn’t mean that the teacher is cruel or abusive. He is just strong, firm and in control. AND HE GENERATES CONFIDENCE.

Likewise a horse looks for a leader. Although I strongly reject abusive training techniques, I think it is equally important to warn novices about the danger and consequences of treating a horse like a baby. Let me ask you: did you and the rest of the class perform your best in the class of Miss Meekandmild, or in the class of Mr. Fairbutorderly, where there was authority and order?

Assume authority right from the start. Let the horse understand right from the start which one of you is the leader. If the horse finds out that it can overrule you, it is a matter of (a very short) time before it will have no respect for you, and eventually you will not be able to do anything with it, and it will end up in the slaughter house. Of course there are degrees to which horses will challenge you – some horses are more submissive by nature than others. But if you can only get along with 30 to 50 percent of the horses you meet in your life, I don’t think you can call yourself much of a horseman/horsewoman, do you?

It frustrates the living daylight out of me if I see people baby-talking a horse. Beware – that horse is going to challenge you, and you are going to come second. Horses are strong animals, and by natural selection they have been bred and adapted to survive in a hostile environment. If they couldn’t defend and protect themselves, they would have become extinct.

My two daughters are two beautiful, feminine, refined women, yet they run marathons of sometimes over 20 km. (13 miles), keeping the pace for long periods of the time. They haven’t died of it. All that happens is that they are healthy, fit and feel good. But I have met a few people who don’t want a horse to work once the horse starts perspiring. Comments like: “He’s getting tired now; we’d better stop” when the horse had barely started to sweat, spin my head. Every athlete is being pushed to the limit, and a horse is much more hardy than a human. If it had to stop after 5 minutes of running in nature, there would be no horses left today; the predators would have eaten them all.

PLEASE. Don’t conclude that I am encouraging abuse. I use the most non-abusive techniques I am aware of, and that is what I teach throughout me entire book. I think natural horsemen such as Monty Roberts, Pat Perelli, John Lyons and Larry Trocha did mankind (and the horse world) an incalculable service. I’ve learned a lot from them, and I apply their approach and it forms the foundation of my techniques. I am by no means contradicting what they (and myself) advocate, and I stand in awe of their knowledge.

I just feel that it is my duty to warn beginners against the impending danger and unpleasant consequences of treating a horse like a baby. Be kind, but firm, sensible and realistic. The one extreme is as far from the ideal as the other. Be kind, but firm, and take control. Demand respect. Demand discipline. Be the leader from day 1.      

One last thing: if you talk to a horse, don’t squeak like a mouse; talk like someone who is in command. Horses have no respect for mice, but they respect authority.

That is just the way horses are.

Hugo E Slabbert has been training horses for almost fifty years. Over this period he has studied methods, done research, learned from others and through trial and error found the most practical and efficient training techniques to gain mutual trust, respect and discipline. He has put these techniques into book form in an e-book, EASY HORSE, which not only explains these techniques in detail, step by step, but covers a very broad spectrum of horsemanship, such as conformation guidelines, rider exercises, injuries etc. You can gain a lifetime's experience in little more than two hours by visiting http://www.greenhorsetrainingbook.org/ and by ordering your copy on http://www.greenhorsetrainingbook.org/order/

WHY HORSES BUCK AND HOW SHOULD WE APPROACH THEM

Irrespective of what we endeavour with our horses, the first consideration to bear in mind should be how the horse experiences what we are doing.

Have you ever considered why a horse bucks the first time we try to mount it?

To answer that question we have to return to a horse's natural state. While humans have progressed tremendously in science and technology over the last centuries, and even decades, the mind of a horse is still very much the same as it was thousands of years ago. We have influenced the direction of breeding by selecting individuals which have a more trainable and submissive disposition, but the basic reasoning ability, and their association with certain phenomena are very much what it was thousands of years ago. We call it instinct.

We should bear in mind that the horse is an animal of prey, meaning that it is the prey of predators. God gave them a natural ability to protect themselves against predator order to survive (instinct). So how does the horse experience it when you put something (a saddle) onto its back, and you try to mount it?

Cats, such as lions, leopards and tigers attack its prey from behind, jumping onto it and killing or paralyzing it with its teeth. In other words: the horse "knows" that something which rises up behind its head, puts its weight onto its back and moves around on its back, has only one intention: to kill it for food. Even though horses are to a large extent not exposed to the danger it experienced millennia ago, the natural fear is still existent (even city dwellers who have not seen a lion for generations, have an inborn fear of lions). So, when we put a saddle onto its back, the inborn protection mechanism kicks in. Even though you might have trained hundreds of horses before, this is the first time the horse experiences this. Come to think about it: has anything ever tried to get onto its back before? What could this mean, but a motive to kill? Scary!!!! Add to this the added awareness of weight (resembling the weight of the predator): it should not be hard to imagine what goes through the horse's mind. To him it poses an immediate threat. His only knowledge of a situation such as this, is that it means death.

Likewise canines (dogs, hyenas etc.) attack the belly area of its bigger prey, such as horses. Any specie, including humans, is especially sensitive around the belly and flank areas. How easily can most people be tickled in the flank. As one gets older, sensitivity diminishes and nerves grow blunter. The same applies to a horse.

So how can we overcome this seemingly insurmountable obstacle?

Firstly we should familiarize the horse with seeing something behind it. I slowly try to raise myself by putting my foot in the stirrup and retreating continuously, raising a little higher each time, getting the horse accustomed to the sight of something behind it gradually, from both sides.

Secondly, the horse should learn to accept weight on its back, gradually. Start by putting weight in the stirrup on both sides, mounting slowly and raising yourself slowly until your full weight is on the horse's back.

Once the horse accepts you on its back, it should start moving around with someone on its back. I usually start in the stable, and only move out once the horse becomes comfortable with the procedure in the stable.

Fortunately we haven't got all the odds stacked against us. Hugo E Slabbert has been training horses of various breeds for almost a lifetime. He has written an e-book, EASY HORSE, on the subject, focusing on the way a horse experiences the things we do to it during training, and providing practical techniques on how to overcome the problems we normally experience. This e-book covers a very broad spectrum of horsemanship in a practical, simple way even novices can apply.

Read the complete, detailed, step by step procedure, and similar informative, educational articles by visiting http://www.greenhorsetrainingbook.org/articles/ and browse through the website. The answers to solving problems are more obvious and practical than you think.

KENTUCKY STATE FAIR 2011 VIDEOS AND PHOTOS

VIEW KENTUCKY STATE FAIR 2011

VIDEOS http://www.thehorsecity.com/ws/videos/

PHOTOS http://www.thehorsecity.com/ws/photos/

THROUGH THE EYES OF A HORSE

Have you ever thought what goes through the mind of a horse which has never been handled before, when you bring it in for training?

Exactly the same that will go through your mind the first time you enter a space rocket!!!!! It is overwhelming.

That horse is totally unfamiliar with EVERYTHING that surrounds him. He’s never been confined to an area as small as a stable before, or even a pen. He has absolutely no idea what you intend doing with him. All he is used to is fleeing from danger, and NOW HE CAN’T. All he can think of is to get free. As far as he can figure out, your next step might be to hurt or kill him, like a lion or any predator would under the circumstances he is familiar with (open pasture, in nature). This is a horse’s natural instinct.

What goes through his mind the first time you attempt to touch him? What are your intentions? His natural instinct is to flee from danger, and NOW HE CAN’T. What is a saddle? Is it an object which is going to hurt, injure or kill him? Or a harness? How unfamiliar are these objects to him!!!!!

You want to put a halter or bridle onto his head. You are threatening his most precious, but also his most vulnerable possessions: his eyes and ears, those parts of his anatomy he needs most to become aware of impending danger, warning him in time to flee. If something happens to his eyes and ears, he has no warning system against danger.

Is he familiar with touch by any living creature, except another horse? In his natural state, will he allow a predator to touch his body, let alone his eyes?

Further more, it should be borne in mind that animals have a natural inborn fear of man. God created them that way, firstly to protect us against them, and secondly to enable us to subdue them.

What do insensitive, inexperienced, just plain stupid horsemen do?

Instead of realizing and considering these facts, they try to overpower the horse, often hurting it to subdue it.

The (logical) result? The horse’s fear of getting hurt, and of the bad intentions of man, are justified!!!! The object DOES hurt, and man DOES have bad intentions!!! Just plain logic!!!

What should our approach be? Convince the horse that the object (saddle, bridle, harness etc.) does NOT hurt, and man does NOT intend to harm him.

Sweet baby talk does NOT convince a horse. No horse understands English, German or Spanish.

You have to convey the idea to the horse in a language HE understands, and you have to understand what HE is trying to tell YOU.

Watch out for the follow up article in about two weeks time (such as long lining, mounting and hitching for the first time, reining, discussion of a horse’s conformation, rider exercises, grooming, home remedies which mostly work better than medicines you buy, equine dentistry etc.) , or get the complete course on horsemanship, covering an extremely broad spectrum in great detail by visiting http://www.greenhorsetrainingbook.org/              and ordering your copy http://www.greenhorsetrainingbook.org/order/  to have immediate access to the entire course.