07.01.07
Theories of Natural Horse Training
There are many famous horse trainers and they all have developed their own unique methods. Everyone has the image of cowboys in the old days breaking the bucking bronco, but in recent years the trend has moved towards more natural training methods which are comfortable and understandable to the horse, as opposed to being painful and causing fear. Natural methods are our attempts to speak to horses in their own language. Please see my Horse training disclaimer
Ute Lehmann, horse in harmony.
Monty Roberts demonstrates some spooky colt gentling.
Anyone can learn and practice natural horse training and horsemanship. It simply takes love of horses. It takes sensible judgment and good horse sense. Mostly it means being TUNED IN to horses, having a constant awareness of what is going on with them, being a good observer. It helps if you keep your horses living with you at home, but that’s certainly not a requirement; it just allows you to observe horses’ behaviors with each other more frequently and thus learn from them more quickly.
Tom Curtin in one of his horsemanship clinics, demonstrates his horse’s level of response to the rider. (That’s Hubby on our own Gilford, black horse in foreground– and yes, he SHOULD be wearing a helmet but he’s hard to train.)
Learning from horses is an ongoing process; keeping horses is a way of life, at least at its best it SHOULD be. You will observe how horses establish their pecking order among themselves. You will see how subtle their interactions with each other can be to maintain their social status and wellbeing. Knowing their spot on the horse herd totem pole makes each horse feel secure. Your task as a natural horse owner and trainer is to become like a horse, by understanding how a horse thinks and reacts and communicates.
arabian mare in free training
You will make yourself the herd leader and be dominant over the horses you work with, not by intimidating but in a natural way which the horses can relate to. You will be speaking their language, and they will be confident and enjoy your company because you make them feel secure and they know where they stand with you.
One aim of roundpen work is to improve the horse’s attentiveness.
I needn’t go into training procedures here– just read various trainers’ books and go watch different ones working with horses whenever you can. Try out what you learn, continue with what works and feels best for you. This horsemanship stuff is a PROCESS, not specific methods or tricks. It’s a way of thinking and being with horses, and it becomes part of you, second nature. It will always be evolving; you will never stop learning.
Pat Parelli-style liberty training– plus a cat!
In point of fact, you are teaching your horse something EVERY TIME YOU ARE WITH HIM. You may think you’re just feeding him or just going for a fun ride; but the horse is a keen observer of YOU and his behavior is shaped by whatever you do, or DON’T do.
There are some basic principles you will find in common between all the natural horse training methods.
RESPECT:
As dominant herd leader, you insist that your personal space be respected. The horse is not allowed to put his face or his feet or body into your personal space, unless you invite him. However, as dominant herd leader, you may go into the horse’s space and touch him whenever you choose. This is communication which the horse understands.
ATTENTION:
When you are with your horse, his job is to pay attention to you and to be aware of you. Your job is to make yourself, and all humans by inference, worthy of his attention, by doing whatever it takes to get it and to maintain it. But don’t expect his attention if you don’t give him yours.
CONSISTENCY:
You are fair and consistent with your instructions and your corrections. If he wanders around when you asked him to stop and stand still, and you’re too busy talking to someone to notice or correct him for moving around, he has learned that it’s OK to move around sometimes. If your horse nudges you with her head and sometimes you yell at her and sometimes you scratch her, don’t be too surprised when she knocks you over with her head.
FIRMNESS:
Either you are in charge, or the horse is in charge. He is happiest when he KNOWS EXACTLY who is in charge, at all times, so do not waver or waffle. You’re not doing him any favors by being nice, ie. overly gentle or timid, when firmness is required; he understands firmness to mean you know what’s best for him, and it gives him confidence. He will trust you when you are consistent and fair.
KINDNESS:
You never abuse your horse physically or mentally, or respond to him in anger or with an attitude of punishment. To a horse, anger is aggression; when they are fearful they cannot learn. Or rather, they DO learn… they learn to mistrust, and to act defensively.
Emmie shows yearling Glendale how to move his haunches away from pressure without crowding his shoulder into her space.
So how do you get the best out of your horse?
PRIMARY GOAL 1.– CONTROLLING THE MIND:
As stated above, maintaining the respect and attention of the horse is the key to training. Insisting on his attention must be ongoing whenever you are around him.
PRIMARY GOAL 2.– CONTROLLING THE FEET:
Control of where the horse places his feet is control of the horse. Being solid underneath himself is very important to the horse. Having his mind connected to his feet is very important to you.
PRIMARY TOOL 1.– PRESSURE AND RELEASE:
Pressure– and release of pressure– is the most basic tool of horse training. The pressure may be physical or it may be mental or verbal, or often all of the above. Release of pressure is the horse’s reward and tells him he did the right thing, therefore your timing of the release of pressure is critical to the horse’s learning.
PRIMARY TOOL 2.– PRAISE AND REWARD:
The horse definitely understands praise and wants to make you happy. Limit how often you dole out treats, don’t let him become pushy and demanding of them or trying to get them out of your pockets, but treating after a job well done or as special reward is quite effective.
PRIMARY TOOL 3.– SIMPLE STEPS:
One step at a time is the rule in all training. Return to previously-learned steps when you run into confusion. Set the horse up for success, so it’s EASY for him to do the thing you want, and DIFFICULT to do the incorrect thing. You are the brains in this partnership. The horse is rarely “being bad” he is merely confused, frustrated, or reacting out of fear or discomfort. It is your job to make it clearer to him exactly what you want, and to help him figure it out and feel secure.
EXAMPLE: To train ground driving, first I get him to understand moving in front of me while I walk behind. Next I show him how to stop from rein pressure, and we practice stops and starts. Next I get him moving in a straight line walking in front of me. Next I start asking him to turn left from rein pressure. Next I start asking him to turn right. If he gets confused, ie. balky or jittery or tangled up in lines and worried at any of these steps, I start over again at square one and remind him of what he learned, and PRAISE him for a good job rather than scold him for misunderstanding.
A WORD ABOUT EARLY LEARNING:
You don’t want a foal doing anything around you or in his early life that you would not allow a fullgrown horse to do. When he weighs 1000 pounds he won’t know the difference! And don’t think he’s too young to learn because he’s just a baby. Watch momma mare and the other horses teach him their rules and see how much and how quickly he learns every day. A foal is curious and is a regular sponge for knowledge!
Trust in your horse will be rewarded; empathizing with your horse’s view of the world will make you an effective trainer and rider and a better horseperson.
regular people doing wonderful things with their horses by gaining their trust!
Noteworthy Natural Horse Trainers:
Monty Roberts
Clinton Anderson
Tom Curtin
Ute Lehmann
Pat Parelli
Linda Tellington Jones
Lynn Palm
John Lyons
Gawanii Pony Boy (below)
Earning your horse’s trust
Clicker training on the trail
original pet portraits said,
July 2, 2007 at 12:33 am
Great post. This reminds me of a search here in our country. It’s entitled SEARCH FOR THE NEXT RIDER. I think it’s a search for the next girl who will ride on this legendary horse. This is a commercial/advertisement for a certain liquor.