When we first became involved with horses we knew
very little about them. We did know that
horses were herd animals but we had no idea how important this is to them.
By the time we decided to bring Bob home from the
boarding stable we knew that we needed a buddy horse for him and so we got
Wyatt. Bobby was a sociable, but
dominant horse. Wyatt on the other hand
didn`t much like people but he had little interest in being the herd
leader.
Wyatt was my horse.
I did know that he had run his former owner out of the paddock; that he
would bite at the first opportunity; that if you put a saddle on him and rode
there was a good chance he would lie down and roll to get you off his
back. There is a saying, that before you
can be a horse person you have to be bitten, kicked and thrown. Wyatt had those things covered for me in the
first 6 months.
We also learned very quickly that Bob and Wyatt did
not like to be separated even for a short time.
We became familiar with the term herd bound. We also started to learn a lot about how to
deal with this issue. It took us over 3 years
to find the real key. We had to become a
herd of two with our horse.
To do this we had to learn to communicate in a
natural way with our horses. That is
using methods that are natural for the horse.
With this fundamental tool we work on the four pillars of trust,
confidence, respect and leadership. It
took me 3 years to get what I call a herd bond with my horse. There is no doubt that an experienced and
knowledgeable horseman could have achieved this in a much shorter time.
The herd bond is not the same as “hooking on”. It is more like the “true unity” that Tom
Dorrance talked about. It is having the
horse accept you as a member of their herd.
The horse recognizes you and comes to you in the paddock. They show respect. They understand you. They respond willingly to
the most subtle cues. When they see you,
and you are not in the paddock, they will knicker or whinny. It is a vocal invitation to come to them. When you are with them they are not looking
for the other herd members because you are their herd of two and they see you
as the leader. For both of the horses I
have had as partners the vocal response was the last thing that developed.
