During the last several months I have not done much
writing but I have spent a lot of time watching DVDs about horsemanship. One of the topics I was interested in was
Join Up.
I watched a DVD program by Monty Roberts, who is
probably the originator of the term Join Up and another by Bryan Neubert,
called Wild Horse Handling.
The Monty Roberts program is an excellent
demonstration with a couple of different horses. He thoroughly explains and shows the process
he follows, pointing out the key responses of the horse. I have read a number of articles about
Monty`s method and have heard a number of other horseman describe it. There is nothing like seeing Monty do this
and explain it in his own words. The
beauty of DVD`s is that you can watch it again and again to see the subtle
changes in the horse and observe the details of the horseman's timing and techniques.
The Bryan Neubert program is not exactly about
hooking on. It is a 2 hour DVD in which
he starts a wild mustang. It is a really
pure example of natural horse behavior and the skills of an experienced
horseman. This is a program that I would
highly recommend to anyone who really wants to observe horse behavior and see
the results of using methods that connect to the nature of the horse to achieve communication leading to desired responses and behavior. I have spent countless hours watching this
program and I learn something new every time.
A key part of the process is getting the horse to hook on to the human.
For both of these programs it is very helpful if you
have a foundation in understanding horse behaviour as explained by Dr. Robert
Miller in his program, Understanding
Horses. This is my main reference for everything in establishing
a bond with a horse.
