Road to the Horse 2013

It is just a couple of weeks to the 10^th annual Road to the Horse Competition in Lexington, Kentucky.

 

This year promises to be a landmark event with two female clinicians competing.  This will double the number of female competitors (Stacy Westfall appeared in 2006(winner) and 2007).  Obbie Schlom and Sarah Winters will compete against the two down under fellas Guy McLean and Dan James.

 

Tootie Bland and her crew have done a great service for all horse lovers by establishing this event that will celebrate its 10^th anniversary in Kentucky.  Thanks to the DVD`s they have produced I have watched every event several times.  I learn something new every time from all of the clinicians who have competed and shared their knowledge and skills of horsemanship.  The outstanding judges, who have also given their views of the qualities of horsemanship they look for, provide horse people great insight to the horse.  Together they have all given a wealth of information for horse people all over the world.  They have improved the lives of millions of horses.

 

I urge you to go to the event if you can.  If that is not possible get the DVD package.  Especially support the clinicians.  Go to their clinics and take advantage of the information they publish.  Soak in the knowledge they share. 

 

All of the information about the event is available at www.roadtothehorse.com .

 

Congratulations Tootie Bland and all of the crew from Road to the Horse for these ten years of excellence.

My horse is my therapist

Animals have been engaged in therapeutic sessions with children in hospitals and with seniors in nursing homes for many years.  Usually dogs are the animals involved.  It has been shown that they have a calming effect on both old and young people.  In the past few years I have read accounts of patients, diagnosed as autistic, who have experienced positive responses when they were with horses.

Because I have been around animals of all kinds since I was young, I never really paid a lot of attention to the effects that the humans and animals have on each other.  As I have studied the practice of horsemanship I have come to appreciate how each species can have a profound affect on each other.  Humans have the ability to analyze and communicate concepts whereas the animal  has the very strong connection to nature and and its own senses.  The closer they live to the natural world the stronger the connection and the more refined the senses.

Humans on the other handle are quickly losing their connection with nature.  Unfortunately they are also losing the ability and desire to use their senses.  From an early age we art taught things like,  `Don`t judge a book by its cover.`  and, `Always make a good first impression.`  These are contradictory and deny the use of senses.

My horse doesn`t take my temperature or test my blood pressure, my horse teaches  me how to be aware of the world around me and how to use my senses  to be aware of that world.  He also teaches me how to refine my senses to be more aware of my body and my emotions.  To communicate effectively with horses you must use your body.  To do it effectively you have to be aware of the smallest movements and position changes of your limbs and your muscles.  By practicing this you learn how to be a part of the natural world and you understand yourself and your feelings.   As  I have said before, a horse begins their assessment of you the moment they see you.  The more you understand horsemanship the more you become aware of everything in your environment.  This awareness has a wonderfully calming effect on your emotional state.  It quiets your mind and and frees the flow of information from your senses to your brain.  This is the reverse of what we are usually taught; to use the mind to block and override your senses.

My horse has led me back to a closer connection to with nature and a refinement of all my senses and this is a healing condition.

A Herd of Two – Herd Bonding

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.

 

 

The Pillars of Partnership

After watching hundreds of hours of horseman clinicians and being with my horses for hundreds more hours I believe that there are four pillars to building a sound partnership.  This is not intended to be an instant formula to succeeding with horses.It is a quick way to view and support the process of developing a productive, safe partnership.

 

These are the four pillars;

Trust

Confidence

Respect

Leadership

These are listed in order.  First you need to earn trust, then build confidence, establish respect and then practice leadership.  These pillars are built on a foundation of knowledge of everything you can learn about the horse, the sport you are engaging in and the equipment you are using.

Depending on the situation the pillars take on a different level of importance.  When you are just starting a young horse the trust pillar is really important.  As you progress to a horse with more experience the other pillars become more important.  When developing a new skill with a more experienced horse the confidence pillar is a more critical pillar.  The process of building confidence is often referred to by clinicians as desensitizing and others refer to it as preparing. The result is the same really, because we want the horse to be able to handle things and situations without uncontrolled fear.  And so it goes with respect and leadership.  As you work through a program with any clinician I find it useful to see how the methods they use fit with these pillars.  For me it is a way to better understand why the methods they are using work.

Your partnership with your horse is like a building.  It rests on a foundation.  It is made up of pillars that are linked together by smaller pieces.  If everything is put together properly and it is well maintained the partnership will be strong and enduring.

 

The Ethics of Horsemanship

In 1994 the German National Equestrian Federation published a booklet, “Ethical Principles for the True Horseman”.  The following are the nine ethical principles they included:

1.     Anyone involved with a horse takes over responsibility for this living creature entrusted to him.

2.     The horse must be kept in a way that is in keeping with its natural living requirements.

3.     Highest priority must be accorded to the physical as well as psychological health of the horse, irrespective of the purpose for which it is used.

4.     Man must respect every horse alike, regardless of its breed, age and sex and its use for breeding, for recreation or in sporting competition.

5.     Knowledge of the history of the horse, its needs, and how to handle it are part of our historic-cultural heritage.  This information must be cherished and safeguarded in order to be passed on to the next generations.

6.     Contact and dealings with horses are character-building experiences and of valuable significance to the development of the human being – in particular, the young person.  This aspect must always be respected and promoted.

7.     The human who participates in equestrian sport with his horse must subject himself, as well as his horse to training.  The goal of any training is to bring about the best possible harmony between rider and horse.

8.     The use of the horse in competition as well as in general riding, driving and vaulting must be reared toward the horse`s ability, temperament and willingness to perform.  Manipulating a horse`s capacity to work by means of medication or other “horse-unfriendly” influences should be rejected by all and people engaged in such practices should be prosecuted.

9.     The responsibility a human has for the horse entrusted to him includes the end of the horse`s live.  The human must always assume this responsibility and implement any decisions in the best interest of the horse.

Understanding the nature of the horse and practicing natural horsemanship encompasses these principles.  It is our responsibility as our horse`s partner to live by these principles.

Nature Connection

During the first year that we started using natural horse training methods, we began noticing that it was having an unexpected effect on wildlife in and around the paddock.  Animals that were very shy like fox, deer and wild turkey were becoming more visible.

In the second year, during the early summer, a litter of fox starting visiting the paddock daily.  When we would take the horses into the round pen for grooming the foxes would appear.  The kits would come into the round pen and lie down about 10 feet from where we were.  They would just watch as we stroked the horse.  Then we noticed that the whitetail deer and the wild turkeys were coming close to the paddock and staying nearby.  Normally they would flee at the sight of humans.

I realized that the habits that I had learned from studying the nature of the horse were having the same effect on wild animals as they did on horses.  When you learn to use body language and the control of your emotional and physical energy to communicate with horses it transfers to other animals.  When you learn to read the body language of horses you can learn to read the body language of other animals and they recognize the understanding.  Just as you build confidence and trust with your horse you can build confidence and trust with other animals.  Learning to be a partner with your horse is a gateway to connecting with a wide range of the creatures of the natural world.

If Horses Could Speak

Equine Biomechanics

We know that if we attempt to lift a heavy object and we are not in the correct position and properly balance there is good chance we will injure our back, strain a muscle or a tendon.  We also know that if we perform an activity repeatedly over a period of time we will suffer a repetitive stress injury.  It is the same for horses.  If poor riding techniques, postures and gaits are used when we are on our horse, physical and possibly mental damage can occur.  It is important to know how your horse carries you.

To be a good partner to your horse it is helpful to know something about the construction of the horse.  How does their skeleton, muscles and tendons work together.  How does the head postion and the saddle position affect how the horse can perform.

There is an excellent DVD available.  It is called “If Horses Could Speak” by Dr. Gerd Heushmann (approx. $60.).  The DVD has excellent diagrams and animations which show how the bones, muscles and tendons move inside the horse at different gaits.  It shows the effect of head position and flexure on the performance of the horse.  It deals with classical and modern dressage, but it is applicable to all types of riding.

This is another brick in the foundation of knowledge that will help to make us stronger partners with our horses.