Pioneer Equestrian Coaching

07/12/2024

I always remind my pupils that liberty training is NOT the horse doing what it wants..it’s pretty much always doing what it’s told…..

A PERSPECTIVE ON LIBERTY TRAINING

Many people are attracted to liberty training because they perceive it as gentle and indicating a special relationship between horse and human. But let’s be clear about this. All liberty training began as non-liberty training. To get a horse to a stage of education that it can be worked to a reasonable degree of performance (not just hooking on) requires initially using non-liberty techniques.

I have seen many videos of horses being worked at liberty. They are either being ridden ba****ck and with no headgear or working on the ground without ropes or halters. Sometimes the trainer uses whips, flags, and food treats to direct the horses, but sometimes not. Some people work in small-ish yards and others work in large open spaces. Sometimes multiple horses are worked together while other times it is just one horse. The variety of maneuvers performed is almost limitless from flying changes every stride to several horses galloping side-by-side on a beach.

Nearly every time I see these videos or watch demonstrations at horse expositions, the overwhelming consensus of the general horse-loving public is “Wow”! People are amazed at the bond they presume exists between a horse and a human for the horse to perform such stunts without equipment to control them.

But in my view, there are pluses and minuses to training and working at liberty.

To begin with, let me say that the biggest positive to working a horse at liberty is that it reveals all our flaws. When we screw up in our liberty training, it’s obvious to the entire world. This is especially true in the early stages of training. In the later training, it may not be so obvious because most horses have learned enough about their job to fill in for our mistakes. But when a horse is still figuring out what is being asked, it doesn’t take much screwing up on our part for everything to unravel very quickly.

The second aspect of liberty work that I like is that it is fun. It’s lots of fun for us. I don’t think it is necessarily more fun for horses than non-liberty work, but it is fun for us. I think that’s an important reason for training at liberty because after all, working with horses is meant to be fun.

The only other plus of liberty work that I can think of is there is less wear and tear and expense on gear. But for somebody like me who has never owned good or expensive equipment, that’s not a big advantage.

But there are downsides to liberty work too – big ones. In my experience, it is rare to see horses working well or contented when performing liberty work. It’s rare enough to see when the gear is used, and almost unseen when the gear is not used.

I believe this is because most training (of any kind) concerns itself with obedience. Gear is designed to provide clarity to a horse. So when the gear is missing two things can go wrong. The first is that when we are training a horse intending to perform at liberty we tend to drill obedience at the expense of okay-ness. By its nature, liberty work requires a high degree of obedience (because the gear is not available to impose obedience), which means we often focus on the movement more than the emotions that accompany the movement.

The second issue relates to what I described above as the biggest positive of liberty work. Having no gear available when a horse makes a mistake does show our flaws, but it also makes the job of correcting a horse’s mistakes more difficult and often a lot less subtle.

One of the statements I hear a lot from people impressed with liberty training is “But the horse could run away if he didn’t like it.” But this is naive. Most horses would never volunteer to load into a trailer or stand quietly for a dentist, yet many do despite their troubled feelings.

It is tempting to put that sort of thinking down to people thinking like humans and not like horses. But in truth, it is not people thinking like people, it is people not thinking at all.

The reason why we can ride horses is because our training makes their mind so malleable that we can convince them of most things. This includes believing that at liberty they are trapped in their performance just as much as if we were using the harshest bits, the biggest spurs, the strongest ropes, and the highest fences. For some horses, this is how liberty training can feel.

I’m not suggesting that all liberty training is abusive, just like not all non-liberty training is abusive. But I do believe there is nothing so special about liberty training that it should be looked at with blind awe. Bad training or bad riding should not get a pass just because it is done at liberty. There is no point in liberty work if it is not held to the highest standard we would use for judging non-liberty training.

I am far more impressed by a trainer who can ask a horse to offer a relaxed and balanced trot whether or not the horse is wearing gear than I am by a trainer who has taught a horse fancy movements that are incorrect and accompanied by worry but with no gear.

I want to be clear that training and working horses at liberty can be great and indicate good work. But it can also be the opposite. It is not automatically true that being able to work with a horse at liberty is a sign of good training or a special relationship.

Photo: At a clinic Laura is working Tas at liberty to help create interest in her to improve his focus and give him clarity.

07/12/2024

My understanding is anything that has TB blood in it, has a risk of ECVM..so that includes part breds and any breed where, post world wars, TB blood was introduced….not mega common but if they don’t do more research and ban breeding from carriers……..:(

There has been so much going on around the topic of ECVM, this congenital malformation is one we are diagnosing, managing and studying at Denali Equine in partnership with Rexos Inc, under the guidance of the legendary Dr. Sharon May-Davis. We wanted to give you the top ten points on ECVM facts. (Sorry this is long- Well worth the full read!)

1. ECVM is a congenital condition, meaning they are born with it. We suspect it is a recessive genetic disorder because two unaffected adults can produce offspring with it. There are several groups racing to find the genetics behind this condition. More information on the horizon.

2. ECVM is not a fatal diagnosis. However, it can be. It depends on the severity of the malformation and how well the horse can functionally compensate.

3. Radiographs of the lower neck are necessary to diagnose the condition. These radiographs must be clear lateral and obliques of C6, C7 and ideally T1. These can be done in the field for most horses. However larger generators do get better images.

4. Variability: Horses can be either a bilateral or unilateral malformation of C6, which in 52% of C6 cases can transpose either bilaterally or unilaterally. To C7; T1 and the first ribs are variably affected.

5. Studies show horses with transposition of the ventral lamina to C7 are more likely to suffer from clinical neck pain than horses with normal anatomy. In our experience horses with rib malformations have more severe clinical signs than those with normal ribs (no clear studies yet).

6. The bones absolutely do not tell the whole story. However, bones do not lie. They often indicate the level of soft tissue malformations present. The more severe the boney changes- the more severe the soft tissue is altered around them.

7. Clinical picture: all horses are not lame, but they do all have subtle clinical signs. Most often the clinical signs are not limb related lameness (but can be). These horses can show signs of the pain ethogram, rearing, sporadic behavior, abnormal front limb flight patterns (especially with equipment), girthiness, resistance to go forward, doesn’t like physical touch (brushing, blanketing ex). The signs are so variable for every horse!

8. The common things heard from owners/trainers:
* The horse was always bad from the start (this is concerning for the more severe cases)
* The horse was fine until it wasn’t. We find this is from something changed in the program. i.e., was imported, switched barns, changed jobs.
* They don’t understand why the horse is failing quicker than usual as it gets older. As the horse ages the clinical signs become more apparent. The body can only manage for so long. Think of it this way- the foundation was built wrong from the beginning. Therefore, it takes time for the cracks in your walls or floors to show, it then takes those cracks a while before they become a structural problem in your house.
* A minor incident happened and now they’re not ok. Suspect an injury can cause the horse to spiral out of stabilization or have the ability to compensate. An example could be getting cast or trailering event then the horse was never the same. Example, you do not know your house wasn’t built well until the storm blows it over.

9. These horses have significant soft tissue pathology on necropsies. Therefore, no matter what the data is showing us: If the horse has ECVM, is clinical, and other differentials have been ruled out these horses are clinically affected by the ECVM.

10. On necropsies we have found:
* Missing, malformed and fractured ribs
* Abnormal nerve patterns, these nerves can be totally entrapped and compressed by abnormal muscle patterns. The dorsal scalene can trap the large nerves of the brachial plexus within its abnormal paths. The phrenic nerve can get pulled inappropriately and leave impressions within the ventral scalene.
* Abnormal muscles: dorsal scalene, ventral scalene, iliocostalis, longus coli, re**us abdominal, intercostal muscles, serratus ventails cervicis. All these muscles have critical roles in stability, proprioception, and biomechanics.
* Abnormal vascular patterns
* Trachea abnormalities
* Fascial changes

ECVM is currently a controversial and sensitive topic so we thought we would share a few known quick facts to help you understand this issue better. Please go to our website (www.DenaliEquine.com) to find more information and links to the current studies on this disease. We are researching and studying these horses! We are working on several angles of research right now throughout Non-Profit Rexos Inc. If you would like more information on how you can help, please reach out!

DeClue Equine saddlefitting.us

03/12/2024

Wow…I mean to know is one thing…to see, quite another,

Do you really understand how big your horse's lungs are? This picture is a horse's lungs fully inflated...amazing when you think they are enclosed in a horse's body! Did you know a horse takes in 2x 5-Gallon buckets of air ever second? Think of how much that really is. So, do the best you can to help your horse breathe! http://flairstrips.com/learn/

25/11/2024

Afternoon All
I often use sound when I am teaching and wanted to share some thoughts…..
Starting with the obvious- my voice- all my horses and ponies are taught to listen to voice commands for most things, both in hand and ridden… I said “obvious” but, when I met a new client the other day who had, unusually, already done some Ride With Your Mind lessons, I asked how much of what she did , she asked for using her voice…nothing much , it turned out.

Now I shouldn’t really have been surprised as RWYM is primarily about using your body to make what become almost invisible changes in force generation through your and your horse’s fascial network, backed up with well trained operants (what leg aids and rein aids are really supposed to mean…a whole other story…!)…so you don’t really need voice commands but I use them for lots of reasons..and have done for a long time.

One of the reasons I use them is it is incredibly simple to teach to everybody - even some pupils who have had difficulty speaking or cannot speak very clearly can make a sound that the horses very quickly understand.

They aren’t generally aversive or intrusive and don’t upset or distress the horses…there is one exception to that….it’s not the word “No” though they obviously recognise a different tone and intention from the human…but the “Tshhh”sound I make which means no is an unpleasant one and works even with new or rescue horses right from the beginning…probably because it increases your bear down or core tone …..another reason to use voice commands…which I also use in “And Staaand”!, “Steady”, “Ter-rot” and “Hup” meaning jump or canter…I probably should use jump or similar but my lot don’t really do jumps that are bigger than a large canter stride so I’ll cross that bridge when/if I come to it!

Getting my pupils to use their voices is also a fabulous way to keep them breathing if they are struggling, it tells me a huge amount about where their ‘centre’ is…too high and potentially ignorable for example… It tells me about their self esteem and whether they feel they are allowed to be asking the horse to do things for them….it also tells me about how clear they are in their intention and it shows me if they do have a plan or not….you can’t give a voice command if you haven’t decided what you are doing!..Try it!

My horses and ponies will also respond to step right and left, step over and away for front and hind legs respectively which makes teaching lateral work a whole lot easier, for all reasons already listed and , whilst I am showing the pupil what to do and how it feels, it also give them a sense of how your aids need to be timed, whichever ones you are using …. try doing leg yield using well timed “step right” for the front leg and “step away” for the hind…I’d put money on it, it will feel like a proper mind melt!

BUT…this wasn’t actually where I started to think about sound and teaching….it was listening to a Radio 4 programme where they mentioned that professional athletes often use sound to improve their running technique..and that very good runners make very little sound when their feet hit the ground… (which would indicate they are very good at controlling the forces travelling through their fascial net…)

As I led one of our retired professional athletes (one of the ex-racehorses) across the yard on Saturday…I heard the tell tale sound of a missing shoe….which doubtless makes most owners hearts sink….there is a very obvious discrepancy in the sound of the hooves landing on the ground, which I think most people would notice…but how much attention do riders pay when there is a much more subtle difference….?

The next time you ride, or watch a horse being ridden ..or do ride and lead…pay attention to the volume of the sound that each hoof makes, the rhythm or frequency of the hoof beats and the type of sound….does one hoof slap or scrape or slide along when it lands, is there an audible twisting sound as the power gets pushed through it ..?

It might only be a tiny difference between the hoof beats…or one hoof landing might be noisier than the rest…what does that feel like it means? Can you make the noises louder? Quieter? Less even? More even? Have a play and tell me what you notice….(think about how quietly one horse can canter across a muddy field -this equates to the almost silent runner with great biomechanics and supreme control of their fascial network-and how another one might just be floundering across it..)

As I teach about half of my lessons out hacking, I have learned to be able to tell all sorts of things from the sounds of the horses’ hooves… I’m not sure I can even tell you how I know…but I can tell if the rider is holding their breath….not paying attention…getting tired…not bearing down enough…landing too heavily in the trot…not lifting their toes up in their boots…breathing into only one lung (now, that’s a story for another day!)…. see what you notice….and I’ll pay more attention and see if I can work out how I know these things…I might still keep it a secret though!! 😉

In the meantime….this was the pony (16.2hh OTTB) that lost his shoe…very kindly put back on by the farrier at silly o’clock this morning before I was even there..thank you James!…so he’ll be back to making his usual, not quite matching noises….he slightly twists his right front hoof and pushes unevenly off his right hind….not easy to hear..but it’s there…

Hope you are all coping with the aftermath of this weekend’s revolting weather!

Back soon…:)

20/10/2024

Evening All! I’ve been having lots of discussions about ‘our social licence to operate’ (or as was more succinctly put at the ABRS conference, public acceptance of what we do)lately with colleagues in other businesses and lots of my clients, of all ages and backgrounds…particularly talking about the brouhaha/ shenanigans over CDJ whipping that horse…. My interest is not in whether it was acceptable, it clearly wasn’t…and nobody that I know has argued that it was…but more I am interested in
1) Who taught her that?
2) How did that attitude towards horses go unnoticed? Or perhaps more accurately , un commented on…? (Not sure that’s English but you get the gist…sorry past my bedtime!)
3) How many people has she taught that to…?
4) What is she going to do to rehabilitate herself (I noticed her apology was to lots of people, but not to the horse, which I thought was very telling..)?
5) How is she going to undo the damage that she has contributed to?
6) And how, if we are trying to promote kindness in the equestrian world, can we demonstrate kindness to her, model what we are campaigning for, at the same time as working to w**d out this behaviour, at ALL levels, once and for all?

This makes me want to write about lots and lots of things….but I’m going to start with…how did this way of dealing with horses get taught and passed on to her..and how did this approach and attitude to horses go unnoticed?

The horse world , and many others, is deeply hierarchical, with novices and younger inexperienced people’s opinion treated as irrelevant…and this, in my mind, is where the rot sets in….. One of the main reasons I started my little riding school is I find teaching people who know “nothing” about horses an absolute joy…. this is because, pretty much without exception, I don’t have to spend any time persuading them to treat my horses and ponies with kindness…they don’t arrive on my yard wanting to tie my horses mouths shut, to kick them with spurs or hit them with whips or to pull hard on the reins and show them who is boss…This is in stark contrast to ‘riders’,a significant proportion of children who have been taught from an early age to kick, whip and pull their equines around and quite a few adults… now the sort of people who come to me are the ones who feel uncomfortable and unhappy doing this so they are already on the right road to riding and handling horses in a kinder way..as they have come looking for me…but I have met less than 4 people in 20 years of teaching who didn’t already know that being rough and harsh with horses was both unethical and unnecessary..so how do novices/the young/inexperienced get persuaded that this is the way to do things…?

I strongly believe it is because their distress and discomfort at being told to behave in this way gets dismissed, minimised and ridiculed and by the time they have got to the point where other people will listen, they have been doing it themselves for years and been brainwashed into thinking that treating horses roughly, insensitively and unethically is acceptable, inevitable and god forbid, desireable…….😞

But I have a solution for this…… teach everybody on your yard, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE THE BOSS, that everyone’s opinion matters and that if they see something they don’t understand or don’t agree with, that they are allowed to speak out… That way, the non brain washed people, who haven’t been inculcated into the ‘acceptable’ way of doing things, will have the opportunity to shine a spotlight on current practices and give the old timers some perspective….I love the fresh insight that novices can give you…and the pupils I teach will be better than I ever can be….because they will never have been taught to “get on with it”, make it happen, smack your horse down the shoulder to get the horse to jump, turn your whip upside down to smack harder, smack the horse for spooking, that jumping your horses over a 3’6” oxer with draw reins on, that smacking a horse with a lunge whip to get it to load etc is ok… all of which I was taught ….I was never asked what I thought about all that….but if I had been, I wouldn’t have said…”Yes , that’s ok to do that to my beloved pet..” … I was lucky..I was always attracted to troubled horses (and learnt pretty quickly that kindness was always better) and had the amazing opportunity to learn biomechanics from 21 years old, which totally changed the tool kit I had for working with horses…BUT…if CDJ (and others) had asked the new kids on their yard what they thought about how to treat horses, maybe they wouldn’t have gone so far wrong…..

Let me know what you think….I have lots more to write on this…will try and do so soon…
I’ve used this photo before, but I love it…this is me and Finlay (a rescue) having a conversation about how his life will be different with us…I’ll talk more about him another time as I finally feel he is starting to be a happy pony….Night!

06/10/2024

Yes ..this…so obvious that working immature bones in such an extreme fashion makes no sense… and we all know that anything is only as strong as it’s weakest part…why keep defending racing horses so young… I understood that the pelvic area doesn’t mature until the horse is around 7 so we should be looking at all sports that are expecting 4,5 and 6 year olds to be performing at any level too…eventing…showjumping…etc

28/09/2024

It looks so easy when done well….but think of the tone and coordination required…..just like riding well…;)

28/09/2024

Yep….about time the racing industry faced up to this…….you can’t retrain a significant number of ex racehorses because they are so broken… I rescue quite a few different horses…but it’s not the odd racehorse that is broken…it’s a significant proportion…perhaps it’s time to ‘fess up to exactly how many rather that buy in to the ROR sales pitch……

10/09/2024

Interesting…..

10/09/2024

Try this for improving strength for riding ..if you know about fascial lines, it will make sense…if you don’t, look Mary Wanless or keep an eye on my posts…;)

10/09/2024

Learn how to recognise correct trimming in your own horse’s hooves…..

19/08/2024

Do you love your horse?

I’m not convinced this matters half as much as we think it does….bear with me…….

By this I mean….
Should I treat a horse I don’t love any differently to one that I do?
Should I make different decisions ? Should I expect different behaviour? Tolerate different things? Use a different routine or different standards? Be less clear? Have worse timing? Be more or less impatient/patient?

I’m pretty sure you’re going to say..”No…what is acceptable, desireable, optimal in terms of training and management should be the same , regardless of whether you get on with a horse, like or love a horse or not….If you are trying to provide a standard of care, you should do the best you can for all the horses you meet”…..

It is doubtless the case that you will, in enough time, meet a horse you feel like you completely gel with and probably some you get along with and a couple you’d be quite happy not to meet again….but would you advise different management or riding techniques for each one… ?

Surely each horse deserves tolerance, respect, patience, clarity and as rich and happy a life as you can provide, regardless. I once taught a pupil on his sister’s pony as his had pulled a shoe and they quite clearly didn’t get on! I was meant to be teaching him about cantering and jumping but, no matter what we tried, he could not get his sister’s pony to canter…..smacking it with a whip or chasing it with a lunge whip were not acceptable options so we were a little stumped… nothing was obviously wrong with the pony and the pupil was an experienced and fairly competent rider…. And then it came to me…. “Ride it like you love it” (Apologies, cannot remember now if it was a mare or a gelding, but wouldn’t have said “it”!)….and guess what……almost immediately we had as many beautiful canter transitions as we wanted and an important lesson was learned by both of us….

If you treat ALL horses and ponies you meet as if you love them, all parties will have a better, kinder, happier and more productive time.….. BUT and this is a big but..whether you DO love them or not is IRRELEVANT…….you should behave as if you do, regardless…

I’ve got a bit more to say about love and ponies…but that’s for another post or two…

Here’s Rosie, whom we all loved…gone over the rainbow bridge just this week….RIP little one xx

24/04/2024

ORIENT > EYE > STALK > CHASE > GRAB-BITE > KILL-BITE > DISSECT > CONSUME

Migrate, track/trail, orient, eye, stalk, chase/herd, grab bite, kill bite, carry (retrieve), guard, dissect, consume.

This is the hunting pattern we have enhanced for domestic dogs through selective breeding. We have enhanced parts of these patterns and arrested others. For example, a Border Collie needs to herd but not bite, whereas heelers, corgis, might herd (chase) by biting at the feet of the cattle to keep them moving.

When we understand this sequence deeply, we can start to train our dogs through various aspects of it without conflict. We can also reduce the intensity of some parts of the sequence by asking the dog to repeat the earlier part - for example, my dog Logan would hold/carry and guard toys once he had them so I taught him to search for multiple toys in succession to reduce the perceived value of the one toy. This has worked extremely well over the years I've had him.

I was working with this young Malinois yesterday. We were playing with a ball (chase, grab, carry and repeat) at low intensity. We then played tug (grab bite, kill bite, carry). During the session, because of the way he had previously learned (no fault to the fella who lives with him, he's learning too and doing brilliantly), he then tripped into the guard part of the sequence. When this happens and we can't move him back to an earlier stage (search, chase) or to the end part (consume) he can get stuck in this place (I know this from experience with Logan).

What did we do? We waited. We took a breath. We waited some more. We relaxed, and offered him water. We didn't try to take the toy from him. We waited it out. Guess what happened? He started to relax. When he did so, we offered him treats. He didn't take them initially, so we waited a little longer. Then he started relaxing more, took some more food, we moved him away from the toy and the most important part - we did not make a grab for the toy, we pretended it wasn't there. When we saw him start to relax and enjoy being petted, we led him a little further away, and I calmly picked up the toy and put it away.

When we don't understand this well enough, or have the skills to implement it, this leads to imbecilic comments like "tRy gIvINg HiM a TreaT wHeN he's cHASinG a rAbbIt". Yeah, we don't do that, that's not how it works. When we don't know how to do it we are left with becoming more adversarial, harsher, more aversive, turning up the shock on the shock collar, harder corrections on the prong collar etc. When we do understand this and take time and patience to teach it, we get good results, positively, without conflict.

Lastly, the closer the behaviours are in the sequence, the harder they are to separate without practice. If we react, rather than respond, we dive on top of our cocker spaniel puppy or young retriever and prize or yank and item out of their mouth (carry/retrieve) it's much easier for them to trip into the guarding part. We end up training "resource guarding" by accident.

This can be done, it takes intelligence, kindness and compassion for both yourself and your dog as learners. We deserve that, so do our dogs.

08/04/2024

Like the horses gave a **** about any of that!

30/03/2024

Yup…

01/03/2024