01/14/2013
Good Horsemanship - Ross Jacobs
I was discussing today with somebody about the concept of partnership with horses. I have heard it said many times by people about what a good partnership they have with their horse. In my experience, that usually means that their horse doesn't play up much and they do fairly well in competition. But I think most people mistake partnership with obedience and submission. For most people a good partnership exists when a horse does what is he told without much fussing. However, I don't think that is the same thing as having a partnership.
In my opinion, a partnership is a relationship you have where both parties choose to be in it. In a partnership there is no submission, coercion or slavish obedience. In a partnership, both parties profit from the relationship, which becomes the reason they have for choosing to be in the partnership.
When we talk about a partnership with our horses, it's easy to see what we get out of it. But what do our horses get from it? Is it enough to call it a partnership because we provide our horse with food and veterinary care? Is that enough incentive for our horses to choose to be a partnership with us? In my book, that doesn't count. Feeding and caring for a horse's health is a minimum responsibility of just being an owner - not a partner.
So what else does a horse need in order to choose to hang out with us? I believe a horse needs to feel good in our company and when working with us. We have to offer him comfort and relaxation with the least amount of stress possible. We have to offer him a good place to be, so that he would choose to be with us of his own will. Until we can offer him those things, I don't think we can truly say we have a partnership with our horses. Without those things in place I believe the best relationship we can expect is employer/employee. That's not necessarily a bad thing and in fact it is probably better than a lot of people have with their horse. But it is far from the goal that many of us wish we had of being in partnership with our horse.
I believe than any training that involves the use of pressure that takes away a horse's choices is going in the wrong direction of ever obtaining a partnership. I believe any training that uses pressure to make something happen rather than block something from happening is going to get in the way of a partnership. The use of gadgets, pain and fear are also just creating obedience and submission.
Partnerships between people and horses are extremely rare because even with the best intentions it is extremely difficult to obtain. I think I've only had it a couple of times in my life. I've had plenty of good horses and plenty of good relationships with them - but a partnership is much harder to come by. But I'm still a baby and plenty of horses left before I kick the bucket, so I'm not giving up yet. I think if I spent more time with Six I could definitely establish a partnership with her. Riley is a little bit trickier. He is a wonderful horse and we get along brilliantly, but he is more of an internal stresser than Six and I find that harder to break down the barriers to reach deep inside. The paradox is that Riley is both physically and mentally capable of being a top level performance horse, whereas Six is more suited to being a good utility horse that excels at nothing in particular.
In any case, my original point is that the term partnership is too easily bandied about as meaning that a horse performs well and doesn't try to kill its owner. But much more is involved. And even if a person is never likely to have a true partnership with a horse, it doesn't mean they should not try - every day. And it does not mean they should not love the horse for the amazing creature he is.
Sometimes you have to look far and wide in your search for true partnership.
