03/03/2024
A reader writes: “Do you prefer working with fresh-slate horses, or those who are somehow ‘spoiled’ and need restarts?”
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Trainers definitely seem to fall into two camps, when presented with questions like the one above.
If a person is training commercially with an eye to competition, the first group of colts is, realistically, the only way to go. You’ll need specific bloodlines athletic enough to get the job done in your discipline. You’ll need that clean-slate, in order to absorb your training quickly and efficiently. You'll also need a stream of young horses coming in to fulfill your requirements for the futurities, whether or not we approve of such things!
Competition aside, time is money in the business of training horses, something that many people don’t understand. I tend to cut pro trainers a lot of slack when it comes to timesaving measures, for they, too, deserve to pay their bills and feed their families. There are many ethical trainers among the bad. For the most part, they do an amazing job of turning out consistent and uncomplicated horses for us to safely enjoy.
That leaves those of us who are willing to throw our leg over the horse with a stormy past.
These are not the horses who are going to be able to get by with a thirty, sixty or ninety-day re-start. Whether due to poor handling in the past, undiagnosed longstanding pain, or just a challenging personality—which is often confused with a lifetime of abuse—these horses will need a program with consistency that, over time, can reprogram neural pathways in the brain.
These horses really require a mixture of science and technically sound riding, along with good intentions.
This means performing a positive response hundreds of times, in order to erase the past history of life-altering, or inappropriate, former reactions. As Dr. Phil used to say, “It takes one thousand ‘attaboys’ to replace one negative, scarring comment”. All of this, without mindless drilling.
When we consider the training of spoiled, or abused, horses, this is sobering information.
I have made it my business to have at least one of these horses on my books, at all times. These horses may have had a bad start and have somehow fallen through the cracks. Maybe they were started fine but then lived through years of neglect. I have been surprised to find that teenaged horses learn every bit as well as the younger colts, with different pros and cons in their responses to my training.
I have also learned that all things being equal, the truly clean slate horse is far less complex to shape into an uncomplicated ‘going’ horse, than the one with a chequered past.
The chances of getting hurt on the latter also go way up, exponentially. While few horses go out of their way to hurt us, an older horse will have judgments about prior abuse and is not above doing what is necessary to protect itself. This is understandable. We are all wired to survive, horses especially.
I personally enjoy the problem-solving nature of restarting troubled horses. I have learned, the hard and heartbreaking way, that not all horses can be saved. This is an unpopular notion that is borne by real life experience, alas.
There are some horses who are so fundamentally damaged, or so wrongly wired neurologically, that they can never be asked to serve us as saddle horses or driving horses. I have had to learn this lesson, many times. It is still untenable to me… or perhaps more truthfully, to my ego.
There is a lot of ‘feelgood’ associated with giving horses a second chance. Being someone’s saviour can have a dangerous allure.
I try very hard to not tie my own self worth to the successes my horses have seen, or have failed to find, while in my tenure. I do know that to be offered a clean slate horse means that I will be afforded a wonderful period in my training program, something that I have learned to enjoy and value.
People might be surprised to know that the average mustang, or unhandled horse, is an easier prospect than the one who has been started, or handled, wrongly.
I’d like to point out that riding nothing but spoiled, or troubled, horses can have a negative effect on one’s technical riding, as well as one’s emotions. Like unsound horses, they can become a very heavy burden, if we are not careful. I always aim to have at least one advanced horse in my string, to keep my riding light and without habitual defensiveness.
It is all-too-easy to begin handling ‘problem’ horses with a chip on one’s shoulder. Instead, we have to constantly find the balance between softness and acceptance, with staying aware and ahead of the constant possibility of getting hurt. Many troubled horses have hurt people in the past. Though this is understandable, it is not a comfort when your own safety is on the line.
I never worry about whose fault it is, that a horse is now this way. Blame solves nothing. If I now have this horse in my care, moving forward is squarely up to me.
Bottom line, I appreciate all the trainers who have their horses’ best interests at heart. Whether they are starting with gifted, clean slates with all the world before them… or their equine students are working to overcome hard and desperate pasts, I salute the trainers who create consistently straightforward, happy horses.
It is both my constant goal and great honour to endeavour to ride among them.
Shown here, a wintry memory of Mike on the beautiful 13:3 pony, Chica d'Or. That she went on to a life of proud service as a children's riding pony, belies her rough start in life.
