Helen Talley - The Trail Less Travelled: Horse Training & Blog

23/10/2024

Hoarder’s Tack Room Cleanout!!!
(It’s me, I’m the hoarder 🙋🏻‍♀️)
See comments! I’ll add more stuff as I clean up the tack room.

22/10/2024

THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL DISCOMFORT IN TRAINING

I will make an assertion that might surprise or upset a few people. That is, horses do not need to bond with people. As long as a horse’s basic needs of food, water, and companionship are met, they couldn’t give a farthing if they never saw a human in their entire life.

But people are different. Most people want to bond with their horse. They get upset if they feel their horse doesn’t want to be with them. To fulfill this need people repeat the mistake over and over again of avoiding doing enough to help a horse change its thought because they don’t want to upset their horse or induce anxiety in the horse. They don’t want to do anything they think might cause their horse not to like them. But this is making horse training more about people's concerns than the horses. It is both an ignorant and selfish approach to training.

Some people who read my essays about training principles and watch my videos come away with the mistaken view that my training and my clinics are all rainbows and cuddles. But I am not that sort of trainer. I am the sort of trainer who will do as little as I can to get a change of thought, but as much as necessary too. That means that sometimes I am applying so little pressure that people can’t see what I am doing and other times it means the pressure gets to earthquake proportions, with most of the time it is somewhere in between. I try very hard not to apply more pressure than necessary to change a horse’s thoughts and provide them with clarity. To do more than that verges on punishment. But to apply less pressure than necessary to change a horse’s thoughts and provide clarity verges on emotional abuse.

In the past, a small number of people have expressed confusion and even concern about how much pressure I applied to some horses. They felt what they saw me doing was inconsistent with the ideas I espoused in my essays. So I want to say a few things about this.

Firstly, as I have written in my book, The Essence Of Good Horsemanship there is no such thing as kind or gentle training. All training requires a certain threshold level of anxiety in a horse to stop one behaviour and replace it with another. This is equally true for training that applies the principles of negative reinforcement (R-) and positive reinforcement (R+) The amount of anxiety required to make a horse think what it is doing is no longer a good idea is the same for every horse. However, the amount of pressure a human has to apply to reach that threshold level of anxiety can vary hugely. So just because one horse will change its thought with a wiggle of a finger and another horse will require a whirlwind of energy from a swinging rope, does not mean one method was more aggressive or violent than the other from a horse’s point of view. They both added the same amount of worry in the respective horses to create a change of thought.

Secondly, when it comes to horses the end mostly does justify the means. By that I mean, if a horse finishes a session in a better emotional place and with a clearer understanding of its role than it had in the beginning, then it is hard to judge what happened as inappropriate or wrong. Remember this is about how the horse feels, not how the human feels. If I can get a good change in a short time by using a strong feel or achieve the same result over a much longer time using much less pressure, I get it done sooner rather than later. I don’t feel it is fair to leave a horse feeling crappy any longer than necessary just because I don’t like using more pressure. I’m not saying it is wrong to do less and take longer if that is where your skill level is, but I am not letting my horse flounder any longer than I have to simply because I want to avoid being firmer and clearer.

The reason most people come to a clinic is because the things they have been doing with their horse are not getting the results they have been seeking. An owner puts trouble in their horse and leaves it there until it becomes habitual, then gets upset if a trainer has to apply more pressure than they would like to get the horse to think of changing their idea and behaviour. They look at the trainers as being cruel and aggressive but don’t see fault in themselves for creating the situation in the first place and leaving their horses troubled for days, weeks, and years.

Horses don’t care about how much pressure we use provided there is clarity and quieter/calmer emotions at the end. Horses don’t care how they got there, just that they feel better because of it. So a horse does not carry the worry that pressure might induce any longer than it takes for the change of thought to come through. Once the change of thought occurs the emotions are quelled and clarity is obtained. A horse does not fixate on the applied pressure any longer than that – whether it is barely perceptible or highly charged. The amount of pressure required to get a change is not what is important to a horse. The pressure only becomes a problem if we don’t use it with enough clarity to change a thought or if we use more than necessary to change a thought. You only have to watch horses interacting in the paddock to realize that it is not pressure that matters, but the clarity at the end.

It is very human to want to make sure our horses are calm and relaxed all the time. We want them to like us, so we don’t want to be the source of their trouble. I applaud this notion and try hard to work in that way. However, I don’t believe we do our horses any favours by allowing our desire to be their friend and not upset them with their need for clarity and confidence in following our idea. It never is and never should be about us.

Photo: I was in Germany earlier in the year, I worked with Simone Carlson. She using pressure with feel to help this horse overcome its fear of crossing a tarpaulin.

10/10/2024

12/09/2024

HORSEMAN
There are horse trainers, horse traders and horse whisperers. There are show men, show boaters and show offs. There are fast talkers and would be magicians.

But then there are true Horsemen and Horsewomen, and these are harder to find and sometimes even harder to recognize because they are often tucked away in quiet hidden places, working slowly and silently without national recognition or appreciation.

Often times, the true horseman or woman does not have the most horses in training or those horses that are exceptionally bred or high priced. Often times, the true Horsemen and Women do not have access to big money owners or run through dozens and dozens of prospects in order to find the few that can take the pressure of aged event prize money or high profile exhibition. Many times, the true horsemen and women are slow and steady, methodical and patient, training on an individual horse's timeline and not to a rigid show schedule set by the seasons or show management.

These people recognize a horse's physical and mental capabilities and showcase their assets without sacrificing their bodies or minds. Horsemen and women take their time developing their horses' skills and confidence through a traditional steps, one before the next, placing just as much credence in their teaching relationship and equine partnership as they do in show pen results. Horsemen and women are humble because their reward comes from within; from knowing that they have taught through kindness, patience, fortitude, and logic. Their rewards coming from creating a confident horse that works with them and not for them, horses that are not scared or intimidated, horses with solid foundations that last season after season and that carry a gamut of riders from the experienced non pro to the Amateur to the Green Reiner. Always Dedicated. Always Patient. Always Consistent. Whether it be riding young horses, resurrecting older horses, or maintaining the Steady Eddy, a True Horseman is one of the first ones to throw a leg over in the morning and one of the last ones to pull their boots off in the evening.
Horsemen and women are a pleasure to watch in the arena or on the ranch as they diligently and patiently impart their knowledge and logic to both horses and students.

In an era where the horse industry is so economically driven and success is measured primarily in prize money and accolades, the tradition of the true horseman and the process of training horses seems to be changing; giving way to an assembly line mentality where immediate success and financial compensation take precedence over handcrafted quality and longevity. Dedicated to their craft, loyal to their students, ambitious, hardworking and a role model for anyone interested in making their way in an industry dominated by pressure to build great animals in less and less time, old fashioned horsemen are women are now Artisans, assets to our heritage and traditions and harder and harder to find.

A thoughtful teacher, a thorough instructor, a gentle hand, a firm guide, a rational yet fearless showman, the greatest compliment that I think could ever be given to someone who works with horses, is to be thought of as a Horseman.

📝Becky Hanson

BoRussia at sunset
📸Dana White

01/09/2024

This cutie-pie is Winston.
Winston arrived two weeks ago with a lot of anxiety, poor manners, and some dangerous tendencies. His wonderful owners have entrusted me with evaluating and bringing him along in hopes the family safely enjoy him.
Winston is a quirky guy who initially had zero interest in connecting with me.

I’ve had the privilege of working with more than a few quirky horses. At one time, this was really intimidating. “How do I help this horse? Can I? How long will it take? What if I’m wrong? What if…?” Imposter syndrome is crippling.
I’ve had some REALLY quirky horses who blossomed into really GREAT horses. I’ve been blessed with AWESOME owners who were in it for the long haul. Owners who trusted me to join their team and support their horses to the best of my abilities.

It’s not so intimidating now because I know my abilities AND recognize I’ll never stop learning.
I know, and will be the first to tell you, I don’t know everything. But I’m willing to try, to apply what I know, seek advice, learn more, take a different approach, and take the trail less travelled when the beaten path isn’t working for that horse.

And I’ve helped them. Helped them relax, trust, feel better, move better, communicate, listen, connect with their rider, and match with new riders.

Every one of these quirky horses has taught me more than any lesson, trainer, video, or book ever could.

Winston has been here for two weeks. He teaches me something every day.
He’s starting to trust me, and reveal paths to helping him. We have a long road ahead, and I don’t have all the answers, but with a holistic approach we’re peeling back the layers… chiropractic work was life changing for him. Today he allowed me to clean his sheath and remove one of the largest beans I’ve ever seen.

Feeling better is how we begin.

I wake up every morning excited to learn from all the wonderful animals that fill my barn. Especially the quirky ones.

31/08/2024

I did not write this, but everyone needs to see it...

When we rush our horses in their training, we aren't expediting their fitness or building muscles faster - we are breaking them down and rushing to a place that will require more veterinary intervention, more alternative therapies, more time off, more risk of injury, more wear and tear on the fragile structures, and a quicker end to the riding career and soundness of our equine partners.

You cannot rush fitness, you cannot rush collection, suppleness, relaxation, it's impossible. Wherever you do rush and cut corners, you will end up with holes and issues in other areas of your riding and the overall health and welfare of your horse.

Don't want to take the time to teach your horse to collect, and instead just force him into a false frame? Well, you're going to be stuck with fixing the slew of problems that come with the tension that was just created.

Don't want to work your way up the scale to create true endurance and stamina? You now risk your horse pulling a muscle or injuring themselves from overexertion and being pushed too hard for too long when the body simply isn't ready for that workload.

Don't want to get a saddle fitted to your horse? Your horse will suffer the consequences of altering his posture and way of going to alleviate the pressure and pain caused by something that isn't suited to his build, even going so far as risking injury to yourself when he can't pick up his feet enough, causing a stumble which can be catastrophic.

Don't want to do boring small jumps to build up to the larger ones? You risk your horse not being able to find a good take-off spot, knocking rails, refusing and even crashing through the jump. You will also make the horse more nervous, anxious and again, tense and sometimes unwilling to jump again.

Don't want to waste time working up the scale of collection to achieve the proper head set without force? Let's just throw a harsher bit in his mouth, maybe tie the nose shut with both noseband and flash to get him into "frame". You've now lost all relaxation, the wrong muscles are activated and depending on how deep you yank the horses face in will determine if he's even able to swallow. Tension throughout the jaw and neck translate all the way to the hind legs, so zero collection is possible, even the slightest bit of engagement and lift of the back cannot be achieved.

Rushing will lead you nowhere except to more problems that could've been avoided had you taken the proper time for development.

📝 Unknown

31/08/2024

Working with young horses is tough.

And not just in the "hold on and hope you stay in the saddle" kind of way.

No one warns you how challenging it truly is. How often you'll doubt yourself, wondering: Am I doing this right? Am I moving too fast? Too slow? Is this too much? Not enough? You'll constantly be questioning your approach, trying to figure out the best way forward while tuning out the opinions of the trainer down the road or the livery next door, who throws judgmental glances every time you do groundwork.

No one tells you how, on some days, you'll feel like you're failing. You'll question if this horse would be better off with someone else, convincing yourself you're either wasting their potential or outright ruining them. After all, there are four-year-olds excelling in young horse classes while yours is still struggling to trot in a straight line.

No one tells you how attached you'll become. This horse is your baby, maybe one you helped bring into the world. Every setback feels personal, like a wound to your heart. You care so deeply about their well-being that it physically hurts when things go wrong. You’ll also become fiercely protective—God help anyone who dares to criticize your horse.

No one tells you how humbling, even brutal, these horses can be. They'll expose every weakness you have and practically shout it from the rooftops. While they are forgiving, they have a way of knocking you down a peg, reminding you there's always more work to be done.

No one tells you how these horses will change you. They'll force you to look inwards, to question everything you thought you knew. If you thought you had everything figured out, this horse will quickly show you that you don't. But they'll also ignite in you a fierce determination to prove everyone wrong and show them what you saw in this horse from the very beginning.

No one quite tells you how difficult young horses can be, but anyone who's been through it knows...

As tough as they are, they’re absolutely worth it.

21/08/2024

Do I always hop on the c**t starts bareback?…
No.
Did it go well?…
Yes.
Do I recommend trying this at home?…
No.

10/08/2024

Ta-dah! 🤗

10/08/2024

Chief modeling the rope halter I made. Still have some things to tweak but I thought it looked good on him!

08/08/2024

Can anyone guess what I’m learning to do on this rainy day???

05/08/2024

It’s time for an update and re-branding!
On August 1st, I opened my doors for training at a new facility!
Being closer to home and in a private setting, I will be able to better focus on my horses and training. My new daily schedule gives me more time for riding as well as pursuing other ideas and interests (more on that in a later post).
Training slots are already filling (August & September are FULL!!!) but I’m accepting new clients for this fall/winter! For those willing to haul in, I offer lessons and training sessions on-site. More information about the facility and its amenities coming soon in another post!
I have enjoyed being part of Southern Comfort Farm-Rougemont, NC for over a year and I’m thankful to Suzanne and Brian Lougee for giving me a place to train, teach, and stable my horses. I loved getting to know the people and horses that made that facility home to me.
I will continue to be available for lessons at Southern Comfort while beginning new endeavors in Oxford. And when the weather is inclement, you’ll likely find me in their indoor arena!
Stay tuned for more posts and pictures as I settle into my new routine!

04/04/2024

👏🏻
Artwork by: William Dyck

14/08/2023

So excited for the opportunity to work with these three year old mares! Aren’t they gorgeous???

29/07/2023

Last minute opening available for August training board or join the waiting list for fall!
Call to discuss your riding goals! Multiple training packages available. I specialize in developing happy, willing, and calm horses and improving rider/horse communication with a focus on solid horsemanship skills.
Located in Rougemont N.C. - Southern Comfort Farm offers the luxury of both indoor and outdoor arenas, plus miles of trails!
Lessons available for haul-ins.
919-482-2816

06/07/2023

Hi friends! For those of you who haven’t heard, I’ve moved my training program to Southern Comfort Farm-Rougemont, NC. I’m excited to continue training and offering lessons with the added benefit of the farm’s awesome amenities. Including both indoor and outdoor arenas and access to miles of trails!
The indoor arena allows for riding year round, regardless of inclement weather.
Contact me for more information about my training program and to join my waiting list!

11/04/2023

New and exciting things are happening! Introducing horses to the indoor arena this week.
More info coming soon!

03/04/2023

The Feel-Good Phenomenon

It never fails. It never fails to amaze me and it never fails to occur.
A horse comes along who’s difficult to catch, doesn’t want to be haltered, avoids eye contact, walks away. He’s so locked up in his body, can’t bend, won’t accept contact, won’t accept the aids. The tension in his body is tangible. His carriage is hollow, the muscles under his neck are over developed, his eye is worried.
So we begin- teaching him to stretch, releasing tension, activating areas of his musculature he’d forgotten how to use.
He exhales, tension is released. Licking, chewing, softening his eye. The Feel-Good happens.

Then this- he greets me at the gate. Eye contact- soft, more trusting. “Can we do that again?”

The Feel-Good Phenomenon.
Maybe it’s for him. Maybe it’s for me. When I don’t feel like I can do anything right. When I question myself and my capabilities to help a horse, help a rider, help myself. When I need validation.
When we both need to feel good.