13/02/2023
THIS is what I’m thankful to have learned. This right here.
We have introduced several of our own horses to our herd. Some I started taking lessons on with the seller (at least 4 over the last two decades that fit this criteria), brought straight home to our ranch (or boarding back in the day) when I felt we were ready. Good, “well trained” horses. But something always went wrong with those I started riding right away.
Their demeanor changed. And why shouldn’t it? Even though they knew me, they were taken from the life they knew and thrown into new circumstances, a new herd, or worse, kept separated for some time.
And then, inevitably ALL the holes in their training started showing. And at the time for those, I didn’t have the knowledge base I have now. Dang, that haunts me.
Now when a horse comes, it gets to be a horse. No expectations of riding right away. Months of good feed, fresh water, herd management to place them where they are happy being a horse.
Regular hoof care. Vet appointments and dental floats and Chiro adjustments as needed.
All of these horses were “problem horses.” Ones that had issues and people wanted to get rid of because they weren’t “well trained.”
But guess what happens? When you put the wellness of the horse first, build relationship and connection before riding, you get an amazing partner.
The secret ingredient IS time.
Focusing on their wellness and your relationship path fixes so many of the issues that made them “difficult.”
Now I get it, horses are expensive, and most of the time when people get a new one they’re eager to start training for riding asap. And they may get vet appts and dental floats right away. And that’s great.
But if you’re not giving your horse time to have a regulated nervous system on their own, how can you expect to regulate that by hopping on them right away?
You HAVE to focus on your relationship path and building connection first.
Once you have done that, once you have a calm and happy horse in the herd, once you have a horse that WANTS to be with you, then and only then can you further your training with them.
If you’re lost on how to do that, consider following and subscribe to his platform. It will change your life.
And if you’re looking for local clinicians and trainers that follow these methods, there are now LOTS of resources at our fingertips and I’m happy to give you a list of other folks to follow that WILL help you create these connections on your own to have the best horse possible.
Never stop learning, never stop growing friends!!♥️♥️
There are some horses I had for training in the past that haunt me- horses I know I didn’t help, who struggled through the pipeline of training.
The problem with training is that the client brings you a horse for the desired outcome, money is exchanged, and then the clock starts ticking. At first you think, no problem, hundreds of horses have been successfully started in that timeline under my program.
But you get one who you start to suspect isn’t doing well- and you start to scratch under the surface and find the lid is tightly sealed on the box to their well-being, and when you open it, you will disassemble a packaged up picture. The horse will look worse, and the journey is much longer to their well-being than anyone expected. It isn’t fair to even train this one- they have a hundred unmet needs, and it’s going to be a long, expensive process.
The horses that haunt me woke me up to the fact that training them doesn’t work. You can’t train away pain, or a disregulated nervous system, or a tangled history of misunderstanding and fear. These horses are responsible for the path I’ve taken in life, and awakened my passion toward postural health and classical work.
This is why I am no longer training horses. Some training will happen, but I don’t take training horses to teach specific things, except wellness. All good training will be a byproduct of wellness- but I don’t want to make one get on the trailer, or go down the trail, or carry a saddle, if the ingredients aren’t there. It feels too bad to package a horse up and send them on down the road, and it feels too good to make a horses body beautiful and mind buttery soft.
My new offering for horses is a therapeutic package, offering in hand work, riding for wellness, a customized feed program, trunout and socialization, body work and other therapies, and trimming. I have access to some of the best vets, dentists, hoof care practitioners, body workers and postural experts to consult and collaborate with.
In the process he will learn to lead, tie, ride and many other skills, but this time with the necessary resources to feel well doing it.
I know this will benefit you and your horse far beyond teaching him any tricks.
