Wonderfully illustrated video that will speak to the little kid in many of us…
When I started this journey with Dodger, I read lots of books and articles that began by saying, “If you’re green, don’t get a green horse!” but they never went into the details why, so I went blithely along, thinking that whatever made them say that might not apply to me. Wrong. It applies to everyone. No, I haven’t had a change of heart about Dodger or about continuing our journey together. I just thought that it might be helpful to be more specific about why “green on green” isn’t recommended if you are thinking about owning a green horse or rescuing an unstarted (or emotional basket case) horse as your first horse.
I’ve had four years of finding out what I wished I’d read. If I had read that it would take me years, not months, to learn what I’ve learned and feel as comfortable as I feel around my horse, I might’ve considered someone more horse savvy to gift Dodger to rather than think I was Dodger’s dream come true. Oh well. Live and learn. I have learned and I keep learning. Here’s a bit of it:
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1. The degree of success with a horse is directly proportionate to the degree one understands and recognizes very subtle horse body language.
2. A horse’s feet is where his mind is. If his mind’s not with you, expect his feet to surprise you. And not in a good way.
3. Training a horse requires physical dexterity and a heightened coordination between your hands, arms, legs and eyes, all while trying to recognize the very subtle signals given by a horse.
4. What humans often interpret as affection and tend to encourage, are the very things a lead mare would see as domination attempts and wouldn’t allow in order to keep her leadership position in the “offender’s” mind.
5. The secret to training is in the timing and understanding of the animal’s signals and responses. It’s very difficult for a newbie to notice what she doesn’t even know she’s looking for, and not keep asking the horse for something while missing multiple cues the horse already tried and should be rewarded for that. Newbies don’t know how to judge how many steps to break a request into for each horse’s temperament.
6. It’s very easy to confuse a horse. Once you’ve accomplished that, you’re at the mercy of how their specific personality deals with confusion. That can range from getting bored and ignoring you, hoping you’ll go away, to doing whatever it takes to make you go away. Quickly.
7. While you’re working on coordinating your act of holding onto and moving crops and loops of long lead rope in precise ways without wrapping them around each other and making your requests clear, giving rewards at the proper time, you’ve got a 1,000+ pound 2-year old mentality waiting for something you do to make it worth their while to stick around and will either A) get confused (see above), B) get bored and try to skedaddle, C) take over this stupid game because you and all your tools make a really fun toy. I got C.
8. Green horses need lots of help when being ridden to know where to put their feet. No, believe it or not, it doesn’t come naturally to them to move beautifully while packing a person around on their back. They may look like grace in motion when running free around a pasture, but stick a body on their back that doesn’t know how to sit without being a hindrance and you’ve got sack of potatoes riding a klutz. Some horses get quite upset when they feel klutzy. And, they’re not like bicycles—you’re not supposed to lean into the turn. Most everything that comes naturally to a green rider’s body astride a horse defeats what she’s asking the horse to do. As the horse goes faster, we tend to pull our feet up toward the fetal position for balance. Not good. We tend to look at their head or the ground rather than where we want to go. Not helpful; they can feel this and operate as if we don’t have a clue where we’re going. We use the reins for balance without knowing it. Bad on their mouths. We lean forward when we should sit straight and sit straight when we should lean back. Bad for balance and confusing (see #4). We tense up and forget to breathe when we should relax and move with their motion. They tense up and forget to breathe, too.
9. Green riders learn faster on schooling horses that have become immune to bad cues or at least better at guessing what they mean.
10. Green horses deserve and do best when they have accomplished riders on them, staying out of their way as they learn to pack around the unpredictable weight. If you’re in a hurry for that to happen, have deep pockets to pay someone else to do it.
Now, all this said, if you still want to be the one to save your rescue horse from a terrible life, I would start with the Carolyn Resnick method and her Waterhole Rituals to learn the horse’s language. Read her book, Naked Liberty and you’ll be amazed at what she knows about horse language. Simultaneously to working on a connection with your horse through her method (a year’s time would not be too much), I would take riding lessons on a very forgiving, bombproof horse. Then once I had established a solid heart connection with my own horse on the ground, I would study positive training methods only and the training philosophy of Josh Nichols (Canada) or Harry Whitney (Arizona). Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, aka KFH, has written a couple of wonderfully photographed/illustrated books, Dancing with Horses and The Horse Seeks Me.
Lastly, before you get involved in some of the most popular training methods in the US today (Parelli, Clinton Anderson, John Lyons, etc.), I want to share something that KFH writes in The Horse Seeks Me about the three methods in training horses. His belief about them is controversial and food for thought yet is based on his own disheartening experience—especially in recent years—of having to bring back the life and spirit in horses that have gone through the “natural horsemanship” set of methods despite their owners being nothing but well-meaning. I used those methods myself on Dodger, totally unaware of the problems round pens and negative-reinforcement can cause some horses down the road. This is how KFH categorizes the three methods:
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1. methods that view horses only as tools for human agendas, using the fastest route to control/domination through the use of restrictive tack and painful bits, etc.;
2. methods that use a formulaic approach designed for the masses to train horses to “choose” to be with their humans not because the horse feels a two-way respect and free heart connection, but because they learn to submit to the fact that it is more peaceful than the alternative. These methods are creating robotic horses with lost spirits. He goes on to describe how the use of round pens, with no possible escape, causes many horses to feel as if they are, quite literally, doomed prey. Their act of coming into the center is not out of respect or wanting to “join up” with the human, but out of giving up and submitting to a predator. So as the human feels success at this sign of submission, the horse’s spirit is departing. Add training that makes all choices but the human’s too difficult and the path of free will too unpleasant, and KFH says, “The terrible paradox is that proximity to the oppressor is, in the end, the most peaceful place for the spiritually lifeless horse.” As problem behaviors form out of resentments along the way, they are addressed with negative consequences. The perfect partner is taught to be a robot.
3. methods that put the emphasis of training the human and empowering the horse first; on the human becoming aware of what it takes to become a horse’s exemplary leader—one a horse would choose, not because all the other choices had to be spoiled for him, but because “the horse wants to follow this person because he believes and genuinely trusts in him…because the horse thinks there can be no danger where this worthy and graceful person is…Everything revolves around the inner qualities of the person.” Needless to say, this is the most difficult path because it requires the human to change the most and take responsibility for all training outcomes rather than blame anything on the horse (or make excuses because of its past). It starts with ditching an agenda and learning what motivates your horse.
Finding the motivating reinforcers for a horse is a co-creative endeavor, allowing the horse to have a part in the process. It requires listening to your horse and learning its specific likes and dislikes. Respect must flow both ways, not just from the horse to the human. As for empowering the horse, I like the way Mary Hunter on stalecheerios.com describes it: “Part of what makes [positive] consequences into reinforcers is that the animal feels that he is in control over the outcome. Traditional trainers that rely on force, punishment and pressure usually give their animals very little choice or control over the training process. Giving the animal control over the training process helps to build the animal’s confidence by allowing them to participate in what happens. Some strategies [include] allowing them the power to escape, giving them the power to shape our behavior, and creating a plan for getting behavior we do want.” This last point is about co-creating with your horse what works for him/her rather than expecting one thing to work with all horses. This approach takes more time than the simpler negative consequence approach, but it has longer lasting value and keeps the balance in the “relationship bank” in the black. A lot of people don’t want to take the time that requires on a daily basis, but when the balance in the relationship bank is in the red, they’ll wish they had.
I hope, if you buy or rescue a green horse as your first, you will consider the third training method as the place to begin. While it asks the most of the human, and requires us to respect the horse before we ask them to respect us, it’s the path to a true connection. Carolyn Resnick’s method is the best way to enter the horse language learning process while Josh Nichol, Harry Whitney and KFH have written lots of articles and groundwork and riding exercises that are very helpful. They follow the same philosophy about the connection to the horse, and it’s exactly the connection we all want to believe is possible. Look all these trainers up on YouTube and soak it up.
Also what is very interesting is how the trainers using the third type of methods put their energies into what is working with the horse, not what is not working. “Problem behaviors” are not addressed because as the human works with what the horse will do easily (no matter how elementary), the problems resolve themselves because the resentments that created them vanish. This path, believe it or not, starts with just sitting with your horse doing absolutely nothing and expecting nothing. It’s fine to protect your space, but ask and expect nothing. Simply enjoy sharing space and time and let the connection build itself. Don’t be in a hurry. A desire for an incredible connection must outweigh the need for an agenda or a time frame. Once this type of connection is built, the horse will willingly learn and perform whatever skills it’s physically capable of doing—even dressage, which is Carolyn Resnick’s background and specialty.
Had I started out this way with Dodger, I think things would’ve gone very differently. I see now that for our first 2+ years together, I reinforced his dominant personality to ignore me and barge right over/past/through me. Combine that with his being hand-raised, and he’s amazingly desensitized to many things that would freak out another horse. He’s also very easily distracted which I allowed to go on for years because I didn’t know the importance of keeping his attention on me–or even how to do it. And much of my first 3 years with him were spent learning standard negative consequence training methods that I’m trying to revise in my delivery without losing all the good stuff that came out of that training.
I never want a robotic horse. Compliant horses with lifeless eyes going through the motions until they can go back to their stalls tear me up inside and I will not have a horse that is not having as good a time as I am so I’m determined to stay on this path. Please stay in touch here or in the Midlife Horses Facebook group if you’re interested in the same path with your horse.
My husband listened to my tearful stories about Chief. Although he knew my aunt has horses which I’d often visited and I’d ridden dude ranch horses about a dozen times, he realized I didn’t know that much about horses. So for my birthday he gave me a day at a nearby horse ranch, to hang out with the manager and the horses. We groomed one, worked in the ring with him, found out I had some aptitude for being seen as a leader by a horse, and enjoyed an all-around horse-filled day together.
Meanwhile, several women friends encouraged me with gifts of books and boots and generous offers to ride their horses and borrow their saddles. I was seeing several green lights for this new interest.
My next visit to the ranch was to take a riding lesson. I met Tom, the trainer, who put me on his own horse for the lesson. His horse was so responsive and finely tuned that it felt like I was 16, learning how to drive in a Ferrari. I knew I was out of my league, but convinced there was much to learn and have fun with. My dude ranch horses, in comparison, were like commuter trains–I simply got on one pointed down the track and remained seated. Totally different experience.
I decided to spring for a few more lessons while I waited for the experience to prioritize itself in my life. Tom taught the steps of riding correctly (I had no idea!) in such a relaxed manner, I was confident I could do it. When I heard he was starting his own stable very near my home, and he was looking for new horses to take in, my dream of freeing Chief started to take form. I had mentioned my dream to Tom months before, but it suddenly felt like it was now or never. I asked if he’d be willing to approach the owner about whether Chief was for sale and negotiate the deal. He said, “Absolutely!”
Suddenly I went all crazy-mixed-up inside. NatureGirl (my alter ego) started taking a beating from PrudentGirl (my mother’s child) leading the argument against ever owning a horse, with EconoGirl and SafetyGirl (my father’s vision for the perfect daughter) chiming in. I rooted for NatureGirl but noticed she lacked all manner of rational thought in developing her argument “for.” Several women friends told me to stop listening to the Left Brain Club and my husband just told me to do what made me happy. For once, I did what I was told.
One day and several phone calls later, Tom had negotiated a one-week trial period and Chief was arriving the next day at the stables. My dream was kicked into high gear.
Over the next few months, on my daily walks past Chief, there were moments that burned into my memory:
- grooming Chief with his owner while suddenly being as startled as he was when she chose to smack him hard with a curry comb across the face for nipping playfully
- understanding that although nipping cannot be allowed, her punishment and reaction far outweighed his crime and intent
- watching his lip quiver and the fright in his eyes around her
- seeing the fresh blood down his legs days after his gelding surgery
- noticing his water trough completely empty on more than one occasion
- seeing he had no salt/mineral lick
- watching the mares bully him after he was put in the pen with them as a gelding
- hearing he jumped the fence his first night with the mares biting and kicking him
- watching him routinely stand just out of reach of the mares while they ate his share of the food
- worrying about his safety around so many loose wires and rough edges of broken-down fencing and all the other junk metal in the confinement area
- watching him stand, head low, through wind, rain, freezing rain and snow, without shelter of any kind
- hearing his nicker and seeing his excitement to see me as he relayed to me in no uncertain terms that I was his only hope out of there
- hand feeding him some hay that had fallen outside the fence and just outside his reach while being watched by the owner’s daughter, then seeing No Trespassing signs posted at my visiting spot the next day
These were the defining moments that added up to my clear understanding that until I took a step to save him, I was betraying him.
A velvet nose introduced us. His coat was a mess, his mane was a mass of tangles and his feet hadn’t been dry in months.
A man came out of the house and toward me. While I’m thinking you can’t exactly keep people from petting a horse along the side of the road, I stay stock still and smiling. Nothing pops into my mind other than sentences that start with “How could you…” so I lead with, “Your horse asked me to pet him.” Lame, but better than apologizing. “I would love to brush him sometime if that would be okay with you. I just live down the road here.”
“I guess that would be okay. Not my horse. You’d have to check with her.”
Her? Okay. I wonder her who? and keep petting. “What’s his name?”
“Chief.”
Two years ago, a 5-week old colt’s mother died. Terrible way to enter a life that was actually going to get worse before it got better.
I live a half mile down a dirt road from a double wide trailer situated on a parcel of land that is home to six horses yet shouldn’t be home to any. With our 91 inches of rain per year, grass has no chance on this dented terrain. There are only degrees of mud.
After the mare died, the colt spent his first year living in a horse trailer as shelter. When it wasn’t raining, he walked circles around a stake in the ground. The other horses on the property, all mares, were kept separate from him. Everything about him said “lonely.”
I cringed every time I drove or walked by. After his horse trailer became storage for hay, he was taken off the lead and left to huddle under the overhang of a camper trailer placed at one end of a rickety, tiny pen. After he churned that mud to butter, he was moved to the middle of a dense, fenced blackberry thicket. He slowly ate his way through the thorns to the perimeter.
Despite the abysmal treatment and months without decent shelter, the colt managed to survive. I walked by him often, typically reduced to tears, and always talking to him gently. Although I doubt he heard my words, he learned my voice and my concern. He started noticing me and walking over to the edge of his pen along the road when I came into view.
One day, I screwed up my courage, trespassed (just a little), and stretched out my hand to him.