Foundation ground training is high up on the list of the most important
training a horse will ever receive, but often it is overlooked or gone over
so quickly that it's not solid. Done correctly, the horse will be able to
branch out in almost any direction when they progress to being ridden.
Ground training should begin shortly after the horse is born if possible,
in the form of imprinting the foal to people. What is important is to become
a part of the babies daily life; play with them, touch them and talk to them.
When horses are raised in this way, they are usually very comfortable with
people and have no problem with the training steps.
For horses that didn't have the benefit of imprinting at a young age,
ground training is a very valuable training method. It's just a matter of
spending the extra time with the horse in a "let's get to know each other"
type of way, establishing your positions in your herd of two and coming to a
mutual relationship of trust and respect. Many of the so-called "problem"
horses either didn't have the benefit of imprinting at a young age, were not
started with ground training as they matured, and/or were mishandled. These
horses benefit greatly if someone is willing to take the time to start at the
beginning and lay a foundation and develop a bond of trust, respect and
understanding.
It's important to spend as much time as possible with your horse
developing understanding between the two of you. Training should not always
be in the form of riding, emphasis should be placed on positive interaction,
whether it be leading down the road, playing in the paddock, jumping a 4'
fence or cutting a cow. When a mutual respect relationship is formed, both
the person and the horse will have a happier experience. Once your positions
have been established, it's just a matter of walking up the training steps to
your destination. It's much easier on the horse mentally to take the time to
do the training correctly the first time, then to take twice as long going
back and trying to fix a faulty foundation.
My philosophy on teaching/training horses and humans is this: " We are
building a foundation that will last the horses (and persons) lifetime. This
cannot be done in a short period of time if it is to be solid. Without a
solid, correct foundation, all is lost in the long run. Take the time to go
slow in the beginning, and the reward of a foundation that never falters
through the years is invaluable."
When horses are comfortable interacting with people, the training will
usually progress smoothly and without turmoil. Whatever training method you
use, be your horses friend, be consistent, be patient and take the time to go
slow.
Combination Training
Just some thoughts about training.....
Training your horse can be one of the most rewarding and enlightening
experiences you will ever have. Done correctly, training should be a
combination of mutual respect and trust between horse and human, education,
patience, consideration of the horses mental and physical health, problem
solving skills and keeping an open-mind to variations in training methods.
There is no "one-way"of training a horse or a person. What there is are
different methods and techniques that when combined can prove to be
successful. Many roads lead to the same destination, it's a matter of mapping
out the journey to best suit the needs of the individuals involved. I
personally combine a ground training foundation, Dressage fundamentals for
any style of riding, Natural techniques and modified Clicker training. These
different methods, in combination, have suited my training of horses and
riders quite well.
Horses and people come with diverse temperments and past histories
attached. Every horse and handler must be evaluated as the unique individuals
that they are, with modifications made in the training approach to suit their
individual needs. By using a combination of methods, I don't limit my
abilities, or those of the horses and handlers I teach to accomplish or
achieve positive results. I specialize in teaching horses and people together
for a reason; I want to help create the wonderful partnership that can exist
between a horse and their person.
Broad, negative statements made by people in opposition to different
disciplines, types of training or breeds of horses, do nothing to promote
harmony among horsepeople. Sometimes, but not always, when negative comments
are heard, it is because the person speaking has not had good results with a
method, they don't have actual experience with it or, in the case of
different breeds of horses, they have had a bad experience with a particular
breed. What should always be kept in mind is what is safe for horse and
handler and what is in the best interest of the horse both mentally and
physically. While the combination of methods I utilize when teaching my
students works very well for me with positive results, my way is not the
written law on teaching and training. I wouldn't have insight into other
techniques if I hadn't always kept my mind open to other ways. For those who
are interested in learning my methods, I'm more then happy to teach them, but
I always keep the door open for opportunities to learn more.
First and foremost in my book is the safety of horse and human, and the
comfort and happiness of the horse, and as long as there are other ways, I
will continue to have fun and learn.
My Best Friends Are Horses
Do you sometimes dream of being able to re-experience your younger years
with horses? The carefree days of romping and roaming, playing and having
fun! We live in a world of pressure and stress and as we get older, it seems
there is less and less time and opportunity to hang out with our horses just
for the sheer joy of it. I hit the Big-40 this year, but I can honestly say
that I have never let the ability to "play" with my horses (especially
Scarlett) escape me.
Even though I'm a professional
trainer/instructor, I feel that if training/teaching and being with horses
becomes a chore, I will stop doing it. Playing with horses, interacting with
them, just being with them in whatever way (yes, even while cleaning their
stalls! ) brings balance, focus and happiness into my life in a way I've
never experienced from anything else. The best dreams I have are upon the
back of a horse.
Horses are honest and their approach to life is simple; eat,
drink, sleep, hang around, play alittle if the mood strikes them and let
their human friend ride around on their back because it seems to make the
"two-legs" happy and it's the friendly thing to do. Once the friendship is
forged, they are just as happy to listen to our innermost thoughts, our
worries and our dreams, as they are to play a friendly game of tag. You can
be yourself around your horse, they don't care if you're having a bad hair
day or if you're wearing holey old sweatpants. They're solid as a rock when
you need a shoulder to cry on, and when the big cry is over and you're
feeling better, going out for a walk or a ride seems like a good idea to them
if that's what you want to do.
You can tell your horse anything and they'll
never betray, judge or laugh at you, even if it's something really
embarrassing or funny. Horses keep you feeling young, unless they've
"accidentally" let you fall off in the dirt, in which case you're probably
not going to feel so young the next morning when you wake up and you're so
stiff you can barely move (please pass the Advil! ). But hey, they didn't
expect for you to be so ungraceful when they thought you wanted to dance but
didn't know the steps (hey friend, I thought you wanted to do the two-step,
not the waltz, my mistake! LOL).
Horses provide us with something that a bagful of money to a therapist will
not; a friend like no other, an ear to listen, a great big neck to hug and a
serenity of spirit that can make even the biggest problems melt away. All
that they ask for in return is that we feed them, water them, love them,
treat them kindly, offer them dignity and respect and take care of them
through good times and bad. I don't know about you, but I think it's a
bargain at twice the price! Posted with permission.
>>My reasoning for the lungeing, and long-lining at this stage is that there
is a transition which needs to happen in the young horse where you begin
switching from "fun" (ie. what learning should be) to asking for a little
more "work." <<
I agree with you completely! I believe the lunging and ground driving are
very practical and a good means of making the transition (or bridging as I
call it sometimes) to the horses (and riders) riding education. I call the
type of lunging I do "lunging with purpose" because I have a very definite
purpose in mind when we are lunging. Lunging is a means to an end in my
methodology and that end is riding (or driving) with good communication and
understanding.
I don't ever do mindless lunging and actually treat lunging
more as a mental workout for the horse, then as a physical one. I first
introduce lunging with halter, lungeline and lunge whip and get the body
positioning of the horse and myself on track. I teach the horse how I want
them to stop and in what position (very important). Once the horse is
understanding of the body language and sound cues involved, then I begin
adding the pieces of equipment we will be riding in, starting with the
bridle, then saddle. I like to work through any of the issues a horse might
have regarding their head first.
After we have acceptance of those items for
walk and trot work, then I add LONG sidereins (I'm not going to debate my use
of sidereins because many people don't understand the way in which I use them
and what I'm able to accomplish with them in relation to a solid foundation.
Horses started this way are VERY accepting of the bit and actually
"self-teach" regarding giving to pressure and testing their parameters, and
like most of my training, the horse is making choices and decisions that
affect themselves. This avoids combative or argumentative behavior later on
that is usually brought on because of the horses confusion in regard to what
is being asked).
When the horse has learned to make logical choices when
traveling (choices that affect them directly), then I progress to ground
driving. It depends on the horse regarding how long we will spend on this.
Since I work from a basis with most horses of being the ground person when
the riding actually takes place (with the owner as the rider), sometimes the
ground driving only encompasses a lesson or two, just enough to get a basic
understanding of stop, turn, rein-back and forward. When we actually add a
rider to the equation, we just basically go back to ground work, but now we
have a rider up. I walk next to the horse and act as back-up as the rider
introduces leg pressure and rein pressure in union with the sound cues the
horse has already learned during ground training.
We progress from being
led, to out on the lungeline. Since this is something the horse already
knows well, (ground handling and lunging), the transition and bridge from
ground work without rider to ground work with rider, is relatively
effortless. As groundperson, my job is to let the horse and rider
communicate, and only help if necessary (I'm strictly there to help, but also
act as an anchor if something startles the horse and they scoot a bit). This
is also where we cross the bridge from verbal or sound cues while lunging
without rider, to beginning to match the sound cue with a physical cue from
the rider while mounted. After awhile, we for the most part eliminate the
sound cues in favor of physical cues.
The next step is horse and rider off
the line on a circle, then straightaways in the arena. Only when I am
satisfied that we have great communication and understanding do we go out on
trails (or add canter work). Usually these first few rides at least will be
with me leading along beside the horse and rider (hey, it's how I stay in
shape! lol). I don't usually pony because I want the horse to attach
themselves to people to help gain confidence, not another horse. Also, by
the time we go out on trails, my students have already hiked many of these
trails on foot, leading their horse, so it is familiar territory.
Clicker Training ties into this methodology throughout because I spend
alot of time praising the horses for positive behavior and either offering a
treat (when we are ready for a break, I ask for something positive and when
it occurs, I immediately stop, praise and treat) or sometimes it's praise and
end of session altogether (like with one of my clients horse who was SO
surprised when I got ONE perfect step of mounted sidestep and I immediatly
got off, praised her and took the bridle and saddle off right in the middle
of the arena. She just stood there with a confused look on her face and then
started following me across the arena like "hey, where ya going? Are we done
already? We were only out here 3 minutes!". From that point forward, the
progress was outstanding on ALL her training. She was seeking to please me
and be rewarded!).
The ground training in a systematic, purposeful way, is invaluable in
building the foundation that lasts a lifetime.
When being around horses, we need to start at the beginning. First contact
can be just through the fence, but understand that a horse can begin to get a
"feel" regarding that person with just that small initial contact. Next would
be entering the stall or corral and mingling a bit, then putting on the
halter (I think this is where alot of horses "size-up" humans real well!).
Before we even put a halter on a horse, we are establishing our "positions"
in our herd of two and also working on where our "space" is around us.
Progression to haltering, leading, some basic body movement manuevers, tying,
grooming, tacking up. If we can't do all of these things with the horse
safely, comfortably and easily, then we aren't ready to ride. If you have a
problem at a certain spot, then it would be best to work through any issues
there before moving on. If all of this goes well, then we progress to
mounting, and riding in a contained area to work with some basic manuvers to
get a "feel" for what our horses expression and attitude is like that day.
With the green horses and riders that I teach, we spend ALOT of time at the
walk and then trot (cantering is a very large step and alot can go wrong in a
hurry if both horse and rider are not connected and in tune). We work on
suppling exercises that include connecting the horse from back to front and
establishing light response to leg pressure and cues, lateral flexibility
from the tail to the jaw, "give" in the poll and softness in the jaw. When
everything goes well at the walk, then we can progress to the trot. We work
on most of the same things when trotting with a little more emphasis placed
on teaching "whoa".
Remember, we are still in a contained area (even though
it may be a big pasture or very large arena). Eventually we will get to
canter work, but there is alot of training that must be in place before we
get to that point.
My philosophy is "if you can't do the work at the walk,
you're not ready to trot, and if you can't do the work at the trot, you're
certainly not ready to canter". And last but not least, "if you can't do the
work in the arena, it's definetely not safe to be out on the trail". The
reason I take this approach is two-fold 1.) I want to keep my horses and
riders as safe as I can, and by schooling and training a step at a time in a
controlled, contained area, we have a better chance of maintaining the safety
level (no wrecks!) and encouraging learning. 2.) From a psychological
standpoint for both horse and rider, I don't like wrecks! A wreck can create
a fear barrier in the riders mind (and sometimes very green or young horses
too) and also, if a horse figures out that he can run away with his rider,
buck his rider off or rear to the extent the rider comes off, the horses mind
can begin to condition in that direction.
Call me over-protective of my
horses and students, but by doing it this way, I've managed to avoid
accidents for the most part over a period of many years and many students
(both horse and human). Doing it this way does take more time, but it teaches
patience, it educates and in this way we also make sure that the person will
be alive and well so that they can ride!
