The theme of the piece is about leadership, but that is not where my mind focused. Instead it was the remarks made about the creative spirit that is not only encouraged but nurtured and brought to astounding levels.
This still happens? I imagine the result of this training to be a horse who is unattached to humans, works based off repetitive cues rather than the conversation with the rider, and that avoids being caught to go for a ride. And I’m not certain the purpose of having her jump over a barrel when first being started under a rider, is it the prevention of bucking?
Handling the lunge rope and the reins without gloves felt, well, awful. It simply did not run freely through my hands at will as they had when I wore gloves. My fingers seemed to almost stick incomprehensibly to the reins or the lunge line at the most inappropriate times, truly compromising the signals I was attempting to make. They fumbled and fought against one another in an effort to the correct the sticky fingers problem to no avail.
Many of the images below are cases in which great detail was gone into over the fit of the bit. Look at the tautness of the reins, for some the fear in the horse’s eyes… The horse cannot fight against the bit unless the rider fights with him, the horse has no need to open his mouth as an escape if the rider does not pull back on them.
“In training one always wants to go too fast. To arrive quickly, do not hurry, but be firmly assured of each step. The lesson should be for the horse, as for the horseman, a rewarding exercise, an instructive game which never brings fatigue. When sweat begins to show, it is because the man has gone too far.”
This is a great example of how playful horses are naturally… and definitely the best alternative to watching the gory display of a traditional bull fight.
If the horse is spooking one or more of these elements is missing, plain and simple. If the horse is incapable of being ridden in this way then it is time to investigate a pain issue – be it muscle, joint, hoof, saddle fitting, etc.
No one knows ourselves so well as we do – absolutely NO ONE. Not our parents, siblings, best friends. So why would those against us – our enemies – know us any better?
Popularity is a fleeting experience, just as being the enemy is. Our only endeavor of any value is not to gain the high opinion of those horse riders around us and across the globe. The only opinion that has merit is that of the horse we are working with in that very moment. That split second we have a choice – to be popular to the horse, or popular to the crowd. Usually it is the latter that wins out in public forums, unfortunately.
Have you ever worn clothes that were too loose or too snug? Remember that uncomfortable feeling you had the entire time? Or carried a backpack that almost sat on your rear, maybe worse when it was hiked up to your neck and you couldn’t take it off without intense assistance?
It is absolutely, 100%, scientifically certified as fact – certain breeds of horse are too lazy to canter and instead they prefer to run faster and faster at the trot instead.
I believe that it is a natural learning curve we go through, but it is not rank beginners I am talking about. Rather riders who are in turn teaching others how to ride and train, those in an authority position. Their behavior then dictates their students to be stuck in this paradigm even longer; perhaps forever.
This question is raised frequently – how to soften and flex a horse who is stiff in the neck. There is a problem with the question however, because it assumes that addressing the horse’s stiff neck will actually correct the stiffness. In reality, flexing the horse’s neck alone only causes a disconnection between the neck and the hind legs. If you do not understand the implications of this disconnection you can create more problems later on – making it difficult or impossible to get true collection from the horse.
As the years pass and our lives change, I find that so too does our relationship with the horse. Not necessarily our relationship to one particular horse, but rather our association to horses.
Have you ever met anyone who was self taught a foreign language by book alone? Neither have I.
I also have never met anyone who learned how to train their horse and to ride by book lesson alone – and was successful at it. Success.
There is a painful truth – horses are abused every day. Equestrians at every level, in every discipline, at every age level, skill level, and popularity level are involved in some form of abuse. That is not to say that all equestrians period abuse their horses, but rather to say that abuse does not discriminate. They come from every country and not all of them are obvious.
And, we have all witnessed some form of abuse against horses.
What is the purpose of horsemanship? Why do we spend the time and exert such energy, let alone invest such great costs into an animal which rarely returns the monetary value we place upon them? Do we play with horses merely as a show of our great ability to train another being and prove our superiority? I would argue to the contrary.