Welcome and please come again

Posted on March 24, 2011 by brucewiley1274

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The Horse’s Respect

Posted on June 7, 2009 by brucewiley1274

People purchase horses and in the beginning the horse is consider a sweet, loving animal but has some unwanted behaviors which are overlooked. Examples of these undesirable behaviors are invading your space, evasion, etc.. After the excitement of ownership wears off, these behaviors can become frustrating and time consuming. This frustration can lead to desperation on the owners behalf, inviting them to seek advise from any and everyone. Unfortunately, they will accept advise, good or bad, from many unknowledgeable individuals. Just because people have been around horses many years, doesn’t make them a “horseman or horsewoman.” Many horse owners are misleading and believe they know how to handle or train horses. Before you accept advise from others, look at their horse and ask yourself “can they help me or are their horses just as bad as my horse“.

I have heard on multiple occasions people telling individuals to get “rough and tough with the horse and show him who’s boss.” Human aggressive behavior is counter productive, is not effective, and it can cause the horse to react in a self protective, aggressive manner, and can escalate to a dangerous situation. The horse will usually give warning signs not to approach, such as pinned ears, switching or pinned tail and bared teeth. If you don’t read these signs correctly and continue your approach into the stall, you could be greeted with the horse’s striking feet or body, trying to convince you to surrender, submit and leave without achieving anything.

Hopefully you didn’t accept bad advise from someone whose horse was no better than yours.

They are not able to help you because they lack the knowledge themselves. Your search should continue until you find someone who is competent and knowledgeable about horse behavior and correction. This person will have a horse who displays the type of manners and training you seek. This is the person you want to learn from, attain knowledge and the know how.

How will you recognize someone who is a competent trainer? This person will be able to quickly identify unacceptable horse behavior, the possible causes of these behaviors, and be able to tell you which counter measures he needs to take in order to correct it. These counter measures should be dealing with the horse’s mind, rather than his body. Someone who suggests to you behavior can be corrected with lounging or exercising the horse to an exhausted state, should send up red flags to you. Bad behavior stems from the mind, and it has to be addressed through the mind, not a tired physical body. A competent trainer will be able to know their instinct, gestures, movements and also be able to identify their unique personalities and how to convince the horse to become involved as a willing participant in the training program. He will be able to establish the pecking order, the trainers role and his leadership by communicating in a language the horse finds easy to understand. His knowledge of how horses communicate, learn and use their bodies, are good clues that this trainer can access the horse’s mind. A person that reaches the horse’s mind will create a horse who will submit, accept his training techniques and ultimately gain the horse’s respect.

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A horses’ Trust

Posted on August 21, 2008 by brucewiley1274

       Trust is the last thing we receive from our horses, and possibly the last thing we may notice. Most people think they have their horses’ trust, but the fact of the matter is, horses have learned to tolerate our everyday dealings with them.  You can’t train trust into them, even doing the exercise of JOIN UP. The horse only becomes conditioned to our presences, requests, and techniques thru our training patterns. The horse only displays to us the response he thinks you wanted with that request or cue. He could have guessed right only by luck or chance. When the cue of join up is repeated over and over again, the horse learns the proper response you want by doing the same thing, approaching us when we have our backs turned, us ignoring the horses’ presence. Don’t mistake it for bonding or a trusting relationship. It is a conditioned response to a certain cue. 

    In order to gain trust from our horses, we must show trust. How can a human show trust to a horse?. Your trust is shown by displaying calm confidence, knowledge and clarity in skills with handling. Over years with our consistent routine, the horse will feel secure with us and our instructions, care, judgement and leadership. This is when trust is found. Because the horses’ survival is their main concern, they learn to trust us when we show them that we will not jepordize their safety or cause them any harm, now you have that trust factor. Once the horse has developed trust with us, now the horse is concerned with our wellbeing, and is more likely to risk injury to himself than cause us harm. An example of trust I witnessed was when my younger daughter’s horse was galloping in the corral, she unknowingly stepped into his path, and rather than run her over, the horse threw himself out of her direction, causing him to fall. He had a choice, to run her over or risk his own safety. Thankfully, he choose to protect her. Needless to say, this horse has a good home with us until the end of his days. This horse and my daughter have a very strong bond of trust. This was not the only incident. During a parade on a rainy day, the horse fell wilth her, and rather than freak out, as expected, this horse waited until she was able to free herself before he attempted to get up. I have experienced this with other horses of mine where they have had a choice in potentially dangerous situations, where they choose my safety over theirs. If you have been in a simuliar situation, and your horse did the unexpected to insure your safety over his, then you can probably say your horse has trust in you. You can have multiple horses, but trust is what makes you feel that a particular horse is special.  

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Patience, Patience, Patience…..

Posted on January 20, 2008 by brucewiley1274
      To those who read my blog I know it’s been awhile, which leads me to my next topic … Patience.
Patience is needed in everyday life and it needs to spill over into teaching and learning. In order for the teacher to be effective they must practice patience. Because the answer to the question isn’t so readily available to the student, equine student in this case, the horse must sort out the cues to find the correct answer.  I can never stress enough how much patience you need when working with and teaching horses.
     However, this lesson is going to take a different spin. This time we are going to teach the student, or horse, to learn patience.
This is a valuable lesson, the benefits you will see in your everyday contact with your horse. So how do you teach your horse
patience?
     It goes back to when I first started working with horses. Once I saw a trainer tie his horse up to a railing and leave. He didn’t come back for hours. I was curious on why he did that, and on asking him he said "I’m teaching him patience". I couldn’t see how this would be effective. I thought the lesson would teach the horse the opposite — frustration, irritation, impatience, and restlessness when tied. First of all this trainer never saw his horses’ reaction. I did. All the while this horse paced and switched back and forth as far as his lead would let him. I can only imagine what happened the next time this horse was tied, or how you tack a horse that is in constant motion. Also, how could this method give the horse any positive feedback on what he was to do. 
     So how do you start teaching your horse patience? Start with a simple lesson, when you tie your horse leave for a short time, keep him in sight, and return to him when he is standing still, give positive feedback with a pat or take him for a short walk.
Then repeat the lesson but don’t overdo it at the start, slowing extend your time in future lessons. Another lesson would be to use sizzors to trim his bridle path rather than clippers. First it takes more time, and you get the opportunity to teach your horse to yield his head to you, allowing you to place his head in positions (side to side or lower his head) for longer periods. Don’t forget to give him his reward and allow him to have his head back for a short time, then ask him to lower his head again. Give him many releases during the trimming until you have finished the task. Your horse will learn to stand patiently while you work with him and you will learn how to slow down when working with him. This concept can spill over into other areas like grooming, tacking, working with his feet, which will probably make your farrier smile.  
     To quote my wife… Patience is a virtue, posses it if you can, seldom found in women, never found in man.
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What is Important to a Horse

Posted on September 8, 2007 by brucewiley1274

 

Quote

What is Important to a Horse

     So, what is important to a horse?
     Providing gourmet treats, horse toys, blankets, new tack or even beautification of the barn with the latest comforts, is this important to the horse or us?
     Providing a safe, comfortable shelter for our horses is our duty and responsibility, but don’t mistake what makes us comfortable for what is important to the horse. All these luxuries are meeting human needs for caring and nurturing, not the horses.
     So what is important to the horse?  In my opinion, a horse’s needs are very simple and basic.
          1st. is self preservation / survival, his strongest instinct. The strongest instinct for any living animal. Fear equals flight to a horse.
          2nd is food and water to meet his physical need, … no explanation needed here.
          3rd is space to move and run, remember he was created to run and frolic.
          4th is psychological / emotional well-being, probably the most misinterpreted need by humans. Surely he (the horse) must feel happy and content with all the things I provide him. But does he !!! Psychological / emotional well-being is met through contact or close proximity to their own species because they are social or herd animals. His feelings of security and safety are meet by the herd or contact with his own kind, after all, they understand him. He must feel insecure or depressed when alone or isolated.
     I don’t believe human contact can replace the herd or meet the horse’s emotional needs. What we do with human contact is meet his physical needs and provide temporary comfort. We relieve bordom, provide space to move / run, with turnouts, training or a job, and physical comfort with grooming, scratching or rubbing, etc..  By providing our horses with things that make us feel better, materialistic things, such as the most expensive, latest new products, etc. is our attempt to humanize the horse’s feelings. These materialistic objects are attempting to meet human feelings of comfort, security and well-being, not the horse’s. 
     Remember, our horses would meet their own physical / emotional needs if we didn’t keep them captive and isolated.
     To believe that our materialistic provisions and human contact is making the horse feel content and increasing his feelings of well-being and emotional satisfaction, is to believe that free roaming wild horses must be miserable…… 
 
     Please use the send a message link below for information on clinics, classes, or training.
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Our Patterns & Who must change – Horse or Human

Posted on December 11, 2006 by brucewiley1274
     Our pattern and routine in approach and tasks helps to reinforce our horses bad behavior and evasion.
We don’t realize how much our horses study us and our actions. The horse is not nearly as distracted as we can be. He spends his time watching us, even when we are unaware. He knows by our behavior and approach what is about to happen, and if he doesn’t want to participate, this can lead to his avoidance. For example, he may avoid the halter in his stall, run when you want to catch him in the field, or move when you try to mount.
     Many times we enter the stall, and try corner him to place the halter. To correct this avoidance, before entering the stall, kiss and get the horse to face you. Never enter a stall if the horse’s rearend is facing the gate. Now enter the stall and change your pattern, don’t always grab the halter first, sometimes just go in and pet him, rub him, look him over and leave. After a short period, ask him to face you again, then go in and halter. By mixing up your pattern, he doesn’t recognize what your intent is, pleasure or work, therefore he has to wait rather than avoid. This works really well for the stall sour horse.
    Most horses enjoy the freedom of the turnout, why would he want to be caught? After the turnout, it usually means work is following. Again, change your pattern. In the field, teach your horse to stop and face you, and allow you to approach and touch him. Keep him guessing, sometimes just pet or inspect him, then turn and leave. Return later, ask him to stop and face you. This time, you may want to groom, or halter and take him for a leisurely walk. This will keep him guessing, maybe work doesn’t always follow turnouts.   
    Dressing him in saddle and tack or pulling out the mounting block means we are going to work. If your ride is always hard work for him, he will soon react with evasion. It becomes a game of cat and mouse, you step up, he moves his hind end away. Change your pattern. Try stepping up on the mounting block, stand there and have him stand with you. He’s waiting for you to tighten the reins, make a motion to reach for the stirrup and swing up. Instead, try rubbing his neck and hind end, now step off the mounting block. Repeat several times. You are creating a new pattern of patience, and he has to wait and see what is next. For those horses that are determined to avoid mounting, you must get him to disengage his hind end, crossing only his back legs, quick, hard and tight around the mounting post, until he softens. Disengaging the hind end around a mounting block is hard work, and it will convince him to stand
and let you mount. 
     Remember your horse knows you better than you think, he’s had a lot of time to study you. Keep him guessing, change your pattern now and then, and he’ll be less likely to anticipate, and avoid. The horse doesn’t have a pattern, he has a reaction to our pattern, thus we must change .  
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RIDING IN BALANCE

Posted on September 1, 2006 by brucewiley1274
     Riding in balance, is a balance between mental conditioning and physical
positioning.
     The mental awareness is the person’s frame of mind, attitude or emotions.
Fear is a big factor in influencing your mental state. Because of the fear of
being unseated and falling, the rider does whatever it takes to prevent a fall.
He ultimately holds his breath, tenses up his muscles, and then panic sets in.  
This panic, and tension, has an effect on the riders physical balance.
The rider starts to bounce, leaning forward, backward, side to side.
The neck becomes like jello, the head is like a ball balancing on a stick, and
all this movement has an effect on the horse. Another unintentional response
when you feel unseated, is to grip with your legs, applying pressure with the
calf and thigh muscles, pushing down in the stirrups, banging the horse’s barrel.
If that isn’t enough, we start yanking and pulling back on the reins, grabbing
and putting a death hold onto the saddle horn. Does any of this sound familiar?
     Now just imagine what the horse is thinking and feeling. Do you really 
belong up there, what the  -*?!_*-  are you trying to do, and what do you
want!!  I know, you must be a predator, and I need to get into my fight or
flight mode.
     Now that you know what the problem is, how do you fix it?  First, start
with proper placement of the saddle on the horse’s back. Now sit balanced
or centered in the saddle, not arching forward or leaning back. You are now
sitting and ready to ride, in the horse’s center of gravity. This helps the horse’s
balance and yours. Never hold you breath, as this causes you to tense up. 
Many people are not aware they are holding their breath, so focus on this point.
Doing good so far standing still, now it’s time to ask him to move on.
     Balance is moving with your horse’s movement. You need to be relaxed,
flexible and limber, but not too loose like a spagetti noodle. You need to match
your horse’s movement, so you don’t interfere with his stride and gait. 
Practice matching the horse’s action, so as he walks, pay attention to his
hind end movement, and match his sway side to side. Now you are in balance
with him and moving as one. As you progress, this same technique can be used
in all the gaits.
 
 
 
 
 
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Your Silence Speaks Volumes

Posted on May 16, 2006 by brucewiley1274
     Your silence speaks volumes, easy phrase, difficult in practice. You could never say a word to your horse, but he is still reading you loud and clear. Your horse doesn’t understand your words, spoken words is not his communication method. He understands the subliminal message of your posture, your tension, your anxiety, your fear, and your confidence. Everybody puts out an energy force, and speaks through body posture. Horses and the animal kingdom are experts in interpretion of these forces. Your horse is always reading you. You are not fooling him with false pretenses, you are only fooling yourself. 
     If you approach your horse with a confident stature,( calming, positive energy) he is alert and ready to listen. If you approach with apprehension, tension, fear,(negative energy) he will be alert but ready to take flight, (what is it that I should be afaid of.) Sorry folks, but your "baby talk and coeing" promotes excitement energy, which after a short period of time, becomes exhausting, frustrating, and elevates tension. Obviously, the calm, positive energy is the best environment for teaching and establishing leadership.    
     Don’t believe in enegry transmission? How many times have you entered a room, or situation, and without a word being spoken, felt like you could cut the tension with a knife. 
     In the equine world, the leaders of the herd are the confident individuals, who display calm, strong energy. For humans to become the leaders, we need to do the same, and be consistent with our requests. What type of leader or energy are you displaying? Your horse may be trying to tell you, by reflection  through his actions. If your horse is excitable, irritable or just plane ignoring you, you haven’t won his confidence, because of the tense, or excited energy force or body posture you carry. Yelling at him only increases the excitement level. Remember, horses are not deaf. Low slow tones, like whispering –easy, easy — lowers the excitement level, it has a calming effect, and allows him to focus. Try this with a crying child, he needs to stop crying in order to hear your whispers and what you are trying to say.
    How do you project confidence and positive energy around your horse? You may need to practice positive energy away from him initially until you are consistent with this. There is no point practicing in front of him, it will lead to confusion, as he already knows if you are negative or tense. Display confident body posturing by standing tall / erect, head held high, shoulders square. Slumped posture displays timidness, meekness, uncertainty of the situation, not someone you would choose as your leader.  
    Now that we have ourselves under control, you are one step closer to them  accepting your direction, cues and leadership role. Your reward can also be silent. You can rub or pat him for a job well done, but he already knows he did it right by your pleased disposition.
    Who knows, this may even help in our personal and professional lives!
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When to Lunge Line, When to Free Style, and Why?

Posted on January 10, 2006 by brucewiley1274
   What’s the difference between Lunge line and free style lunging, and what it teaches your horse?
   The lunge line is what connects the lesson to you, that you are the teacher, and that all movements are directed from you. Consider the lunge line basic education. The lunge line is used to teach your horse when to move, stop, gait, direction, and transitions. Your horse learns through pressure, which is why you need to have the line, to apply the pressure so that the horse is learning. It should never be a futile running around in circles exercise, which could be misunderstood by the horse, as punishment.  The lunge line is vital for teaching because it is the only way you can use his learning method, which is pressure on and off. You need to be attached to your horse (via the line) so that he learns that you are controlling his actions and movement, it’s not his idea. This is how you get the control and respect on the ground. Because you are still attached, this is transferable to the reins. Because you have established control,  you are using his natural method of learning, the lesson learned is imprinted deeper in his mind.
   Once the lunge line lessons are imprinted in the horse, then the option of free style lunging is the next step. It should be considered the graduate course, with body language and gestures as the communication technique. Free style should never be used initially to teach lessons, because it will be harder for the horse to  associate the movement with you. The horse feels that he initiated all the movements, and you are just the audience. The horse believes he choose when to move, stop and what gait. It is much easier for the horse to evade your requests. Because there is no physical attachment with you, the horse just feels he is doing his own thing. After free style lunging is understood by the horse, then you can add voice cues for further refinement.
   The most common errors I have seen with lunging, is when owners have their horses running around the round pen with no direction or purpose. When I ask them why they lunge, what I frequently hear is to take off pent up energy, or warm them up. I never hear to teach them or working on their minds or get the horse focused. When you have your horse running around in circles, it isn’t teaching him anything. He learns to hate the round pen, hate the exercise, and how to avoid you. This is how he will associate the round pen and your exercise with punishment. Lunging your horse in this manner only addresses his physical excitement, and not his mental attitude. What you will end up with is a physically strong, fit horse that can restore his energy after a few minutes rest, but he will still be unruely, unmanagable, and have control issues. No lesson is learned with this type of lunging and no improvement will be seen in his behavior. 
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Correction, Reward and Treats — What does it mean?

Posted on October 8, 2005 by brucewiley1274
          Simple terminology, but we often get it wrong.
Correction does not mean scolding. Correction is repeating the instruction or command until the horse gets it right. Correction is not a negative reaction. It is a gentle reinforcement of the command. If the horse doesn’t get it right, maybe he doesn’t understand what you are asking for. Never keep drilling him to get the
correct answer. This will only frustrate him and you. He will loose confidence. If after a few attempts he doesn’t get it right, stop, and ask him for something that he does know, and is willing to do. Then go back to your initial cue or schooling, and try it again. This will keep you both in a positive mind set. Always end your training sessions on a good note, or with something that he did correctly.
Reward is not the treat or his favorite snack. Reward is the release of pressure when he reacts or responds to your command correctly. Even the slightest movement on his part to respond correctly to your cue should be rewarded with the release of pressure. This is how he learns that he did it right. Horses learn with pressure on (the command) and pressure off (the reward).
Treats is not the reward for something done correctly. Treats are food with special delight or pleasure. It is your gift to him with no strings attached. This gift should only be given after your training session is done, and he is resting comfortably in his stall. The horse doesn’t associate your treat with a job well done or as a reward. It is only meeting his persistant search for food with a pleasant taste.         
 
This scenerio may sound familiar to you. You send your horse off to training, he comes back, and within a short period of time he doesn’t respond to your cues.
What happened?
The trainer and horse understands pressure on (cue)  and pressure off (release). When he comes back, your improper use of pressure on and release confuses him, and he goes back to his old ways. The horse has been changed through training, but you haven’t changed your methods. You don’t understand how the method works. You need to understand how your horse was trained. You need to change and be retrained yourself, so you can maintain your horse. This will end the cycle of repeated horse training sessions. When you have an understanding of how a horse learns, then you can be the teacher.
 
Timely releasing pressure is as important as the initial cue. Remember your horse learns through pressure and release.  Correction is re-cueing your horse using the exact same method every time.  
 
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