Poor Training

This is the last in the series influenced by Cathy's FHOTD, but I thought I'd highlight on a couple things she said; actually not to personally 'attack' or even 'out' Cathy herself, but just to highlight piss-poor training practices that I see quite often, Cathy and her blog aside.

Fugly says: February 22, 2010 at 10:46 am
"I’m also not opposed to tying around in moderation. 15, 20 minutes, fine. Not hours and certainly not days. Then you stop teaching anything and just create soreness and anger."

Her reason, as quoted and explained to a poster who commented on the statement above:

"It teaches them to give to either side without a fight and makes it easier to do the same thing from the saddle. They learn to simply give their nose to relieve the pressure and then do so willingly for the rider. I don’t see anything wrong with it. My trainer does it with halter, not even a bit."

I am strongly opposed to tying around, for two primary reasons:

It is not just one little training technique either, but rather is the result of a mindset, the same mindset who will also be forcing the horse overall and where the horse's dignity and respect for the horse in the overall method is not taken into consideration (usually). As I have said before: why should the horse do what we want? He doesn't know we pay his bills. This is a partnership that involves give and take and honestly, I feel the best way to work with a horse is to have them want to work for you. In such a way they will try their heart out for you and their best interests are served. Since it is a part-ner-ship, the horse has a say as well. Horses can enjoy our company and they can certainly enjoy riding - yes they can even enjoy working in the arena and using themselves athletically. At the very least, if we can pay the horse some respect, they will start to choose to do as we ask and what we wish, even if it is not something they are overly excited about, because they respect us and appreciate our company and working with us.

Tying around is about force, and can be a quite dangerous technique, even for 15-20 minutes (plus, 15-20 minutes is a long time to have your neck held in one place for an extensive period of time!! Try holding your own neck in one extreme position for just one minute and you will find it quite difficult). First off, you've got the horses who have never been taught to think through a situation carefully and/or who do not do so naturally on their own. Push them into such a situation and they will fight, because you are effectively taking away their mode of escape and thus causing claustrophobia in the horse. Imagine someone restricting you from running away should the need arise, and furthermore, restricting your view of your surroundings. You are a prey animal and, from your perspective, could be preyed upon at any moment - so you fight. Of course many horses will quit after a moment or two of struggle, particularly 'quieter' breeds such as Quarter Horses. However you take the risk of a horse not calming down and flipping itself. If the horse struggles to an extreme and gets up (ie. into a half-rear or such), it cannot free its head to re-balance and thus will flip over completely. Secondly, you also have the horses who have previous 'emotional baggage' and where tying their heads around would just be too much pressure - and you might not know until you have already tied their head.

To negate the above associated physical risks to the horse (nevermind the mental and emotional force one is inflicting upon the horse, who is supposed to be your partner) is...well, not all that honest. I have seen the mental and emotional damage such training methods incurred on horses, ruining otherwise good horses. Last year I was prepared to purchase an Argentine Warmblood mare who, unbeknownst to me at the time, had had her head tied around when she was first started. Naturally being a bit resistant anyway, this mare did fight - and flipped over backwards. Onto a panel of the roundpen she was in. She now has permanent scar tissue over her spine and cannot use her back nearly as effectively as a horse without the same injury. Not to mention that she is extremely sour and difficult to work with. Such a gorgeous mare, with a ton of potential (her brother is an Olympic prospect and she had what we thought to be similar jumping caliber) and excellent bloodlines...effectively ruined. I can honestly say with absolute certainty that a few of my own horses and horses I have trained in the past would have reacted the same way with potentially similar consequences had their heads been tied around. It is just too risky and not worth it to your horse, particularly when their are other methods of teaching the horse to give to pressure:
A) Teach your horse to give to pressure in general. Move his hindquarters and front end around, teach him to sidepass off of pressure on the ground, to lower and raise his head, to lift his feet to pressure, to back to pressure, whatever you can think of. Get your horse light and responsive so that his first response to a feather light touch in the right area (in combination with intent in your body language, you should be able to otherwise simply touch your horse wherever without it moving off) is to relax and move away from the pressure, rather than to fight it.
B) Teach your horse to give to pressure on his halter/bridle on the ground first. You can simply stand at his shoulder and ask for little bits of give, asking increasingly more of him until he is (eventually) flexing his nose to his girth area without a fuss, relaxedly, and to a light touch. By standing at his shoulder, you can easily follow his movements. If he moves too quick, back up and ask a little less of him to make sure he understands the basic concept of giving to the pressure. In addition, you can also always carefully loop the leadrope over the horn (half a loop or one loop only so that it comes loose) and carefully ask the horse to give to the pressure, from a few steps back/away from the horse. Without actually tying the horse's head though, there is room for error and you can always release your hold (hold, never pull, that way the horse can be the one to relieve the pressure). Later in the saddle, do the same thing. Personally I do do a bit of this on the ground, however I just find it easier to do most in the saddle as part of one of the very first things I teach the horse. I teach them the Porcupine game on the ground but usually ask them to flex their head in the saddle - I teach this prior to even teaching them to move out, that way I have an emergency stop should I ever need it.

So in short, there are better ways that do not involve forcing your horse.


Onto the next topic, I felt this poster said it best in response to something Cathy said:
February 22, 2010 at 2:02 pm
"First, a comment about the blog. It is NOT OK to “crank them in a circle and boot them after they’ve tried to buck you off”! Horses do what they do for a reason, they react to things. Find out the reason: pain from saddle fit, the bit, feet hurt on landing, body sore or just badly ridden causing fear or pain. Or the anticipation of pain from all the above, especially TB’s. Or any number of reasons, but to say “they tried to buck you off” is taking it personal as if the horse is doing it TO you, like a blame the horse thing when the horse is bucking in response to pain or other stressor. However in the few instances where the horse is really trying to unload you. I’d be looking for reasons for that too, like the horse is truly not broke and in that case shouldn’t be in a show ring anyway. It’s too easy to blame the horse.
In response to your question, I would submit a written letter..."

I really liked the response because I had not considered before (for whatever reason!) that when we punish a horse for bucking, we are taking it personally (imo). The horse is not doing it 'to' us but is rather simply responding. I just thought it was a brilliant way of putting it. Like I always say, a horse who is exhibiting a vice (such as bucking, rearing, biting, kicking, whatever it may be), is simply communicating in the only way it knows how. They cannot articulate their feelings in english so are left to body language. When their 'whispering' does not work, they are forced to increase the 'volume' of their 'speak' until we listen, which can include 'shouting' (ie. bucking, rearing, etc). It is not something to take personally - just listen up and respond!

fhotd says: February 22, 2010 at 2:08 pm
"If you read this blog, you know perfectly well that I always tell people to look for a pain source FIRST. However, some horses DO buck TO BE NAUGHTY. This is a fact. You will never convince me otherwise. In those cases, it is appropriate to make them chase their tail and give them a good you-were-naughty-and-you-know-it boot in the ribs. This is not a punishment that should break the skin or traumatize the animal in any way, shape or form. You do it briefly, immediately and then you move on."

Horses do not just buck to be naughty, plain and simple. They might buck because they do not want you up there or because they are not comfortable with humans in general being up there, but a) they would have provided other signals first and b) they are not doing it 'just because'. There is always a reason, though it may not always be physical pain. They could most certainly be doing it because they are retaliating and are feeling 'rebellious', however it's not a simple 'he's naughty' move: if he's feeling that way towards you or your riding, figure out why and fix it (which often means 'fixing' yourself as the rider, or your approach)*. This is why I say you can work out every issue, including bucking, on the ground first (provided it is not a pain issue, of course). It is not okay to simply boot the horse around in response to a buck. If the horse bucks, it is doing so for a reason - figure out the reason, correct it, and problem solved. Sometimes it means earning the horse's respect, earning their trust, or working more in partnership with them, but booting your partner on a small circle is just plain disrespectful to him.
* I realise I made it seem like the horse is making a personal response toward you, however the fact of the matter is the horse is not doing it on a personal level, though they could be responding to what you are doing, personally. When we take it personally it leads to an aggressive response in lieu of an assertive one, which is detrimental to our response to, and relationship with, that horse.

My Thoroughbred Link was a classic case of what other horsepeople would have considered 'naughty behaviour', which included bucking. On the track, he kicked out at other riders (the people in the saddle specifically, not the horses!) while galloping, and often kicked at people on the ground while walking down the shedrow and on the hotwalker. I do not think it was because he absolutely hated people or anything (though it is true he didn't trust them) - no one actually abused him or beat him by any stretch of the imagination, but he was frustrated and was venting at what he saw as the source of his problems: the people who held him back on the track, the people who made him wear a lip chain (I could always see him visibly relax when it was removed, and I'd always get a relieved or 'happier' 'feel' from him when the lip chain was removed), the people who kept placing him in his stall for 23/7, and the people who punished him (as per 'normal' horsemanship) when he was acting up out of frustration, fear, or excitement. People were a constant factor, to him, whenever he experienced things that made him unhappy. When I first started riding him at home, he did buck - often. He buck, he spun, he leapt, he reared, he did it all. Never once did I boot him or punish him in any other way, shape, or form. Actually, I even stopped riding him altogether for a period (oh, the horror, haha), primarily because I felt he was too dangerous - it was not worth the risk to me. We worked everything out on the ground. There, I found he had a severe distrust of humans (again, not because he was beat or anything, just because he was handled similarly to how Cathy advocates and it, combined with the general track life, clashed with his type of temperament). One night I was doing a figure-8 pattern with him on-line on the ground, and as he passed me, he nailed me good in the leg. He had given me all the signs that he was nervous having to go between me and the barrel in that direction, but I had thought it was ok and pushed him. So, on one of the turns he finally kicked me (quite hard!) - he was acting offensively defensive ('I'll get you before you get me' mentality). Immediately, he spun around and backed up to the end of the line, eyes huge, nostrils flared, entire body tense - he knew he'd 'done wrong' and expected me to come after him. Instead, I cursed under my breath, gathered myself (and boy I was mad! Somehow pain just has a way of doing that, lol), took a deep breath until I was calm, and continued on as if nothing had happened. Immediately I noticed a change in his demeanor, like he released some of that tension and relaxed just a little. I wasn't going to come after him, even if provoked, and he knew it and could trust me a little. A horse has to trust you and has to know that whatever happens, he will be ok. He needs to know that he can have utmost faith in you, that even if the two of you were attacked by a cougar and he had to 'disobey' your initial request so as to get away, that you would not be angry and punish him but that you instead would help him out. He needs to know that you will work in partnership with him, that you will not interfere or hinder him, but that you will help him think clearly and provide a safe and relaxed environment for him. You need to be assertive, but never aggressive, and usually punishment like 'booting the horse around' comes with aggressiveness, emotion behind it, and thus you create an unstable energy (rather than a strong leadership energy) and inspire fear and disrespect in the horse by taking the behaviour personally. I will point out in the above case that gradually Link's behaviours have disappeared with time. I would never ever anticipate his kicking me on the ground again, even if pressured, and he very rarely explodes under-saddle at this point (and if he does, he is now quickly recoverable and his reactions are not strong and frustrated). I anticipate everything will dissipate given time, just as they continue to decrease to this day. I've used the story and example of Link a number of times now, but I feel it's just your classic case and example of how not booting a horse around and otherwise punishing it, can work.


Another gem from Cathy's comment section a short while back (not from fugly though):
February 22, 2010 at 8:46 am
"Anyway, most stock horse trainers you see “jerking, yanking, spurring” are trying to get their horse to perform in a certain manner. They’re trying to get the horse rounded up (via draw reins), lifted in the front (via high port bits), hip moved over or rounded in the back (via constant spur contact in one side or the other), etc. Once the horse has learned what is expected of him, that kind of training is used very infrequently unless the horse “falls apart” and needs tuned back up for a show. What I see happening that’s abusive is uneducated people emulating the spur work, the high port bits, the draw reins, and the rein work but they have no idea what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and when to stop. Almost all top trainers use the method of releasing the method of discomfort when the horse is performing correctly.
I attend and compete at the highest level of stock horse competitions, plus get my young horses accustomed to show traffic at open shows, and I can tell you in all honesty that this is one of the biggest problems we have in front of us. The gap between the successfull, popular trainers and the do-it-yourself amateurs/up-and-coming trainer/youth rider has widened to an almost unsurmountable canyon."

I just wanted to post this as a scary thought - this person claims to compete at the highest level of stock horse competitions!! This is what some at the highest level looks like! The thought sends shivers up my spine. What this person is doing is not creating a frame - any frame created through a high port bit, draw reins, and rein and spur work (I don't care how 'gently' it's done), is a false frame. I absolutely guarantee you the horse will be croup high, that you will see unparallel cannon bones at the trot, that the horse will be strung out, that the back will be tense and hollow, that the horse will not be working from behind, and that the horse's best interests are ultimately not being served. Spurs are for extending the heel, not for 'pushing' the horse into a frame or lifting the belly up, draw reins are almost only ever going to create a false headset (with exceptions), and high port bits are meant only for the most intimate communicate between horse and rider - not to elevate the front (because they don't). Know how you can accomplish the elevated front, a horse working from behind, and the correct 'headset'? Patterns. Exercises. Gently and progressively moulding what the horse gives you. Spurs, draw reins, high ported bits - incorrect and not required and used in the fashion this poster describes - downright abusive. Know why there is an 'insurmountable canyon' between amateurs and these types of pro's? They (amateurs) are emulating how you're doing it, they're just not as 'smooth' at it as you - and neither of you are correct! Amateurs might be worse at 'disguising' what you do though, it is not that you (pro's riding in such a fashion) are doing it correctly!! The pro's who are not riding like this are the real ones to watch and the ones who are doing it properly. Even if there is a gap between amateurs emulating those pro's (those doing it correctly) and the pro's themselves, you will not see the type of treatment and abuse we are seeing among the amateurs who are emulating the pro's who are "jerking, yanking, spurring”, because their 'idols' are not "jerking, yanking, spurring" either.

Cathy's response to a different comment (the OP's comment being the one in the >><<, within fugly's response): fugly says February 22, 2010 at 10:48 am ">>Turns out, I asked about him from the previous abuser what was up with him not liking to be cinched up? He told me he never rode with a tight cinch, he would keep it loose and just yank it tight while riding.<< If you mean tightening the girth after you’re up, we do that all the time. Most horses bloat to some extent and nobody wants to eat dirt. That said, a horse should never be cranky about cinching if you do it slowly and give them walk breaks in between pulls. That horse probably has/had a rib out. Call the chiro.

Firstly, to Cathy's credit, she is right on the latter half of her response, that a horse shouldn't be cranky about cinching and that it should be done slowly and amongst walk breaks. Something else I wanted to put out there to think about/consider (to elaborate): if your horse is bloating up on you, you might be doing something wrong (usually, I have found in my experiences, thanks to my own mistakes and what I have been taught - hellooo little black pony!!). If most of your horses are bloating up on you (so much that you are in danger of eating dirt), you are almost definitely doing something wrong!! Bloating often points to a discomfort on the part of the horse, whether mentally and emotionally or physically. It can signal ulcers or it can signal a horse uncomfortable with your approach under-saddle or with being under-saddle and having a rider, in general. Start doing your girth up in stages, and start working with your horse in such a way that he actually enjoys working with you and is not going to bloat up. Secondly, if you eat dirt anytime your girth is loose, I have to point out that your seat is possibly not all that independent and evenly-balanced. I have ridden (at a gallop) with a loose and flapping cinch before (no, not on purpose of course, my mistake, haha) without eating dirt - because I had a solid, independent seat (of course I fixed it asap), and I have seen professionals do it to demonstrate their point. I am not advocating for riding with a loose cinch or girth of course, but I am just pointing out that a loose cinch, especially one caused by a horse bloating, should not be enough to (usually) cause you to eat dirt; of course it will for some, but then perhaps it is a sign of what you can work on (although sometimes shit just happens though, I understand that!). I actually very very rarely have to do up a girth after mounting; I do the girth/cinch up prior to leaving the barn, once or twice during groundwork, then I check it before mounting. The girth will loosen, however your horse should not actually be bloating (you should not see your horse's stomach inflate when you touch the cinch/girth), and certainly not enough to cause your saddle to slip so bad you eat dirt. Lastly, your cinch/girth does not have to be suffocating tight, just snug enough not to create rubs and to prevent slippage. In my experiences most people cinch up their horses way too tight.


Lastly, I just wanted to more openly publish the following conversation between Cathy and a reader of her blog, because I found it interesting, and a good point(s) by the blog reader:

February 22, 2010 at 2:37 pm
"I know you are not a fan of the foundation quarter horse shows, but you might find a lot of what you are discussing here has been addressed with them. Many of the members my FQHR affiliate has are coming out of AQHA or other breed shows because these issues. ‘Horse Care’ is the FIRST section of the rulebook and it says:
“It is expected that each Foundation Quarter Horse shall be treated humanely with kindness and respect at all times. This Registry will make an earnest effort to educate and encourage breeders, owners and exhibitors for the benefit and well being of these great horses. It is the desire of this Registry that these horses have the opportunity to display their great natural ability not hindered by drugs, surgical alterations or inhumane treatment. Our position is to hold to the highest standard of integrity in treatment and care of the horse.”
I have personally know of cases were people have been removed from the club for treatment of their horses and none of those cases were even close to what was described here and in the video!
They also address HYPP (although FQHR does banish the entire Impressive line rather than basing this condition on testing). I’d like to see a HERDA rule coming out since that one is more likely to affect our type of cow pony. They also do not allow performance points on horses under the age of three years old. Not that we don’t have our own problems but I think if you looked into some of these clubs you might find more pros than cons. I know they don’t encourage the “turnout” that you would like (although I have never seen anyone DQ’d for grooming).
A friend of mine emailed me in horror when she read your comment a few months (?) back where you stated that foundation shows were “un-shows”. She emailed me because I am involved with FQHR shows and she had attended several shows with me… so she was shocked that you commented against them (she’s a regular reader , I’m not). Personally I thought that the term “un-show” was awesome! That does describe a lot of what we stand for… I also thought it was HILARIOUS that you made the comment that “rules forbid things like clipping or nice tack or show clothes, so basically I don’t know what they are showing off”… since if you take away all of those things all that is really left is the HORSE and that is what I think should be the most important thing at a horse show! Just my opinion!"

fhotd says: February 22, 2010 at 3:50 pm
"I know…but I gotta tell you, I HATE that shaggy look. HATE IT. HATE IT. HATE IT.
To me, that’s just not a show. To me, a show is like a beauty pageant…showing up in a flannel shirt and not shaving your pits would take too much away from it. You can be pretty and not abused – really, you can!
My other gripe about foundation shows is the lack of equitation/horsemanship classes. I have a huge problem with that, because riding ability counts and I don’t like the idea of the inference that it is so meaningless that we won’t even have a class that judges the rider."

Foundation Quarter Horse says: February 22, 2010 at 4:33 pm
"I guess to each his own on grooming styles… I shave ears (although not as close as if showing AQHA halter) simply because I think it’s a good thing for them to get used to. I also clip jaw line and muzzle, just because. No one has said anything about that to me. Clipping done but not as extensive as YOU might like!
I love, love, LOVE the long manes… I have evened out a filly that rubbed some off but that’s about it. I like the hippie mane look over the short trimmed or pulled manes. And by no means does that mean that they don’t take just as much grooming time! I think they take more on most of my horses to keep them clean, conditioned and braided so they keep growing and look nice.
I’m an officer this year in our club and we are planning equitation clinics in addition to working cowhorse, reining and handy ranch horse. We don’t offer classes at the shows but we do try to get our members to focus on this aspect. Most of our membership are very good riders, you need a pretty solid seat to stay with some of the cutters that compete with us!
Beauty pagents aside, our main focus is on versatility. So we want to see horse and rider combos that can do it all! That is after all what the ORIGINAL Quarter Horse was all about!"

I think that looking at AQHA shows as a beauty pageant is what has got us into the trouble we are in - stallions and mares in their teens with multiple halter championships under their belt yet who have never been ridden. The very same horses whose musculature and skeletal conformation just does not hold up under-saddle: big double-layer muscles with stick legs and miniscule feet. WP horses being tied with their heads up, for hours, so that they will carry their heads lower in tomorrow's class, all in the name of 'fashion'. These shouldn't be beauty pageants. I am not saying not to groom your horse, but honestly, these horses should be useable and I think more emphasis needs to be placed on a horse's physical abilities, athleticism, conformation, and temperament, than the way they are groomed, the glitter on their tack, and whether or not they can appear and move according to today's fashion fad. This is not a runway, these animals are meant to be used and thus should be judged as such. In regards to the grooming, horses have those whiskers and hairs for a reason - hence the reason they grow them in the first place. When we clip out their ears, remove all eye and nose hairs, etc etc, we strip them of nature's protection, navigation system, etc. For what? For us? Because we like it? Yes, I do clip jawlines (not to the bone though, I use scissors just to trim it up and make an even line), whiskers (not short though, just so they are even and maybe not 8'' long, lol), and feathers for a show or to make a good impression at times, but that is the extent of my grooming. To each their own of course as to what look they prefer, and I certainly realise that show horses should look groomed and presentable, however perhaps it is time to look at things a little differently and to remove our personal appearance likes from the equation - make it more about the horse.


I think that is sufficient fodder to consider for the day!!!

Wonder Rider

This time the FSOTD blog post was in regards to a girl who can (gasp!) ride!! Yeah. It sort of inadvertently happens when you are around horses a long time and have ridden a lot, Cathy. You sorta learn to ride along the way. I will refrain from remarking on Cathy's own riding habits despite alleged years in the saddle, but honestly!!! What the girl is doing is certainly nothing special, for a young lithe rider who has spent years in the saddle. Check out the video Breathe.

Such riding should not usually be necessary however - for the most part. The 8yo Paint I trained last year had bucked off his owner as a 4yo and had not been ridden since. When I first worked with him on the ground it was obvious, just as with the first horse in the video Breathe, that he was going to buck if I got on him (exact same displays of behaviour). He was fearful, reactive, and dangerous (and studly, to boot!). When I did saddle him my first week with him, he immediately humped up and acted like he was about to explode. And the first time or two I worked with him on the ground with a saddle on his back, he did explode, in much the same way as that first bay in the video. SO I DID NOT GET ON. I worked with him on the ground, had a few tense moments here and there in the saddle later, and eventually (over 60 days) produced a horse who was henceforth ridden on a daily basis by his owners on their ranch. One of our Thoroughbreds (my main guy, Link), whom I acquired late 2008, was extremely explosive under-saddle when I first got him. So much so, that I quit riding him for several months until I could sort out his myriad of issues on the ground first. He would just explode under-saddle (and on the ground, of course) and there was absolutely no stopping him. Now however, he is going great and is currently working towards showing Training Level dressage this year. We worked from the ground up though and thus I never had to invite his head nailing my nose into my brain, because by the time we got to the saddle work, he was ready for it.

I am not saying this girl is wrong in getting on (to each their own and she is not abusing the horses, plus we only see short clips of her actual time with each horse so cannot propose to know the full story), but the method she is using really does invite possible injury and it does escalate the situation, which can result in a terrible experience for the horse and/or a horse/rider injury or even death. Just for me personally, it is not worth it. I can and will ride through a buck or two, or even more if necessary (and my main Thoroughbred does have panic attacks every so often still yet that I usually ride through), however if the horse is going to full-blown explode such as did some of the horses in the video, and (seemingly) often - I can and will work it out on the ground first, because it works and is safer. The bay horse at the beginning of the video is clearly upset, reactive, dangerous, and not focusing on the individual longeing. Safe to mount? Nope. If he is not paying attention to the person on the ground, there is no way in hell he is going to pay attention to a person on his back. Work with the horse until they are safe, relaxed, and focused on the ground, then mount up. I know many proclaim it impossible to work through an under-saddle problem with a horse without riding it, but that simply just is not true. The reasons for problems under-saddle: tension, fear, disrespect, are all root causes that can be resolved on the ground. The loose, supple, relaxed, trusting, respectful, happy horse is going to remain so under-saddle (to an extent).

I just kept thinking throughout watching the video: sure the young woman has a nice velcro seat, but she is on the horses' mouths quite a bit (though she is actually decent in that respect, and I do not blame her with the bolter in that particular scenario), is using spurs (such as with the grey Arabian) to push already fearful and reactive horses forward (which carries the high risk of increasing the horse's fear response because you are increasing the pressure), is seemingly always carrying a whip (which she uses for punishment, though granted it is simply a dressage whip and she only taps lightly)...and man, that's just a lot of horses that buck under her!!!! Why do they all want her off? I love the challenge and associated rewards of working with the tough problem horses too, but they don't all buck by the time we progress to under-saddle work! In fact when they do, I know I have pushed them too much (which sometimes is necessary with a horse in training, unfortunately, just due to the logistics of time constraints, but not to that extent). There is the bay at the dressage show - if he was such a problem horse (who nearly flipped over backwards), what is he doing at a show? Was he really ready yet? Is that correct training and riding to be applauded? Or is it a mistake on her (the trainer's) part, or even ill training? Granted it is rather difficult to judge from my seat at my desk.

The 'after' clips do show improved horses and so I have to applaud that. I personally don't like every detail (some of the nosebands, tense tails/backs, riders' loud legs, possible hand-dominated headsets [??], etc), however I am being a bit picky because the overall picture is one where the horse is obviously much happier and more compliant than initially. Also, I appreciate this girl's philosophies. Like I said, overall she is creating useful horses out of former problem horses and is trying to educate people along the way, so I am not trying to sound overly down on her (sorry!). Her methods simply differ from my own and those I admire, and that is ok because she appears to still be doing good by the horses (which I respect, because it is what is ultimately what is important). I just thought Cathy could have featured something even better I guess; the rider in question is a good rider, but not beyond what I would expect of someone experienced with horses and who is training problem horses is all. Furthermore, I do not think that what she (the rider, that is) is doing on those horses (as an experienced rider who knows how to get out of sticky situations and how far to/not to push a horse) is recommended for the average rider, as Cathy obviously believes (heck, Cathy tells beginners to take note in her blog!). Cathy also points this out as being better than what Linda Parelli was doing - how so if they ultimately produce the same (and in my opinion, Linda's methods can produce better, but that's just my biased opinion)? I can personally attest to the Parelli method turning out horses with similar and better behaviours of the 'after' vids of the horses in question in the video, because I have done so myself, using Parelli methods (including on horses formerly deemed 'untrainable' who later turned out to be fantastic dressage/jumping/youth prospects) - and often without the 'chaos' in between. And this LACK of pissy behaviours Cathy speaks of? The horses were definitely going much better in the 'after' vids, however I did see some pissy behaviours afterward.

Here is an excellent 'after' for a problem-horse. Gaston is a former stud and was quite dangerous at one time. Parelli Natural Horsemanship, btw.

Here is a video of another problem horse, Quincy, trained by Jonathan Field (the instructor I initially learned Parelli from):



I can assure you none of the above riders used spurs or whips and they did not 'ride out the buck' (etc). Also, they have successfully dealt with many a problem horse since! What they do, I would (and do) definitely recommend to beginners.

Shoulders up!

One of the latest epiphanies I have now been working on over the past few weeks is shoulders up! I have a terrible habit of hunching my shoulders when I concentrate while working a horse (and I don't think I am the only one to do this, as while looking for photos of horses in extended trot alone I found tons of photos of riders - even professionals - hunched over their horses!). I do it at the trot when I'm asking for a leg yield, I do it as I ask for a canter...I do it often. I always straighten up afterwards, but it's important I learn to just stay straight in the first place. Although this is something I was already aware my body was doing, and I have always been aware of its effect on my horses, I never really realised quite the extent of the effect my hunched shoulders have on my horses...until a few weeks ago.

I was working Link (our Thoroughbred) down the center of the arena and was asking him for a leg yield. He was being a bit sluggish and not quite as sharp and responsive as I wanted, so of course I applied more leg. As we passed X, I realised my shoulders were hunched and made a conscious effort to straighten them up. Immediately, Link responded by leg yielding lighter, by being more responsive and by giving me a cleaner yield.

I always talk about how our horses are a reflection of us and how what we do with our bodies affects their performance, but sometimes I think we all still forget at times, particularly when we are concentrated on a specific task at hand. This was definitely one of those times! I still do hunch my shoulders of course, however now I make a really conscious effort to keep them up and it's working - when I do, Link's leg yields can be beautiful (for our current level).

The same follows for when you are asking your horse to do shoulder-in's, haunches-in's, sidepasses, trot to canter transitions, extended trot, etc. If you are asking your horse to sit back on his hind and lift his shoulders, you must do the same. Try it out - particularly if you have developed your horse to be very sensitive (and even moreso if he is already very sensitive and responsive naturally), you should notice a difference. Whatever you are asking your horse to do - from weight shifts to rib placement, you must do yourself, in your body, to enable him to succeed. Always try to be self-aware and keep your own position in mind when riding and training.

Horses as our reflections

An important part of working with horses - whether training or simply riding, is keeping in mind that our horses are a reflection of us - both in an emotional sense as well as physically and in general.

We have the power to create either a calm, thinking partner, or an emotional wreck of a horse. To create a calm and thinking horse, you teach the horse to think through situations, to solve puzzles and think for themselves (to be responsible for themselves), and to therefore remain calm. You develop what is already there in the horse to mold a rounded, balanced horse. It requires a lot of forethought on your part as well as self-awareness - your body language, how you hold yourself and how you interact with your horse. Creating an emotional wreck is easy in a lot of cases. It involves acting unfairly and unpredictably - acting like a predator around a prey animal, which comes easy to us. It involves lacking self-awareness and consideration.

Our horses' mental and emotional states also reflects physically. We've already discussed this topic in a previous blog (muscling), but suffice it to say that a horse who is very developed as a prey animal is going to have the associated muscling: strong underline from a tensed, raised neck, a "banana" shaped back, etc. A horse who is more developed as a partner will have a stronger topline. The horse who is not fully developed emotionally but has been taught to carry himself correctly may exhibit physical traits in both aforementioned areas.

In general, our horses will reflect us as well. An independent seat is vital to encouraging our horses to carry themselves the way we desire; if our horses reflect us and we wish them to carry themselves in a particular fashion, then we must also do so ourselves. Some examples:

- Maintain a straight seat on corners, without leaning into the corner. When you want to go, say, right, you put weight on your left foot to push off to the right, correct? So if we want our horses to balance themselves efficiently as they corner on the right rein, we need to balance ourselves even slightly to the left so that they may do the same. Leaning into the corner going right will cause your horse to also lean to the right, which creates an unbalanced corner.

- If you want your horse to bend his ribs on a circle bend your own on the circle.

- Turning say, for example, off the wall, lift the weight ever so slightly off your inside thigh so that your horse can push off his outside. If I fail to do so when riding one of my more advanced horses at liberty, they likely will not turn, even, because I am blocking them. Open that door. Still applying weight to your inside thigh while asking your horse to turn to the inside is contradictory and can be confusing to the developed horse. I find a lot of times I catch myself (usually on green horses) actually stiffening up my inside leg when applying leg pressure with my outside leg for a turn. Once I consciously catch and correct myself, the horse relaxes with my leg and bends as well, rather than keeping their barrel as stiff as my leg. The weight shift is infinitesimal, imperceptible - it should not be anything major or noticeable - but it still has to exist.

- Many might disagree with me on this one, but if you want your horse to round his back, do so yourself! For both back-up and collection, I ask my horses to round their backs by rounding my own and tipping my pelvis - just very imperceptibly (else it becomes a bad habit). As I further develop a horse and we work our way up through refinement, the physical changes I make become less and less observable to the spectator's eye - they become minute, refined, quieter, as the communication becomes more intimate with the horse. It only makes sense to me, just as a reiner rounds their back to ask for a sliding stop, because they are asking their horse to round their back and slide!

- Keep your hands, elbows, and shoulders soft for a soft mouth. A horse's mouth can become calloused and physically hard, but not as often as people seem to think, and those callouses can wear off! In my opinion, there is no such thing as a horse doomed to a wrecked mouth forever. That damage can be undone. Hard mouths develop into soft ones with soft work. It's just that easy. Horses doesn't respond lightly to soft work? Keep going further back into the basics until they do respond and you have something to build off of (one of the most important things I ever learned from John Lyons). I start all my horses from the ground up, so we establish a strong foundation where they are taught to be light and responsive to begin with. With that strong foundation, any horse with a previously hard mouth can be ridden in a gentle snaffle, in a rope hackamore, at liberty - whatever you so please. Some horses have the tendency to lean on your hands (get back to the basics and take away contact - no contact and they have nothing to lean on, then work them back up), or to just be heavy and grow increasingly dull. We own one Warmblood who is such and I am currently working with another who is the same way. A couple weeks ago I was working with her and was becoming increasingly frustrated because she was so heavy! She stopped backing up softly and even just stopped backing for me period and was the furthest thing from soft I could imagine - very tense and brace-y. Finally, I relaxed my hands. BOOM, she relaxed her jaw. Our back-ups returned to being soft, her collection was soft - everything became soft. With some horses I find you can have the tendency to play off each other - the horse is a little hard, so your hands become hard, so they become harder, and your hands become harder. The vicious cycle continues until you are both frustrated and the horse (as in my case) maybe even stops working. I find the horse being hard to begin with depends largely on respect - build that back up (even within that session) and the horse becomes softer and more responsive. Then keep your hands soft, and the horse stays soft!


Another "reflection" of you you will often encounter in a horse, is in your (in)ability to catch them. "You find out what your horse thought of your last session the next day when you go to catch him" - Jonathan Field. You also find out what your horse thinks of you or people in general! A partnership can take awhile to build up - from days to years, so sometimes it is a work-in-progress. In the mean time, the horse might be difficult to catch but steadily improves as your relationship with him improves. However if you've been working with a particular horse for a number of years and he is still hard to catch, you might want to re-evaluate what you are doing with him or how you are working with him that causes him to re-think being with you. I was riding with a pair of individuals the other day who were lamenting on how hard their one horse had been to catch, how this particular mare was just being a b****. She was also a b**** when it came to bridling (long-shanked curb), which resulted in a fight between horse and human, with said horse being injured somehow in the process. It's not the horse! Things such as the aforementioned events have more to do with us than we realise. In this case, the mare was sending out clear signals she didn't like being ridden by refusing to be caught and by being difficult to bridle. If your horse is hard to catch (regardless of its past), ask yourself why. Oftentimes it has to do with us.

Keeping in mind that our horses are our mirrors is vital to our work with them - it can mean the difference between a successful partnership and a great one, or an unsuccessful one and a successful one.

Barrel Racing

Don't forget to note the undeveloped topline and overdeveloped underline of this horse's neck (see previous muscling blog for further details)...

I have already previously written about barrel racing, but I just had to vent after reading Shame in the Horse Show Ring's blog on barrel racing.

See, people (outside the barrel racing world) often seem to think it's about 'training the horse properly', that barrel racers are not training their horses properly, which results in this:



(what bugs me about this video is that the wrecks - essentially horses being abused - are somehow glorified, the riders made out to be so "amazing")

or what about this:



oooor this:




Newsflash: if your horse is bucking, he's sending a clear message - get off my back!

The music in these videos really bugs me - I'd be ashamed to even video clips such as these of my horses, nevermind post them with music to portray the clips as "so fantastic". There's just nothing "fantastic" about my horses hating me and loathing their work. There's nothing fantastic about a scared horse, and there's nothing fantastic about a horse in pain.

It's not about whether or not the horse has adequate training, or if it was over-schooled, it's a matter of the horse in question's emotional status. These horses are absolute emotional wrecks. They are being encouraged (often indirectly and inadvertently) to react rather than to think. The sad part is that the horse is usually blamed, or the sport itself is. The horse is henceforth forever labelled "useless" for anything else after his barrel career and its behaviour is blamed on the sport itself "oh, barrel racing does that", like that's just how it has to be and we all have to accept it. The same often happens in the jumper world. Well it's not, and we don't. When the horse is developed into an emotionally balanced partner with a solid foundation, barrel racing can be done successfully for both horse and rider!

Here's one example:



(granted, I doubt it was much of a good time, but it shows that it can be done, and hey, even in a simple rope hackamore!)

When are people going to learn that it is not the horse's fault! Furthermore, when are they going to learn that it does not have to be this way! It's not due to a lack of training either, it's due to people mistreating their horses. Yanking on the huge bits in their horses' mouths (snaffle or gentle hackamore, anyone?). Kicking with spurs (anyone ever heard of squeezing?). Whipping. Tie-downs (gotta keep that head down now that the horse is tossing its head due to the pain!). The list is endless. People seem to think that it is okay for a horse to "spazz out" prior to a run - it's not. Look at it from the horse's perspective. A horse rearing or bucking is desperately trying to tell its rider something and it shouldn't have to resort to those extremes! Forcing them to do so (due to circumstances) is what turns these horses into wrecks. Oh, and it's not because "they're competitive" - that the excuse one of the barrel racers at our barn uses. No, your horse's brain is fried, that's why he acts the way he does. Horses can be excited prior to a run, but the key is to teach them to think and to learn how to turn them on and off. The key is in teaching the horse to wait patiently to its riders cues and to channel that energy.

What's with the flapping legs? Ever seen a horse send a shiver through his skin when a fly lands on him? Yup, doesn't need the kicking, much less with spurs. Someone please answer me this: why would you pull back on your horse's mouth while asking him to run? I see it constantly at the gymkhanas. Rider kicks with spurs, beats their horse's hindquarters, and simultaneously yanks on that big bit in the horse's mouth (time for a tie-down!). Then the horse goes up (I mean, really, where else was he supposed to go??), which gets him more beatings, because now Rider's angry at her horse for "acting up". *sigh* Let's not forget either that horses are not stupid. After the hours of practise I recognize it takes to sufficiently prepare a horse to run barrels, he should be able to ride those barrels bridleless - a.k.a. without that severe bit in his mouth. As intelligent animals, horses should easily be able to do a barrel pattern - a pattern they've done a million and a half times, with very little guidance. Unless of course we need those twisted-wire-long-shanked curb bits to keep him in the arena in the first place! And don't tell me "some horses can't run in a snaffle". We'll do a blog on bits later. Suffice it to say however that bits are for refinement. Thus you use the gentlest, thickest snaffle you can find and work your way up through the higher-level bits as (get this!) - your horse moves up through the levels! If you cannot control your horse, if he's "running through your aids", it's time to go back to the drawing board. Simple as that. You move up into a shanked bit when the horse has sufficient flexion and bend, when it is time for more intimate communication, and more advanced collection. Not because your horse is ignoring your cues. At that time (refinement), your hands are soft as silk and quiet as a still lake. Not yanking on the poor horse's mouth.

In my humble opinion, if you foster that cool-as-a-cucumber mindset in a horse (as demonstrated above), you are at an advantage and you are maintaining your horse's best interests. It's tough to do when you are training that horse to be competitive and to have that 'edge', especially given that horses suited to upper levels of competition are often very high-energy athletes, but it is absolutely crucial. Doing so is the foundation of the training scale, which enables you to thus teach the horse to use its body efficiently. When the horse is balanced and using their body efficiently, they can put 110 percent of their available power, into the task at hand - none goes to waste. Furthermore, the horse with the emotionally collected mind is able to better focus on the task put forth to them as well as listen better to the cues its rider gives. That ability to intensely focus allows the horse to channel all their energy and effort into a successful run.

As a side note, this type of damage to a horse is reversible, but it takes a lot of work and expertise. As another note, I am not writing this blog to criticize all barrel riders. I am criticizing the ones riding such as those in the videos above. Please, for your horse's sake, take a look at your horse and consider his perspective. The barrel world can be a cruel cruel place, but it does not have to be that way. People need to realize they will get a lot more from their horse when their horse loves their job and loves their rider, when they're working in partnership with that rider.


Sorry this post is a little snarky, I just wish people would take a step back and consider things from their horses' perspectives. If "it looks ugly", consider this: it probably is, from your horse's point of view. GAH!!