I’ve Got Equine Issues
We’ve been having horse issues. {If you think, even in your wildest dreams, that you might want a horse, please read this post and keep it in the back of your mind while you’re mulling those thoughts over.}
Perhaps I should preface that by saying that we’re not “horse people.”
Which probably sounds odd, since we have two horses.
The Cowboy's first ride on his own horse, 2009.
Our older (ok, ok, he’s just plain OLD) gelding, Hokie, is the epitome of the horse for not-horse-people. He’s dead broke and as safe and sound as any horse (or other animal) can be for kids. His idea of being startled is flicking his ears twice in a row. The biggest concern is that he might fall asleep while they’re grooming him and fall over on someone.
(Just kidding! But he does irritate the farrier by napping while being trimmed and leeeeaning on him…)
{sigh} This horse...
Our other horse, Hannah…well, she’s another story. She’s the epitome of what happens when you get in over your head with a horse (and then in our case, what happens when your heart leaps out in front of your brain for a muck-covered, eye-rolling, head-tossing hurricane!).
She’d be a good horse for someone that had time to give her some more training, a job, and a lot of exercise. None of which describe us. We didn’t even call her “our horse” for a long time because we took her in as a favor from some neighbors that couldn’t keep her anymore and fully intended on finding her the extra-special-horse-person described above to meet all her 1/2 Arabian, bossy mare, fight and flight needs. But that extra-special horse-person that was part 2 of our “plan” never materialized because the economy disintegrated and good horses are a dime a dozen now.
...I adore her...She's extremely responsive to the time I have spent with her...
So here I sit with this fussy mare that I don’t quite know what to do with but I can’t get rid of. I’ve sort of put off dealing with her need for training and have just sort of waited for that super-awesome-perfect-horse-person owner to come along and answer our ads. This has not been a successful strategy.
So…I’m burning up the pages reading books and web articles about horse behavior and training. I figure I’d better go ahead and take the bull by the horns on this one and just move forward. I’ve trained dogs, I’ve trained toddlers, and I’m re-training my own strong-willed spirit…surely I can train one feisty Arabian mare! At least a little bit!
...Time, of course, being the one thing I never seem to have.
If you have any recommended resources, please let me know! There’s at least a 100,000 different training methods, schools, disciplines, and procedures out there and they all start off by saying why everyone else’s won’t work and this is the magic one that will. There’s got to be a common denominator out there.
I’m leaning toward Pat Parelli’s natural horsemanship stuff, but if you’ve got any words of wisdom, lay ’em on me! (Or if you have any of his materials that you’d be willing to sell used because I about passed out at the prices when I checked out his website!)
I was raised around horses with a Cowby Uncle. He has broken and shown horses for years. My oldes daughter took a liking to them about 7 years ago so she bought one with her earnings from selling her 4-H steer. Well, needless to say it went bad…very bad. I always insisted on riding him first just to workout his mischief. About the second week I ended up with a concusion and very very sore body. I didn’t feel like our lives or physical well being was worth it…we got rid of him at a bargin price. Uncle says that in order to keep your horse broke well you must ride it at least a couple hours a day, several days a week. I know I don’t have time for that and it wasn’t a priority. No matter how much training they have, they will go back to their old ways if you don’t ride them a lot. Good luck and I hope it all works out for you.
While I grew up in farm country, I have no words of wisdom to offer – but I’m quite interested in following your journey!
We are partial to Clinton Anderson ourselves. He seems to explain what he is doing whereas Parelli just says “See what I can do!” If you get RFD TV where you are, they show a lot of the horse trainers’ shows, might be worthwhile. Monica is right, the best horse is one that gets used several times a week for several hours at a time. Good luck!
If you’re new at horse training, I’d highly suggest getting help. Find a reputable trainer in your area & see if they’re open to giving lessons (make sure the trainer knows you want them to work with you & the horse together). Start with basic ground work & keep taking lessons til you’re comfortable riding by yourself. I did this when I bought a horse as a yearling. It was great- Mel would come out one day a week for an hour & teach both me & the horse. Then I’d practice that for a week & if I had problems, I could ask her about them in our next lesson. It wasn’t cheap (I think $35 a week), but it was definitely worth it.
Out of high school, I majored in Equine Science and then went on to ride professionally for a couple of years. Though I don’t train anymore, I ride my own horses quite regularly and learning the mind of the horse is one of my biggest passions in life.
Not all horse “trainers” are created equal. I have ridden under many different people, and was pretty much one big ball of frustration until I met someone who worked with the horse’s mind instead of just his body. I ride with Peter Campbell (www.petercampbellhorsemanship), who was a student of Tom Dorrance. Peter travels the country doing horsemanship clinics, and if you happen to be close to one, it is THE best thing you can ever do with your horse.
If you can’t get to one of his clinics, then I would suggest finding a clinician who studied under Ray Hunt or Tom Dorrance. In my opinion, their method is really the only way to work a horse. Sure, many other people can “get things done” with a horse, but it’s not the same as working with the horse’s mind. And if you are just starting out, why not start with a good foundation instead of having to relearn later?
But good luck on your adventure! And thanks for sharing with the Barn Hop this week!