Testimonials
|
Many, many thanks for taking the time to work with us and our two Tennessee Walking Horses in a private two-day intensive training program at your beautiful Whispering Way Farm.
Dear Sylvia: Many, many thanks for taking the time to work with us and our two Tennessee Walking Horses in a private two-day intensive training program at your beautiful Whispering Way Farm. Over the years, I have attended a number of natural horsemanship clinics, read lots of NH books, and seen numerous NH videos...but none of those compare to having watched you work with horses and communicate with them at their level of understanding! Each well-known NH trainer I've had the pleasure to meet and observe in the past has provided a "piece" of the training puzzle for me, and I've been able to pick up elements of techniques that have helped me with my horses over time. However, it wasn't until I watched you work one-on-one with our horses that the "light bulb came on" and I could see without a doubt how important (and, sadly, lacking in the work we've done previously with our horses) the "fundamentals" of good communication and support are in successful, long-term horse training. It was interesting to see how you are able to differentiate (by observing the horse's facial and body expressions and reactions) between a horse that's being resistant or one that's simply confused and in need of extra help. How you acted upon that understanding seemed to make a huge difference in how each horse responded to training! And one MAJOR difference I noted between your horse training methods and those of every other well-known NH trainer is how you use your *entire* body to communicate with the horse - WOW! I'd watched a program on TV some time ago that featured an autistic woman who had worked with the cattle industry to make the handling of beef cattle easier on the cattle based on her observation that cattle reacted to external stimuli much as someone with autism might react. I then started looking at our horses to see if they, too, reacted in similar ways. Sure enough I could see the horses (also prey animals, as are cattle) responding to sounds, light, movements, posture and more, in ways that resembled responses I'd seen from autistic children and adults I've known over the years. Then during our private 2-day intensive training session with you I saw you training horses by using your body in ways that would enhance communication with a "reactionary" individual -- never staring at the horse's face when encouraging bonding; using big sweeping movements of your arm -- with a soft, leading posture -- to ask for a turn when driving the horse on a lead rope; looking away from the horse and extending an arm with soft, bent fingers to encourage following; becoming stiffer through your body and/or pointing at a specific area of the horse's body in order to have the horse move that part of its body away; making yourself "big" (extending arms, and adding lots of movement) to get the horse to stay out of your space; avoiding vocalizations -- other than soothing a confused or fearful horse, etc. These actions really made the concept of "pressure and release" come into focus. How many people are out there training their horses today who really don't understand the great depth of what constitutes pressure to a horse and what doesn't, beyond the well-worn mantra of give-and-take with a rope or rein, and turning one's body away from the horse for a right action. Your two-day private intensive training assistance (which included fixing "holes" in foundation fundamentals such as respectful leading, de-spooking, yielding to pressure, and so much more) demonstrated many wonderful concepts and techniques we could use as a part of the continued training and partnership with our horses. There were so many valuable tips and suggestions given during those two days that it will take some time to mentally process all of the information, but the information *does* come back during each practice session at home. And more than that -- MUCH more -- your hands-on training and excellent explanations/commentary about each action/reaction helped us to be better observers of horses and their behaviors, taking training beyond the obvious external reactions and physical communication toward a meeting of minds. We'll be working with our horses to help them think and THEN react in a safe, calm way, thus allowing us to become better "leaders" of our horses -- and I suspect that's exactly what our horses want most (beyond food and shelter) from us as their human herd! Thanks so much! |
|
|
|
||||
