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July 2006 |
Dear Friends: I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer horse endeavors as much as we have been here at the Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center (VNHTC)! We've been busy with projects ranging from filming our new training videos series, which we will be unfolding in the near future, to juggling horses and clients who come in daily to have themselves and their horses trained the natural horsemanship way together. We also added 135 tons more top sand in our 100 X 240 big riding arena, on top of the existing bluestone layer. That was sure a lot of truckloads of sand! But the arena looks great now, and the horses love the footing.
A steady stream of clients and horses has kept us busy around the clock here! One of our most popular training packages is our 2-Day/Staying-On-Site Private Intensive Training option. Make the VNHTC/Whispering Way Farm an Equine Vacation Destination! Stay On Site in Our Luxury Apartment Accommodations, and Learn Natural Horsemanship Alongside Your Horse! Here's a recent testimonial letter from one of the many clients who have participated in our Private 2- or 3-day+ Intensive Training Packages: 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! K.C. S. To learn more about our intensive training packages and to sign up, CLICK HERE NOTICE: Our web site and email was down between the period of June 16-June 23, caused by a domain re-registration glitch. If your email to us bounced back undeliverable over that period, or if you sent an email, but did not receive a reply, please feel free to email again and we will give it our full attention! Trevor Scott Update Late June brought our son, Specialist Trevor Scott (who is in the Army 101st Airborne, and has been serving in Ramadi, Iraq) home to the States for a 2-week R&R leave with us. Needless to say, we were thrilled to have him home and safely on American soil, if only for that brief period. He's doing well and celebrated his 23rd birthday home with us before heading back to the war in Ramadi, Iraq. Note: Trevor brought back some photos of him in Iraq and I have posted them on my web site: CLICK HERE
Trevor asked me to publicly thank everyone here for sending the care packages to Iraq for himself and his buddies there, over the past months. It has made all the difference in the world in keeping their morale up as they navigate their immensely difficult jobs there, he says, and he wanted everyone to know how tremendously grateful they are for the support. I asked him what the soldiers want sent there the most right now and he requested: magazines (any magazines) and DVD movies (any movies, especially the newer ones they are missing seeing at home) and popular t.v. series on CD's/DVD's. That is their only form of entertainment during their rare down time, and they always share with each other the magazines and movies/DVD's, which apparently they presently have a shortage of (they play them on their laptop computers). If you'd like to send these in your care packages to Trevor and his U.S. soldier comrades in Iraq, here is Trevor's address there: SPC Scott, Trevor We look forward to the day when all our soldiers are brought home from Iraq permanently and safely! Please continue to keep Trevor and his soldier buds in your thoughts and prayers! Thanks for your support! Poem Our daughter, Alisha, who just completed her freshman year with Deans Award honors at Virginia Tech, passed to me a poem she had written as final project for her English creative writing class after she'd handed it in (and received an "A" for her work). It touched me immensely. I sent it to a couple of client friends and they encouraged me (with Alisha's permission) to print it here in my newsletter. Just as it is when we are with our horses, serving as their kind, directive leader, with our children, it is often more important to model the behavior we wish for them than what we just say. I might even go as far as to say it's rarely about what we say in life, but what we do that gets picked up on by both. We don't always realize how closely our kids are observing our lives and how we live them ourselves. I've learned that along my life journey. Horses, like our children, will usually mirror what they see in us. Here's the poem: My Mother’s Work
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We all can learn from each other! Sylvia Scott
Horse Training Thought For the Month - Natural Horsemanship Tenet It's the same with our horses. Horses are primarily non-verbal prey animals. We are verbal predators. We humans rely on speech for communication, horses do not. The only times horses use their verbal abilities with each other usually is to: 1) call out forlornly, in distress, "Where is everyone? Where is my herd?" or 2) during a fight if one horse cannot get the other horse to move their feet, which is also a communication of high distress, or 3) sometimes calling out to an owner upon first arrival, which is also often somewhat a distress signal, "Hey, where have you been? Come here, leader!" But that's about it for horses using their voices! Horses actually communicate to one another primarily in body language and it is a very precise, intricate language at that! So, if we want to be good equine communicator leaders of our horses, it is imperative that we learn their language, not the other way around, or horses can and will pull away from us mentally and emotionally. In my practice, I find it no mere coincidence that so many serious pull-back issue horses that cross my path (horses that can't be tied without exploding/pulling back, or who pull back hard and dangerously when being led by the owner, etc.) have owners who talk incessantly, annoyingly confusing and overloading the horse. The motor-mouth syndrome, I like to call it, can get a horse pulling away from the human quicker than anything I find. Shut your voice off, speak mostly in soft, quiet body language, and the horse will listen more intently to you, follow you more willingly as they look to you for leadership, and they will enjoy being with you far more in general. Plus, as you shut your voice off completely, which I have people do periodically in sessions and clinics from time to time, this cranks up your ability to communicate with just your body better. It is like playing charades. When you zip the lips, you suddenly are called upon to use your body more creatively to get your point across. And this indeed is the language that all horses understand most and is what their brains are primarily configured for sorting out most quickly. A great deal of what natural horsemanship is all about is learning to read the horse's ingrained natural language, and communicating back to them on their own language level, while fully understanding applied prey animal psychology. To understand more deeply what natural horsemanship is all about and how we apply prey animal psychology, speaking the natural language all horses are born fully understanding, read my What is Natural Horsemanship link. To learn how to train your horse yourself, step by step the Whispering Way™, think about getting the Gentle Solutions book I co-wrote, which you can read more about and order here: CLICK HERE Check These Out! Panel Caps for Round Pen Safety - Have you got a round pen "training classroom" that has gaps between the panels? This can be potentially unsafe for horses. If you purchase a round pen that has a gap between panels, consider plugging those gaps with the innovative new product designed by PanelCaps.net to enhance your horse's safety by filling the gap where two standard corral panels are connected. They are perfect for round pens, stalls, arenas, and gates. Panel caps add a uniform finished look to your panels and gates as well. Panel caps are made of tough, durable plastic and are hinged to conform to any angle up to 90 degrees. Panel caps offer an easy, inexpensive solution to modify your round pen into a safer environment for you and your horses. The reason these are needed when round penning a horse in a round pen with gaps between panels: if a horse comes up and a leg gets caught in a gap between the panels, the horse's leg can be seriously injured. To learn more about and order panel caps, CLICK HERE
Equine Wellness Magazine Premieres - A fine new magazine has crossed my path and I wanted to share it with you and encourage everyone to check it out. In the premiere issue of Equine Wellness Magazine are articles on:
Dedicated to a new generation of horse care, Equine Wellness Magazine (EWM) stands head and withers above the rest when it comes to the wellness and wellbeing of our equine companions. A respected and sought-after source of information, EWM appeals to readers of all breeds and disciplines. It gives caretakers the choices they’re looking for and empowers them with leading edge information. The EWM Mission: To help equine caretakers improve the health and wellbeing of their horses through wellness education and resources. To check out the Equine Wellness Magazine, and to subscribe, visit their web site: CLICK HERE
Horse Rescues/Rehab Centers - I'm a big supporter of equine rescues. Visit them, their web sites, get in touch with them, see what you can do to help. And if you are looking for a new horse, rescues are sometimes the best place to start your search. Adopting a horse and giving it a wonderful new home can be a positive life-altering experience. And volunteering time at a rescue can help you to learn more about horses -- horses are the best teachers there are! For a list of equine rescues in the Virginia region and rescues around the country/world: CLICK HERE Horse
Problem Questions From You & Question - Horse
snatches grass in round pen exercise: Hi Sylvia. Please can you shed any light for me? I have a horse in
for training that has many problems. A Lusitano that
was "broken in" in Portugal by having one leg
tied to the saddle, bad teeth that led to a nibbling, then
biting problem, rig like behaviour around mares and other
geldings, an uneducated owner that's out of her depth that
will happily move out of his way rather than stand her ground,
and he's only 4!!
He's come in to try to achieve farrier work without sedation, which would have been possible apart from I have found huge back problems (he only arrived this morning) he's cow hocked and pigeon toed and is tucked up through his back. (Chiropractor and dentist are booked for this week and maybe hormone tests!) I think his farrier problems are due to the back rather than any memory of his breaking in as it's only one back foot that he really has a problem with. My question is that in the round yard he will turn in toward me when I ask, cock his ear at me, lower the head, lick and chew - so then I allow him to come in and as soon as I take the pressure off him, he starts grazing. He's fed, on a well grassed field, this is not through hunger, but I cannot fathom why he feels the need to plunge grasswards as soon as I let my energy down and allow him to come with me. In the round yard he is turning into me, with resistance, bearing in mind we are only on session 2, he'll snake at me, but move onto the direction that I ask and resume a submissive stance, yet as soon as I relinquish pressure and energy he dives for the small amount of grass that is in the pen. I would really welcome any thoughts you could offer on this. I am flummoxed by this and need to understand what he is thinking right then. I know it's early days for him yet but I have not experienced this before. I do then send him back out and repeat the round pen work, but very unusually for England we reached a temp of 35 degrees today so I was limited in just how much he could cope with physically, let alone emotionally. But as is the norm, rain is predicted tomorrow, so then hopefully a more comfortable temperature for him to work with. Should I keep sending him away? Many thanks J. F. - United Kingdom Sylvia's Answer: Hi J. No round pen should have grass in it. Only sand/good footing, definitely no grass. Ever. Take weed killer spray and kill all the grass and get it out of there, and put in sand. When you have grass in the round pen, the horse simply cannot concentrate properly on your directions there. I like to give this analogy to people, to understand why it's important to not have grass in the round pen "classroom" when training horses the natural horsemanship way. Imagine you are teaching an elementary school student and you place a big hot fudge sundae on his desk, but you tell him, "you may NOT eat in class!" as you begin to teach him his math lesson. There is no way possible that the child can ignore the ice cream sundae sitting in front of him that he is not allowed to eat. You need the student's FULL attention, no tempting food he's not allowed to touch, distracting him educationally detrimentally. It's the same with the horse. In the round pen exercise, we are releasing pressure for the at liberty desired submissive behavior of dropping the head. But the second he drops his head in that grass covered classroom, his mind is suddenly seeing the "ice cream sundae." And with horses, some eat to reduce nervousness (nothing to do with hunger). Chewing relaxes them. But we want their full attention on us, the "lead mare" in round penning exercises, and we want the head drop to be about submission/respecting your leadership and not have their mind then realize the "sundae" is suddenly within reach and if they're nervous, they know that eating the grass will help to reduce their inner tension. We want them to turn to US to remove that tension for them. Get it? It's as simple as that, believe it or not. Having grass in the round pen can really be a problem progress wise, because you're giving the horse mixed signals then. "Yes, dropping your head reduces your pressure, right answer! But oops, no eating, pressure back on!" So you'll go back & forth mixed signal-wise and the horse just won't understand what is expected of him there. Kill the grass, have only sand footing and you will have no problem getting this horse to move forward progressively and positively in his training, I'm sure. Question - Grieving when losing a horse: Hi Syl, know you are extremely busy to say the least, but one of my NH emailing friends is having her thoroughbred horse put to sleep this Thursday. It's a long story and I feel personally what she has gone through is doing the right thing now. There is no way her beautiful mare can go through any more pain (my friend told me that she and her girl are paying the price for her being backed too early!!! Nothing to do with my friend of course). She saved for years and years to own her own horse and now this...I just wondered in your wisdom was there anything I could relay to her? Or to make her feel more at ease about the dreadful decision that was inevitable. Much Love, A. O. - United Kingdom Sylvia's Answer: Hi A. I'm so sorry to hear this. That is sad and I know you want to help her emotionally through this now. Expect some level of grief; it's not easy to go through that experience. I want to direct you to a couple of links that you can take a look at yourself, plus maybe have your friend take a look at as well, to help with the grieving process:
See if what you read there helps you help her (and helps her help herself through this trying time). You're a wonderful friend to care about helping her! Keep it up, I'm sure she needs that right now. Question - Horse bites at girth, gets itchy: My gelding bites at his girth after about 20 minutes of riding. It's like when he starts to heat up, he begins to itch. I know it itches because if I rub it for him, he puts his head up and the lips start moving, like "oh that feels so good!" I've tried topical things and as of yet nothing has worked. I don't see any lice on him and the other horses don't have lice or itch. I'm wondering if he has allergies and if you have ever heard of anyone else having this problem? He has started trying to pin me to the hitching post when I saddle him now and he didn't do that in years gone by. I think he knows it's going to start itching and he'd rather I didn't cinch him up. What do you know about this? Thanks so much and God bless you. D. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi D. I would suggest switching cinches (and breast collar if you are using that as well). I find the fleece cinch (and fleece breast collar) is the most comfortable cinch for all horses, but especially for horses like yours who are showing such sensitivities. Let me direct you to a link for the fleece type of cinch I recommend (and use on my own horses and all horses I train on site here): Type of Fleece Cinch I recommend: CLICK HERE Type of Fleece Breast Collar I recommend: CLICK HERE If you are riding with English tack, you can find fleece-lined English girths as well: CLICK HERE I think your horse will be more comfortable if you switch to one of these fleece-lined cinches/girths. Now...if he has an itchy rash in that girth area, it's probably caused by summer insect bites and anything rubbing there is going to irritate it. If that's the case, tackle the problem with better insect control in general. I find the best fly spray for horses, in my opinion, is Tri-Tech 14 Hope this helps & good luck to you there! Question - Horse constantly getting beat up by other horses: I thought I'd let you know how I am doing after I asked your advice about my appy x andalucian filly suffering form separation anxiety. She is now a happy relaxed member of her herd and is also happy to come play with me, knowing she's always going back to her pals, she's likely to be going for a nice walk with one of her pals and there is nice tasty grub and affection available with all her pals in sight. It took a while as she was unable to cope with horses being in view and not being with her, but this was inevitable as I don't own the other horses. She enjoys traveling in her box to shows and meets her pals on walks. I bought a mirror and begged the other horse owners to let me play with their horses, bringing them in and grooming them, taking them for walks so my horse got used to them coming and going whilst having another with her, then progressing to short spells on her own with her pals in view. I had been practising this previously but I believe she was feeling very vulnerable losing her old pal and needed time to recover. I'm very lucky to have a little star who wants to spend time playing with me and enjoys being in the field with her pals (and having owners willing to let me use their horses to help). Thank you for reminding me to think and think again of their welfare. I try always to keep her welfare in mind, but unfortunately it is very difficult to arrange this in every situation, but you always have to try harder. I have one more question to ask if you are able to help! I have a good friend at her wits end: she has a two-year-old Trakehner gelding who from the very beginning misjudged and got himself into trouble with horses. He was bought from a field where he was kept with a young yearling group with an older large gelding, so had been brought up with other horses. He then moved to his new yard and always seemed to get injured when out in the field with mixed ages and sexes. He then had to be moved again due to the amount of horses moving onto yard, so moved to a farm with five other horses, mostly mature horses within a well established herd, both geldings and mares. He was bullied and panicked and ended up running into fences; this had never happened at this yard and was very much unseen in two of the horses who ended up being the aggressors. Due to the seriousness of the injuries, he again had to move (at this stage he recovered from his wounds and was being accepted on the outskirts of the group but the owner was living in fear he would damage himself further in the less than perfect fences.) Twice more he moved one time as the owner found the yard owner had been leading him to the field in a chifney and admitted to hitting him on the head when he 'needed it' so it was no longer an option to stay. Finally he moved onto his previous yard with her other horse, a mature large mare, who had gotten over her initial dislike of him and settled into a fairly even keel with him and two other mares. Once spring arrived, things started to go a little pear shaped as the mares came into season and tended to bully him. He was found to be mounting the mares but they were pretty persistent, but whether he was the initiator or the victim, it was hard to say. Now a good strong two-year-old, he was moved into a mixed field where there was more grass and different companions as the owners of older mares didn't want him in with them. (They also operate a separate sex field system). He quickly found a firm favourite and they constantly boxed and played but the other horses are very intolerant of his ignorant behaviour; he now has not got a foot square of unmarked skin and is now under vet treatment for injuries, two of which are looking like major joint injuries where there may be life long consequences. Everyone else's opinions have been: he's just young and they have to find their way, but I can't believe this can go on. I used to see an ignorant youngster reading the signs wrong and getting into trouble, but now it appears he is now just pushing his luck and chooses to ignore any reprimands from any other horse and puts himself in the firing line. She is a friend and I dearly want to help, but I haven't the knowledge to clearly advise. Whilst there was major handling problems with him, both parties have worked out a respect system around the stable handling, but there are still issues when he is lead, but he is also a large (16hh) two year old! I do apologise if this is ridiculously long!! If you can help in any way I am sure she will be eternally grateful. C. H. - United Kingdom Sylvia's Answer: Hi C. What I think the real problem is with that horse, because I see this a lot: he's left unproperly trained for too long. I've seen time and again that horses with problems like that, once I've trained them, it then translates outward to the pasture and they totally transform from the inside out into quieter, more respectful horses, even around other horses. I really am fairly certain that's what's going on there. The sooner this horse gets better trained, the sooner you'll see that problem in pasture issue go away completely. Couple of suggestions to get him going there better in training. Have your friend follow my step-by-step tutorial for round penning a horse the natural horsemanship way, which starts here (or maybe print out for her these links to read -- and any sublinks inside them that are referred to): Have her do these bonding exercises after that: Then have her teach him this exercise: Then have her teach him this: Accomplishing all the above will produce a positively transformed horse, I guarantee you, if all are done right. Do them all every time she works with the horse and within a couple of weeks she's going to see the horse start transforming all by himself out in pasture with other horses. I've seen it happen hundreds of times, so I know it works. Pass that to her and she should see a turnaround there and less injuries from other horses. See...when she's teaching all the above to the horse, she's posing herself as "lead mare" of his herd, but speaking in the language of natural horsemanship, and he starts to learn to listen more to this kind of "horse talk" and learn how to respond correctly to it. Once he learns all the above lessons she will teach him, he will take that back with him and out into his world with horses and be totally transformed, you'll see! Doesn't take that long either. Just today I had a client come in with their horse, a horse I've been working with, formerly abused horse (before they got him) who used to be a real basket case, a mess, because of his past abuse. Well...as I've been fixing him, they noticed he totally transformed out in pasture with other horses. Gets along better, is happier all around, etc., etc. I hear this nonstop and see it for myself with horses I have taken in for training. Fix the inside of the horse (with the right NH training), and the outside automatically follows. Every time!
Question - Horse gets too wound up after riding at higher gaits: You know the Morgan gelding I wrote you about a few weeks ago that has butt tuck sensitivity with rope? Well he’s gotten much better and now I’m working on tossing the rope at the one rein stop on the ground in which he anticipates and gets a little freaked out, but is getting better. That is not so much my problem, but what the owner wants and that is: a slow pace on the trail in the walk, trot and lope. Not a problem except maintaining the slow pace, and once this horse has cantered or loped, he maintains a high energy and has a real hard time relaxing, so his walk and trot are a bit too fast. I ask with a squeeze and release for which he responds and then speeds up again, so I shut him down in a one rein stop. This can go on all day. What else can I do to relax this horse to a casual pace after a lope? The owner is 73 and needs this horse to mellow out, but the Morgan is 5 and full of energy – not disrespectful or dangerous, just wants to keep going at a quick clip. She and her husband were here on Tuesday, first time I met her since the husband had delivered the horse. She was very impressed how I rode the horse on a loose rein with just a halter and lead rope and how he loped beautifully with just the outside leg cue. Her husband rode him and had a big grin while he did one rein stops and the gelding responded softly (the owner had a knee replacement so she couldn’t ride). Well, how do I help this horse to relax so the owner and her husband can ride casually together after the horse has had an energy boost? M. A.W. - Oregon Sylvia's Answer: Getting this horse to settle down...got a couple of ideas I want to go over with you. Tackling it from a couple of directions, because I've had horses like that (usually the young ones like this 5 y.o. Morgan) and these suggestions should help. This letter is going to run long, bear with me. But first...one has to wonder...a 5 year old is a very young horse and energetic at 5 is normal. They're still "kids" at that age. Peak of energy actually. In people-age a 5-year-old horse would be around 15 as humans go. So....picture a 15-year old adolescent boy and that's what you've got there. And then you have to wonder... is this an appropriate horse for a 73 year-old (with knee replacement surgery) to be riding? I know that has probably crossed your mind, too; I just wanted to co-affirm that thought if you're thinking that, too. Not the greatest match-up, no matter who they are or how experienced they are with horses, in my opinion. 73-year olds cannot afford to get injured even more than others! Usually not a good idea to match them up with younger horses. So, you're really going to have to crank up the training to make that match work well. Build far more control into him than you might say an older, more mentally mature horse, or even another young horse for a younger, but experienced client. Luckily, up the road shortly at 6, most horses start to settle down more and act more mature. More like an 18-year-old human adult. Big shift then. And at 7: is fully a mature adult and not dealing so much with simply normal "developmental issues." But let me list what I'd want to do there with this youngster to get him more controllable and hopefully safer for your client.
Try all those above and you should be able to get this horse under better control at higher gaits, get his mind on more rational mode, etc. Keep me posted how it goes!
Question - New horse in herd is taking over and possessing other horse: We are going through the challenges of introducing a new horse to a small herd of 5/now 6 horses. The initial drama was not all that drastic, the 2 leaders of the herd have been challenging the new kid on the block, but he is not backing down. There has not been big horse fights, or over-aggression. Today however, the new horse has clearly acquired one of the herd members as his own. He herds him away from the others, and now the other horse seems to be just following him willingly. The trouble now is trying to separate them, to lead down the other horses. The new horse tries to keep us away from bringing the other horse down to be ridden. He runs circles around the horse, and people to keep his new herd member close to him. It makes catching them in the field very difficult. Of course the herd hierarchy shift is affecting the people dynamics in the barn too. Any suggestions? P. B. B.- Stafford, Virginia Sylvia's Answer: Hi P. I would want to round pen this horse to establish that I am the leader of the herd (the whole herd) and "in charge of their feet." I teach step-by-step how to round pen a horse the natural horsemanship way here: Effective Round Penning Techniques Once you've got that in the horse's foundation, if bad boy runs from you in pasture, taking the follower buddy along with him, simply drive them both into a smaller area, like a paddock and once they're in there, close it off and continue to drive them around, lots of turns, using the same round pen psychology you've already practiced with him, just in a bigger area now. However, in that paddock as you direct there, ONLY focus on the "bad boy" (new kid), not the buddy he's dragging along there with him. Ignore the other follower horse (the original horse you wanted to catch). Keep full eye-to-eye contact with the bad boy at all times there and as you direct turns (turn them a lot!), point at the bad boy's inside eye. Horses know when you are focusing only on one horse/on them. Your finger point as you direct the turn emphasizes to him, "it's YOU, I'm focusing on only here, bub! And you're in trouble with the "lead mare here" (me!), so you're being put to work!"). The other horse will quickly see that bad boy is causing trouble there with the Lead Mare (you are the lead mare) and he will want to start getting away from him (so he won't be in trouble along with him). Split them in half/divorce them when given the opportunity there by your driving and only focusing on the leader. Just keep ignoring the other horse. This lesson is about: disciplining the disruptive one! But via using the same language a lead mare would use herself: moving the feet, driving them away. There will come a point in this paddock round penning session where you will have "divorced them" and are only directing the bad boy, and they'll both know it. The follower will begin to disengage from the bad boy -- he might even stop and just watch you directing the other if you keep your focus well only on the bad boy. Some will even kick out at the one in trouble, as if to say, "don't try to hide behind me! I don't want to be in trouble too!" By that point, the bad boy will start wanting to turn to face you to renegotiate the deal there, to find out how to get out of this pressure. When he turns to face you, stop all pressure instantly, drop your eyes, put your shoulder to him, stand still (keeping the corner of your eye on him, but no full eye-to-eye contact). Let him rest for that "right answer" there. The right answer was: stop running away and face the "lead mare." From there, after the pause/rest, follow my round penning tutorial for how to then get the horse to latch onto you, then follow you. Via that route, have him come to you, don't you come to him. You're the director of his feet, not the other way around. After he latches on and follows you in circles there, stop, turn, stroke, halter him, remove him from the paddock. If he exits suddenly at any point even there, toss an end of the rope at his exiting back feet, and send him, making it your idea. Put him to work again. He'll quickly run right back to you because he'll realize: standing by you is where the release of pressure was. And all horses learn from the release of pressure, not the pressure itself, what it is you want. Once you've haltered and removed bad boy from the paddock, then if needed, use the same round pen psychology to get the follower to now join up with you. He catches you, you don't catch him! This will start making the right thing easy, the wrong thing hard. If they don't want to be caught, they are going to be driven into that paddock and put to work! Trust me, it won't take long before follower guy realizes this (as well as former bad boy) and they won't run from you in pasture like that. Once a horse perceives you are their leader, they wouldn't dream of running from you in pasture, but instead, will come to you when you kiss to them. I've done this dozens of times and it works. Every time. But you have to grasp round penning psychology there, so read that section carefully. Incidentally, I wanted to direct you to another link on my site for how I like to introduce new horses to new pasture mates -- a route that makes things go more smoothly all around: Introducing New Horse to New Pasture Mates - Horse is getting injured Whenever I take in horses for training here at my training center, I do NOT put a new horse out into the larger pasture with my own horses (and other horses I have in for training) until I have the round pen exercise well planted in their foundation so they have a cue to come when kissed to. This way, they know the rules for catching me when I need them to come in from pasture. Me: the leader of the entire herd, in charge of every herd member's feet. Back up and work on that and it should help all around there. Question - Bit Question: Having trouble controlling horse: Hi. I have a problem that is making a mess of my life, maybe a mistake in my horses. I have a 6-year-old quarter horse who was broke with a bone snaffle bit, the middle looks like a dog bone. Well, he outgrew it and I don't have much upper body strength so I went with a snaffle. My husband insists I go with a curve bit (because he likes them and doesn't understand I need to control and stop this bruiser of a horse). Which is better to go with? He balked with it a little but did well, I was impressed. Can't shut the know-it-all husband up. If I am wrong I want to correct it. And he says a slight curve to the bit. Thank you. S. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi S. Bits don't control horses. Good foundational training does. The ONLY bit I use is a gentle snaffle bit, preferably a full cheek snaffle. With any/all horses. See...if the horse isn't responding to a bit, that just means there are holes in the basic foundation that you need to back up and fix on the ground, FIRST with a natural horsemanship halter/12' lead rope tied on (best communication tool there is for schooling in my opinion). I would do a great deal of ground work with that halter/lead before moving on to then teaching (again, on the ground) with the bridle/snaffle bit. I would teach how to yield the head on the ground, and move on to teaching the one-rein stop on the ground. After that ground work is accomplished and the horse yields softly, instantly with the bridle/snaffle, then once in saddle, just at a standstill, we're going to reinforce the head yielding, both sides. If needed, I will use a two-people approach there. Starting Green Horse In Saddle - What's the best way to start riding green horse? Then at a walk -- lots of one-rein stops/head yielding repetitions. Many, many times. We don't work on that at the higher gaits until he can well perform the head yield/one-rein stop/hind quarter disengagement at the walk consistently hundreds of times. After that, we move up one gait, practice that hundreds of time. And so forth. I don't teach the 2 rein "whoa" until we've well accomplished the above. By then, it's no big deal and the horse complies easily, understandably. People make the mistake of moving to harsher and harsher bits for uncontrollable horses when the truth is, the horse is just displaying big holes in the basic foundation and you need to back up and return to the ground work that teaches them what they need to understand there in the first place. People are sometimes surprised at the end of some of my riding clinics, when I have them riding formerly perceived unmanageable horses, with just a piece of twine, and the horse complies. But that is because the horse now knows how to yield softly and compliantly, when asked to, at all times -- we taught all that on the ground first! So...bits don't control horses, nor should they be perceived in that way at all; good foundational NH training controls the horse. Question - Recommend NH books to read and videos?: I am reading a Parelli book, Natural Horse-Man-Ship. I really like it. Have you read it? So far I have read your Gentle Solutions book, True Unity (by Tom Dorrance), Natural Horse-Man-Ship (Parelli), and I bought a Josh Lyons training series DVD set. Any other "must-haves," as a natural horsemanship trainer, in your opinion? Thanks, Sylvia! R. B. - Hauula, Hawaii Sylvia's Answer: Hi R. Yes, I've read Parelli's book, though it's been a while since I read it. And True Unity is one of my all-time favorites, a definite "must read" for all natural horsemanship trainers. NH is always evolving, in all the years I've been involved in this profession, it has morphed here and there. Sometimes a backstep, sometimes a leap forward. Here are some suggestions: Read some of Mark Rashid's books and read Bill Dorrance's True Horsemanship Through Feel And I like Monty Roberts' book From My Hands to Yours Video recommendation that you'll like a lot: Pony Boy's Horse Follow Closely And good you got the Lyons training series videos, I recommend them, too. I also highly recommend subscribing to John Lyons' monthly magazine Perfect Horse if you don't already get it - if you subscribe to no other magazine, get that one, it's worth it! That should keep you busy for a while and enjoying the natural horsemanship training journey! :-) Question - What training should we be doing with our yearling?: Hi Sylvia, My name is M. and I have a question that I hope you can help me with. I've asked this question a thousand times and everyone just tells me to buy their video. Well, about 6 videos and a couple of hundred dollars later, I still do not have the answer. About 3 months ago we were given a 1-year-old paint mare. The mare had never been handled by humans at all; needless to say we do not have a lot of experience with horses, and none at actually training horses. Out of the 3 months that we've had her, I think we've made a lot of headway. The mare is now a very loving horse who is no problem to catch, we can handle her front feet with no problems, her back feet we still have trouble with. We've taught her how to lead and how to put her head down which she does very well. Our problem is, we have no idea where to go from here. Everyone says, groundwork, groundwork, but we have no clue as to what groundwork is. One video says roundpen, the other video says roundpen is mindless circles. So we're at a total loss. I also need to tell you that the mare is our only horse. So she spends most of her time by herself. We are in the process of building a new barn at our house and thinking of getting another horse for my 10-year-old son, who has little to no riding experience. Any suggestions on what type of horse to get? Some people have told me to get another mare, some have told me to get a gelding, because their temperament is better. I'm lost...Can you please help me? Thank so much, M. W. - Mississippi Sylvia's Answer: Hi M. Thanks for writing. Let me see if I can pass along some advice to get you farther along there with your young mare. If I were starting a yearling (or any horse for that matter), I would want to first start with round penning the natural horsemanship way. Round penning the NH way is not a waste of mindless time IF DONE RIGHT (it is a waste of time if done wrong). Let me direct you to a link on my web site that teaches how I round pen a horse the NH way, step by step, and you can also learn there why it's an important beginning foundation, I feel: Effective Round Penning Techniques Also...read this link on my site for precautions to take when round penning the younger horse: Round Penning the Younger Horse - And where to go from there After the horse has learned to disengage the hind quarters and latch-on at the end of the round penning session, and after haltering, I would then use bonding techniques to relax the horse and to bond them to me more deeply (plus I would return to bonding/relaxing if the horse is ever afraid or tense during any lesson--finger in the mouth and horse's head down being most important): Horse Whispering "Tricks of the Trade" - To relax horse, build trust & bond them to us I would very early on teach the horse to drop the head using pressure/release: Pressure/Release - How to introduce pressure/release after first halterings I would then want to plant this back-up cue into the horse's foundation pretty early on: Leading Problems - Horse runs over human/How to teach horse back-up cue on ground I would want to teach the horse to yield the head on both sides using pressure/release: Head Down Low - Pony rides with head down too low to the ground rebellingly - teaching head yielding to side I would then teach the horse how to be driven from the rear, culminating in teaching the horse to drive in circles around me and change directions: Driving Horse in Circle Around You on the Ground - 4 problems, same solution I would then desensitize the horse to ropes (usually my lead rope) tossed all over, and all around their legs so it's no big deal... ...and then I would desensitize the horse to plastic: Wand-Training Fear - Horse fears training wand with plastic/How to desensitize And desensitize to tarps: Tarp Desensitizing - Horse is afraid of plastic tarps And desensitize to spray bottles, etc.: Spray Bottle & Hose Sprayer Washing Fears - How to desensitize horse to sprayers For the back foot handling problem, I would go this route to fix that: Foot Handling Problems - Horse tries to kick when asked for back feet If you are having any other category problems, check out my Q&A/Training Tips section here: Horse Training Tips and Solving Common Horse Problems - Q&A I would also highly recommend you not keep this horse alone -- that can be the cruelest stress on a horse imaginable, as they are herd prey animals, meant to have companionship at all times, 24/7. For my discussion of that issue, you can read more here: Stall Climber - Horse climbs stall in panic attack at night when owner leaves her alone And to read more about natural horsemanship and prey animal psychology in general, read this: What is Natural Horsemanship? I would suggest for a 2nd horse, get an older getalong gelding, and since it's for your inexperienced son, I would suggest getting an already trained, been-there-done-that gelding to keep him safest. There's a saying in natural horsemanship: green on green equals black & blue. Meaning, the worst horse match up is an inexperienced person with an inexperienced horse. Match your child up with an experienced, solid, older horse and he'll stay safest and progressing positively. You can absolutely pasture a gelding with a mare, with no problem, in case you're wondering about that. I just think a gelding is a better choice for beginners, or for a child, in general. (Make sure the gelding was gelded early enough, before his first year, not later/not used for breeding at some time, or he may retain stallion-like behavior). What I'd recommend for your 10-year-old son specifically: an over 10 year old gelding quarter horse maybe with lots of mileage/training on him. There are a lot of great Internet horse sale sites you can search for that specifically -- I've got a list of some here: Horse Sales Sites -- DreamHorse & AGDirect probably being the biggest. And I would highly recommend having a natural horsemanship trainer work with your son and the new horse to get them off to a positive start. To find a natural horsemanship trainer near you, check out my Find a Natural Horsemanship Trainer [near you] section. You don't want to leave this yearling filly by herself. It really leads to problems up the road if you continue keeping her alone, plus she can turn neurotic pretty fast. So, I highly recommend moving in the direction of looking for another horse to put with her as soon as possible. Pasture, don't stall. Stalling is jail and extremely unhealthy for ho |
