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November 2006 |
Dear Friends: Our weather here in Virginia has turned cooler and we're enjoying the seasonal changes immensely. This fall has been especially beautiful and colorful here at the Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center (VNHTC), as you can see by these below photos. Every direction we turn here has been brilliantly beautiful and we took some fall shots to share:
Our horses are also enjoying the cooler weather, no more flies, and are eating up for winter, starting to build their winter coats. I'm having a blast with my new palomino quarter horse, Sundance. We've bonded deeply now and I'm busy teaching him new things. With his wonderful temperament, he's a joy to work with as he's very smart and tries hard to please at all times. Sundance has settled in nicely with his new herd mates now and seems to love his new home here at the VNHTC!
We're still busy working on the production of our latest video series and will keep everyone posted when they are ready to be unfolded soon. In the meantime, check out our Round Pen Leadership DVD below, and to read client & customer testimonial quotes about it: CLICK HERE
Trevor Scott Update Good news! On October 29th, our son Trevor (who has been serving on the battle front lines in Ramadi, Iraq, for the past year, in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division) has exited Ramadi, Iraq, as his year's deployment is now up! After his October 29th exit, he will be holding temporarily at "Base TQ" (a safer base in Iraq) until the rest of his troops gather there to then head to their home base at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, arriving there between November 12th-14th. To Trevor's platoon, they see Base TQ as a "resort" compared to the horrible conditions they have been living under in Ramadi. We've seen a lot of pictures from Trevor, it is truly hell itself there. And Ft. Campbell must seem like heaven to them, comparatively. I think sometimes that people have no idea how rough life really is for our soldiers in the Iraq front lines. Even the press doesn't show how bad it truly is, because the press won't go there usually where Trevor had been sent -- it's too dangerous for the press! But nearly all soldiers carry digital cameras these days and we families see how bad it really is there. You can't even imagine probably. We are breathing a huge sigh of relief for Trevor making it through this harrowing year safely, though we know he lost so many good friends there, and our hearts break for their families. Keep your prayers with them always. We just can't thank all of you enough for the tremendous amount of support we've had from so many of you over this past year that Trevor was deployed. The dozens of care packages so many of you sent to Trevor and his platoon made their stay there in Iraq so much easier, we've been told time and again from Trevor. He wishes me to pass along a huge heartfelt thank you, from him personally, for taking the time to make them feel appreciated. We'll be seeing Trevor this month & can't wait!
Sylvia Scott
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These Out! Julie Goodnight Releases Three New DVDs in Principles of Riding Series! - My good friend and colleague, Julie Goodnight, has announced the launch of three new DVD's. Below is more information on them:
Horse trainer and clinician Julie Goodnight (of Poncha Springs, Colorado) releases three new DVD installments in her Goodnight’s Principles of Riding series: Filmed at her Colorado ranch, Goodnight’s DVDs expand on her earlier installments, Volume 1: Balance & Rhythm on the Horse and Volume 2: Communication & Control from the Saddle. In Volume 3, Goodnight leads riders through fun exercises taught on the ground, while mounted standing still, then gradually perfected at the walk, trot and later, the canter. No matter what your riding ability, you'll find Julie's advice practical and her lessons engaging—keeping you active as you test your coordination, gain rhythm and enjoy learning with your equine and equestrian friends. In Volume 4, Canter with Confidence, Goodnight explains the gait's footfalls and how your body impacts your horse as you cue for a canter, select a lead, and feel when to ask for a lead change. She also guides you through valuable troubleshooting tips and teaches you to train your horse for the best canter ever. Volume 5, Refinement and Collection, helps riders bring all their new learning together for perfect horsemanship. You’ll refine your position and cues to become an elite, refined rider. Goodnight clearly demonstrates how to ride while conducting your horse's every step. You'll learn how to engage your horse's mind and body as you apply subtle-yet-effective leg and rein cues. Your precise riding will help you collect your horse into a perfect, athletic position. The DVDs will premiere at the Equine Affaire in Massachusetts where Goodnight will host product giveaways each day in the Equissentials booth (#645) and have products for sale at the CHA booth (Young Building #1504). Look for redesigned covers for Volumes 1 and 2. “I look forward to seeing you at Equine Affaire Nov 9-12,” Goodnight says. “I’ll be available to chat and sign autographs each day.” Meet Goodnight at the Equissentials booth daily at 12:30 p.m. for great giveaways—including chances to win the new installments in Goodnight’s Principles of Riding: Volume 3: Perfect Practice—Exercises to Improve Your Riding at the Walk, Trot, Canter, Volume 4: Canter with Confidence and Volume 5: Refinement and Collection; elements from Julie’s Complete Rider Package including DVDs, halters, leads, hats, and Equissential custom riding pants. Be there on Sunday for your chance to win one free tuition for any 2007 Julie Goodnight horsemanship clinic! The new DVDs are on sale now at http://www.juliegoodnight.com and will ship in November, 2006. Goodnight has experience in many equestrian disciplines and with many horse breeds—ranging from dressage and jumping to racing, reining, colt-starting, and wilderness riding. Please contact http://www.juliegoodnight.com or call 719-530-0531 to purchase or for more information. Julie rides “Gracie” in the new installments of her DVD series. Steve Bowers Natural Horsemanship Driving Training Video - Recently a natural horsemanship trainer/clinician colleague dropped by our VNHTC to meet me while he was in the area. Steve Bowers, from Ft. Collins, Colorado (www.bowersfarm.com), is probably the best natural horsemanship driving trainer out there today, and I respect his expertise there greatly. It was wonderful to get to meet Steve for the first time here. His identical twin brother, Mike Bowers, built our barns here at the VNHTC (small horse world!). Steve passed to me his video, Training the Driving Horse. It's quite excellent & for those of you who would like to learn driving training, Steve's the one to learn from! He frequently teaches driving at the Parelli learning center - Steve knows his stuff well! Since I get emails periodically from folks requesting more help with driving training, taught the natural horsemanship way, and since I'm not an expert in this category, I highly recommend Steve's video, which you can check out/purchase on Steve's web site here: http://www.bowersfarm.com/video.html Stallion Service Auction to benefit Equine Reproductive Research, Service and Teaching - The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (in Blacksburg, Virginia) is conducting our 2nd annual stallion service auction to benefit equine reproductive research, service activities and education. The auction will be entirely web-based and can be found at http://eqrepro.vetmed.vt.edu. Bidding on stallions opens on December 1st. We are using this auction to raise much needed monies to investigate reproductive disorders causing infertility in the horse. Stallion owners may donate a service from their stallion with the stud fee being tax deductible. Mare owners can bid on-line for stallion services starting at ½ the regular stud fee. The highest bidder at the end of the auction will receive the service. Hopefully all parties benefit: the stallion owners get a tax credit, the mare owners may receive a stud fee below the stallions normal cost and money is raised for reproductive research. Last year’s auction raised almost $6,000.00 and will enable us to use some of the money for scholarship for a student interested in equine reproduction. There are not many funding agencies that are willing to support equine reproductive research. Many focus on issues such as colic, laminitis or lameness, which are certainly important to the horse. We are seeking stallion service donations and mare owners to bid on stallions as a way to augment our funding. Our web site also contains links to educational sections designed to help the horse owner learn more about equine reproduction. We plan on conducting the auction on a yearly basis, so please bookmark our web site. Questions may be sent to Dr. John Dascanio at eqrepro@vt.edu. Dr. Dascanio is a board certified Theriogenologist (reproductive specialist) and administrator of the auction and research program. Horse
Problem Questions From You & Question - Horse drops shoulder & gets irrational at the canter: Hi. I love your site and it is very helpful for homework problems. I'm an equine and instruction and training major here at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. I am doing a project for class and I need to figure out how to work out a problem with my horse. I have looked through your site and I wasn't able to find the answer to this problems so I'm hoping you'll be able to help me through an email. I have a 5-year-old horse I'm riding that has a consistent shoulder dropping problem. I can let him run unframed into the canter and he'll pick up the correct lead and he of course drops his shoulder or I try to collect him into the canter and push his body over and ask for his hip to move in but when we get right up to the canter he turns and drops his shoulder or picks up the wrong lead. He also gets very excited and quits listening to my cues. I have to calm him down every time after we canter. I can't ask him for the canter right away again because he gets too excited. If you can help me I would appreciate it. Thank you for your time. E. A. - Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana Sylvia's Answer: Hi E. Thanks for writing. Let me see what I can do here to get you unstuck there. Couple of things I want to go over here... First…you might be wise to back up and work on the ground for a bit on head yielding specifically so that your horse gets more supple and yielding-responsive there for a start, and that will translate up into saddle -- let me direct you to a link on my web site that goes more into how to teach head yielding better: Also, let me direct you to a link on my site that goes into ways to teach lead changes so you can see what might best help you there: And since your horse gets so wound up at/after the canter, let me direct you to a link about that subject on my site here: Regarding the dropping shoulder problems, I wanted to pass along to you here some great advice for that from my natural horsemanship trainer/clinician colleague and good friend, Julie Goodnight -- she explains things really well here, and I think it will help you a lot: Bending is not really that complicated of a theory. If you imagine a line that goes from the horse's poll (right between his ears) all the way to his tail, this is the line that we refer to in bending or arcing; the line of the horse’s spine. When the horse is turning, that line should be arced exactly in the same curve as the turn or circle that you are on. The smaller the circle, the more this line is bending or arcing. In order to bend correctly, the horse's nose must be pointed into the turn and his inside shoulder must be lifted as his ribcage flexes toward the outside of the circle. If you are sitting up straight in a chair and slowly turn your head and look up and over your shoulder, you should feel that your inside shoulder elevates slightly and your torso swivels. This is the same thing that happens to your horse's shoulders, the inside shoulder elevates and the outside shoulder drops slightly. If the horse does not arc his turn, then he drops his shoulder and leans into the turn just like what happens when you turn a bicycle. We don't want him to do this when we are riding because he is too top heavy with our weight up on top and when he drops his shoulder and leans into the turn, he will rush through the turn in order to maintain his balance. That is a very uncomfortable and out of balance turn. Now let's look at how to encourage the horse to arc his turns. The first thing to consider is your position. What I see most people do when they want the horse to turn is to pull down and back on the inside rein and the rider drops her inside shoulder and leans into the turn. All of those things contribute to make the horse drops his shoulder (his body will always mimic yours), brace his neck (like a board) and resist arcing or bending. Instead, make sure that you are sitting very tall, centered over the horse's spine and that you turn your eyes, shoulders and arms together, lifting slightly up on the inside rein and not pulling on the outside rein. Your weight should naturally shift to your outside seat bone when the horse arcs in his back. If you lean into the turn, you are blocking the horse from lifting his inside shoulder and preventing him from bending. Your horse will never bend as long as there is a brace in his neck. When the horse's neck feels like there is a metal rod running down each side of his neck, he is bracing in defense of his mouth. This comes from riding with too much contact, not enough feel in your hands and from pulling on both reins at the same time. To get rid of the brace in a horse's neck is difficult to explain in writing, but you need to work on not pulling on both reins at the same time and learn to lift up on the reins rather than pulling back. Pulling back on the reins interferes with the horse's forward motion. When I am working to get rid of the brace in a horse's neck, I will make my outside rein totally loose, then reach forward and lift up on the inside rein in a gentle pulsating motion like gigging a fishing line. I know from experience that most riders have a great deal of difficulty not pulling back on the rein because it is so programmed into them, but you want to gently and rhythmically pluck up on the rein, with your hand out to the side. You do not want to take a steady pull on the rein, which is what causes the brace. When you gig the reins, there is an instantaneous release and the horse needs that. Continue gigging until the horse's nose comes in and he bends way back in his neck by his withers. Then release and rub him on the neck. Again, lifting up on the rein is the secret to getting a horse to bend in his neck and shoulder, not pulling back. Also, make sure that your outside rein is not interfering with the horse's effort to bend. I cannot expect him to flex his nose to one side if when he does, the outside reins hits his mouth. Later on, when both you and the horse are better trained, you may begin to use the outside rein again to support the horse in the turn, but for now, it will only frustrate the horse and create more brace in his neck. Many bracing problems are caused by too much contact on the outside rein; think about how little sense it would make to a horse trying to bend, to have you pull on the outside rein when he does. Although I grew up riding English with a strong classical training, I am not a big believer in riding on contact all of the time. I do not think that green horses or green riders should be ridden on contact. Both need to learn to balance themselves first without the support or interference of the reins. Contact should not be used until it can be soft and meaningful contact and that takes a lot of time to develop. Therefore, all of the work that I detailed above should be done on a loose rein so that the horse is very relaxed in his neck and body. My guess is that the brace in your horse's neck came from the contact; it is his best defense mechanism to protect his mouth from confusing or meaningless contact. Your weight and legs are also very important in bending, although it is probably your hands that have caused the problem. There are some articles on my web site about how to use all of your aids together in the turn, but basically, as you swivel your body in the turn, looking with your eyes and opening with your shoulders, that swivel should go all the way into your seat. When it does, your inside leg will naturally move forward toward the girth while your outside leg will drop back and down as your weight shifts into the outside stirrup. The inside leg is known as the bending leg and it helps keep the horse's shoulder elevated and gives the horse a point to arc around. The outside leg gives the horse direction (he moves away from pressure) and keeps the horse's hip and ribcage in place. I hope this helps you get a better understanding of bending and how to accomplish it. My videos on the principles of riding explain bending and how you accomplish it quite well. They also have exercises for you to do on the ground to help you get a better understanding of the balance and feel of the turn and how you use your aids correctly. You can order the videos at my web site or by calling (800) 225-8827. -Julie Goodnight, Clinician and Trainer - Web site: http://www.juliegoodnight.com/) Julie has several great videos that I think would help you there: Goodnight's Principles of Riding Volume 1: Balance & Rhythm on the Horse Learn how you and your horse can be a balance in motion. Julie Goodnight gives you the elements of good balance and how to use them to attain balance between you and your horse. Julie has developed an uncomplicated and logical way to communicate to all levels of riders. She combines natural horsemanship techniques with the principles of classical riding. So whatever style of riding you prefer, whether it is dressage, jumping, reining or trail riding, you will find success with Julie Goodnight's Principles of Riding.
Julie Goodnight teaches that when you and your horse are centered and in balance, you will be synchronized and move in rhythm. Goodnight puts riders on the road to success for achieving balance, rhythm, communication, control and a harmonious relationship with their horse. Whatever style of riding you prefer, whether it's dressage, jumping, reining or trail riding, you will find success with Julie Goodnight's Principles of Riding. Plus, Julie also has 3 new videos just being released that I think would help you out a lot there as well: Goodnight's Principles of Riding Volume 3: Perfect Practice: Exercises to Improve Your Riding at the Walk, Trot, Canter Goodnight's Principles of Riding Volume 4: Canter with Confidence Goodnight's Principles of Riding Volume 5: Refinement and Collection You can read more about those videos in my newsletter above. You can order these above videos on Julie's web site here: www.juliegoodnight.com/products.html Hope this helps and good luck to you there! Question - Young horse is facility-destructive, other horse is claustrophobic: I have several horse problems with 2 different horses. Last year I had e-mailed you about a PMU Belgian mare that we purchased. I just love her and she is getting better and better. Her colt is now 16 months old and just about as tall as she is. He is a big sweet moose of a horse. The only problem we have is his destruction of stalls and fences. I have an electric fence around the pasture and the horse pen and he still leans into them, they snap and then he tears down the wire fence and steps out of the pasture and pen. Several days ago he destroyed the front of the stall. We laugh about it, but what can we do to break him of this destruction? I know he doesn't know he is that big. I added more electric wire to the horse pen fence and he has stayed in there. We also have a big bay thoroughbred that is a love and normally an easy ride and fairly well trained. But the last time my husband and I went riding, I rode the thoroughbred. We were riding in a wooded section and going in and out of little open areas. My husband went thru a small hole in the brush to the next open area. The thoroughbred and I were going right behind my husband, when he panicked and reared and reared and whirled and whirled. I was talking to him to try to calm him down. On the last whirl, I whirled off onto the ground. We then walked him for a while. I got back on, but he was all squirrely and acting like a ninny and trying to rear again. My husband even tried to lead him with me on him. I finally got off and we walked home. After that ride I got some side reins to work with him in the round pen. But I am worried he will do this again when we go out. Any hints on how to break him of this rearing and panicking? S. S. - El Paso, Texas Sylvia's Answer: Hi S. Thanks for writing. For your youngster question there...he's still a baby, and like human babies, they try to stay occupied, often with their mouths. You need to "baby proof" as best you can there, but also let me direct you to a link on my web site that, though is not the same problem, you can borrow from the solutions you read there: Your other questions there regarding your other horse....you're dealing with foundation holes I can see from here. Your horse is probably claustrophobic (most horses are early on in training, it's a natural trait), but that can be worked out on the ground safely first. Let me direct you to a link on my web site for an exercise you can do, teaching the horse to be driven from the rear (which is like "riding" them from the ground):
After you've taught the horse to be driven from the rear, next, start driving her through gate openings (not leading her, but driving her from the rear), then drive her in and out of a stall, in and out of a trailer. Put two barrels close together and drive her through the middle of them. Put a barrel close to a fence line, making an alleyway and drive her through that alleyway. And so forth. In other words, drive her on the ground from the rear through as many "claustrophobic" setups you can manufacture there, to get her past that fear issue. The other foundation hole you're dealing with there is...you need to teach her the one-rein stop and let me direct you to a link on my web site that will teach you how to do that and why it's so important (and it is far more than just about a "stop"!): Work on all the above and you should see improvements there. By the way...when she overloaded there, it's often smart to climb off the horse immediately. Too many people get hurt NOT getting off a horse when common sense is telling them things have escalated out of control and they need to get off and go back to ground work -- fixing the real problem safely on the ground first. Getting off before things melt down too dangerously is very smart. And keeps you safer! Without safety as our primary focus with horses at all times, we've got nothing! There is absolutely no shame in getting off a horse and walking them back, aborting a days' ride plans and then committing to work safely on the ground to get the horse past crucial issues. Just back up now and work on the above, and you should be able to get your horse safer and progressing positively forward now. And once you've done all the above, don't hesitate to go back to that "scary" claustrophobic spot in the woods and ground drive her there as well so she can see that nothing bad happens to her when she listens to her leader, who is watching out for her safety at all times. Question - Canter problem - horse tenses up at the canter: Hello. I was just searching for some answers regarding cantering problems. I came across your web site and looked thru the Q&A section. I have trained my horse using natural horsemanship methods. We are doing great, have overcome all sorts of problems, but cantering is a big one. I would like to know what I should do for my horse to help her be as relaxed at the canter as she is at the walk and trot. My mare knows the cue to canter and I let her trot into it as I give her the cue. She picks up the correct lead but she gets upset and puts her head way up and cuts across the arena just all out of control. I've been trying to find the correct way to get her thru this. She moves off my leg at the walk and trot, but runs thru my leg at the canter, being my inside leg attempting to keep her from running in. My reins are fairly short, I've been told to keep contact and her head tipped slightly to the inside and my inside leg holding her shoulder in...I've also been told to put a martingale on her (traditional trainer). I don't want to do that. I'm wondering if I should just let her go on a loose rein, but she's so anxious she even anticipates the canter before I ask for it. For the most part she's fine on a lunge line at the canter. Sometimes she will have a fit and just run around like her tail is on fire. I'm reading this as attitude. I want to do the right thing here. We are able to walk and trot with a soft feel, flexing at the pole and holding that for longer periods. Have not been successful at getting the soft feel at the canter. Hard to do with the nose up in the air and running sideways. I've also thought of letting her canter a few strides, then shutting her down with the one rein stop? Or would that be punishing her after asking her to go? Sorry for the lengthy email. Thank you for the opportunity to ask my questions. C. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi C. First...you definitely want to send her into the canter with a loose rein, since giving her too much contact there is like telling her to go and stop, all at the same time, confusing and frustrating her. So, for one, I think that's part of the problem there. But I think something else is going on and I think your horse may very well not know how to "ride straight," which is a very common foundation hole that lots of people tend to not know about. Let me direct you to a link on my web site that goes into this issue, and how to fix it: The reason I think you might be dealing with that there is...it is so often flushed out more at the canter. Back up and work on the exercises there that I show, to fix that riding straight problem for a while and this should help. And don't underestimate how big a problem it is inside the horse when they initially do not know how to ride straight. Take your time fixing it without putting further demands on the horse regarding the canter. It's fixed one step at a time, lower gaits first. Next, after that is fixed/getting better (or even while working on that) I would do a lot of one-rein stop work, starting with the lower gaits and then after only a step or two into the canter, to help her learn that she does not have to get her adrenalin up irrationally, just because you asked her to canter now. She's equating cantering with losing control (inside herself) and she might fear that she doesn't know how to stop or slow down with you on her if she's cantering (I see this in a lot of green horses). Teaching her the one rein stop and then using it after only a step or two into the canter at first, teaches her that she needn't tense up; YOU will stop her (bonding with her deeply after the one-rein stop) and show her how to slow down, so she can let go of worrying about that. Let me direct you to a link on my web site that goes into more detail on how to teach the one-rein stop and how to baby-step the horse better there: And no to tie downs or martingales. Those are artificial aid "patches" that do not fix the real problem and I'm very much against them. Take the time to back up (first on the ground) to plug those holes properly with the right training work. Since I suspect you are dealing with more foundation holes than you realize, you might think about getting my "Complete Package" because it contains all the tools and information you need for all the next steps to get all the ground foundation laid down better and the horse better going in saddle, happily and compliantly. That package can be ordered here: CLICK HERE - it contains 1) the Gentle Solutions book I co-wrote that teaches a step by step very user-friendly program you will plug your horse into, as well as 2) the natural horsemanship halter with attached 12 foot lead and the 3) extendable/retractable training wand that you will tie plastic to for desensitizing (more about that in the book), both required for the program, and 4) the very handy training string which has a 101 uses (I keep one in my pocket at all times when training because it has so many handy multi-purpose training uses). And you'll be set to retrain your horse the natural horsemanship way. And as you get going in the program, if you ever have any questions as you go along, I'm only an email away for quick answers! Work on all the above and I think you'll see improvement there faster. Hope this helps and good luck to you there! Question - How often should you work with your horse?: Hi Sylvia, I have a question I was hoping you could help me with. I have been emailing you regarding my 5-year-old mare. I've only had her about 4 or 5 months. She is a very sweet horse, but has a lot of issues that need to be worked out. The thing I'm struggling with is that I am very limited on the time I can spend with her. I have to board her away from my home, and I work full-time and have a very busy schedule. I've been trying to go out and work with her early in the morning, but this time doesn't work for her because it's feeding time and she's so worried about eating with all the other horses that it's hard to get her to pay attention to me. So that leaves the evenings, and the only evenings I have free are Tuesday and Friday and Saturday's. Is that enough to train her?? Is it too far in between for her to really learn? I'm hoping you can help me, otherwise I'm facing the difficult decision of selling her, because it's not fair to her if I can't spend the time she needs. I can't afford to send her to a trainer right now. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this matter. I want to do what's in my horse's best interests. Thank you so much for your time and your responses. J. W. - Mesa, Arizona Sylvia's Answer: Hi J. Actually that even limited time you described is just fine, in my opinion. It's more about the quality of the training you're doing than the quantity of time. If the time you spend with her is limited, but on a highly productive natural horsemanship training course, that's really all a horse needs to learn. Done right, they don't forget what they learn, and the lessons stick. It's important, most of all, to end every lesson on a positive. I actually don't prefer to train a given horse every single day; I prefer giving them "soaking time" between lessons and there's a very good reason for this. Let me direct you to a link on my web site that goes into horse brains and how they learn there, and why soaking time is not only good between lessons, but even more highly productive, in my opinion, than training a horse every single day: So, let go of internal pressure regarding your time, and realize you have your horse's lifetime to make her into the perfect horse. Just keep the positive course you are on and you'll see good results as you go along. However...What would concern me more there is your words "feeding time." I'm a huge advocate of keeping horses "naturally" and that means lots of turnout time to live life within a herd, outside of our time with them, ideally in pasture turnout 24/7 or large paddock, with other horses, 24/7 access to grass or hay. I'm not in favor of enforced "feeding time" type setups for horses. That's not how horses eat naturally. They are grazing prey animals, designed by nature to live within a herd (to keep an inner sense of safety), grazing pretty much around the clock. It is how their digestion is set up for -- continual grazing -- and is what is best for them psychologically as well. It is extremely unhealthy and unwise to have your horse in a boarding situation where they are fed only certain times of the day (say, morning, then night) and the horse has nothing to graze on between those "feeding times." That's the opposite of how horses are designed to eat, physiologically & psychologically. Make sure that when you are not with your horse that the horse is allowed that freedom and natural grazing set up (be it natural grass or hay out at all times). If you don't have that set up there, I myself would look for another boarding facility that does keep horses more naturally, because humans create serious problems in horses when they stall them, feed them only at structured feeding times, and don't allow them plenty of turnout time and living within a herd with natural access to grazing. So very many horse problems we see are caused by horses not being kept naturally, as they are designed by nature to live. So…more than worrying about the few days you can get over there, I would recommend focusing on how your horse is living life outside of your training/working with her time. Her training will go faster and more productive, and more healthily, if she's kept naturally, outside of the time you are working with her. And you needn't feel guilty when you can't get over there sometimes, as you'll know she's living life happily within a herd, with lots of free grazing and room to move continually. If you don't have that set up there, think about searching for that.
Question - How do you become a natural horsemanship trainer?: Hello, Mrs. Scott. Ever since I read the Heartland Series, by Lauren Brooke, as a little girl, I have wanted to get a career as a natural horsemanship trainer, specializing in helping problem horses, and perhaps using alternative, natural remedies as well. I was wondering, since you are obviously very successful, how you got your start? Did you go to college? What did you get your degree in? I realize that in this kind of job, hands-on experience is probably just as important, if not more, than schooling. So, how did you find your mentors? Who was it you studied with? I am sorry for all of the questions, but I figure there's no one better to ask than a person that's out there, actually experiencing this as a career. Also, do you know anything about natural, herbal remedies? Using lavender oil for calming, mint to entice appetite, etc.? As I start finishing up High School and looking to my future, this is certainly one of the things I am most passionate about pursuing, and, if you could spare the time, your input would be wonderful. Thanks so much for your time. M. M. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi M. Thanks for writing. I really applaud your interest in becoming a natural horsemanship trainer. Everyone in this field that you talk to comes to it from so many different directions, there's really no "one" answer to that question. As for me, I majored in Developmental Psychology in college and I think (for me at least) that gave me a great foundation for so many things, including "horse whispering." I do personally feel that college is so important in life, in general, and hopefully not something to skip over, if you can. I also studied under a lot of the top folks in this field, actually...I never stop studying it! It's a life long learning endeavor where truly the journey is the reward. I have a link on my web site Q&A section that does respond to that question and you can read it here:
Since you are finishing up high school, and hopefully steering in the direction of college next (because a college education will serve you well in life in general), I would advise you to think about applying to a college that is one of the first colleges in the country to offer Associates & Bachelors degrees in Natural Horsemanship and that college is the University of Montana-Western. Here's a link to that college program that you can check out: http://www.umwestern.edu/academics/departments/equine/ (scroll down that link page there to read more about their Natural Horsemanship degree program). That's a great route to go for someone like you, I think. As for your other question there, no, I'm not a huge expert on natural herbal remedies, but I stay open to learning more as I go along, just like I try to do regarding everything in this field of horses. Hope this helps and good luck to you there! Question - What to do with a foal?: Hi. I was just wondering if you could give me some help in regards to the type of training I should be doing with my foal? I haven’t got any experience with dealing with a foal as he was a very unexpected surprise and I have tried to find some information on the Internet and came across your site. He is only a pony type, to mature approximately 11 hands and is 1 month old. He is good for me to pat and touch and have managed to get a halter on him, but not sure on how to teach him to stand and put it back on and also about tying and leading??? As I said I'm not the most horsy type person. I have a good knowledge of care and riding, but don’t know anything on how to deal with a young one. If you could help in any way that would be great. Pity you are not in Australia as I found your techniques rather interesting and would love the help as I have a pony mare that is jumpy at everything and won't let you deal with her for long periods of time, a bit like she is always worried what you are going to do to her next - she was given to me as a companion for my donkey and is the mother of the foal. Thanks for your time N. - Australia Sylvia's Answer: Hi N. Let me direct you to some links on my web site that should help you there: And this one, too: Foal Training - 6-month-old foals, what other training can I be doing? (and read the links within those links as well). By the way...never leave a halter on a foal -- they can get themselves into serious trouble catching the halter on something, so we never leave a halter on them! Take the time to back up and teach the foal to be haltered and unhaltered for working-with-you time (those links above include how to teach haltering). Incidentally, I have a list of natural horsemanship trainers in Australia on my web site here (in case you could benefit from some one-on-one training help there and you find one of them is near enough to you -- check the list here): http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/Australia-NHTrainers.html Hope this helps and good luck to you there! Question - Horse is afraid of lead rope: Hi Sylvia, I have a horse problem and hope you can give me a bit of advice (I live in Australia). I am currently working with a 2-year-old filly warmblood that was handled as a youngster, could lead ok and was handled frequently and also at one stage had been picked up and carried by the owner as a foal back to her mum in the stable area from the outer paddock. The horse was not handled until recently. A person who thought they knew about horsemanship was handling the filly and was apparently swinging the lead rope at her. I do not know exactly how hard or even if the rope connected with the filly. The filly took off and I suppose you could say she bolted with the lead rope still attached to her. She went thru a couple of fences and finally did end up being caught in one where she apparently could not get out, until the owner had to untie the fencing wire that she was wrapped in, though lucky nothing serious in damage was done physically, but mentally yes. The problem is now the horse is scared with the lead rope and will not accept it touching her. If I put the lead rope on her and she happened to get away, she would bolt from fright and I have tried various horsemanship techniques in trying to get her to accept it, rubbing her down. I have also done join-up with her in a round yard. No problems there, follows me around ok, though as soon as the lead rope comes out, boy does she react! She then wants to leave my company and tries to jump out of the round yard. HOPE YOU CAN HELP! THANKS. S. M. - Australia Sylvia's Answer: Hi S. Thanks for writing. You're going to need to back up there and in very tiny baby steps, desensitize her to ropes, but not starting with rope, start with twine balled up in your hands. Let me direct you to some links on my web site for you to see what you need to do there now: And then read this one: Keep in mind (as you read those links) that the retreat is EVERYTHING in the desensitizing process. Keep focusing on retreating before the horse retreats, incrementally, as you break this down now into very small baby steps. Don't worry, you WILL get her past this fear with the right approach. The halter/lead rope is/was too big a leap for her there to digest without fear, when you need to break it all down into smaller baby steps now like I teach in those above links, with lots & lots of retreats in there ongoingly. It's during the retreat that a horse grows confidence in something they fear. You cannot retreat too much in these desensitizing exercises! Luckily, horses live in the "now," not in the past. Create a new now with the right techniques like I show there and she will get past this problem, I assure you. Hope this helps and let me know how it goes. Question - Horse resists riding in bit: Hi my name is C. I have a horse that is not wanting to respond to any bit that we put in his mouth. When we start to rein him he acts up like trying to spin or buck a little. Not sure if it's the bit we're using or if it's that he has never had one in his mouth. He is about 2 1/2 years old and I'm needing any advice you could provide. C. B. - Internet Sylvia's Answer: Hi C. I would strongly advise first having a thorough vet/dental check up before proceeding further. I have a feeling something's going on in the mouth there, for a start, that you might not be aware. Have you had the wolf teeth removed? Have the vet dentist check that and remove them if they are still there, as leaving the wolf teeth in can really hurt when you put a bit in the mouth. Rule out via a vet first any possible physical problem first before assuming it's a training issue. Next...all training I do to teach a horse to yield is done without the bit in the mouth first. Let me direct you to a link on my web site about how to teach that first: Once the horse has learned how to yield easily, softly, responsively without the bit, then I turn to introducing the yielding with the bridle/bit, on the ground first. Baby steps. And as for the only bit I will use, read this link on my site:
Hope this helps and good luck to you there. Question - Horse hyped up on windy/first cool day of season: Hi Sylvia. Yesterday I went riding--it was beautiful but windy and cool. I was by myself (i.e. not with another horse), and, as my horse and I started up a big hill at a run, he stopped suddenly because the trees were creaking in the wind. He absolutely refused to go another step. As I urged him forward, he did a half rear and wheeled around. I got him wound down with a one-rein stop and got him going again up the hill in a slightly different direction. He went a few yards, and same reaction. I wound him down again, but this time with head down he started bucking and then rearing--really panicking. I was worried he was going to run straight down the hill bucking and rearing, so I got myself loose and bailed. He was so surprised, he stopped, head down, but as I stood up, he took off like a shot--bucking and running. I let him run the fence line for about five minutes (I was worried he was going to try to run through the barbed wire fence, but he didn't), but he was galloping past me helter skelter as fast as I've ever seen him run, under trees trying to scrape the saddle off--the whole bit. Finally, he came running at me, slowed to a walk a few feet from me, came right up to me, like "help me, please!" I led him, from the ground, home, which he was fine with, but he was very jumpy. I am mad at myself over this whole incident because I feel like I could have handled it better/differently. There have been other places on the trail where he balks, and I've worked with him over those, and he's jumpy when he's by himself on the trail--like at a canter he'll suddenly do a big crow hop away from the "scary" bush. In general, when he's not with another horse on the trail, he's pretty jittery, but I've never had as big a reaction as yesterday. By the way, he had a farrier visit yesterday (so maybe his feet were a little sore?), and the neighbor next to the barn was shooting a pistol repeatedly right before we left, and all the animals, including the dogs were jittery over that. Can you see how I could have handled that better, or do you think maybe we should schedule a day trip to you? Q. G. - Roanoke, Virginia Sylvia's Answer: Yikes! So sorry to hear that, Q. Yeah…first days of fall/winter/blustery days like that can set off nearly all horses, even the best of horses. Just seems to be some primal instinct in them, but I have no idea why, other than something in their DNA tells them that winter is coming and they need to get busy eating up and growing winter fur, kind of like adrenalin in them triggers all that. I don’t ride horses on those kinds of days, especially when I see how tensed up they are. All the more reason why the right, crucial "pre-flight" ground work should be done briefly before every ride, to see where the horse is "at" on a particular day. You probably had some pre-signs there that you ignored, but shouldn’t have. But I’m sure you handled everything to the best of your ability there. I don’t think a lesson with me necessarily is going to be needed. You need to back up and lead him (from the ground) out to those areas where he freaked and do a lot of driving-from-the-rear groundwork/one-rein stops/bonding zone to work him past those jitters. Ride for a while with your natural horsemanship halter underneath your bridle so that you can quickly climb off and do ground work at those times. Not pushing him over the edge like that. I think he screamed as loudly as he could that suddenly he couldn’t handle the pressure there on this first cold/blustery day of the season, and that’s when you should have climbed off and helped him from the ground. Don’t ever be so goal focused about staying on that you don’t put your own safety first, and the horse’s rational mind first, especially on a horse’s bad day. Climb off & return to ground work. And don’t ever feel bad about aborting a day’s ride, listening to your horse there. We’ve all done that and it’s not wrong, it’s right. He just got on emotional overload there, triggered by the sudden change in colder weather no doubt. Now back up and return to doing what he was comfortable doing and baby step him back up to riding out again. Remember: horses learn in a learning curve of 2 steps forward, one backwards. Or: progression/regression. That’s normal. He just took a big backwards step yesterday, triggered by environmental factors I’m sure. Oh well. It happens. Back up and return to his comfort level and build back up again. With this new type of cooler weather, it may take him a few days to settle into it. Listen to it and act/don’t ride, accordingly. Take back the leadership from the ground now and he’ll get past this. But learn from this: don’t ride a horse on too unusually windy days or those first overly-blustery days of fall/winter, and definitely don’t ride out alone on those days. For some reason, all horses get this way on those types of days to some degree, go figure. He’ll settle down I’m sure as he eases into the weather change. Question - Backing up in saddle - how to teach the backup: Hi Sylvia: In February I got a 9-year-old Arab gelding. Before even thinking of putting a saddle on him (though I know he's already been ridden) I've played with him on the ground, building up our partnership and learning about each other. During this time, I got him looked at by a chiropractor who found that his SI/pelvis were locked on one side; so with that adjustment, we slowed down getting the hindquarter to yield; working more on flat ground, etc. I pulled his shoes and he's doing well with his feet. Last week he had major dental work (no bridle/bit yet), so now we are starting the work under saddle. He trots off well, but when asked to back up, he twisted his head left to right and then it came straight back, nearly knocking me in the head (luckily didn't). I was really shocked at how resistant he was and what a fight he put up. So I started to ask again, slowly added pressure and sometimes I would get a rounded neck and a few steps back, but then if I asked for another step, the head flinging would begin. Also when he couldn't go straight, almost falling onto his left shoulder, dragging his front foot around, so we would almost be doing a circle backwards. I'm assuming that was his way of escaping having to go back straight. Any thoughts on how to approach this issue? I don't know much of his past history except that he was an endurance horse for a short time. Thanks in advance, S. T. - Alameda, CA Sylvia's Answer: Hi S. Thanks for writing. His head flinging there is most likely about pain/discomfort, or perhaps (probably more so!) just total cluelessness about what you want there. Back up to ground work as the in-saddle asking for back up is too "A to N" a leap for him in particular there (leaving out the necessary A-B-C learning steps in between for him to better understand). First, in the ground work, work in natural horsemanship halter with 12' lead tied on (like you can get here if you don't have one): CLICK HERE And teach him this ground leading/back-up exercise for a start (it'll go a long way multi-directions, you'll see, including teaching him better to yield to pressure in general, but also will well teach him how to back up on cue from the ground for a better start): Next...once he's got that above exercise down really well, then use the bridle/bit and teach him how to back up now with that, like you will be doing in saddle, which I'm going to go into next here, but work from the ground first (though you can teach this next step from in saddle if you want; I just like to get as much teaching done from the ground as I can first, depending on the individual horse). As for the bit to use: I only use a full cheek snaffle bit for training/riding, like you see here: There are a number of ways to teach the back up in saddle and let me show you a couple here and you can choose what works best for your horse there. 1) One good way to teach the back up for riding, for a start with many horses, is to use a half-halt gesture that really encourages the back up easily in so many horses. Here's how to do that: Collect the reins in each hand, taking the slack out of the reins (you're going to do this on the ground first, standing next to the horse's neck, reaching over for the outside rein -- if you're too short & your horse too tall, you can actually teach this still from the ground, but with your arm under the neck holding the outside rein). Do not pull the reins after you've taken the slack out, just take the slack out to the point where the bit is almost making contact with the corner of the mouth for a start. Hold one rein in each hand with your pinky fingers down, thumbs on top. The reins are making contact with your pinky fingers. Now, with your pinky fingers, make a silver dollar-sized circle in place there. The silver dollar-sized circular motion should be in the direction of toward the horse's head, then up and toward yourself & down around again. The circle you are making there is like a wheel rolling toward you. Make sure this circle you are doing with your pinky is no bigger than a silver dollar. Circle from below to above and back in order to oppose the natural forward motion of the horse. Repeat the circling motion continuously until the horse begins to move backwards, then release all pressure instantly. The trick here is not to "pull" on the reins or bit with this method, but rather this silver dollar-sized circular motion "tickles" the bit in the horse's mouth. This rhythmic tickling of the bit really encourages a horse to step backwards with very minimal pressure, quite naturally. Real important to release all pressure (shoot your hands forward and put slack in the reins instantly) for each positive try on the horse's part to step backwards, and this first attempt on the horse's part may even entail the horse just starting to lean his weight backwards, like he's preparing to step back. Release quickly (slack in the reins) for the positive "try" right answer. Rub the neck (slack reins still in your hands) for reward after every positive step backwards, with a heartfelt "good boy!" and he'll get there quicker. Try that and keep soft hands there, asking for just one step at a time for a start. Quick releases for right answers and lots of hearty neck rubbing rewards, and the horse quickly learns how to back up there. Give that a try and you can build from there, asking for more and more steps until the tiniest of pressure back will have your horse backing up nicely, and then do this from in saddle. Collection can come later, but this is a very good baby-stepping way to teach a horse to back up in saddle, without a fight, and with the horse softly complying most every time. Be patient, be consistent, reward to let the horse know he did the right thing there, and you'll get there. 2) I wanted to add in here a second approach because sometimes what works with some horses doesn't work with another, hence it's helpful to have a few "tools" in your "training tool bag." While I think the above #1 approach will probably work best with your particular horse, to minimize his tendency to fight the back up cue there, the following is another that I find works fine with those horses who don't fight there and who learn very quickly as a rule. Here's how to do method #2 -- again you can work from the ground first if you want, or this can indeed be taught from saddle with the easier horses -- I just tend to work from the ground first to introduce new things, then repeat it in saddle: Collect the reins in each hand, taking the slack out of the reins (you're going to do this on the ground first, standing next to the horse's neck, reaching over for the outside rein). Take the slack out to the point where the bit is almost making contact with the corner of the mouth for a start. Slowly pull the reins downward & back evenly with slight pressure & then hold that pressure steady -- what we're asking for here is for the horse to bend at the poll, which means: tip the nose down first, arching his neck ("collecting"). Release instantly when the horse gets it right or even semi-right (the "try). Do multiple repetitions of that until the horse bends at the poll more easily. The horse may take a step back as he tries to find the right answer there and you can choose to release for that if you wish, but I like to work for bending at the poll first sometimes so they learn how to collect their body more correctly for the back up, when going this method route. When a horse bends at the poll (the poll is the back of the horse's head), with his head down and tucked in slightly, and then backs up, he's holding his back/frame correctly for the backup. If his head is high when he backs up, that means he's hollowing his back (sinking down his back) for the back up and that is not only more uncomfortable for him to be doing with a rider on his back, but it is not correct "collection" overall and it not as good for the horse "chiropractically," you might say. So, I kind of work on both when going this route -- teach the horse to bend at the poll, then back up, in that order. Though there's nothing wrong with using pressure/release there like I'm showing here to just get the back up, then work on the collection/bending at the poll. Each horse learns differently and you have to do a "feel" read for what works best for the individual horse you're working with at a given time. Use pressure/release with the two reins -- holding the pressure steady back and releasing the second the horse gives a back-up try, and the horse will start "connecting the dots" that when he feels dual pressure back on both reins, he is to step back and away from that pressure. Remember: all horses learn from the release of pressure what it is you want, not necessarily the pressure itself, so get you release timing very fast for "right answers." It's all about the release you give quickly for right answer increments there. Just one step at a time, releasing for every step. What's a good release? Nano-second fast, putting prominent slack in the rope and then stroking the neck, praising the horse, so he knows he got it right! Either method you try, when you do this from up in saddle, you're going to want to add in your body language as well there. When asking for the back up in saddle using #1 or #2 above, shift back in the saddle, shifting your weight back as you ask, and I like to add in a "kiss" sound to let the horse know I want: movement. This shifting your weight back releases your weight off of the horse's front quarters and allows him to back up correctly. Either way, be patient, break things down into smaller baby steps for the horse, use lots of praise and reward and the horse will get there. Horse Problems Solutions in General - If you haven't discovered already on my web site, check out my Q&A/Horse Problems/Training Tips section for solutions to common horse issues. The problems are listed in alphabetical order by problem, and I add to the list regularly. You can check them out here: Horse Training Tips and Solving Common Horse Problems - Q&A - If you have a horse problem that you do not see listed up there, feel free to email me and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Training Success Letters of the Month - Read latest success stories with our Natural Horsemanship Training Program - Click here: Letters of the Month Past Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center Newsletters Are Archived Here: News & Press |
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Natural Horsemanship Trainer & Clinician Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center, LLC Blacksburg, VA 24060 Email: sylvia@naturalhorsetraining.com Web Site: www.naturalhorsetraining.com Phone: (540) 953-3360 Fax: (540) 953-3370
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