Who’s training methods do you follow?

People ask me all the time; who’s training phylosophy do you follow ?

My answer is quick and easy: Everything and everyone I can learn from. Even as a professional trainer I want to keep learning every day. I digest it, analize it, try it, maybe change,improve or specialize it. When I like it, and it works for me, I keep it, I teach it, I preach it.

I’ve attended and participated in so many clinics and I always take something home with me. If I learned just one thing (usually a lot more than that) it was worth my time and money, because I’ll be using it over and over again, possibly forever.

My training techniques are just a symphony of what I’ve learned and utilized from others. There are so many good great clinicians and horse professionals, it’s all in about how each and every one presents their material and if it grasps you. Like many quarter-horses go back to ‘Doc Bar’ bloodlines, many (natural) horseman go back to the Dorance’s techniques. I don’t think that any of us re-invented the wheel.

Off course I have people that influenced and inspired me in what I present today. I have some old, old training videos that I still watch over and over again. Some of them, which I thought were worthless 10 years ago, I find valuable today. I know now that 10 years ago I just wasn’t at a level yet to truly understand the information, so I didn’t get much out of it then, but now I do. And I hope I can say the same thing again in 10 years. I hope I’ll never think to be done learning.

So you want names: The horseman I learned most from in regards to performance & reining horse training is Les Vogt. In my opinion he’s unmatched, period.

In natural horsemanship there are too many to list; Pat Parelli, Clinton Anderson, Ray Hunt, Peter Campbell, Chris Cox, John Lions and the list goes on …………..

Who is training who ?

Creatures, big and small, are all trainable in some form, us included. Think about all the times something, someone, or some animal has trained YOU.

Your child trows a fit in the grocery store, because it wants a candy (…and you buy the candy to make it stop crying) The child thinks: “ah, when I throw a fit, I get candy”.Your dog barks to get your attention, you give it attention to make him stop, so he does it again. When you hear your bosses’ footsteps down the hallway, you quickly close your private email on your computer screen. Your horse kicks the wall at feeding time, so you give him his hay first before the others, so he doesn’t take the barn down. Your dog keeps putting a ball in your lap, and although you don’t want to play fetch, finally you’ll trow it anyway

You get it. I know. I’ve been ‘guilty’ of these things myself one way or another! ( let me tell you, I wouldn’t make a penny as a dog trainer!)

So how does that apply to horse training? Well, I try to turn things around a bit, call it reverse psychology. I can make my horse’s idea my idea and I get what I want and my horse THINKS he gets what he wants. I make him think that he is training me !

Example: My horse wants to back up when I want him to stand still. Make backing up your idea, so ask for backing up, lots of it, give him more backing up then he can wish for. ( do it with a smile- you get a lot of backing-up for free, and you need to work on back-ups anyway at some point, might as well take advantage of his gesture right now, so don’t get mad with your horse-utilize it! ) Before you know, he’ll ask you “can we please stand still now ?” (sure!-you got what you want-he THINKS he got what he wants)

See animals, horses in this case, have such more patience and persistence then we have and they’ll never quit trying.

So don’t let new undesired behaviour become a habit. That stall kicker at feeding time will not quit overnight, because he knows if he stays persistent, you’ll give in. It has worked for him for many years and has any staff member in the barn well trained. But when your horse starts that kind of behaviour, nick it in the butt, don’t let him train you, make him THINK he’s training you. How? When one starts kicking the wall at feeding time ignore him, feed everyone else, but him, until he’s quiet ( it may take 3 minutes, maybe 3 hours) Then feed him. Now he thinks:” that’s interesting, I can make my owner feed me, when I’m quiet”

Think on some things were you can apply the same ideas and  post it ! 

Who’s the trainer?

you are !

Many people tell me ” yes, but I’m not the trainer !” but you are. with every interaction you have with your horse, you ARE TEACHING IT SOMETHING, for good or bad.

Besides, training doesn’t just happen in the arena. Pay attention to your horse as soon as you walk into his stall or put the halter on, how’s he responding? Is it the way you want him to respond? and are you allowing, correcting or encouraging him? 

If your trainer (or you) has taught your horse all the right things, you need to continue to reinforce it.

Let’s say, you let your horse rub it’s face on you and push you over, you are allowing him, encouraging him, and teaching him, that’s okay to do!

Be thoughtful when handling horses, you may encourage behaviour you don’t want.

It’s about what happens, before it happens

” and out of the blue my horse suddenly ………” (you fill in the blank: stopped, bucked, bit, turned, what ever applies to your situation) But something happens, before it happens. We just didn’t pick up the pre-signal. Sometimes those signals are easily detected, for example; your horse pinned his ears back before he bit you. Good horsemen always seem to be able to predict what the horse will do next, because they pay close attention to every gesture the horse makes. He recognizes the thoughts in the horse’s mind and what he’s about to do. Right then you can change the horses thought, before he acts upon it.

Concentrate and pay close attention to what your horse does before he does it, or what you do before you do it  It’s not always easy to figure out, but there’s usually a certain sequence or pattern to it.

Samples: 

Before he reared, he flung his head, before he flung his head he stopped, before he stopped he lost impulsion, before he lost impulsion, he didn’t respond to my leg cue/aids, etc 

Before he picked up the wrong lead, he dropped his shoulder, before he dropped his shoulder he braced on the reins etc

before he shied away, I tightened up on the reins, before I tightened the reins, I got tense, before I got tense he was tense, before he was tense, he didn’t want to go in that direction, etc  

Analyze what happens before it happens and ask yourself why, most likely you’ll find answers and solutions and the core of what should be worked on.