THE HORSE GAZETTE training practice, patience, perperseverance Training without force


By Mary Rose, FBHS © 2011 The saying goes that


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‘practice makes perfect’ but actually only ‘perfect’ practice makes perfect. As Jack Canfield (the originator of Chicken Soup for the Soul series) recounts, when he was a graduate student he learned yoga from a book and practiced for several months be- fore attending a yoga class and discovering he had been practic- ing many of the postures incor- rectly. To avoid this riders must seek out the very best teachers they can find so that they create good practice habits. It’s important to re-


member that we can’t see what we can’t see so it’s helpful to have a coach/instructor. Having help from someone who really knows horse training and who can communicate well with you makes the journey easier. Discovering the im-


portance of patience may be more challenging. Whenever we start a practice of any kind there is an instant improvement in our results, but after a while, as we continue to practice we hit a pla- teau and tend to forget our initial gain and worry that there has been no value. This plateau can cause us to quit and give up our


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the art of stillness imagine a horse Part 1 of 2


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sive of many activities that are all related; standing still for the farrier, the vet, while tied, while mounted, in a trailer, in a stock and on a lead are just a few. Stillness is a habit, not a space on an automatic gear shift lever. Stillness and obe- dience are learned over time and with endless patience by the trainer. I f you


packed modern equine society that values movement in our horses; riding, round penning, stops, spins, jumps, collection, slow canter, in other words, we like action! But between the action we want our horses to stand still and often we ex- pect stillness between bursts of adrenaline with not much slow down time! Standing still is inclu-


By Suzanne De Laurentis and Allen Pogue de Laurentis © 2011 We live in an action


ion Horse, we communicate our training requests to our horse effectively and help him become the best partner that he can be. In other words, we plan for his success and help him achieve it. Horses only act on and react to the experiences that they have had. The habits, cooperation and obedience that we create in our horses are results of our communication skills and their experiences. Habits (good or undesired) are created in just a few incidents so creation of any habit happens quickly. Having a clear reward


and correction system for your horse will expedite learning by letting the horse know which


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are reading to find a “by the numbers” approach to creat- ing a patient horse that knows how to be still and quiet, you may be disap- pointed. At Imag- ine A Horse we are dedicated to creating the “Ulti- mate Companion Horse”. It is much easier on both horse and human to develop good habits including the patience and self-confidence to stand still when a horse is young. It is always better to prevent situations with training methods that can cause problems than to try to remedy unwanted behavior later on in a horse’s life.


we like to habituate student horses (of any age) to our ev- eryday world by bringing them with us as we work through our daily activities. If we are riding horses, the student horse(s) will be tied where they can watch. If we use the golf cart to check other horses in the pasture we lead the student along side as we go. When we eat lunch at the picnic table, the horse is tied close to us. Basically the horse is treated more like a dog on a leash than a horse and so is wit- ness to lots of human activities. A week or two of this inclusion really helps to create a patient horse.


In creating a Compan-


Stillness Success At Red Horse Ranch


after birth-unlike baby humans, kitties and puppies. In the wild, foals also begin to learn from their dam and by observing other herd members shortly after birth. Our foals learn to step up on foal-sized platforms and stand quietly, “walk with” us, load into trailers, and sit down on bean bags and remain until released, in their first few months. When the foals learn to “walk with” us, it is the very first step in obedi- ence training and will affect their behavior later on when they are old enough to be tied and stand still. When the foal is on the plat- form he learns to stands quietly for “scratches”. I want to stress that we do not tie or otherwise restrain foals but we do provide safe and pleasurable situations that can help them learn to accept standing still.


Patience and Still- ness in the Adult Horse


and inspires your horse. To discover how to inspire each individual horse has been one of the highlights of my life as a trainer; this is what makes it fun and fullfilling.


It’s Easy if You Start Them Young


our young horses are “finished before they’re started”. For our foals, education begins in the first day of life. Being a precocial species, horses are ready and able to learn shortly


We like to say that


behaviors are correct and which are not. Effective rewards can vary among horses from simple release of pressure to a food treat, scratching on his favorite spot or verbal praise. Correction doesn’t mean punishment, it means repositioning or asking for another repetition of an ex- ercise when his response wasn’t what you were asking for. Learn what motivates


sult in a horse that will stand still for just about anything that he could possibly be exposed to. Pedestal Training


Trail Blazer arti- cles (Taking Tricks to the Trail) we’ve explained many skills or tricks that we use in train- ing to develop a willing, obedient, and dependable equine partner. All of these segments contribute easy to understand and log- ical (to horse AND human) building blocks that will re-


In previous


gives a horse confidence and a reason to stand still where his feet are “anchored”. (Put Your Horse on a Pedestal Sept 09). A Steady Mount (Feb 09) includes how to teach a horse to side-pass to a mounting block and to Park Out. Lib- erty Training I and II (Feb and March 10) explain how to shape a horse’s natural desire for freedom of movement into cooperation and self confidence to stand his ground in the midst of other horses working around him. Safe tying and Ground Tying (April 10) provide more building blocks in a horse’s education that prepare him to stand still when you need him to. (for a link to access any of these articles please email us at suesmonet@aol.com) See Part 2 in next


month’s issue. Visit us at: www.HorseGazette.com


practice and think that maybe we have chosen the wrong horse or the wrong teacher. However, if you patiently stick with it and continue to practice with perseverance, there will come another breakthrough where you will rise to a dramatic new level of performance. This pattern of alter-


nating peaks and plateaus con- tinues indefinitely and defines the road to mastery. Under- standing this fluctuating course will help us to sustain our prac- tice, with perseverance, during the plateaus. It is hard to remain motivated and especially if we are working our horses alone. This is when we can be tempted by “short cuts” to use methods that we really know are in some degree, force, and would never be approved by a legitimate in- structor. So how can we remain motivated during the plateaus? Try making a “minimum com- mitment” to your practice. For example, decide that you will spend just five minutes working on whatever it is that is giving you a problem. Spend the rest of your riding time going out on trail, or popping over a few small fences, but then spend


training


that five minutes practicing, with patience, whatever your problem area is. Not only will this commitment make sure that you do work on the difficult transition, or whatever, but drill- ing a horse on any movement is an unproductive way to go about your schooling and variety in your daily work is essential. Be patient with your-


self and let go of comparing yourself to others - it’s more profitable to focus on patiently practicing. The great thing about riding and training horses is that you can continue practicing daily until you are 100, and after some years you will develop a certain mastery and intuition, but you never stop learning and improving. Don’t give up and don’t struggle, just persevere and cultivate a sense of joy in every moment you are with your horse. Take frequent breaks for yourself and your horse, even if it’s just to pause and take a deep breath!


at 512-589-3796 or 512-894- 4536 or visit: www.maryrose- dressage.com.


You can contact Mary


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