The training and education of a horse is not a casual undertaking; it is not for the faint-hearted, and it is not for the inexperienced...
Many riders become frustrated when they want the horse to do something and he doesn’t do it or does it in a way that they didn’t ask for. Frustration, to my way of thinking, is unsuccessfully trying to do something that one thinks one knows how to do, but, in reality, one don’t know how to do, and one don’t want to take the time or expend the effort to learn how to do it correctly so one can do it successfully....
Continuing the effort to provide practical information that can be helpful to you in working to improve the performance of your horse as well as helping you learn how to communicate with him more effectively...
People are attracted to horses for various and sundry reasons: companionship, breeding, financial gain, competition, the feeling of being free when horseback, the feeling of being in control of something, being a part of history, etc....
The history of horsemanship is not a smooth, steady linear progression. It is rather an evolutionary, migratory, exploratory, and experimental state of affairs. And, like anything else, it has its regression periods as well as its progression periods. The regression times are highlighted by people generally having too much to do in a compressed period of time, being prisoners of technology, trying to ‘grab the brass ring’ by living 7/24/365, which the human body is not designed to do, with little time for serious deep reading and reflection....
Have you ever been frustrated when trying to have a conversation with someone who did not speak the same language as you did or tried to converse with someone in their language using only a few words of that language that you learned a long time ago?
Riding is not supposed to be a ‘fighting’ activity between horse and rider, but many times it is or becomes one. Riding is supposed to be an activity of cooperation and tact, but, in most cases, it is not. It is well to remember that the horse is an independent, living, emotional, decision-making, caring being with species-specific behaviors and needs....
What we all are trying to make, I think and hope, is a more balanced, obedient, and willing horse and also to affect him psychologically to where he is more willing to take instruction and follow directions or, at least, be “willing to allow himself to be trained”...
AXIOMS TO GUIDE YOU IN YOUR JOURNEY TOWARD ACHIEVING HARMONY WITH THE HORSE