THE HORSE MAGAZINE

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Have you ever watched a small child handling a big horse and demanding its obedience? We've all seen it and wondered if only briefly. Our mastery of the horse is truly amazing when you consider the size of people in comparison with such huge and potentially lethal animals- they are many times our size and strength. We are able to dominate simply by assuming leadership in their herd hierarchy- by confidently assuming superiority and then conditioning the horse to accept us in this role, they remain subservient. It is natural for us, as a species we are particularly aggressive and dominant predators. Since horses learn naturally by imitation and emulation, our adopting this role and insisting on doing things our way strengthens our dominance.

Horses live in a dominance hierarchy
Selection pressures have driven the horse and in fact all herd animals including ourselves to a need for strong social organisation. A dominance hierarchy is typical of most mammals. It is certainly typical of horses. The dominant male-usually the largest and most aggressive -asserts his influence over the group to the extent that he controls access to females, feeding and feeding territory. A biological advantage of a dominance hierarchy is that it ensures superior genetics of the well-adapted are passed on, while genes of the puny or diseased are not.

Achieving dominance The act of taking charge and teaching the horse something automatically puts the horse into the role of subservience- this is the natural herd behaviour. Mastery is therefore achieved by our personal deportment- always assertive, though never aggressive, by deliberately taking a leadership role and by teaching the horse.

This knowledge is useful, for when our mastery is challenged by a horse we may reassert it, by physical leadership or by immediately revising a previous lesson. Obedience is a conditioned reflex. We must progressively ask more of the horse- reward the horse when he submits, persist when he does not. The knack is in knowing what level of obedience a particular horse is prepared to give and not asking for more. We must at all times be determined that the horse behaves only under our control. This is why horseman are so particular that the horse does nothing of its own volition when under the rider's control- like grazing, turning toward home or moving about when restless. Letting a horse stop to defecate is another action no horseman should tolerate. These are immediately correctable offences despite their apparent lack of consequences. They are small shows of independence which -apart from being irritating- can lose your initiative and leadership. Many children's ponies are prime examples of such an erosion of control!

Whenever there is a confrontation of wills -which there is from time to time with young horses- you must be so determined and persistent that you prevail. Often this places you at some personal risk- one of the reasons it's wise to avoid confrontation. When horses do assert themselves they do so in a variety of ways, some not especially appropriate nor expected, and with a suddenness that can be blinding. For example a horse may stop and refuse to move forward. This is most common at a strange bridge or a ditch we've galloped at, somewhere we can comprehend his fear.

On the other hand an assertion of the young horse's will can occur almost anywhere, and for reasons not immediately apparent. Young horses may rear when you force him on- buck, kick, run away, run backwards or swing toward his stable or to other horses. Even throw themselves into a ditch or in the path of an oncoming car! If you find yourself in any of these situations, you must act immediately to defuse the confrontation. Yes experience does help, but in this context experience means having all of the above happen to you! Experienced horsemen do their utmost to avoid or at least foresee such occurrences.

Dismounting and placing the horse determinedly under pressure to continue in the direction you dictate is one alternative in this situation of resistance. Because you take a leadership role by doing this, most horses will follow you over the most frightening bridges and streams- since you -at the top of his herd hierarchy- are safely leading the way! This is an often neglected means of mastery. It's neglected because most horseman feel they have lost face or dominance if they have to dismount to achieve obedience.

The perception of the horse is what counts- he thinks your as fearless as Gengis Khan! The fact that you got off to achieve it doesn't register since it's fear of the unknown -not your being mounted- he's concerned with. If the horse thinks you've won then you have won. Don't worry what your others will think if your seen on foot! When out riding I've crossed many a bridge of Trolls afoot.

Natural Horsemanship
A natural method of handling horses has been brought to this country by American Pat Parelli. He makes a point of using an evolutionary approach (or the words anyway) so I don't think I can ignore it in this discussion. I am not an initiate in this religion -or in the horse whispering phenomena-but I have watched people handling horses with the Parelli method. It seems to me the method is specifically about dominance and rapport. Establishing from the ground your mastery of the horse. It seems better suited for breaking in horses than for training them to a high level of mounted performance. In the breaking context it is certainly effective. However, mounted schooling with this method is less than convincing. Mounted horsemanship is about far more than mere dominance. Unless you have a really difficult horse or are riding a mule I don't see much point in the method. Considering the life-threatening accidents and incidents I have seen with people riding without a bit; to advocate riding in a Parelli halter is downright dangerous and it is irresponsible of anyone to advise it.

Gypsy-Smith methods: In my youth there were always a number of stockmen, farmers and show riders about town who had horses. Occasionally Gypsies would pass through the area and -apart from being accused by the town bigots of every vice known to man- they supposedly had an aptitude for curing bad horses. There always seemed to be plenty of these.

A typical story is of Gypsy Smith who on assuring the owner he could cure a pony of a savage biting habit, tethering the animal nearby and proceeded to heat an iron bar in the fire. When the bar was a nice cherry red and shooting sparks, the Gypsy casually picks it up with a pair of tongs and strolls across to the pony. As soon as the pony bares his teeth and goes for him, quick as a flash he thrusts the red-hot bar between its jaws. It would be difficult to believe the pony ever bit anyone again. Indeed one wonders if he was ever able to eat anything more than mash!

The point is there are many cures like this
such as hitting a rearing horse over the skull with a bottle- that have wide currency with horseman and you'll receive much advice in this vein when you run into difficulties. Don't succumb to the simplicity and apparent definitely of these Gypsy Smith methods. They are cruel and belong to an earlier and more violent age. Some may even work. They have no place in horsemanship. If you resort to such cures you have surely failed!

Go to:
[ Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5(pdf) ]

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	AUSTRALIA'S NUMBER ONE EQUESTRIAN MAGAZINE
		Go to: [ Part 1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5(pdf) ] Have you ever watched a small child handling a big horse and demanding its obedience? We've all seen it and wondered if only briefly. Our mastery of the horse is truly amazing when you consider the size of people in comparison with such huge and potentially lethal animals- they are many times our size and strength. We are able to dominate simply by assuming leadership in their herd hierarchy- by confidently assuming superiority and then conditioning the horse to accept us in this role, they remain subservient. It is natural for us, as a species we are particularly aggressive and dominant predators. Since horses learn naturally by imitation and emulation, our adopting this role and insisting on doing things our way strengthens our dominance. Horses live in a dominance hierarchy Selection pressures have driven the horse and in fact all herd animals including ourselves to a need for strong social organisation. A dominance hierarchy is typical of most mammals. It is certainly typical of horses. The dominant male-usually the largest and most aggressive -asserts his influence over the group to the extent that he controls access to females, feeding and feeding territory. A biological advantage of a dominance hierarchy is that it ensures superior genetics of the well-adapted are passed on, while genes of the puny or diseased are not. Achieving dominance The act of taking charge and teaching the horse something automatically puts the horse into the role of subservience- this is the natural herd behaviour. Mastery is therefore achieved by our personal deportment- always assertive, though never aggressive, by deliberately taking a leadership role and by teaching the horse. This knowledge is useful, for when our mastery is challenged by a horse we may reassert it, by physical leadership or by immediately revising a previous lesson. Obedience is a conditioned reflex. We must progressively ask more of the horse- reward the horse when he submits, persist when he does not. The knack is in knowing what level of obedience a particular horse is prepared to give and not asking for more. We must at all times be determined that the horse behaves only under our control. This is why horseman are so particular that the horse does nothing of its own volition when under the rider's control- like grazing, turning toward home or moving about when restless. Letting a horse stop to defecate is another action no horseman should tolerate. These are immediately correctable offences despite their apparent lack of consequences. They are small shows of independence which -apart from being irritating- can lose your initiative and leadership. Many children's ponies are prime examples of such an erosion of control! Whenever there is a confrontation of wills -which there is from time to time with young horses- you must be so determined and persistent that you prevail. Often this places you at some personal risk- one of the reasons it's wise to avoid confrontation. When horses do assert themselves they do so in a variety of ways, some not especially appropriate nor expected, and with a suddenness that can be blinding. For example a horse may stop and refuse to move forward. This is most common at a strange bridge or a ditch we've galloped at, somewhere we can comprehend his fear. On the other hand an assertion of the young horse's will can occur almost anywhere, and for reasons not immediately apparent. Young horses may rear when you force him on- buck, kick, run away, run backwards or swing toward his stable or to other horses. Even throw themselves into a ditch or in the path of an oncoming car! If you find yourself in any of these situations, you must act immediately to defuse the confrontation. Yes experience does help, but in this context experience means having all of the above happen to you! Experienced horsemen do their utmost to avoid or at least foresee such occurrences. Dismounting and placing the horse determinedly under pressure to continue in the direction you dictate is one alternative in this situation of resistance. Because you take a leadership role by doing this, most horses will follow you over the most frightening bridges and streams- since you -at the top of his herd hierarchy- are safely leading the way! This is an often neglected means of mastery. It's neglected because most horseman feel they have lost face or dominance if they have to dismount to achieve obedience. The perception of the horse is what counts- he thinks your as fearless as Gengis Khan! The fact that you got off to achieve it doesn't register since it's fear of the unknown -not your being mounted- he's concerned with. If the horse thinks you've won then you have won. Don't worry what your others will think if your seen on foot! When out riding I've crossed many a bridge of Trolls afoot. Natural Horsemanship A natural method of handling horses has been brought to this country by American Pat Parelli. He makes a point of using an evolutionary approach (or the words anyway) so I don't think I can ignore it in this discussion. I am not an initiate in this religion -or in the horse whispering phenomena-but I have watched people handling horses with the Parelli method. It seems to me the method is specifically about dominance and rapport. Establishing from the ground your mastery of the horse. It seems better suited for breaking in horses than for training them to a high level of mounted performance. In the breaking context it is certainly effective. However, mounted schooling with this method is less than convincing. Mounted horsemanship is about far more than mere dominance. Unless you have a really difficult horse or are riding a mule I don't see much point in the method. Considering the life-threatening accidents and incidents I have seen with people riding without a bit; to advocate riding in a Parelli halter is downright dangerous and it is irresponsible of anyone to advise it. Gypsy-Smith methods: In my youth there were always a number of stockmen, farmers and show riders about town who had horses. Occasionally Gypsies would pass through the area and -apart from being accused by the town bigots of every vice known to man- they supposedly had an aptitude for curing bad horses. There always seemed to be plenty of these. A typical story is of Gypsy Smith who on assuring the owner he could cure a pony of a savage biting habit, tethering the animal nearby and proceeded to heat an iron bar in the fire. When the bar was a nice cherry red and shooting sparks, the Gypsy casually picks it up with a pair of tongs and strolls across to the pony. As soon as the pony bares his teeth and goes for him, quick as a flash he thrusts the red-hot bar between its jaws. It would be difficult to believe the pony ever bit anyone again. Indeed one wonders if he was ever able to eat anything more than mash! The point is there are many cures like this such as hitting a rearing horse over the skull with a bottle- that have wide currency with horseman and you'll receive much advice in this vein when you run into difficulties. Don't succumb to the simplicity and apparent definitely of these Gypsy Smith methods. They are cruel and belong to an earlier and more violent age. Some may even work. They have no place in horsemanship. If you resort to such cures you have surely failed! Go to: [ Part 1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5(pdf) ]