| |
| |
|
Pets Information |
|
|
|
The Secret That Keeps Horses Trainable!
As you likely know already, horses have at least 10 times our strength. If they also had our intelligence, they would probably be riding us humans. Fortunately, horses cannot reason like human beings and therefore will never have superior intelligence. Since they don't have reasoning abilities, horse training becomes a challenge because you now have to understand how their intelligence works. You have to know what works and why to really be effective. The biggest secret that makes it so we can train a horse is the fear of pain and/or punishment that our creator instilled in their mind. We can use that built-in fear to our advantage and teach the horse what we want him to do. The trick is to not push the horse too far with his built-in fear. We must never abuse this knowledge because it will backfire. Once it backfires then we will have problems with the horse we're training. How does it backfire? Let's take a novice horse owner who fulfills his dream to have horses and train them. Unless he's studied a horse's nature he will probably get into big trouble with his horse because of the delicate balance of the horse's built-in fear. For instance, the very first lesson you must teach your horse is to have confidence in you. If your horse doesn't have confidence in you, he will neither trust you. Both are enormously important to horse training. Think of confidence in this way. If you're a child who's just seen a scary movie on TV you probably want to sleep with Mom and Dad for the night. They'll protect you. You'll be safe with them. Hopefully, you know these things to be true because you have experienced it with your own parents. But if you didn't feel like they'd keep you safe you wouldn't have confidence in them, would you? A horse's thinking is similar to that. He must have confidence in you when you're working with him. A horse can be taught confidence in different ways. I prefer to the Jesse Beery confidence lesson. Jesse Beery, a famous horse trainer from the 1800's, uses his confidence lesson as the beginning place of training his horses. He said, "This is the most important lesson of all." To learn more about Jesse Beery go to: http://www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beery_etips.htm Interestingly, it's also the easiest. How nice it is that the most important lesson is the easiest to do. Essentially, the confidence lesson takes advantage of (but never abused) the horse's built-in fear. In a way, the fear is harnessed and carefully used to get the horse's confidence in you. It's akin to getting a child to watch a scary movie and being there to protect him or her when they get scared. When the horse experiences the fear, you're there to save the day. You make it so he depends on you to be his superhero. When the horse gets fearful, you have to be there to tell him everything is okay. You do that through petting him. Talking to him in a soothing manner. Using a pleasant tone of voice. I have a friend, Gene, who loves his horses but when they don't do certain things he think they should do, he punishes them. (By punishing, I don't mean he hits or whips. A horse can feel punished just by a threatening tone of voice for example) Anyway, I rode with a group of people one day and Gene was in our group. We came upon running water. You could call it a small river or a big creek. It was about 30 feet wide and varied in depth from a foot to three feet. Every horse crossed the water but Gene's. Gene got so upset that his horse wouldn't cross that he began booting his horse in the ribs. That poor horse wanted to comply with Gene's request but the running water scared him. The horse was spooking. The horse paced back and forth, occasionally sniffing the water but never crossed it. The whole time Gene's legs were wildly kicking the horse trying to get him to cross - yet the horse remained spooky. What Gene didn't realize is the horse was fearful and needed his help. Anytime a horse is fearful of a place or a thing he should be reassured with pleasant, soothing voice sounds and/or petting him. If you do what Gene did, you just gave your horse another thing to fear. Not only does that horse fear crossing running water, now he fears he's going to be punished for it. And it's likely that anytime the horse comes upon running water both fears will crop up and Gene will have a horse that would like to comply but his instincts are so powerful that he probably won't (unless Gene figures out what to do) Think of it from the horse's point of view. You're a horse that cannot reason and you're instincts are self-preservation. What keeps your self-preservation in check is the built-in fear. Fear makes you run from danger. Fear is what keeps you alive. If you don't understand something you fear it even more. Now knowing all that, imagine you're the horse and you're standing at the edge of the river. You won't cross it because you think there's danger in it somehow. On top of that, someone is on your back, pissed off and kicking you in the ribs because you won't go forward. Not only are you scared of the water, but now you're getting kicked in the ribs and feeling punished. You want to be obedient and go forward but your instinct is too powerful and tells you not to. It would be like telling a scared child who just saw a scary movie that he had to sleep in his own damn room. But what if Gene had understood his horse was scared? What if he helped his horse deal with his fear. How would he do this? When Gene and his horse approached the water he could have spoke to his horse in a pleasant, soothing manner. When the horse was getting scared Gene should have recognized it as fear and not as disobedience. He could have petted his horse to reassure him all is okay. He could have talked to his horse in a pleasant manner. He could have let his horse sniff the water and check it out on his own. Instead, the horse was now confused, scared, feeling punished, less trusting of his rider, and who knows what else. But if Gene would've recognized the fear in his horse then he could have helped his horse overcome it. Gene lost the awesome opportunity to gain a significant amount of the horse's confidence and friendship in that river scene. Too bad too. That's a beautiful paint horse. About The Author Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery's horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
RecoveryPets.Com vs. Other Pet Registration Services For those pet owners who do not know what a pet registration service is, or the benefits they provide, this article will try to explain these services. Pet registration is how lost pets get returned to their owners, it as simple as that. Why Does My Dog Have Bad Breath? "Doggy breath" - that unpleasant odor emanating from the mouths of Rover and Boomer - can be a signal of serious health problems.A dog's mouth is his primary means of contact with the world around him. Dog Behavior Problems: Help! My Dog is a Nuisance When he Misbehaves! How many times have I hear fellow dog owners say, "I hate it when he barks non stop? or he utterly embarrassed me when he mounts people's leg". Dog owners usually have no problems to fill in tons of their dog behavioral problems into the above statements. How Intelligent is Your Dog It is entirely normal to look for signs of intelligence in your dog. Even puppies that are not especially smart nonetheless display flashes of brilliance in their behavior. Aromatherapy for Pets Pets can enjoy the therapeutic effects of aromatherapy as much as humans can. Aside from possibly eliminating bad odors and giving your pet a pleasant perfume, essential oils also serve many practical functions such as boosting your pet's immune system, fighting off bacteria and viruses, preventing the growth of yeasts and molds and repelling insects. Horse Care & Training Tips Do you own a horse? If so, then you have questions about the care, feeding, shoeing, cost, etc. of horse ownership. Pet Peeve: Dogs Doing Business Where Not Wanted We've recently moved into a new apartment complex that really is much like a resort. We don't have to maintain the lawn, handle any maintenance problems, or deal with unruly neighbors. Flea Control for Pets Flea control can be a very hard thing to do especially if you live in areas where fleas are largely populated. Weather has a lot to do with fleas and trying to keep them outdoors and off of your pets can be very challenging. Breed Specific Legislation: Is Your Pit Bull Next? Breed specific legislation otherwise known as "BSL" has started to sweep the world. Germany, Canada, The United States, France, and England are among the major countries that have enacted some form of breed specific law that restricts or calls for a complete ban on several breeds from existing peacefully within their borders. Your Cat The Hunter Many cat owners believe that their good little kitty would not even dream of going hunting.After all, their cat is loved and well fed. 5 Tips For Feeding A Happy, Healthy Dog Do you really know all there is to know about your canine companion's nutritional needs? Many pet owners think they're doing what's best for their dogs when it comes to food, but in reality they rely on pure instinct more than science. Nutrition isn't a guessing game, even when it comes to your pooch. Dont Let Ticks Ruin Your Dogs Good Time! Nobody likes ticks.In fact, when it comes to ticks I can't think of a single redeeming quality. 4 Ways In Which You Can Show Your Dog How Much You Love Him Do you have at least one framed photo of your dog somewhere in your house.. Orthopedic Dog Beds Many people consider their dog to be part of their family, and want to ensure his happiness and comfort. As dogs get older, they experience the same problems in their canine bodies as humans do. An Introduction to Dog Beds Some people are so attached to their pets that they wouldn't dream of asking them to simply curl up on the floor to go to sleep. Pet owners, especially dog owners, have created an industry for dog beds that rivals the bedding industry for humans in both creativity and profit margins. Dog Trick To Cure A Nuisance Barker: Training Buddy to "Speak" on Command All breeds and sizes of dogs can be taught easily to speak, and the way to go about it is to call your dog, show him a treat and say "Speak." He will not understand what you mean and will probably at first jump for it, and then sit down and eye it attentively; finally, he will get impatient and utter a sharp bark, which is what you have been waiting for, and the instant he does so reward him with the treat. Puppy Vaccines Assure Wagging Tails and Wet Noses When you get a new puppy it is imperative that he receive all his proper puppy vaccines. These protect him from getting diseases if he becomes exposed to them. How To Use Horse Training Thinking To Solve Dang Near Any Problem With A Horse Horse training can be a relatively mysterious subject to people who have not studied it. Even more mysterious is a behavioral problem a horse has that causes his owner stress and frustration. Take that Junk out of your Trunk Your local grocery store is chock full of food and treats that are stuffed with bad quality ingredients. It is a real shock that the shelves do not simply collapse under the weight of all that rubbish. My Dog Won't Stop Digging - What Can I Do? Lonely, bored, tired of eating that same old stick, then maybe you would like to dig yourself a hole.When it comes to the canine thought process this could be the reason why Scraps keeps tearing up your finely groomed lawn.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 |
