I was working with Cash this evening, helping him to figure out back-up under saddle. He's doing so great now- we're approaching the point where the main thing he will need is just miles on the clock
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In terms of taking the horse out of the horse, I think a lot about the desensitisation a lot of people tend to use. Watch someone like Clinton Anderson on his TV and video shows and you'll see the horse being taken out of the horse. The result is a steady, safe, obedient horse with mechanical responses and a shut down personality. Tends to go hand in hand with flooding-oriented training which I also find disagreeable but seems to be favoured by a lot of high profile trainers.
A lot of the time it's a question of doing more desensitisation than the horse needs, particularly desensitising them to your cues, then having to put the cues back in there. You can also just confuse them so they can't figure out what you want and just end up losing their try, which gives a difficult pattern to break. On the whole it comes down to making the horse do something rather than working with them to do things. Most people get by on that and they're quite happy- in fact most people never learn to see the difference.
I think most my horsey LJ friends tend to be a more thoughtful cast than the majority of riders I see around the place, but being inside a bubble of thoughtful horsemanship does not mean that there isn't a world of terrible equitation beyond it.
I wasn't suggesting that subtlety and responsiveness are derived solely from having a good connection to the feet, but I think it helps to have one and that it really helps with a young horse because it makes it easy for them to understand. Understandability is really important to me in how I work with horses. I bet you have one when you ride, you just don't think about it in those terms because you're thinking about the back and the rein. Ultimately, for me, the thing that matters is the horse's mind and how they feel about what we are doing. As far as metaphors are concerned, one writer I admire observed "I conceive of nothing, in religion, science, or philosophy, that is more than the proper thing to wear, for a while." I think we find ideas that work for us at a time or a stage and then we grow through them and they become part of the foundation of the next stage we move on to.
I don't think that it was strictly a metaphor either, though. The term that I took to describe that all-through awareness is feel and a lot of people have a lot of things to say about that. But Ray could sit on a horse and have them pick up any foot and move it any direction without moving any of their other feet. That's not purely a metaphor, there is a genuine connection there.
I am so with you on the flooding piece. I think Anderson overdoes it and I suspect using the predator/prey analogy leads to that sort of flooding desensitization which then progresses to a shut-down, compliant horse that is silently rebellious. I think you have to give the horse space to issue their objections, and understand why you're asking them to do something rather than just plain compel once you get past basic safety (I also hatehatehate the timed competition training stuff. So you can overwhelm a colt to the point where you can stand on his back after a set period of time and do other stuff? That's not training, that's circus tricks. And will it stick?). But you don't need to flood the horse to get basic safety stuff down. And you can't desensitize the horse to everything. Rather, you need to teach the horse that you're its leader, so that the horse reacts, then checks in with you (the jump, then freeze. You don't always want to have that jump gone, not if you plan to trail ride. That startle reaction from an attentive horse could save your butt).
I always remember Sparkle's reaction to a mountain lion on the other side of a river when we were trail-riding in a group. The other horses were panicky and running out. Sparkle jumped. Snorted. Then stopped and checked in with me. Another time, we encountered her first combine, at dusk, on a blacktop road. She spooked and ran backwards three steps. Then she stopped and checked in. That's what I want.
Doesn't work with hotbloods like Arabs, TBs, or QHs with a lot of TB in them. They tend to be unhappy and rebellious horses.
I think the key is establishing the relationship so that the horse knows you are trying to be fair. Horses understand fairness. I think we as trainers need to give them that space to issue their objections and state their opinions. I think in the long run that leads to a happier and more compliant horse, because they know they can object and you'll listen.
Works for teaching middle school kids, too.
I also see now what you mean by foot control. I think it's a metaphor for feel, but I think too many people focus on the feet and not the feel. I've seen G do the same thing as Ray, only I think he can articulate it a bit more clearly. Not saying he's better, just that he explains what he's doing through the whole process.
(And he will be the first person to tell you I don't always feel the feet. I blame the screwy seatbone for that one. I can feel the left side fine, not the right)
A lot of the time it's a question of doing more desensitisation than the horse needs, particularly desensitising them to your cues, then having to put the cues back in there. You can also just confuse them so they can't figure out what you want and just end up losing their try, which gives a difficult pattern to break. On the whole it comes down to making the horse do something rather than working with them to do things. Most people get by on that and they're quite happy- in fact most people never learn to see the difference.
I think most my horsey LJ friends tend to be a more thoughtful cast than the majority of riders I see around the place, but being inside a bubble of thoughtful horsemanship does not mean that there isn't a world of terrible equitation beyond it.
I wasn't suggesting that subtlety and responsiveness are derived solely from having a good connection to the feet, but I think it helps to have one and that it really helps with a young horse because it makes it easy for them to understand. Understandability is really important to me in how I work with horses. I bet you have one when you ride, you just don't think about it in those terms because you're thinking about the back and the rein. Ultimately, for me, the thing that matters is the horse's mind and how they feel about what we are doing. As far as metaphors are concerned, one writer I admire observed "I conceive of nothing, in religion, science, or philosophy, that is more than the proper thing to wear, for a while." I think we find ideas that work for us at a time or a stage and then we grow through them and they become part of the foundation of the next stage we move on to.
I don't think that it was strictly a metaphor either, though. The term that I took to describe that all-through awareness is feel and a lot of people have a lot of things to say about that. But Ray could sit on a horse and have them pick up any foot and move it any direction without moving any of their other feet. That's not purely a metaphor, there is a genuine connection there.
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I always remember Sparkle's reaction to a mountain lion on the other side of a river when we were trail-riding in a group. The other horses were panicky and running out. Sparkle jumped. Snorted. Then stopped and checked in with me. Another time, we encountered her first combine, at dusk, on a blacktop road. She spooked and ran backwards three steps. Then she stopped and checked in. That's what I want.
Doesn't work with hotbloods like Arabs, TBs, or QHs with a lot of TB in them. They tend to be unhappy and rebellious horses.
I think the key is establishing the relationship so that the horse knows you are trying to be fair. Horses understand fairness. I think we as trainers need to give them that space to issue their objections and state their opinions. I think in the long run that leads to a happier and more compliant horse, because they know they can object and you'll listen.
Works for teaching middle school kids, too.
I also see now what you mean by foot control. I think it's a metaphor for feel, but I think too many people focus on the feet and not the feel. I've seen G do the same thing as Ray, only I think he can articulate it a bit more clearly. Not saying he's better, just that he explains what he's doing through the whole process.
(And he will be the first person to tell you I don't always feel the feet. I blame the screwy seatbone for that one. I can feel the left side fine, not the right)
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