Preface
In my “horsey” life the first and most important is the horse himself. The horse, who is today in many cases a sports “tool”, a way of hobby, or part of human image, is a lot more than that! Who is the horse? Horses are prey animals functioning with very strong flight instincts – this is why we can adore them today, too, after millions of years of survival games. It is encoded in their genes, and no matter that most of today’s horses are domesticated, genes will never be forgotten. They are born to be free
, “wild” also in a way always seeking for peace and comfort. This is what most of us lures to them: taming the wild horse, then riding happily after in the sunset. Well, the truth is something different, since we cannot be egoistic, and think only about us, once we started working with a horse. Not many of us thinks about the way horses have to live with us today, how far away it is from the dream of the horse. We force them into small places, we control their biorhythm; restrain them in their physical movements and social connections. I am sure, no horse dreams of this kind of life. But do we take the time to think about this? Do we make steps for a change? Do we really understand what our horse needs, and are we able to give this to him? Well, if the answer is no, but you want to change your horse’s life in a positive way, stay here and learn more about the BALANCE. Because this is, what the horse really needs, both inside and outside. A balanced lifestyle, natural keeping, good communication skills (body language) will help you understanding what it means to be an alpha horse and not only a dictator, who gives him tasks. Don’t forget, horses need leadership, but not anarchy! If you are a good horseman, you will be able to get the alpha of your horse, which should be the aim all of the riders, no matter if they do dressage or jumping. Only a good team-work can lead to functional success, and team-work begins with a good boss and a balanced relationship. This is, what I am writing here about: getting and keeping physical, mental and emotional balance and this is why my method is called Balance Out Horsemanship.
The Basics
In order to be able to work clearly with a horse, I have to talk about the basics. Basics are thought to be irrelevant and boring, but I have to tell you, all the complex movements are made up of basic ones! So, if you know the basics, you just have to combine them properly. If you are with your horse (and it does not only mean riding itself), you have to be able to “deal with” the horse in a good way. Good is meant to be good for both of you, so, for the horse, too! You have to handle him as a horse, you have to let him be a horse. If you have a good knowledge of the basics, you have a good chance to be understood, accepted and even loved by your horse.
So, let’s start with the most important basics:
- horses are prey animals, which means they do have very strong survival instincts. It is not enough to know, you have to be able to handle with this – each day. Horses might behave differently if the weather changes, they hate unpredictable things. The horse counts with everything he has in this very moment, and this is what makes him happy or unhappy. The horse lives from moment to moment, never plans his life, the way we do ours. His live is coordinated by their instincts and biorhythm. The most important of these is the instinct to flight. We humans usually hate this instinct, but we have to admit, only thanks to this can we able to adore the horse as species today. We should never forget how important this instinct is. Do never punish a horse because he is frightened or afraid of something, because he will lose his confidence in you.
- Computability: Do never be quick-tempered, if you work with your horse. I know, it’s very hard sometimes, but still, you always have to keep this in your mind: you have to be able to control your feelings and maintain your inner balance. If you lose your inner balance you will lose the balance of your body, and you won’t be able to be loose, sober and calm, you won’t be able to think complex and fast, and you won’t be able to act with harmony. All these things mean a distorted body language, which confuses the horse. Be like a constant partner to your horse, who is almost always the same, who he can always count with, no matter what happens. Horses are able to give this to each other, so if we want to work with them in a balanced and natural way, we will also have to be able to do so. Think about team-work all the time, give him what he needs for his comfort. These are the secrets to a smooth training.
- Communication skills: Horses communicate via body language in most of the cases, so if you want to be successful in communication with your horse, this is what you have to learn. Let’s forget about speech whenever we are with our horse! Voice, as a form of communication is barely used by horses (only in a few %). Many people say, their horses learnt some words, like “trot”, etc., well, it might be true: horses are intelligent animals, if they hear something repetitively, they tend to learn it – they have no other option. It’s like you visit a foreign country and you hear a few words dozens of times: you will learn them, but if you really want to communicate with this nation, you have to learn the huge language, not only words. This is what I mean: if you would like to communicate with the horse, you have to be able to “talk horse”! It’s an uphill battle of mine, but I do believe that most horsey people can learn this language and I am here to help them. This is the only way for the horse to look at you as a partner, as a “horse” and later as an alpha horse. This is the ultimate way to the horse and the solution to all of the problems between horse and human.
- Be natural: To be completely able to give your horse what he needs, you have to be natural. Nature is what a horse needs, as “home”, they need the freedom, self-control of biorhythm, natural hoof-care, natural nutrition, etc. You should never mystify these topics, as people normally tend to do. If you want your horse to be happy, you have to give him, what he needs for this happiness, and it’s usually less than you think! Horses are planned to walk dozens of kilometers while grazing, having a pause, or social contact to the others. No horse was born to be locked up in a narrow place, no matter how shiny, new, clean, and thus nice it is for us. If you restrain a horse in his movements, you have to count with physical, emotional and mental consequences. Avoid the synthetic food, try always to give what is natural for the horse´s digestive system: hay, oat, grass and fresh water ad libitum. As reward, you can give carrots, apples or dried bread to your horse. Don`t lock him up into the stable for nights or at all. Give him the chance of option, whether he wants to stay inside or outside. My opinion is, that horses are always outside, when people would keep them in the stable (it`s too cold, windy, too much snow, etc.). Horses are born to be free and this applies to their lifestyle, too. Being natural concerns our training mentality, too. If you take enough time to observe your horse, you will soon see, that he is able to do perfect backwards, sideways, volte, and even canter pirouettes in the paddock without any human interference. Horses can do high level dressage movements themselves, because they are genetically coded athletes. Do never mystify any exercises, rather observe your horse to be able to know about his natural repertoir of movements. You will be astonisched, I think! Don`t forget, I am not talking about perfectly performed tasks, I talk about the natural background of high level movements. You must never forget about it, when you train your horse. Horses are born to do that, it`s only us, who have to learn the proper way of asking for it. If we can`t ask something in a good way, it won`t be done by the horse in a good way – it`s just as simple.
- If you are with your horse, you have to behave like a horse – or at least understand the their behaviour. We are predators, horses are prey animals, so if we want to be successful at communication, you have to leran to think as a prey animal (since horses cannot learn to be like a predator). If you stay human, you will humanize your horse, giving him many, usually for the horse rather bad personal qualities. This might happen subconsciously. Be always fair, open, free or prejudice and huge expectations. Accept the other party (horse) the way he is, try to assess the qualities you want to keep and the ones you want to change. Don`t want to change too much or too radical. Change in a way, which is also convenient for the horse (for example, if your horse is too sensitive, you can spend a lot of time on desensitizing, so that he will be calmer, which is good for him, too – being scared all the time is not a nice state). If you are with your horse, you should never forget about hierarchy, in a peaceful way. Horses live according to very tough rules, all of them concentrating around this. The presence of an alpha horse is essential, and this is the point where we can win – be the alpha of your horse. Learning to be like a horse means this, too, and actually this is the hardest part of it. Being a leader is not equal with being the alpha!
- Live unbiased: If you want to have a true partnership with a horse, you have to be unbiased. You can`t believe, your horse is better, just because he belongs to you, don`t think, your horse will love you, just because you bought him. Horses don`t know what it means to buy someone. Don`t think horses are just simple animals, and they don`t have an own opinion. Whenever your horse sees you, has an impression, opinion on you, on your work, and he does categorize you. He decides whether you are a leader or a loser, and handles you this way. They are fair to you, it`s just only us, who don`t see why the horse is like this or that with us. Don`t forget: it depends on you, how your horse handles you! See clearly, and not more, or not less, than the pure reality is.
If you think about the previously mentioned basics, you come to a point when you say, all this knowledge is the one, that an alpha horse has and practices. In summary, I would like to emphasize that if we want to be good in our horse`s eyes, we have to show him this knowledge. We have to be able to give him whatever he needs for his balance. This is, what all horse-keepers should be able to do, and the lack of this is, what is mostly seen. If you can`t give your horse the above mentioned basics, you make his life, and thus your own training hard(er). To show it I a simple question: “would you be able to live and perform happily and perfectly in a (for you) suboptimal or not likeable milieu?” I think, the answer is clear; you just have to keep this mentality always in your mind.
Segments of horse and horseman training
In order to establish a balanced and progressive training, we have to have some milestones, though; sometimes we have to change them a little since we have to consider each horse and each human as a distinct personality.
The above mentioned basics have to function each day, the exercises will cluster around these. If you train a horse/rider, you cannot ask for too much or too hard, but, it is still recommended to go to the personal limits to be able to be challenging and progressive. If you train a horse for yourself (no matter what level it means), you should never forget that whatever you do, you do it for your horse and thus for yourself, too. If a horse shows affinity for something special, it`s worth investing some extra energy into it. You have to have a broad spectrum of basic knowledge as far as all disciplines, horse anatomy and health is concerned. Training should be fun for you and for your horse, too. All these facts and basics lead to a harmonious training session, no matter what kind of or how old horse, mule, etc. you have. P.S.: as a side-effect, you will have a nicer personality with more “sense”, patience, calmness.
Horse training begins on the ground, no matter how old or how trained your horse is. Groundwork is the best option for getting attention, respect and trust, while developing your communication skills. Teaching on the ground is a lot easier than that on the horseback; you can teach anything you will ask from your horse later on from his back/in the saddle. Dressage, gymnastics, jumping can be well made on the ground. Natural horsemanship on the ground gives you a lot wider spectrum of knowledge, than most people think, it depends only on your imagination, how far you go.
If you work with a horse, it is strictly forbidden in my eyes to only train the body, forgetting about the training of the inside of the horse. If you want your horse to be a good performer (no matter what you do), you have to work on the “inside of the horse” at least as much as, if not more than on the “outside”. You need to be able to balance your horse from inside, which will show off outside. This is my huge experimentation and actually motivation when I work with a horse or a horse-human team. This is what makes the difference between good and the best trainer and this is why I called my method Balance Out Horsemanship (BOH). Getting and keeping the inner (emotional and mental) and outer (physical) balance at the same time is the main point in horse training for me. If you think about it, this is, what all humans seek for, too. The way to this balance is often hard and is like a serpentine, but we should never lose focus: what is my goal with this horse and how can I stay on a natural road towards it?
The main importance of BOH is in the proper application of the above mentioned basics which helps the horse people to understand their horses and live together in harmony. To see how common it is what I talk about, let me show you what kind of tasks and questions I get from equestrian people:
– starting foals and young horses in a (for the horse) natural way,
– training an older, or an already in a discipline trained horse into a natural method, fur fun, for more understanding, for more success (I call it retraining the nature of the horse, a.k.a. dehumanizing the horse),
– natural solutions for “problem horses”, well-balanced restructuring the training after an injury,
– understanding and practicing the psychology of the horses in everyday situations and special disciplines (dressage, jumping).
As you see, BOH is very diverse, and if you are open enough for it, you might use it everywhere. To be able to have a smooth progress, it`s worth talking about training hierarchy. These are actually some milestones we should follow, if we have a foal or a totally untrained horse:
- Desensitizing
- Work on rope (with halter on)
- Free work – liberty
- First stage of riding with one rope
- Second stage of riding with two ropes
- Third stage of riding without ropes
- Specializing
Don´t forget, this list refers to those cases, when the rider/horseman is not a beginner, so he/she is able to train the horse in all these disciplines. The time periods of these stages are different from horse to horse, rider to rider. A good saying is, that we should take the time we need to make it! Not more, not less. If you are not sure about your work or got insecure, the best thing you can do is to contact an experienced horse trainer. Never forget: whatever you do to your horse, you do it to yourself, too!
For more information: zsuzsanna.racz83@gmail.com
BOHorsemanship 