Exchanging Trust With A Pony

May 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As it is with all your other relations, so it is with your horse: trust is the cement that builds a strong relationship of mutual sentiment and respect. There are two sides to that coin: the side that embodies full trust and a healthy relationship, and the side that symbolizes puny trust or none at all. This side reflects the more deadly of the types of relationships.

You can get a graphic illustration of the way trust works when it comes to horses if you take time out to study a herd of them. Ideally, you want to study a herd of wild horses out in the open. The herd leader, a stallion, will be the sentry on permanent duty. He’s alert, all of his senses attuned to even the littlest scent of anything threatening. When a threatening situation does arise, it is the lead mare who decides on the subsequent plan. Her decision will often be to take flight. Every single horse in the herd will obey her cue without the tiniest hesitation and there’s very sound reason for that: it relates to the old proverb about strength lying in unity. As a herd, the horses can protect one another. Any pony that’s isolated becomes simple prey for predators. The mare leads the retreat because it’s the duty of the stallion to take up position at the rear and keep the herd tight. The lead mare and the lead stallion are trusted blindly by the whole herd.

Now that was a horse to horse situation. How does one as a homo sapien gain the unquestioning trust of your foal?

I’ve got a story by way of an illustration here. A few years back I was visiting at a friend’s ranch in Arizona where a wild Colonial Spanish herd of horses had just been rounded up. I was challenged to tame one of the stallions and I do not run away from challenges where horses are concerned. At the beginning, my efforts with that horse drew a large amount of laughter and derision. I made a few forays into the pen, and each time I had to leave rather suddenly and unceremoniously. Every time I exited over the 6 feet high rails like I used to be a professional athlete. The best I could manage was to get to within 10 feet of the herd before it became provident to run.

That first approach of mine clearly finished in failure. I tried a new tack. I just got onto the fence and sat there, making no motion that could be construed as threatening. Shortly enough, curiosity got the better of the stallion and after a few mock approaches he finally loped up to me, took a good sniff and loped off. I was sweating, and I’m absolutely sure the Arizona heat wasn’t the main cause. Over the following few days, others were working with the mares, while I did nothing except sit there, always within sight of the stallion.

It wasn’t long before he came up again. This time his approach was less frightened. He was almost assertive as he approached and took another good sniff. His posture really made one or two folk around me scream at me to leap.

I did the opposite: I slowly descended from the top of the fence on the side of the stallion. The horse backed off a bit, but came forward again some time after I slowly sat down on the ground. A quick sniff or two and he seemed to relax significantly. After a while, I slowly got up on my feet and he observed me thoroughly, showing neither aggression nor fear.

I made up my mind to test him: I talked with him for some time and then walked away slowly along the rails, still speaking. He hesitated for some time and then followed me.

Since that time, I have used this method in varied forms with plenty of purportedly huffy wild horses. Many of them have had tons of experience being chased by riders with a rope. I just wait them out and let their natural curiosity work for me. They come, sooner or later. I’m taking my time, and eventually I make sure they follow me as they are , without halter or rope. Each time, that point is when I know That I have achieved success in taming one more horse using nothing more than the tool of trust.

I know one thing for sure: if a foal trusts you, you can have faith in it. Horses attack you only when they fear you: they give into their natural flight or fight instincts.

You want to work at gaining a horse’s trust and you need to work at keeping it. The best way of keeping a horse’s trust is to refrain from ever forcing or even asking a horse to do something it’s incapable of doing, or it doesn’t know how to do.

You must also take care never to lose your temper at a horse simply because he’s not done what you wanted him to. If he didn’t act on your wishes, he had sound reason. If you identify that reason and work on easing it out, you buttress the horse’s trust in you. If you fight that reason and attempt to bend your horse to your will, you lose his trust.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about western show clothes

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Kitting Out For Horse Riding

May 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of the most popular sports in history has always been horse riding. It has found mass appeal all across the globe with all sorts of folk. Pony trekking is a superb mixing of pleasure and exercise. It is beside the point what your age is or what level of riding abilities you have. One thing you need to remember though is you do have to be familiar with horse riding gear, attire and gear.

Riding apparel should emphasise safety first, comfort second and style last. Correct apparel protects you from external elements, provides physical protection to your head and limbs as well as the parts of your pony that it covers. Items of essential riding clothes include jodhpurs, breeches, riding shirt, body protectors, riding boots, hat and gloves. These items are generally called equestrian clothing.

When it comes to protection against physical injury, the hat is believed to be the most important piece of the riding outfit that one should wear. Riding hats protect your head from serious injury and you should wear one right from the first moment you are exposed to a horse. Make use of a new hat that you have purchased specifically to fit your head.

Jackets are sometimes worn during horse shows and other such events. The best riding jacket does not hamper free movement in any fashion. Riding jackets come in a large variety of styles, some intended for specific disciplines like showing, show jumping and dressage. Competitions usually make it imperative for riders to wear jackets.

While breeches and jodhpurs are usually close fitting, they should still offer great comfort. They must not restrain free movement in the slightest bit. You can get them in a different range of fabrics and colors from the standard beige of competitions to any colour of your choice. You get twine and denim breeches and jodhpurs that are eminently suited for equestrian purposes.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse fencing

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Choosing A Horse Riding Facility

May 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Given the possibility, that the large majority of humans would love to ride horses. It isn’t to be marvelled at that riding schools are booming. Whenever you go out into the countryside, you get the distinct impression that you are seeing people on horseback everywhere. If you take a little time to study these horse riders, and if you know anything about horse riding, you may be able to separate the novices from the vets. The amateurs can be distinguished by their exaggerated care while riding. They concentrate hard from fear or out of the real wish to become expert horsemen. They look at themselves and their horses just as much as they look ahead at the trail. The presence of amateurs indicates the likelihood of the presence of a riding school in the area. Somehow, country sides look more complete when there are 1 or 2 horsemen included in the vista.

All horsemen need coachs and tutors. The comprehensive newcomers obviously need somebody else to show them the ropes, make worthy horsemen out of them. They need to be taught all about safe riding and safe care and handling of horses. The veterans want someone to keep them finetuned, to teach them new tricks or help them gain expertise in new tricks. Whether or not you are a new arrival of 2 hours experience or a veteran with 2 decades of expertise, a good mentor helps you out with riding methods, pony care, tack and such like.

I haven’t any doubt in the slightest that the best way to set about learning the way to ride horses is to first take some time out to learn about horse behavior, riding methodologies, riding gear, pony care and handling and all the subjects that have importance to pony riding. I really believe that you’re going to be a faster and better learner if you know your theory prior to going in for practice. There is no lack of CDs and DVDs, books and videos you can take advantage of to get a pretty good grasp of all valid features of horse riding. You must also consult some veteran instructors, show riders, vets and anybody else with lengthy exposure to the arena of horses.

I also suggest that as you learn, you check out facts for yourself by visiting pony farms, races, shows and other likely areas like popular riding trials. Study horses at close quarters and watch them at work, at rest and at feed for yourself. Don’t be afraid to pose questions. If you don’t ask you won’t learn.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this, but just as people are far better off learning as much as they can about horses before actually getting into the saddle, just broken horses also have to be ready to be ridden. They are taught to become used to carrying weight by having weighted bags placed on their backs. After they are pretty much used to this, riding gear is added piece by piece, permitting the pony sufficient time to get used to each item. The last act is to get the horses to accept being actually ridden by live humans.

One other thing I would recommend is that you research as many riding schools as you can completely. Don’t just jump onto the 1st one that a relative or a chum commends. Don’t go for the riding school with the fanciest advert in the yellow pages. You need to make a short list, and spend some time being physically present at each establishment, checking out its operation, cleanliness, quality of pony care, quality of instructors and the attitude of the staff. If you keep your ears and eyes open, you can learn much within a half hour.

After you are happy with the physical aspects, you can start going into other salient aspects like training costs and duration and any guidelines, restrictions and rules scholars are expected to follow.

Some horse riding education goes a great distance to giving a whole life of riding pleasure. It makes sense that you make sure you are trained right. The right instructor can become a valuable mentor who guides you in ways over and above simple riding lessons.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about simco saddles

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How To Take Some Super Pony Photos

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Wish to get some photographic masterpieces of your horse, your pride? You may achieve it with a mix of perspective and a quick eye. Of course, you want your foal to be picture perfect, so you begin early by grooming him a lot and spraying him a bit until you can almost see your face reflected on his skin. Last year, you had got him this fancy halter with his name on it; you take out and shine it real glossy and put it on him. You lead him out of the barn into the bright daylight, and you smile over the simple fact he appears to be a million dollars. It’s time to start clicking the shutter release. But that is when things begin to go bad.

Your pony won’t keep still. He’s uncomfortable with the fancy halter, which is on him for just the second time. He is getting bugged by a fly that just won’t go. He wants to have a go at the green grass he sees out on the pasture. He is doing everything but cooperating with you by posing for you. You keep brushing his mane and positioning his feet and his head and his tail, but he maintains on moving everything just as you are ready to click. In sheer desperation, you start clicking, wishing that chance will get you the kind of pictures preparation doesn’t. But even as you push the shutter release everytime, you know the photograph was no good. Somehow, each time he strikes up a good pose, you’re a microsecond too late to capture it.

Here is some sound information for you.

You presently have 2 options: you can hand over to a pro photographer and see if he does any better with your restive pony. Or you can change your entire approach.

You’ll do better if you simply give up any hopes that your pony is going to pose for you. He doesn’t know anything about posing and photography and he isn’t going to learn. In reality, you don’t need him to pose. You should awake to the incontrovertible fact that some of the most amazing photographs ever shot were candid shots, taken when the subject wasn’t even conscious of it. Just make absolutely sure your angles are the best for your pony. If you happen to have got a horse of less height, try photos from low down, with the camera angled upward. Refrain from taking pictures of your pony looking straight into the camera from close quarters right in front. Mug shots of your pony are seldom, if ever, going to look great. Try to keep your pony concentrated on some prop, something that he finds to be interesting. You can get him to shift angles by shifting the placement of the prop.

Take tons of photos. You need to act on the presumption that only one shot in every 2 or 3 dozen will be a pippin. The rest might quite well make you wonder if your pony is really that nauseating.

After you have had a belly-full of the barn side photos, remove your horse’s halter and take him out to the field. Let him go free and get that camera clicking. You can count yourself lucky if your horse begins to run. If not, make him run if you can. Keep the camera clicking. Try to get your hose to come snorting down to you with nostrils flaring and veins all pumped up. Keep that camera clicking. Keep it clicking even when your horse gets exhausted and settles down to some grazing. When he is doing that, take close up snaps from low down, as low as it’s possible to get and still manipulate the camera. Go further away, use the zoom and wide angles continually. If you have trained your foal to respond to numerous commands, try them all out on him. You may get some great surprises. I recall once asking a pony owner friend about a photo of one of his horses that was a stunner: it had caught the horse from a great angle. The pony was close up, looking with bemused amazement at the camera. My pal said to me that he had just asked his pony to dance and that was why the horse wore such an expression. It probably had the passing thought that its owner was nuts.

The pony knew zilch about dancing, but the photograph that resulted was priceless.

I also recollect yet one more great photo taken by a girl astride her horse. The shot had captured the pony with its head turned back and up, its ear pricked and a scowl on its face, like it was camera shy. Another notable photograph showed a horse without halter, with bowed head and neck. The pony was intently watching someone picking out its hooves. It was like the horse was awfully concerned about the quality of care he was getting.

Think natural, and think spontaneous. Then you will get just the snaps you need.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse fence

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Northwest Community College Equine Studies

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Based in Powell in Wyoming, Northwest Community College is a public community institution offering several 2 year associate degree courses. One of these courses is in Equine Studies. This programme enables students to reach a robust base in equine science, with the ultimate mix of theoretical instruction and practical participation in riding horses and in coaching and handling them. Students are enabled to take up constructive employment immediately on completion of these courses; they can alternatively choose further education at other establishments.

Depending on their set of interests, scholars can opt for either of 2 Associate programme options. Riding and training comprises the 1st option. Scholars are given intensive exposure to riding, training and handling of horses regarding the science of management of the horse industry. Students who pass out of this course are enabled to gain immediate employment in:

– Riding schools

– Coaching faculties

– Summer camps

– Grooming

– Rider exercising

– Boarding stables

– Wrangling.

Students who are not especially interested in an AAS degree can also enroll in an Equine Care/Basic Riding Certificate course of one year duration at Northwest Community College. This programme makes scholars proficient riders and well versed in quality horse care, therefore giving them the sort of talents that they’ll need to achieve success in the world of equines. While on this course, students learn equine safety, horse health management, equine nourishment, horse behaviour, correct tack fitting as well as riding with safety for both rider and pony. Graduates are empowered for work as

– Operators of boarding stables

– Riding school aids

– Wranglers

– Guides for trail riding

– Grooms

– Sales personnel

– Sitters at breeding farms.

For those scholars who want to be involved in the sale and merchandising sides of the equine industry, Northwest Community College also offers scholars an Equine Business Management course for students wanting to be concerned in marketing and merchandizing in the equine world. For this course, scholars are not required to have a horse.

Scholars are also able to choose the degree in Management of Farrier Business. This degree imbues scholars with the skills necessary for running small firms; it also qualifies them for pro certification by the American Farrier’s Association.

The College’s equine studies courses emphasize events, both English and Western, strongly. The programme is very competitive, and often accepts not more than 40 students yearly. The successful applicants are put through a course that gets them an Applied Science Associate degree in Equine Studies.

Scholars are encouraged to have more than simple basis experience with riding, though it isn’t mandatory. This program will benefit students from a 4-H or breed association background the most. Scholars are also advised to bring along their own horses. If this isn’t possible arrangements are going to be made so that a horse is prepared for the scholar before their first-class. There aren’t any exceptions to the stable charges students are required to pay, whether they have brought their own horse or have been given one on arrival at the college. All horses except gaited ones are fine for use by scholars in the college’s equine studies program. It’s not compulsory that they be registered, but the horses should be sound of health and possess good manners, they are expected to get along well with other horses.

Riding classes are staged at the College’s Equine Center Complex, where the stables are situated. The complex has facilities like a heated indoor arena with a viewing studio, storage of feed, an outdoor arena, paddocks for turnout, a tack room and wash racks, both outdoor and indoor.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about equestrian wear

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Bad Saddle Fit Can Negatively Affect Your Pony’s Performance

May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It wouldn’t be a misstatement to say that a well made saddle benefits the pony more than the rider. An acceptable fit, size and weight of saddle can make the most important difference between a content, secure and comfy horse and one that is cranky and hazardous. A horrid saddle fit carries risk of serious injury to the pony. Sadly, there are all too many riders who ignore the value of the right saddle and the hazards associated with the wrong one.

If you are a mum, you have probably gone out numerous times to buy clothing and footwear for your kid. If you are a dad you almost certainly have accompanied your wife on one or two such shopping expeditions. Either way, the mother makes a giant fuss over every aspect of each item: the size, the material, the fitting, the color you name it. That is just the sort of care you ought to be taking over your horse’s saddle. A poorly fitting saddle can hurt your pony no less than poorly fitting attire can hurt your child. You would like your saddle to sit on the horse such that he hardly notices it. It should not chafe or irritate him. Ever seen a child suffer the negative effects of an ill-fitting pair of shoes? You’ve seen the equivalent of a horse suffering the negative effects of an ill-fitting saddle.

Humans change physical shape throughout their lives, and so do horses. The reasons are varied: age, lack of exercise, fattening diets, metabolic anomalies, even annual seasonal factors. Given the circumstances, it is as unlikely one saddle will serve one pony through its life as it that one pair of pants will serve a person all though his life.

Having said that, I never stop being astonished that so many horse owners never bother to do regular checks of the saddles used on their horses for continued appropriateness.

When an ill-fitting saddle leads to injury to the pony, it is going to stop performance. When a tight saddle pinches the horse’s back, its most usual effect is to cause bruises and tenderness in the area of the withers and along the spinal column. If the condition is permitted to continue, it results in permanent backbone and back muscle damage. On the other hand, saddles that are too large bring rider weight to bear on the wrong areas of the horse’s back. This implies overload at delicate points, and that implies lasting spine and nerve damage. In extraordinary cases, the horse’s performance can be unfavorable affected forever.

The saddle length is also crucial. The saddle should not carry back to the sensitive loin area, which isn’t able to bear weight. Saddles that abrade the loins cause the pony to suffer pain and agony. They can further result in damage to muscles, retarded muscular development. In extraordinary cases, they can harm the kidneys and tissues and nerves in the vicinity of the kidneys.

The pony functions best when he is comfy, content and in a position to move naturally and without unwarranted pressure, limitation or hitch. When a pony is made to suffer bruises, muscle strain and different kinds of agony over extended periods of time, he’s undoubtedly going to try to offset the factor that causes him this pain. He may take the incorrect sort of stride, hold the wrong sort of body posture, and continually twitch around attempting to ease the affected body areas. His performance is going to suffer. If his pain is incessant, he’ll at some point develop a dislike to the saddle and to being ridden. This hatred could carry on to become a behavioural issue. Pretty frequently, the consequences of an ill-fitting saddle that is causing pain to the horse aren’t immediately visible, and when they’re visible, a large amount of damage, some irrevocable, may have been done. If you really care about the condition of your horse and his riders, you must make it a custom to steadily monitor the fit of the saddle he is made to wear.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about prestige saddles

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Does Pony Cost Influence Horse Ability

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If there is one incontestable truth in the world of horses, it is this: no matter how expensive your pony is, there will always be another horse somewhere else that is even dearer. You start puffing out your chest at having spent $100,000 on your latest equine purchase, only to find out one day later that some other person spent $150,000 at the same venue.

So far as I’m concerned , it is not how much you spend that’s significant, it is what you spend that money on. Your capability to pick out the right pony is far more important than the dimensions of your bank balance or the price tags of individual horses. It is rather like comparing the Marlins with the Yankees.

The Yankees have always been stinking rich, and can afford to spend just about any amount of money on getting the players they need. Their modus operandi is to assess all available players and pay for the best, whatever is required. The amount is not primary. The Yankees believe strongly in steam rolling all opposition with an array of costly superstars.

Horse owners who are obsessed with buying winning horses, irrespective of cost, are like the Yankees. I have lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen horses picked up at exorbitant prices by some absolutely astonishing, unknown buyer who allegedly bought the horse solely for the bragging rights that came with it. Obviously, these purchasers do use the paid services or horse specialists when making their picks, rather like the Yankees use squads of talent scouts to smell out the superstars.

The Marlins are the poor cousins of baseball. They operate with a budget that is much more limited in size than the budget of the Yankees. They concentrate their talent searches on varsities, in the hope that they can pick up potential gems at much cheaper costs. Regularly they buy more gems than they actually need; they resell the excess supply to bigger teams like the Yankees and make profits that help them maintain their budgets, which they use to head out to buy some more fresh players who they can resell.

The joke is that in the last few decades, the Marlins have a much better win record at the world series championships than the Yankees. It’s very clear that the Marlins are running their ‘farm’ far better than the Yankees and coaching some fresh young stock to become winners. The Marlins have pretty much mastered the science of making hay from green prospects. If they miss out on a potential superstar or two each time they sell stock to the Yankees (which they do often), that’s okay, because they have filled their coffers in anticipation of going out to some more varsities and netting some more raw talent cheap.

I know of pony owners who explain away their horse’s losses at competitions by justifying it with the claim the winner was a more expensive pony. They should take a leaf or 2 out of the Marlins’ Book. The Marlins may be able to take on big-spending giants like the Yankees because they have adopted a very successful technique. The point is this: you don’t need megabucks to compete well, and this is what I try to impress upon my students. Like baseball players, horses also begin someplace low down before they climb to super stardom, and the trick is to catch them while they’re still cheap.

Don’t think I’m anti serious cash. Offered the choice, I might much rather coach the Yankees than the Marlins. But I have performed well in the arena of pony events, and financially speaking I am more a Marlin than a Yankee.

I’m convinced riders can become successes without stacks of money backing them. Money doesn’t equate to resolution and tough work. If ever you feel like bemoaning your loss at an event because in cash terms your pony was a Toyota and the winner was a Mercedes, take a break. Use it to catch up on some Marlin history.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse shop

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Owners Need As Much Training As Their Ponies

May 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Much of the time, pets are procured for the sake of companionship. Some pets could be expected to perform certain duties, like guard dogs are. Typically, though, pets are brought in as playmates for kids. The conscientious dog lover may take his pet to obedience coaching schools, so that it can learn good habits like going outside on calls of nature and eating only when ordered to do it.

Some pets like to be near their human owners at most times, like the dog. This proximity makes it easier to teach them once you have gone thru some classes telling you what to coach your pets in and how to do it. The consensus among animal owners appears to be that it takes one class a week over 6 or 8 weeks for training to show effect, whether in the animal owners or the pets. It also takes at least two coaching courses to get the pets to respond constantly to commands and maybe 4 coaching courses to establish fairly complete command over them. It’d be rather nieve to take your new pet to an obedience coach and expect to get back a totally unquestioning instantly obeying animal in 6 weeks or so.

Yet, horses appear to be the exception. Folk expect miracles of their horse and the horses’ trainers. I have seen a lot of newbie horse owners with very little knowledge of riding and even less awareness of training taking on the job of training their horses themselves. Unsurprisingly, all these folk without exception run into problems. Instead of getting tamed, their horse seem to become uncontrolled and pick up all sorts of unwanted behavior patterns. When these pony owners ultimately give up and follow the guidance of their chums to send the animals to a professional tutor, they’re expecting the trainer to reverse all the coaching gone wrong and get the horses to become models of perfect behaviour. A good tutor can work a fair deal of sorcery with the animals, but is it actually only the animals that need the training?

Pony owners expect trainers to complete the training of their horses within so many days or weeks. In all of their anxiety, they ignore one major component of successful animal training: the coaching of the animal owners themselves. Good trainers can get a horse to do practically everything reasonable the owners expect, however it will all come to naught if the owners are also not trained on what’s expected of them and the way to re-enforce the coaching.

A horrible owner can undo a month of good professional coaching in a week.

Think about this: It takes something like 2000 repetitions of a command and its enforcement to remove a set habit and another 2000 repetitions to condition a new habit. It can take almost 10,000 repetitions to make unconscious acts of habits. When you know this, you’d be awfully dumb indeed not to realize and accept the owner needs coaching in keeping the pony trained equally as much as the pony needs training in the first instance. You should also appreciate that it can take a lot of time and effort to coordinate your responses to that of your horse.

Dog keepers generally appear to have no problem in committing 20 minutes or so a day to helping their dogs absorb their coaching better. Unfortunately, it appears to be very difficult to get horse owners to make the same sort of commitment. One comprehensible reason is probably the dog can be kept indoors for the period necessary, but the owner has to go outside to the horse. Further, a large amount of horse owners are bored by ‘basic’ training routines, which can sometimes be more complex than getting a dog to sit or come to heel or beg.

Unless they are well experienced, pony owners generally do not grasp quite how much success they would achieve with the right attitude and the right focus. They should learn how to take it a lesson at a time, without undue expectations of miracles. They must begin with the basics, like following without pulling away while on the lead. It is difficult to train the pony to sit, but without too much effort, it can be made to do stuff like stop and stand in the right position, release to pressure, stand when tied and lead the correct way. These lessons will establish the kind of bond between owner and pony that may later enable excellent connection while riding or doing any other jobs together. Persistence will shortly create a point in time when the owner simply doesn’t want to stay indoors, but would prefer to be out there doing something or the other with his pony.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about professional choice

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Pony Trainers Do Not Do Voodoo

May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Is the thrill of horse riding corrupted by coaching? At various places and numerous times, I have heard this question being posed by different people in different languages. Just lately, I was asked this specific question for the nth time and it has been caroming around my skull since then. I have worried over this question for a long time now, and recently I made up my mind that it was time I surrendered everything else and attempted to get an answer to this question.

It might not give the impression of being the brightest of questions, most particularly to youngsters having dreams about becoming pro horse trainers. Yet, the undeniable truth is that pony trainers frequently run into contrary-minded and extremely difficult horses which will test them hard. It is an element of the drawbacks of the job. No pony is so perfect that it can’t do with some coaching, and some horses are more difficult than the others. Some horses can be absolute disasters.

A large amount of horse owners make the mistake of presuming that horse trainers are voodoo doctors, that they can cast spells on horses which make the horses perfect trial mounts inside a few days. Pony owners believe that horses under trainers’ spells will stay that way as long as they live. These people have high hopes of their horses and their trainers. They don’t realize the damage their earlier cosseting and pampering of the horses have caused. They have spoilt their horses stupid, and the horses demonstrate each type of vice you can think of. The pony owners expect trainers to undo all these negative habits and convert their horses into docile angels. I lost count of the amount of times I have reminded people that a human needs 2000 repetitions of a habit-breaking process to literally break it, another 2000 repetitions of a habit-forming process to develop a new habit and finally about 10,000 correct repetitions more to turn the new habit into unconscious behaviour. Next time your pony stamps on your feet or sends you sprawling because he wasn’t looking where he was going, think about this: isn’t it time to rush him off to do a couple of thousand repetitions of this and that?

Here’s where all this is leading up to: the owner of an especially difficult horse expects a new tutor to convert that pony into a saint in a few moments. If the coach is wise and fair, he will tell the owner what is reasonable and what is not. If the coach isn’t so smart or honest, he will take up the assignment and find himself losing by attempting to take a pony to the water and make it drink. His efforts to make the pony show quick results will virtually surely make the scenario worse. The pony is going to go even more negative.

It’s time to go back to the question that was the first sentence of this article. The answer’s obvious: when a pony trainer is continually wasting his time with horses that are adamant on not being taught anything, he’s at some point likely to lose his desire to be around these animals. He is going to feel the exhausting drain that his task has become on his physical and mental well being.

One or two years back, an amicable coach gave me a piece of sound advice that I’ll always remember in this life. He told me “Only when you’re fresh and haven’t been fooling around with unruly horses through the day should you ride your own pony.” That way, you will enjoy riding your pony, and you will not penalize him out of the disappointment and anger the other horses caused in you. I have followed that advice faithfully, and plan to continue doing so.

You know the answer: yes, a coach can get fatally turned off horses, even his own family, if he is having a difficult time with difficult horses that he is trying to train. Unless the tutor has enormous self-control and also requires time off to ride his own horses and communicate with them, he is going to go from bad to much worse. If a trainer under strain relaxes himself every now and then and returns with charged batteries to his work.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about riding hats

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Pony Trainers Don’t Do Voodoo

May 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Is the thrill of horse riding corrupted by coaching? At various places and numerous times, I have heard this question being posed by different people in different languages. Just lately, I was asked this specific question for the nth time and it has been caroming around my skull since then. I have worried over this question for a long time now, and recently I made up my mind that it was time I surrendered everything else and attempted to get an answer to this question.

It might not give the impression of being the brightest of questions, most particularly to youngsters having dreams about becoming pro horse trainers. Yet, the undeniable truth is that pony trainers frequently run into contrary-minded and extremely difficult horses which will test them hard. It is an element of the drawbacks of the job. No pony is so perfect that it can’t do with some coaching, and some horses are more difficult than the others. Some horses can be absolute disasters.

A large amount of horse owners make the mistake of presuming that horse trainers are voodoo doctors, that they can cast spells on horses which make the horses perfect trial mounts inside a few days. Pony owners believe that horses under trainers’ spells will stay that way as long as they live. These people have high hopes of their horses and their trainers. They don’t realize the damage their earlier cosseting and pampering of the horses have caused. They have spoilt their horses stupid, and the horses demonstrate each type of vice you can think of. The pony owners expect trainers to undo all these negative habits and convert their horses into docile angels. I lost count of the amount of times I have reminded people that a human needs 2000 repetitions of a habit-breaking process to literally break it, another 2000 repetitions of a habit-forming process to develop a new habit and finally about 10,000 correct repetitions more to turn the new habit into unconscious behaviour. Next time your pony stamps on your feet or sends you sprawling because he wasn’t looking where he was going, think about this: isn’t it time to rush him off to do a couple of thousand repetitions of this and that?

Here’s where all this is leading up to: the owner of an especially difficult horse expects a new tutor to convert that pony into a saint in a few moments. If the coach is wise and fair, he will tell the owner what is reasonable and what is not. If the coach isn’t so smart or honest, he will take up the assignment and find himself losing by attempting to take a pony to the water and make it drink. His efforts to make the pony show quick results will virtually surely make the scenario worse. The pony is going to go even more negative.

It’s time to go back to the question that was the first sentence of this article. The answer’s obvious: when a pony trainer is continually wasting his time with horses that are adamant on not being taught anything, he’s at some point likely to lose his desire to be around these animals. He is going to feel the exhausting drain that his task has become on his physical and mental well being.

One or two years back, an amicable coach gave me a piece of sound advice that I’ll always remember in this life. He told me “Only when you’re fresh and haven’t been fooling around with unruly horses through the day should you ride your own pony.” That way, you will enjoy riding your pony, and you will not penalize him out of the disappointment and anger the other horses caused in you. I have followed that advice faithfully, and plan to continue doing so.

You know the answer: yes, a coach can get fatally turned off horses, even his own family, if he is having a difficult time with difficult horses that he is trying to train. Unless the tutor has enormous self-control and also requires time off to ride his own horses and communicate with them, he is going to go from bad to much worse. If a trainer under strain relaxes himself every now and then and returns with charged batteries to his work.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about riding hats

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