Challenging Horses
Everybody at some stage of their horse owning career comes across a challenging horse or situation. This is a GOOD thing. They have come to us to teach us something, and we must view this as an opportunity to better ourselves not show the horse who's the boss. Think deeply at what the horse is trying to tell us NOW, and what we can do to help them for the better today. Challenges such as float loading, scary objects, mouthing issues, rearing, bolting, pulling and so on, are all issues you can and will overcome through positive re-enforcement, patience and knowledge.
The most valuable characteristic that the horse can offer us in terms of education, is the ability to forgive us. The horse will recognize when our behavior changes and will adapt to it on a daily basis. These characteristics in the horse enable us to make mistakes in our learning journey, but lucky for us, the horse doesn't hold a grudge. We've all heard of horses with head shy issues and not being able to get a halter on them or specific fears like spookiness. If we were aware of it, we have a responsibility to help them over it. These issues for us all have lasting effects on us mentally, emotionally and physically. They don't just get over these issues over night and we shouldn't think for a moment that the horse has forgotten about those experiences either.
The horse is adapting to new conditions the owner or trainer is presenting to them on a daily basis. As the conditions become more consistent, the horse doesn't hold the past against us even if they were in an uneducated environment. If the owner or trainer can change their habits and way of thinking, the horse can move on and not be held in the past. If we reflect a little more and listen to the signals our horses are giving us, shaping their future will become a rewarding experience.
Catching, loading, pulling back, bucking, lack of respect, nervousness, rearing, drenching, clipping, bolting are all common issues for some people. No matter what stage, breed, sex, age or history of your horse, measurable success in a reasonable time frame is achievable if your committed to working through the issue together.
Everybody at some stage of their horse owning career comes across a challenging horse or situation. This is a GOOD thing. They have come to us to teach us something, and we must view this as an opportunity to better ourselves not show the horse who's the boss. Think deeply at what the horse is trying to tell us NOW, and what we can do to help them for the better today. Challenges such as float loading, scary objects, mouthing issues, rearing, bolting, pulling and so on, are all issues you can and will overcome through positive re-enforcement, patience and knowledge.
The most valuable characteristic that the horse can offer us in terms of education, is the ability to forgive us. The horse will recognize when our behavior changes and will adapt to it on a daily basis. These characteristics in the horse enable us to make mistakes in our learning journey, but lucky for us, the horse doesn't hold a grudge. We've all heard of horses with head shy issues and not being able to get a halter on them or specific fears like spookiness. If we were aware of it, we have a responsibility to help them over it. These issues for us all have lasting effects on us mentally, emotionally and physically. They don't just get over these issues over night and we shouldn't think for a moment that the horse has forgotten about those experiences either.
The horse is adapting to new conditions the owner or trainer is presenting to them on a daily basis. As the conditions become more consistent, the horse doesn't hold the past against us even if they were in an uneducated environment. If the owner or trainer can change their habits and way of thinking, the horse can move on and not be held in the past. If we reflect a little more and listen to the signals our horses are giving us, shaping their future will become a rewarding experience.
Catching, loading, pulling back, bucking, lack of respect, nervousness, rearing, drenching, clipping, bolting are all common issues for some people. No matter what stage, breed, sex, age or history of your horse, measurable success in a reasonable time frame is achievable if your committed to working through the issue together.
Remember, "Don't hold your horse in the past, because the past does
not equal the future."
not equal the future."
A horse 'held in shape'by his rider is only posturing in a seemingly correct form, usually for the benefit of inexperienced observers.
- Charles de Kunffy
- Charles de Kunffy
"Where results speak for themself"
Taming a wild stallion
