By: Matthew M. Brendal
Top Ten Fundamental Horsemanship Secrets
1. Gain the horse's trust. If your horse does not trust you, he won't listen to you when it counts.
2. Gain the horse's respect. Respect is equally important as trust. If your horse has no respect for you, then he won't pay attention to you either.
3. Horses learn on the release of pressure. A horse's mind is programmed to always look for an escape. That's how they survive in the wild. Release of pressure satisfies the horse's deepest psychological need. The need to escape. Always begin with being as soft as possible until the horse shows the slightest try.
4. Violence and excessive rough handling begin when knowledge ends. Good communication and patience go a lot father than being rough. Violence removes any trust or respect you earned from your horse.
5. Teach or improve something in you and your horse each time you interact. Always seek refinement in yourself and your horse. A stale horse and rider, makes a stale ride.
6. Habit and routine are powerful training tools. They also make your horse more comfortable. Horses love to be able to predict what's going to happen. It makes them feel safe. Routine and habit are also powerful ways to teach your horse. I always do the same thing and same way every time. I catch my horse the same way. I brush her the same way. I pick her feet the same way. She has to go into a trailer every time before I ride. I do the warm up, skill improvement, conditioning, new skills and cool down the same way each time. But I want change some things when I'm riding so my horse responds and does not anticpate.
7. Constant consistency. Your horse will learn faster if you are consistent. You must be the same rider each time you ride. You can't be a dominator one day, and then a push over the next day. If you want your horse to be consistently good, you do too.
8. A positive relationship with your horse encourages the horse's motivation. Have you ever worked for somebody you just hated? Don't be that person to your horse. You need to figure out how to make your horse want to please you.
9. Constantly seek new and better horsemanship skills and knowledge. No body knows it all. Everyone has something to teach. Remember your horse may just be your best teacher. Humans don't have all the answers either.
10. Finish your interaction with your horse on a good note. This means two things. Completing your ride is huge release of pressure. That means that the horse will remember vividly what he did to get you off his back. If it was something negative then you have in essence rewarded that thing. Stack success in your favor, make it something you have the skill to be successful with. Don't try a triple flying backward lead change with a flip unless you can teach that well. Also do something that the horse thinks, "Boy oh boy I love my owner, I can't wait to see him tomorrow." Remember that horse just lugged you around for the past couple hours. You want him to remember the good times.
Good, better, best, never let it rest till your good is better and your better is best. - St. Jerome We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
