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| Date: | 5/21/2013 5:03:58 PM |
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My Training Method
Well, today I'm going a bit off track. I thought it might be interesting if I wrote briefly about my training methods. Of course, I could be wrong but if that's the case it's a free country and you are free to delete my blog!
I grew up around animals or trying to be around them. My sister (not the riding one but my parrot one) and I both had the training impulse. If it could walk and breathe it could be trained. If it couldn't walk it would be eaten but that's another story.
I remember keeping snails and training them to search for treats. Undoubtedly they were probably fine finding treats for themselves but that didn't faze me. I kept a mouse hidden in my room for months and my parents never found out. I trained him to do all kinds of tricks!
Eventually I got the one animal I had always wanted. Someone gave our family an 18 year old horse, Cinders. She knew all the tricks and taught me more than I could ever teach her. A couple of years later I was ready to move on and got my very own 2 year old thoroughbred filly, Juniper. She was straight off the track and I thought she was perfect. She was the love of my life, my once in a lifetime horse. (Sorry, Pippin!)
Anyway, I set about teaching her the basics and learning them myself at the same time. I would set goals. I wanted her to do perfect dressage, jump high, and obey my move. I would get frustrated when my plans didn't work out and things weren't perfect. It was then that I got the revelation of just stepping back and finding out what was good for her and what her capabilities and limitations were. And mine too.
We as humans like to plan ahead but when we're working with a horse or any other animal for that matter, we have to realize that the horse doesn't plan ahead and may not comply according to the meticulously worked out schedule in our heads. And perhaps they're not even suited to jump 7 feet high or perform a perfect piaffe.
So, my philosophy changed. I still believe that anything can be trained and that we should set goals but we should have flexible goals and be willing to change our plans on a dime. I believe that every horse can do every discipline but will not excel at all of them and some may not excel at any. But the aim is to bring out their talents to their best potential and the only way to do that is to let the horse tell us.
I used this method for teaching Pippin from the start and he ended up by surprising me and making me reach my goals for him sooner rather than later. Because I didn't push him his knack for picking things up highlighted each session and we both enjoyed every moment. I use the same methods for teaching my dogs tricks, turning their natural quirks into tricks. |
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