http://www.herdfilm.com/

Herd is a short movie that is coming out this year.  I think it's only 30 minutes long.  If you go to the website there is a ten minute short you can watch.  Basically the film is about a place where you can go on a "spiritual horse retreat" in British Columbia.  The couple who run it call it "Equinisity".  I don't remember how I came across this, but when I first watched the movie I thought it was kinda silly.  

It starts with Liz Mitten Ryan, the owner of the place, talking about moving to this property and living in tent while the house was being built.  Her horses were there, too, so she ended up spending a lot of time hanging out with them and discovering their spirituality for herself.  She decided to create a retreat out of the situation, which is rather brilliant in my mind.  People pay a lot of money to come stay there and literally sit with the horses. There is some light ground work/liberty and leading that they do.  Otherwise you see people sitting in the barn meditating while the horses sleep or hang out.

It's a bit uncomfortable to watch at first.  If you are a traditional kind of horse person this is what we would call "wasting time".  This is what I did as a child because I wasn't allowed to actually get into the pen with the horses, so I'd sit on the fence for hours, hoping they'd come close and hang out for awhile.  Then there was sitting on the top fence rail, leaning over to grab the horses by the neck and try to pull them closer.  

I couldn't stop watching the movie, though, and I began to realize that I'd lost that excitement I felt as a child.  My husband tells me that I still show it, but I'm not mentally aware like I was as a child. I always come back happy from seeing my horses, but I have forgotten to enjoy being with them.  Smelling them, listening to them breathe or just having some kind of contact is never anything I do anymore.  It takes time to get to the barn, I have three horses to groom and work with.  I can rarely do three in one day, so I feel this pressure to accomplish something.  

I have become all about results and "what have I done today" that I've lost something else.  How many trainers, all these people making youtube videos and CD's and everything else ever talk about connection?  They do talk about it, but it's always gained through DOING: doing some kind of exercise. Yes, doing exercises is good don't get me wrong.  I have forgotten to BE, however.  To be present!  

When I got my first horse Bella, every minute with her was exciting.  Just going out there and seeing MY horse and doing whatever I wanted with her was pure joy.  I spent time just stroking her, talking to her, brushing her beautiful mane. My training time had no limits, no certain goals.  I had no real idea what to do, I just went out there and did.  It was from the heart and pure.  I made mistakes.

 Once I began to learn about horse training (and not just riding as I had before), things changed.  My thoughts changed, my attitude changed.  I had to be dominant and take charge.  I was "too nice".  Yet here I am, finding kinship with Neil Davies because what he is doing is so much like what I did with Bella.  It was just natural - when she was afraid I was tuned in and I knew her so well I could calm her quickly by letting her hug me.  He pats on the head, Bella and I hugged.  I really don't care if anyone thinks "that's not a good thing" or that you should never allow that.  Bullshit. It was our connection. That's what made her a great partner. Once I began to use traditional techniques, the trust eroded.

All of these things passed through my thoughts after watching this short film.  How the very thing I'd always craved and wanted I'd lost!  I'd lost it in the practice of training.  I felt immediately sad, and then hopeful.  Suddenly the way forward with Luna was clear.  I need to be there with her, as often as I can.  I can also say, with all honesty, that my only reason to love horses and have them in my life was the connection.  I never meant to win ribbons, or compete.  I just wanted to be the best rider possible and to have my own horse(s). Those were my true goals, and they still are to this day.  

So, continuing from my previous post, I did try out Neil Davies method early last fall. The things I look for are: 1. Is it easy? 2. Is it effective?  3. How does it affect my horse's attitude to training?

So allow me to clarify.  If the method is too difficult to do, then it's not going to work for me, and maybe not other people. If it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, then there's no point in continuing, right?  If it pisses off your horse, or creates more fear, it is also not a good method in my mind. If you go to train your horse the next day and they won't come up to you, then it isn't a positive experience for them. 

My first lessons in horse training were of the standard variety "let them know who's in charge, get an immediate response, keep increasing the pressure and use as much "pressure" as needed to get a response" type of training.  This is very old school and still very prevalent. If you are a trainer or have horses you know that this is the standard way of training.  Most horse training marketed is this method.  These trainers frown on giving treats, being overly patient or using too much kindness.  Even Natural Horsemanship really is not much different.  I watched a few videos by various trainers of this ilk showing how you could get a horse to come to you by using the "join up" method (round penning).  Yes, after you chase them for 20 minutes they will come to you.  It seems magical at first, but it really is not.  This does not create more trust, doesn't make a horse easier to catch in the pasture, and if done incorrectly it can cause them to have more fear of you! 

Then I watched a girl train her horse to come to her in the pasture (it was notoriously afraid of being caught in a pasture but no where else) and after a few sessions it comes up to her easily.  I give my horses treats and scratches whenever I go in their pen and they crowd around me when I go in.  They are eager to be around me.  It's a good place to be.  What I noticed in going back to watch the join-up videos was that the horses were not actually that happy to be around the trainer.  Food for thought. 

Earlier in my evolution in training I went to see Clinton Anderson. At the time I really liked him and thought he was wonderful!  I bought a video and the stick and all that.  I tried the ground work at home and quite frankly, it pissed off my horses and wound them up.  I'm sure there are people who would say that I'm not doing it correctly. Perhaps.  There are always differences in style and application. This is why learning horse training from a video is extremely difficult, unless it's easy to implement like my rule #1. In any case, back to the Clinton way.  I found his methods needlessly harsh and kind of difficult to implement.  My gelding Snickers became very adversarial and unwilling to do anything.  He has never really learned to lunge, so I started there.  He got violent and pulled away over and over, jerking the line out of my hand every time I got more aggressive.  He is an older horse, full grown and strong so he had no problem making a fool out of me.  Angel, my other horse, also older, gave me the look of death when I tap-tap-tapped her with my stick and then whacked her because she didn't move.  It made me feel bad and I just stopped. It wasn't that effective and made things more difficult. To me this style of training is more like boot camp in the Marines.  It's aggressive and only fosters instant obedience, not real trust or understanding. 

From Clinton I went to clicker training, which I think I've covered on here.  It's fairly easy to learn from the book or videos, although somewhat tedious in the end to fully utilize. However, the horses LOVE it!  They would be standing at the gate waiting for me every time I went to train them.  I still use it and it is a very safe and effective way to train and communicate with them.  The downside is that how you go about training something is quite different than what I've learned previously since timing and giving treats is involved.  I inadvertently taught Snickers to trot forward 7 steps and stop dead instead of just trot forward until I asked him to stop.  He is very smart...!  And I guess I am not. 

So, with that short history on to Neil Davies.  Snickers has always been a domineering and distracted guy because of his early non-training by previous owner.  He is generally a good horse with some rough edges.  Leading him around the barn can be problematic, though, because he's not focused on me.  So I started with leading - and when he started mentally wandering I jiggled the halter until he came back to me.  I paused a few times and rubbed his head and other places he likes.  It worked like a charm and instantly!  No fighting, no expectation of treats, just calm walking forward. 

Next I rode him and he was pretty rusty. Again, kept him focused on ME, asked consistently for him to maintain speed, and direction. He came around well.  Next I rode him down the road towards the dreaded turkey house (they keep turkeys in a pen by the road). NO STOPPING!  I had to keep asking, but didn't get desperate ("Do it now"), just kept asking until he responded and then stopped giving the cue. Wonderful!

Next I started working on Luna.  I haven't mentioned this yet, but one thing Davies says is that when you tie your horse or whatever you do with them, they should stay where you put them and not move around.  If they do, keep asking them to go back to the original spot.  I have done this with all three of my horses.  The first time is hellish and kinda frustrating.  I think I re-positioned Angel about 23 times!  But the next time I got her out, she got into place and stood. Which is gratifying! 

Back to Luna.  Poor Luna has gotten the shaft for too long.  If I have on regret in life it's not spending more time with her.  I've tried to get her going many times, and here she is...an older mare that has only 10 rides on her.  The thing is, she's not calm and relaxed.  Leading her is, well, a pain in the butt. She's afraid of everything and is not focused on me.  Jiggling the halter doesn't work as well with her.  She doesn't like having her head rubbed, either. She's not safe and not trained, period.  

So I began talking her for walks.  I'd get her so far, until she got scared, and tried to rub her head and she'd toss my hand off, push into me and run in circles.  I was frustrated and disappointed, but it was my own fault.  I did this a few times and finally just took her 10 yards from her pen and kept rubbing her where ever it felt good - her rump, under her neck, withers, etc. She began to calm down some.  I went further the next day, but it was still a fight. 

I didn't feel like this was working too well, so I took her to the round pen where we've previously done the most positive work.  She was excited, it was windy, so I free lunged her.  She'd come in to me and I just rubbed her until she relaxed. Then I'd send her out again.  This isn't strictly in following what Davies does and doesn't do.  He never uses a round pen or free lunges a horse. He says you can't wear them out, that they should be calm first.  However, in my experience they are like little kids in that sometimes they are wound up and the best thing is some exercise. This where I disagree with some of the things Davies says. Also, it seems as if the bulk of his training is done with young, untouched horses which allows one to use a more consistent routine since they are blank slates. 

Allow me to explain my reasoning for going off "method".  In keeping with Davies principles, the first thing to do is get them relaxed, but this is no yearling foal.  Luna has also had some previous training and just walking around was taking her out of the routine.  So I decided to return to the routine and keep to it until she can is no longer excited or afraid.  She calms down much faster this way and even started to "hug" the way Bella used to. Previously her hugs were me with my arms around her neck while she bounced her head off my shoulder. Now she wraps her head over my shoulder gently.  The next step is to then go on some more walks in between the round pen sessions. The idea is to start from a safe, comfortable place for her and build on that. 

So I'd have to say that I have a challenging horse due to my own actions and not because of any particular training method.  She likes the clicker and I used it to get her to hold her head still when I rub it.  Not sure if she likes her head rubbed, though.  Time will tell!  Using any kind of training is going to take more time and patience because of what hasn't been done. One thing that many many trainers say is that every horse is different and may need vastly different handling.  So much depends on their history, your skills and situation.  

In a perfect world you read the training book, get an untouched horse and apply the training, but that isn't always possible.  I've realized that I've lost my connection to Luna, that she is afraid because I've neglected her.  I take full responsibility for that! What got me inspired to find that connection again was a trailer for the movie Herd.  Not "the" herd (that's about something ELSE!) But I'll talk about that tomorrow... 

*(Please note:  Since it's been so long since I've posted anything Blogger has changed a bit. I could no longer post to Facebook from this app so I had to find a new app, and anyway these are getting posted to Facebook out of order)

Yes, I know. It's been a very long time since I posted anything. Why?  Things have been murky and uninspired in my horse world.  Most of last spring I was sick with the flu, then pneumonia, then bad weather.  The year before that was the spring of three deaths (Mother-in-law, Grandmother, Aunt).  The energy was gone before summer even shone it's sunny head.  And then it was too hot... ok, that's an excuse.  However, I don't do well in the heat so getting out in the spring is important.  Gives me a head start on things and gets me used to the outdoor temp. I believe that acclimatizing one's self is best done with repeated exposure. 

During the doldrums of the past two years I continued to spend my time reading about horses and training.  My friend Leigh Ann likes to send me articles and things she finds and one of them was a horsey news thing from New Zealand: horsetalk.co.nz.  I think there is a version for the US, etc. but this is the one I get.  They have several guest trainers that write articles and one of them is Australian Neil Davies. The other is Jean Luc Cornille who supposedly has much scientific knowledge to pass on to other horse people but can't write anything understandable.  Between the French interpretations and the scientific terms, trying to read his stuff defies patience.  Reallly, Mr. Cornille, it would behoove you to step off the pedestal and appeal to the common horseperson.  His apologist, whose name escapes me, defends him at every turn by saying that ALL horse folk should be able to understand these "simple" veterinary terms and he shouldn't have to lower himself so that MORE people can understand him.  Right.  Very condescending.  

Anyway, this is how Leigh Ann brought this trainer to my attention.  I looked up his website and liked what I saw there.  I read some more of his articles and decided to buy the book.  The book, I'm sorry to say, is a bit disappointing.  Mr. Davies is not a writer and clearly teaches better in person than in writing, but I will forgive him for that because there is much here to like. 

So for the past few years I've read his articles, started the book and watched some of the videos he's posted.  (If you want to check it out yourself, go to  https://www.fearfreehorsetraining.com/).  

I've read some criticism of him online, but mostly from those who haven't delved in to his material and simply looked at a photo of him riding.  He is not a great rider and he knows it.  One should not try to emulate his riding style! The other negatives are similarly obvious and reveal his down-to-earth nature. His style and teaching manner are not designed to be fed to the masses.  In other words, he's not trying to highly market himself and was encouraged to write articles and the book by a personal fan.  He is NOT Clinton Anderson, nor is he trying to be. The book has some inconsistencies that a better writer could have explained or helped to organize better. I wish he had perhaps written out his philosophy and then stepped back with a critical eye as it needs editing badly! I have since given the book to Leigh Ann to read, so I can't quote directly, but here are some examples.

He says things like: "I have no rules. There are no rules in horse training." Then he says "Always make it pleasant and safe to be with me." Which in my mind is one of his "rules" since he never goes against it (clue: using the word "always"). There are other "rules", such as not getting to the point in any training session where your horse is worked up or frightened.  The goal is not to scare your horse.  

Another thing that Davies tries to do is debunk other trainer's methods.  He likes to read up on other trainers and comment on them.  Sometimes he doesn't completely understand the whole concept.  Like Clicker training - or "treat" training.  He doesn't understand that the goal is to NOT use treats in the end.  He says that if you use treats you will always have to use treats, but that's not true.  Don't allow this to put you off the real message - which is how he trains horses.  Everything else is just his opinion.  He also repeats himself needlessly and to distraction making it difficult to continue reading. 

Those are the examples from the book I can think of right now but not the only ones by far.  

However.... There is much to learn and admire about his method. 
(He says he doesn't have a "method" but he clearly does).  It's very simple (the numbering and order is my own):

1. Always make the horse feel safe and calm with the trainer, "it's safe and calm to be with me", (and by extension, everyone else) by rubbing his head.  The horse associates "calm" and "pleasure" with the trainer. As training progresses, more and more challenging things can be introduced to the horse without causing much fear - which is actual trust and not mere obedience (a la Clinton).  For example, if I trust my husband and we go to the edge of the Grand Canyon where I'm afraid of heights, I can stand next to him calmly on the rim because I know he won't do anything to hurt me (Plus he's afraid of heights, too. LOL).

2. Work with the horse in such a way as to never cause fear - no waving of flags, flapping, "desensitizing", chasing in a round pen, etc. No shouting. 

3. Keep sessions short and positive. It's better to do several short sessions of 10-15 minutes say morning and evening than one hour long session.  Many other respected trainers have said this as well. 

4. Use the least amount of pressure possible. For example, when walking your horse if they lose their focus on you, bring it back by irritating them with the halter and lead - no jerking, pulling or screaming.  

5. The horse must go where you want at the speed you want. The horse must do as you ask. This sounds extremist, at least I thought so, but when applied more insistently rather than increasingly aggressively, it does yield the desired result. I've had better results with this philosophy than the more demanding approach. 

Basically, that is Davies' training methodology.  I liked it immediately, in spite of the negative aspects of his delivery and opinion.  The meat of what he's saying is valid but you have to be diligent and learned enough in training to know when he's right and when he's just being critical. If a beginner picked up his book they might have a hard time actually applying his teachings. It's not a complete package by any means. Watching his videos is much more helpful as he can explain and show better what he's talking about.  

For example, he says that you should rub your horse's head as a means to calm them and reward them.  Watching the video I saw that he rubbed the horse's head for quite a bit longer than I imagined, and much longer than I did it for. That's important because there is no mention in his book about how long to do this.  


So, if you're the least bit curious give this man a chance.  I probably wouldn't buy the book, but he has a subscription video service that I would seriously consider and I get his free blog posts emailed to me.  It's FREE.  No obligation!  If you don't like what he has to say, unsubscribe. He doesn't overly market himself either, which is refreshing. Just keep in mind that he is what he is: a simple horse trainer with a simple, unpolished way of going about it and a deep suspicion of anything hyped up.  We could use more of that in the horse training world!

Tomorrow: Applying Davies' method