Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship: Liberty Horse Training

The Hello Ritual is a ritual I use a lot. It is so important. The Hello Ritual has the power to keep deepening the bond as much as Sharing Territory with a horse does. How you go about saying hello is important. The Hello Ritual needs to be performed with feeling and sensitivity. In your approach you can carry on a conversation with a horse by when you step toward a horse or pause or back up and walk away. It is a dance to show a horse your good attentions and respect for his feelings. It exhibits your intentions in respecting his personal space. It shows your horse that you can read his feelings when you respond to him like he would want you to.

This ritual is most useful for working with wild horses that do not trust people. It is a real ice breaker. It works with all creatures. It is the strongest dance of respect I know off. The dance of the hello ritual really pays homages to the rights of animals. It will help you inter the other side of nature kingdom. In this world you can experience unconditional love. Here is a video that… Read more

Tags: cross-species bond, eel human bond, Hello Ritual, saying hello, Waterhole Rituals

If this is your first visit welcome and thank you for visiting my blog. I want to explain to you the purpose of my method and my blog. I hope that my long time readers may also get some benefit from me defining my purpose and history yet again. Each time I write a description of the purpose of the blog and the history of my method I think that I add yet another perspective that might be important to you in some way.

How I Developed My Method

I developed my Waterhole Rituals Method by watching cohesive bands of horses in nature interacting together around water sources and how they raised their young, developing bonds, and how they made their daily social adjustments through rules that they follow regarding pecking order. I also learned how they develop their ranks through daily rituals. These rituals are the rituals that I teach in my method.

Early on I learned that their pecking order was not a survival of the fittest but rather a way to have clear ranks for the purpose of survival and to create harmony and unity. I found that lead horses were not the strongest or the most… Read more

*This week’s guest blogger is Alessandra Deerinck, Certified Carolyn Resnick Trainer, California

THE HORSES AND I.

Just recently I had a chance to see people and horses smile! I was watching two of my students, Vivian and Brent, work with the Waterhole Rituals and a new horse I have in training and it took my mind a few years back in time, when I first met Carolyn. At that time the experience I had was the sight of a human being and a horse understanding each other and interacting in harmony. From the very first moment watching her work with that horse, I was inspired and became determined to learn what she had discovered.

Now, watching Vivian and Brent work with their horse, I feel deeply grateful to Carolyn for empowering me to be their teacher. In fact this happens every time I watch my students and their horses work together. Vivian, Brent and the new horse were experiencing the same feelings I had when I started to study with Carolyn and realized that she had found a true common code between human beings and horses. Anyone that has this experience is deeply touched. In fact, one of my… Read more

Tags: Alessandra Deerinck, Carolyn Resnick Trainers, Empowerment with Horses, liberty riding, liberty training, racehorse, Waterhole Rituals

The Left Brain vs. the Right Brain

There is the left brain and the right brain. This idea helps me communicate with my students and understand how to approach a horse in the moment. Being a linear thinker, using the left brain, a person would need to follow a specific formula for training a horse. Where a right brain thinker would be more creative and be able to come up with solutions and be more focused on the relationship with a horse rather than the goal.

Coming from a more creative empathetic approach, a right brain thinker, a person would have a more natural ability in knowing how to approach the training of a horse. For example: when to let a horse settle, when to change the subject to something that would be more desirable to the horse, when to press on or when to pause; and how to keep the horse focused, willing and respectful.

Horses would like a person to take a right brain approach because it is more friendly. With a left brain approach a person would not be so flexible in dealing with the conditions and moods of the horse in the moment. Horses naturally work… Read more

Tags: left brain, liberty training, liberty work, new approach to horse training, new horse training, relationship horse training, right brain, traditional horse training

*This week’s guest blogger is Robin Gates, Certified Carolyn Resnick Trainer, California

In 1984 I visited Carolyn’s ranch in Sonoma, California. There I witnessed something so extraordinary that it changed the course of my life. Carolyn was working her horse Stony at liberty in a large area. He had all the fire, spirit and natural expression of a wild stallion and though completely free he was dynamically drawn to her with the utmost respect and connection. It was breathtaking, and to this day I recall the feeling of amazement that swept over me. I had found a truly gifted mentor and as it turned out, a lasting friendship.

As I later ventured into the world of dressage, showing at Prix St. Georges and training through Grand Prix, Carolyn’s work and her guidance helped me to draw out an offered performance in my horse. She stressed the importance of maintaining enthusiasm and expression in my equine partner. Her method has always been the foundation upon which I have built my career as a trainer. Through the years, every horse I have worked with has helped to deepen my understanding of the willingness that awaits us if we… Read more

Tags: Carolyn Resnick Method, Carolyn Resnick Trainers, Liberty horse training, liberty riding, liberty work, Robin Gates

What approach do you use with your horse when leading with a halter and rope?

Have you ever thought about how the influence of tack affects your relationship with your horse? When using tack, many times a person will catch their horse as quickly as possible with no thought to rekindling the friendship and the horse’s desire to stick to you and follow your lead. A reason that this can happen is from thinking that the halter and rope will create the connection you need with your horse.

Tack can create sloppy connections with your horse. Think about it: If you took off the halter would you still be able to lead your horse and keep him at your side? If you can, it came from your attention to the relationship and the bond minutes before you put it on. What would your horse do if you took off his halter? Most likely you would no longer be able to lead your horse anywhere. But, if you have worked your horse at Liberty first without tack to gain the Magnetic Connection in Companion Walking, using tack would be a benefit rather than a device that enslaves the… Read more

Tags: companion walking, connection, cross-species bond, friendship training, Hello Ritual, horse, horse training, horse training blog, horsemanship, horsemanship skills, inter-species bond, leading a horse, leading from behind, leading without tack, liberty training, magnetic connection, soft aids

*This week’s guest blogger is Stina Herberg, St. Vincent in the Caribbean

Thank you, Carolyn, for having the opportunity to be a guest blogger. My name is Stina, I am 44 years and born in a small village in Norway. In 2007, I rescued a herd of abandoned and abused horses in the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean.

St. Vincent is the second poorest island in the Caribbean, after Haiti. I had decided to take up a new work challenge to run a non profit that focused on development work, education, farming and environment.

I had no idea where this herd would take me and what an incredible journey we embarked upon!

I meet my first horse when I was 10 years old and it was love at first sight. He was a big beautiful draft horse that used to plough the land. When I meet him he was living in a big field with lots of grass and was not working anymore because the farmer had bought a tractor. Every day after school I would go over and just spend time with him. His name was “Brunen” which means brown in Norwegian. Our relationship was so… Read more

Tags: bit-less, bitless, Carolyn Resnick Trainers, dream relationship, horse training blog, Liberty horse training, liberty riding, liberty training, Liberty Training Workshops, riding in harmony, unity riding, Waterhole Rituals