Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship Blog: Horse Training from the ground up

There are segments of time when things work out magically, and there are other times when chaos is present.

Today I was dealing with an upset on the ranch. Two horses had become very agitated with one another from having been switched to one another’s paddock. They worked themselves up so much that I was going to have to put them back in their original paddocks, because of the risks of them running around and getting hurt, as they were looking for a way to get to each other over the top of the fence. They got so wild we could see that we could hardly lead them back to their original homes, because they wanted to fight it out with one another and break away for being lead. Both horses have some unfinished training in regards to getting out of control when being lead in a time that they get angry with another horse. One is a stallion and the other is a tough gelding that exhibits behavior like a Stallion. He was the more difficult of the two.

The natural order of things is harmony, and if you let chaos go through its course, it will on its… Read more

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I am offering this blog page to a student of mine, a long time self-realization coach using horses, Talley Hutcherson. The reason this story is important for you is in the way it may improve your understanding of the need to assess a situation for yourself and teach you how to approach your horses in times of lost connection.

I want you seeing your broken connection from the horse’s point of view because from this point of view you will create a game that will bring back the connection and train the horse for new behaviors at the same time, like Talley did for her journey on her new career. I also what you to see that the exercise she chose to use is a great way to put a strong gas pedal onto a horse and to teach a horse what a good idea it is to move way from you when you ask the horse to move way. The lesson she chose teaches so many things to the horse. This is another reason why working horses separately is a good idea. Enjoy!!

Carolyn

From Talley Hutcherson:

As a student of Carolyn’s I am always concerned about being

… Read more

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Hello again. Today, I’d like to continue talking with you about the natural instincts of horses and how you can use them to improve your relationship with your horse.

A foal is born polite and from his herd instincts, knows how to stay safe, moving away from anything that is coming toward him and following anything that is leaving him. As he matures and starts to pay attention to the herd, he gets curious and begins to interact. He makes friends through his interactions, movements and self-expressions. As he matures he loses his natural politeness and either is able to direct his friends or be directed. The more he can communicate politely the more horses will respond positively to his communications.

As time passes, the foal generally will test other horses and experiment with rude behavior to see if he can get away with it, just like children do. The herd will set him straight by using a bigger or more aggressive physical display. When he returns to being polite after receiving an attitude adjustment, he returns each time a little wiser and more interested in developing a relationship rather than wanting to have his way with other horses. He… Read more

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I do not address vices like biting, kicking or bucking if I can avoid it. Fighting with a horse does not help the bond and partnership and it can cause a horse to develop a bad attitude that then becomes a permanent part of his personality. It is better to focus on building a social bond and deal with the rudeness of the horse in a way that would build the bond and respect.

Many of you may be shocked to learn what horses actually see as polite behavior and it is very much misunderstood. Building polite behavior in a horse would enhance the bond, build team-working skills and enhance a horse’s natural instincts. When a horse is no longer rude, he sees you as family and you have a greater chance that he will want to follow your lead. The Waterhole Rituals will teach you when to lead, when to follow and when to pause. Observing the horse as he exhibits different behaviors from being willing to not being willing will guide you in the direction you need to take with him.

When people bond with their horses, often times the person does not realize that the horse is… Read more

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You do need to have a natural ability to communicate with animals but I believe that people who are drawn to my Method have this ability somewhere in them. If you have a desire to connect and especially if you are good with dogs and children or feel you would be.

This reminds me of a story. A man came to my ranch and wanted me to teach him how to read a horse. I told him that he already knew how. I felt that this was the case because of how he was with his dogs during his visit. He rescued greyhounds, which he had brought with him and I had observed that they were well behaved and loved. He knew them as well as I knew my horses. He was their caretaking pack leader.

He told me that he could not read horses from what he had experienced with them. I believe this problem occured because he approached them differently than he did his dogs. With the dogs he wanted to give them a good life and maybe with the horses he expected the bond to be the same as he had with his dogs. He did not… Read more

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I have just got a new dog. It is a Lowchen; his coat is gray, he is one and a half years old and weights 14 pounds. He belonged to someone that was at Hap Hansen’s show barn, which is not too far from my ranch; I go there to work with a couple of students and their horses.

Someone had the dog at the barn, looking to find a new home for him. I played with him at the ranch for a while and decided to keep him. His name is Mojo and I can tell he doesn’t like his name, and won’t come when he is called. He runs the other way. When I catch the dog, I give him a treat and let him go. It fixed the problem in a hurry. It was so much fun watching him process his situation and then come running to me with exuberance for the treats.

Mojo, or whatever I will decide to call him is not house broken. I need to keep an eye on him because he will not ask to go out, so I take him out every two hours. When I do so he… Read more

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The fifth exercise starts with the horse in halt, with the head almost to the ground, on a held contact line. While you are holding the contact, ask the horse to move forward. Your horse will have difficulty wanting to do this because he has become light to the aids. In this exercise, we are teaching the horse to go forward with a held rein. This is a new concept to the horse.

The reason this exercise is important for dressage is that here you will ask the horse to stay soft, round up more at the same moment that he would go forward. This is a very hard concept for a horse to grasp, this is why in dressage we see horses becoming resistant, brace become unwilling, nervous and losing their forward impulsion and willingness to listen to the leg aids to go forward. This is also, what starts a horse rearing and bolting. The horse is totally confused because the rein aids are asking him to halt, in his mind, while the leg aids are demanding forward. This simple exercise takes care of these reactions in the horse by teaching him how to round up in a… Read more

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