Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship: Liberty Horse Training

I would like to share a story with you about my experience with a dominant gelding by the name of Breeze. Breeze had a nasty nature. Even though he was broke to ride he was hard to handle both under saddle and on the ground. His owner called him a dirty horse because he would plan ways to hurt you. She offered this story about the first time she had rode him: he pulled the reins out of her hand, ran around the arena and on the second turn ran directly at the end wall and stopped so abruptly she flew over his head sending her to the hospital. He would try to hurt you if you tried to influence him when he was being aggressive. After more than six owners, his current owner was able to handle him, but he always stayed aggressive with her.

Turning the Corner

I was asked to work with him to see if I could turn his disposition around.  He is a beautiful black and white Overo Paint loved by many different owners and trained with strong arm techniques, but that did nothing to take the extreme dominant negative… Read more

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I received an email the other day of short jokes. There was one joke that stood out and made me laugh: “There is a big difference between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get up.” The reason I found this funny is that it so relates to understanding how not to overdo it with horses by being too aggressive or demanding. How to get along in an everyday relationship with a horse as well as two leggeds, is to understanding how to use boundaries as a way to create harmonious interactions with the ones we are connected with so cuddling does not turn into abuse. Many times I see people taking advantage of people by creating a friendship just to take advantage of them. This can happen and happens a lot- that horses will take advantage of their humans that love them. Many times horses become completely in charge of their humans because their human care taker sets no clear boundaries so that the horse knows how to be in a relationship with them.

Here is The Lesson in How to Be
Many horse lovers need to be stronger in their boundaries, and even firm. While others… Read more

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Hello again. First let me start off by thanking you all for the wonderful comments and stories you write after each of my blog posts, it’s brings me great pleasure to hear you are getting on so well with my Method.

However, as the popularity of the blog grows, I’m starting to hit a bit of a hurdle. As regular readers will know, I don’t find it particularly easy to read and write and this is especially true when there are long passages without paragraphs. So what I would like to suggest is that we try to keep each comment to 1 or 2 short paragraphs of no more than a couple of sentences each (like Marja did last Thursday on Comment #7) or better still like Stephanie did with Comment #13).

If I need more detail from you, I can then ask you for it. I trust you understand and appreciate your help.

Right on to today’s blog…

Working with a horse at liberty, you must wait for him to give you his full attention and interest in bonding, because if you try to make the horse do what you want, he will run off.

Why, then, would… Read more

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Hello. Hope you liked the idea last week about the podcast and haven’t been put off too much by all the technology. Mark said that there have been a few emails, so he has set up an page on the site, where you can ask questions and more importantly read the responses. Click FAQ Page to read more.

I am delighted to be able to announce our first podcast has arrived and here it is:
Nature Helps in Bonding With Horses – read by Beth Schang

In future, we will post all new recordings on this special Podcasts Page as well as on their relevant post. Thanks Beth – very nice!

So today’s post is a continuation of our discussion last week about boundaries. Now that I have shared with you my observations about rude behavior and how horses use flexible boundaries that create a cohesive herd and deep friendships, you might ask how boundaries could create friendships between horses so I would like to explain this point.

When someone is rude, they do not care about the other person’s feelings. Once a person cares about someone there is a natural politeness that follows that also brings… 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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Hello again. Well, my post on Tuesday sure kicked up a bit of a storm judging by all your comments. Thank you so much for these and it’s great to see such lively debate.

I want to make it clear though that I am not condemning the use of round pens entirely. They certainly do have their place in training and I use them extremely regularly. What I am saying is that, in my personal opinion, they are not the place to start building the bond with a horse that I believe is absolutely essential to any sort of shared performance. So let me talk a little about bonding.

*** To read the rest of this post, get Carolyn’s Blog Collection Volume 1 ***
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Hello again. I try to reply to comments people make on my blog whenever I can but I thought I should reply to one I received this week in an actual post.

It was a lovely letter from a lady called Ellen and it brightened my day to hear how my work has such a strong and positive impact on people. I also hope that it will bring a sense of hope and direction to those out there who feel in their heart that there is a gentler and more natural way to be with horses but are struggling to find it. If you persevere and follow your heart and instincts, as Ellen did, then you will find the path that is right for you.

*** To read the rest of this post, get Carolyn’s Blog Collection Volume 1 ***
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