Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship: Liberty Horse Training

Better late than never. It took me this long to pick the winner of the journal contest. The journals were not typical journals. They were a combination of journal writing along with guidance to the reader on many points to better understand the Insider Circle and In the Box Programs and the difference in my Method in relationship to the classical Methods that are out there today. The reason I was looking to have a journal contest was so the winners journal could be used to help prospective new students better understand the courses and the Waterhole Rituals enabling them to evaluate whether or not this is the program for them.

The journal entries were all amazing and it was very hard to pick the winner. I do appreciate every single entry. We had five entries and I loved every one. I derived so much benefit from reading them all and they helped me to know more in how I want to go forward as a teacher.

I wish I could have talked personally with each person as I was reading their journals. Each person wrote from their heart of hearts, something that we seldom share with one another.… Read more

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Today I’d like to share a question from one of my Waterhole Rituals Insider Circle Students….

Dear Carolyn,

I have 3 horses and now I work with my 18 year old gelding, Vince. He has a special character: calm, dominant, very proud and sometimes stubborn.

At the first ritual from the beginning he is hanging around in the arena slowly, eating some hays and visits me a few times for a few seconds only. BUT: after 20-30 minutes I used to take a walk and he immediately joins up to me and follows my direction and tempo. It’s a fantastic feeling like there would be an invisible rope or glue between us. When I sit back he accompanies me and spend a long time close to me. There is no any rude behavior except during our walk, when he sometimes crosses my way – so I send him away softly and it’s enough.

I can’t take ‘saying hello’ and difficult to start ‘leading from behind’ because he is always with me – near my shoulder – when I’m not sitting.

My question: I know, how to stop him but I don’t really know is that a good action to

… Read more

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It’s really touching that people have been responding so deeply on the subject of such a small issue regarding a horse being so unwilling to have a halter put on, or the horse being so freaked out about the need to rip away from a human, because of the distasteful feeling of being with a human.

I appreciate that many people are willing to take the long journey to build a relationship with a horse as Robin and Carry have done with Pony.

In the traditional programs of leaning how to fix problems with horses, the problem gets fixed from an overall system and does not take in to consideration of the needs of the individual horse and human. Recently I watched a Youtube of a horse, he has a similar problem as Pony, not as bad, but still a problem of putting a bridle. The method just used force and persistence at the time the horse was fighting to get away.

I am working on my book and I just finished my prologue and what I wrote really pertains to the subject of how to approach really big problems such as with Cary’s experience with her horse. It requires… Read more

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To understand the Waterhole Rituals and how the pecking order of horses function in a way that brings about the well-being of the herd, even to support the weakest individual, we need to look at the conditions that exist in nature that create herd behavior.

For horses to survive in nature, they need to stay in a herd. What prevents horses from beating up on each other is the need to stay together for their safety, as well as the open spaces that they live in, which give them freedom to choose who stays in the herd, and who goes. If a horse is too self-serving and aggressive, the herd has the ability to banish them. Likewise, a horse can only join a herd when they show they can fit in harmoniously.

I have never cared for referring to the pecking order of horses. I prefer to call it picking order. One of the main reasons family bands get established is a stallion’s need to win the favor of a mare so that she will go off and form a new band with him. In the beginning of a relationship, as these bands are being formed, the stallion must put… Read more

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Today I am going to share another question from an Insider Circle student about some typical expressions horses have and how the Waterhole Rituals can help you understand them and work with them.

While participating in a clinic at Return To Freedom with Neda De Mayo (2007, I believe) I was introduced to your way of being with horses and have been practicing ever since. HUGE breath of fresh air! I have no words to describe the gratitude I feel.

My questions are:

1. Horse pins ears when walking toward food, with or without me walking with him. What does this mean and how would you shape his behavior, or does it matter?
2. Sour expression, pinning ears while companion walking. What does this mean and how would you shape his behavior, or does it matter?
3. Head slinging when sending away quickly. What does this mean and how would you shape his behavior, or does it matter?
4. What are your insights on mutual grooming as a herd behavior? Does it matter who initiates it? Who usually initiates it, lead, dominant or lower in the order? Is this a ritual that can be used to strengthen the bond and shape

… Read more

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Hello. It appears that some of you were a bit confused by the email blast that came out at the weekend announcing a new blog post. Mark asked me to write a quick note explaining that his tech guy was working on some testing and posted something in the wrong place, which triggered the email. When he realized what had happened, Mark deleted the post which is why when some of you tried the link in the email, it didn’t work. Anyway, nothing to worry about and hope that explains it.

However, what they were testing was a new video player using one of the Insider Circle videos and it kind of turned out to be a happy accident. What happened was that some people who weren’t in the class clicked the the link and watched the video before it disappeared. This produced a bunch of comments saying how much they enjoyed seeing me at work and learning the Waterhole Rituals almost first-hand.

So we thought it would be a nice idea to put the video back up so that you can get chance to watch it if you didn’t already do so. This is the very first video in… Read more

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Little Known Precursors to Aggressive Behavior in Fearful Horses, and How to Deal with Them.

I was watching Animal Planet with Victory Stilwell. She mentioned something about a little known fact about dog behavior. I thought I heard her say that a dog that will roll over on his back as a submission gesture in the future will surely bite you.

I started thinking of the things that most horse professionals do not know about horses. One of them is if a horse tries to look at you with only one eye with a stiffness in his body, he does not trust you. It is a fearful as well as an aggressive stance, and it comes with strong threat in the future to the person the horse responds to in this way.

The horse that will look at you with one eye or will switch his head around back and forth looking at you from one eye to the other may follow this behavior with biting, charging, kicking or striking at a later time, when you might least expect it.

Years ago, I had to clean out stalls as an every day chore when I was apprenticing… Read more

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