Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship: Liberty Horse Training

I first want to say thank you to all of you in the class for your interest by enrolling in this course. In doing so you show that you care for the quality of life a horse faces in our hands throughout his life, and in his training.

I would like for people to think of training as something that enriches the life experiences of the horse. In nature horses are always in a class room! Bringing the horse new experiences raises the quality of life for the horse, as it deepens your connection, which in turn adds meaning to the horse’s life.

Everyone that as enrolled is eligible for the course. The one exception is the person that has the 33 year old horse which would need a doctor’s approval. For the rest of you, you will know if the exercises are right for you and your horse by how much benefit you and your horse receive from your practice.

I’d like to ask you to please sign in every time you read an instructional blog during the free instructions. The amount of enrollment in each blog will let me know how we are doing. I… Read more

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For those of us who were blessed at birth with a natural affinity for horses, or who as children developed a fantasy surrounding these amazing creatures after reading King of the Wind, Black Beauty, Fury or watching The Black Stallion, we developed a magical relationship with them based on communication, trust and understanding.

However, as we matured, perhaps that relationship and the training have somehow become more pragmatic, more cut and dried. Has the magic of horses and horsemanship somehow disappeared?

Yet what if we could recapture those youthful dreams of a close personal bond with our horse, while at the same time facilitating and enhancing our training program? What if training could be more than simply a human’s will imposed on the horse and become instead a mutually shared partnership between horse and owner, based on a system of communication both could understand equally?

What if the horse could have a real voice and truly participate actively in his training, working with the owner to achieve success, without coercion or forceful means? … And what if, in the process, the training time was dramatically reduced while results were significantly amplified? What I’m talking about of course is liberty training… Read more

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Connection is a two way street. To truly get along with a horse in shared partnership activities we need to have the social leadership skills. If we can keep adjusting our leadership to be more flexible, understandable, and intelligent the horse is more willing to form a loyal partnership and put a great effort into his performance. It’s all about being present in the moment and fully awake and knowing exactly what to ask a horse to do that starts the dance, backed with the belief that your horse will perform and then letting the horse perform without holding him to it.

A good equestrian rule to follow is that force and resistance should almost never be met by force in the training of a horse. When you lose the dance you make the connection back rather than using pressure. Slowing things down gets rid of the need to force. You can make a strong demand without force when the horse feels responsible and knows the rules. Horse love rules and boundaries and even enjoy having them enforced. The most important part about enforcing a rule to a horse is to use proper timing and attitude.

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The old system of round penning has been glossed over by fancy words. I remember when I was a child, I was told that a round pen was used for breaking a horse’s spirit. Then it was shortened to “breaking a horse,” and today it is said to be a way to start a horse that would “develop a bond.”

Round pens and ropes are wonderful tools but the most misused. Ropes are many times used to jerk a horse into submission. Round pens are too often used as a tool to gain a horse’s trust by the horse running himself ragged into submission. The round pen was designed so that the human can always influence the horse and the horse can never escape his handler’s influence. This is too much pressure on a horse to start a proper relationship with him. The bond gained from the inability to escape is created from a dominant leadership pursuit. This is not natural or easy on a horse. I clearly would not use one to start a relationship with a horse. It isn’t easy on a horse nor is it natural.

*** To read the rest of this post,… Read more

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Hi Everyone

I had an email from a friend of mine Carol, who wanted to know what my new logo represents to me.

Whilst I am happy to give you my viewpoint on it, I think it is important to say that I feel my work with horses is so shared and universal that the logo represents whatever it represents to you. I am very happy if you resonate with my work and find whatever meaning you seek.

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