Timing is everything

"OK, get off his case, now!" came the instruction from my riding coach.  I was trying to correct the horse I was on and, the moment I got that instruction, it was like someone turned the light on...he had responded and I was still asking. It was a fraction of a second but it was still late, I'd asked the question, the horse answered but I was still asking.  When I was a kid living at home my mum used to get really frustrated when I'd ask a question and not listen to the answer, that's exactly what I was doing to this horse.  Quite rude when I think of it.

Release is our way of saying "that's right" to the horse or "well done for trying".  And without release, pressure becomes the norm so more pressure needs to be applied to correct and the negative cycle continues.

I'd much rather a horse search for the right answer than be scared of giving a wrong answer or even worse have no say in the matter at all, just be dictated to.

I hope the more experienced I get, I will notice the more subtle answers from the horse I'm working with and reward accordingly.

Try, try again

Encouragement is one of the biggest things sought by the student in the learning process, yet this can often be missing at the most crucial moments.  We can become so obsessed with success and failure that we miss the key thing to achievement…to try.

To try is everything when you want to achieve something.  But equally important, is to notice when someone else is trying.  A fantastic example is watching a baby learning how to walk, they just try and the friends and family around them encourage them to keep at it.  I think a lot of people should think of their horse as a baby learning how to walk, trust that they will get it and give them whatever you can to help them get there.

Success can be rewarded, but it should be seen as a by-product of the guts it took to give it a go.  To breed more success, it’s the effort of the journey which has to be rewarded higher.  To reward success alone can be suffocating and a fear of failure can easily grow, not something you want in a person or a horse.

Learn to read the horse you’re working with and reward any little try, you’ll get a horse who is far more willing to try for you again.  Take a look inwardly as well, do you put too much pressure on yourself?  The result (perceived success or failure) is ultimately out of your control, but the thing you control is how you try.  No guts, no glory.

Off on an Intelligent path - Part 2 - My first Join-up

I reached up to unclip the line from the head collar and before I had a chance to get the clip open Sarah shot to the edge of the pen, taking 3 coils of the line out of my hand (luckily they had shown us how to coil the line so that it would come out of your hand easier should this sort of thing happen).  She stood, taking a couple of deep breaths but seemed calm so I walked over to her, stroked her neck and attempted to unclip again, this time successfully.  But no sooner had the clip released, she was off, cantering round the pen, anticlockwise.  I just tried to focus on staying in a good ‘driving’ position, on a 45 degree angle to her shoulders and just trying to keep up, it almost felt like I was spinning on  the spot.  After 5 or 6 times round anticlockwise, I heard Kelly say “Start to think about making your turn”.  I waited until Sarah had past the gate and then I made the slightest movement towards being level with her shoulders, she knew the drill and pivoted round to move in the opposite direction.  Another 5 times round the pen, this time clockwise Kelly said “Think about getting her to turn again” and once more, the slightest shift in my movement had an immediate response.  Kelly gave another instruction to lower the energy, see if I could get Sarah down to a trot, then a walk.  I looked for the signs; inside ear, licking and chewing, smaller circle and lowering the head.  It seemed as though I had seen elements of all four but my mind was in a bit of a spin, so was my body.  “Start to think about where you are going to invite her in.”  Kelly said quietly, getting me ready to ask for Join-up.  I walked parallel to Sarah’s body and then arced away keeping her in my peripheral vision over my shoulder.  She turned to face me and took a tentative step and stopped.  “And breathe”  came another helpful instruction from the side of the pen, it was said more like “Aaaaaaand breeeeathe”.  I could still see that Sarah was looking at me but hadn’t taken another step towards me, I turned to face her and then walked in an arc until I was level with her flank.  Her head followed me but her feet remained still so I shook the line very gently in my hand (a great little trick Sandra gave us) and all of a sudden her feet moved, the last 3 steps until her nose was on my shoulder, I turned round beaming to give her a rub between the eyes, my first Join-up!

Sarah was the beautiful grey mare that Kelly and Sandra had selected for me to do my first Join-up session of the week with.  But I’ve skipped ahead slightly…

Rewind to earlier that morning…

I seemed to be the only person in the room without a warm drink.  If there was one thing that would follow very close behind horses in the order of importance, it would be tea and coffee.  “This must be rectified” I thought, so I settled for a hot orange squash, (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it) put my name badge on and boom, we were into our first day of the course.

We went round the room and told everyone a bit about ourselves, why we were there and what we hoped to get out of the week.  I suppose I’m quite nosey, so I really enjoyed hearing the groups little stories.  First impressions count for a lot and I immediately thought “I’m going to like this bunch!” 

So there I was, all wide eyed at the front of the classroom when our first lecture/class/chat started.  It’s hard to define what to call these periods, because they were very educational and well presented but also very laid back, without all the stuffiness and restriction that I associated with classrooms.  Which in hindsight, I think is why so much of it stuck.  No one was frantically scribbling notes, we all just seemed to be soaking it in.  Kelly Marks (horse trainer, author and Mrs Intelligent Horsemanship) told us about what Join-up is, how it works and why it works.  I like that, they didn’t just throw information at you and expect you to believe it, they explained why, and in most cases, showed you too.  We then moved out to the round pen where Kelly gave us a Join-up demonstration which she made to look very easy and then the bombshell, we would be doing our first Join-ups after lunch.  Gulp!

Lunch was a great chance to get my head together and in no time I was absorbed in the DVD that was playing and then by hearing more about my fellow classmates.  It was then time for us to go out to the round pens and get cracking.  There were two round pens so there would be two groups, one with Kelly and the other with IH Recommended Associate, Sandra Williams.  I was in Kelly’s group, my first Join-up would be in front of Kelly Marks!  I chose to see this as a win-win, firstly an awesome story to tell but also, the pressure was totally off, it was day one so expectations had to be low…right?!

Join-up

Over the next few posts you will hear me talk about something called 'Join-up'.  For those of you who aren't familiar with what Join-up is, I'll do my best to explain...

In simple terms, Join-up is a way of creating a bond of trust and respect between you and a horse.  You do this by, essentially, speaking the horses language.  This throws the doors of communication wide open and invites the horse to see you as a safe place.

Join-up as we know it originated when a young Monty Roberts watched horses in the wild and how they interacted with one another.  He noticed that the dominant horses in the herd moved the other horses around, they controlled the feet of the other horses.  This behaviour was most obvious when a dominant mare would discipline one of the younger members of the herd, driving them away from the safety of the group and keeping them out there until they have shown enough apologetic behaviour.  Then the mare releases the pressure and allows the youngster back into safety.  A very direct and clear way of handling a young offender in the herd, but surprisingly, very rarely involving serious violence.

What Monty then discovered was that humans could harness this communication method to better our understanding and trust between us and the horse, creating a foundation for a relationship based on trust and willingness rather than fear and submission.

I could write for days about Join-up, and I will certainly go into it in more depth as my knowledge and experience grows.  But for now, if you want any more information on Join-up or to see it in action, I'll put some useful links below;

http://www.montyroberts.com/ab_about_monty/ju_about/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dx91mH2voo

Off on an Intelligent path (Part 1)

I arrived at the farm feeling fairly nervous.  That tipping point of excited/nervous where you can’t wait for what’s about to happen but you’re still about to walk into a room full of people who you don’t know.  Well, the nerves disappeared pretty much as soon as I walked in, I don’t think I’ve ever been smiled at by a room of strangers before, it’s a good feeling (which, yes, means I was one of the last to arrive).

I was spending the week at Hartsop Farm in Oxfordshire for the Intelligent Horsemanship 5 Day Foundation Course.  Last October I had been to see a  demonstration by Monty Roberts on Join-up and left with my mind sufficiently blown.  I was also lucky enough to meet Kelly Marks (One of Monty Roberts’ first students and founder of Intelligent Horsemanship).  We talked about other horse trainers, she signed my book, which embarrassingly wasn’t one of hers, and finally mentioned a course that they run.  And the seed was planted… “Could I really learn how to do THAT?”

The 5-year-old me went into overdrive and I convinced myself that this is what I had to do.  I didn’t need a lot of convincing.  I aimed at one of the courses in June or July to give myself plenty of time to save up, but with a cash injection thanks to my parents and Christmas aligning, I seemed to be ahead of target.  I couldn’t wait anymore so I booked myself a weeks holiday at the end of May and signed myself up.  I really don’t like wishing time away, but I couldn’t wait and the following weeks duly passed and before I knew it, I found myself pointing at my luggage saying things out loud to make sure I had everything.  

Clothes - Check, Wash bag - Check, Suitable Footwear - Check, Hard Hat - Check, Feeling that this week will change everything - CHECK...

Why horses?

One of the most common questions I get asked by friends and family is "Why horses?"

Throughout time people have been drawn to horses like no other animal.  Their association with freedom is constant and has been written and spoken of for centuries.  They have an almost mythical balance of power, grace and elegance which has captured the hearts and minds of so many.  Shakespeare wrote in Henry V; “When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.”  Of course when Shakespeare wrote this, horses were as big a part of our day-to-day lives as cars, trains and buses are today, before tractors and JCBs they sculpted our landscape, they carried us over vast distances and even into the field of battle.  Even though they no longer serve these purposes on a wide scale there is something enduring about horses that lingers in our curious fascination.

This fascination has been with me for years.  Through my eyes it’s the gentleness that they are capable of that has always drawn me to them.  Their power and strength is humbling and yet they are often the one yielding to our requests.

I think they also give us perspective for seeking simplicity in our own lives.  Horses don't use emails or mobile phones, don’t have mortgages, never have the nagging feeling that they've left the oven on.  They don’t understand the concept of advertising and therefore aren't restrained by what you ‘should’ be or what others might think, they just are.  No games, no conditions.  I’m often at my calmest and most centred when I’m poo picking the paddocks in the morning before work.  All in the world seems still, for those moments at least. 

Maybe in some instances they remind us of simpler times in human history, when life wasn't quite as full-on as it seems to be now.

Horses teach us how cheap words really are, they speak in actions.  Beyond a few simple verbal commands, horses have no concept of our language and the challenge then falls to us to breach that gap in communication.  Unfortunately too many times in the past this gap has been breached with violence, which even more unfortunately showed signs of success and gave rise to the concept that you must dominate and the horse must submit to you.  In reality, people can learn the language of horses which leads to a relationship based on trust, safety and cooperation which opens doors that fear and intimidation would force shut.

So in closing; “why horses?”  They make us better people.