One of the advantages of having our tack shop located on a farm is that we get to watch trainers at work. From our upstairs windows we have a bird’s eye view of rider’s trials and tribulations as they struggle to mount from a block or a stone wall and then have to navigate the gauntlet of capricious horses playing in nearly paddocks. This past week I snuck in a bit of a break and swiveled away from the computer screen and stacks of saddles to watch Tom Curtin, his wife Trina, and assistant Clint who stopped to visit for a few days while they were doing a clinic in Massachusetts.
I have to tell you that after being in the horse business for well over thirty years, I have seen a lot. I have seen the fads, the training gadgets, the whisperers and the hollerers…Tom is a guy who can just ‘get it done’ in a very practical and sensible way. While I have often been impressed by trainers and clinicians who can talk a good game, Tom is able to demonstrate it every time he works with a horse.
I’m sure that many of the cowboys who have had to make their living from the back of a horse probably cringe a bit at the Eastern mentality where many of our horses have a collection of pastel blankets, herbal supplements, designer horse cookies and leg booties. I watched Tom working with a young rider on a horse that had perfected the art of bolting from the far end of the ring, and had discovered that a couple of well placed bucks could send the rider flying through the air. He made two points that were both valid and thought provoking. The first was that we tend to be pretty rude to our horses. How often have you seen a rider or handler carry on a conversation with another person without giving much attention to the horse that they were holding or sitting on? They wouldn’t behave that way in a group of people. The point was made that if you ignore your horse, perhaps you shouldn’t be surprised when the horse finds something else more entertaining and rewarding than standing like a respectful statue. Tom made the point that nothing happens “all of a sudden” and things happen when we have failed to pay attention to the warning signs. The second message that he offered was that it was a whole lot better to be “fair” to our horses than to be “nice”. I realized how many conflicting signals that we give to our horses- and the end result of those inconsistencies is that we really compromise the trust factor. When a horse cannot count on his rider to enforce the same rules all the time, regardless of the situation, the horse loses the advantage of having a leader that he can count on. When that happens, it is not surprising that a horse may occasionally decide that he needs to make his own decisions, rather than listening to a request from someone that has not proven reliable.
Tom advocates treating horses with ‘courtesy and respect’ and requires the same back from them. His consistency produces an end result that shows in his own horses who offer him the partnership that we all dream about. Whether I’m watching from the upstairs window, or from the saddle, I really enjoy watching a good horseman help develop teamwork between equestrians and their mounts!
2 Responses to “Reflections on Respect”
Ellen Jeffferies
Amen! Just try figuring out what someone wants you to do when they don’t speak english and you’re forced to guess based on their behavior!
More, if we only “count” in our “consistency score card” the time that we think we’re training, and don’t count the 95% of the time when we’re “not training” but with our horses, then our consistency is most likely non-existent from their point of view.
And don’t forget all the things that we inadvertantly teach. I just watched my husband Marc teach his young horse Sam to turn and face him when Marc said whoa asking Sam to stop. He didn’t want Sam to turn and face him, but it happened and the reward was delivered in that position. Now no matter what Marc does, Sam adjusts his position so they’re facing. And since Sam is very smart and not very forgiving, he’s sure he’s got it, and failure to deliver the reward is viewed as unfair. So, the lesson is learned, and because Sam’s a horse won’t be unlearned. But we can teach him a new trick, stopping and standing along side us, if we can be clever enuf to make that happen and reward the “new” behavior!
Ellen Jeffferies
p.s. Sam is wearing his new Killington III from Trumbull Mountain and is VERY VERY happy with it. We just made a major break thru in his training, after almost a year of struggling with the basic concepts of go forward, slow down, and stop. I am sure that the improved comfort of the saddle and balance of the rider has everything to do with this. Sam is so proud and happy, and so is Marc.
Thank you Edie and every one at Trumbull Mtn. for the time and effort you took finding a saddle that would work for this really difficult to fit pair!