Why horse training is like pigeon bones

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Did you know the bones of a pigeon
weigh less than its feathers?

Isn't that odd?

There are things in life that seem
like they shouldn't be the way they are.

Horse training can be like that.

In fact, just today I was working
on breaking a horse for a friend.

I was introducing the saddle blanket
to him so he'd get used to it before I move
on to the saddle.

As I entered the round pen with the
saddle blanket, the horse freaked out.

The way he reacted you'd a thought
I was going to beat him with it.

Anyway, I laid it down in the middle
of pen and walked away from it.

Why'd I do that?

Because while it sits there and does
nothing, the horse begins to see it's not gonna
eat him for lunch.

The horse became more comfortable with
it after a few mintues.

Then I went over to it and gave it a slight
kick to move it. The horse watched it move
and it set him in motion again.

After a few minutes, he was okay with
it.

Since I taught the horse to follow me...I
had the horse walk around the pen with me. We
walked big circles at first. Then we walked
smaller circles all the while getting closer to
the saddle blanket.

Before long, I had the horse eating
a small handful of sweetfeed off the blanket.

That's a little trick I learned in the
the Horse Trainer Owner's Manual. (See below)

Another technique I used is gradation.
(also in the Horse Trainer Owner's Manual)

Gradation is where you introduce bits
at a time instead of bites.

It's like the old age question: How do
you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

That wise old phrase applies to horse
training too.

You train a horse a little at a time -
that's what gradation is.

When I was introducing the saddle blanket
to the horse I shrunk his comfort level just a
little at a time.

I could tell when I exceeded his comfort
level too much because he would get fearful or
snort at the object.

So, I retreated the object of fear to
show it wasn't going to hurt him.

Then, I edged in on his comfort level
again. Each time going further than the last
until I could rub him all over his body with it.

Didn't take too long really.

Honestly, if you've never seen a horse
training technique in your life...but you under-
stood the nature of horses (like what's taught
in the Horse Trainer Owner's Manual), you could
create your own techniques.

Am I saying you don't need to learn any
horse training techniques?

Naw.

Knowing techniques is good...and fun.

I'm just saying the most important thing
you can learn about horses is their nature.

Techniques are surprisingly easy to see
how and why they work once you understand a horse's
nature.

That, in my mind, is the biggest key in
horse training.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,


Andy Curry
www.horsetrainingandtips.com


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