What then, is the difference between someone who is ready to sell his dream of having a horse because he can't get his horse doing what he asks vs. someone who knows instantly what to do?

     Do you have to be born with a gift?  Nah.  That's not it at all.  Even the unlikeliest people become good at something that seems contrary to who they are...their appearance...their background...and so forth.

     After all, you see twin midgets who are real estate millionaires.  Foreigners move to other countries and become rich when they didn't have a dime in their pocket.  There are countless stories of people who "make it" when the odds were against them.

     How did they do it?

     Desire and action. 

     Knowledge is big piece of the puzzle too.  If these "winners" didn't have knowledge in their passion then they would struggle indefinitely.

     So it is with horse training.  You don't have to be born into a family of cowboys.  You don't have to be Colorado, Kentucky, California, or Australia.  Doesn't matter if you're male or female.  You don't have be poor or rich.  You just have to want to do it and then keep at it.  That's called desire and action.

     But what about the knowledge part?  Don't you have to have that to train horses.

     Yes,...you do.

     You can get that knowledge in lots of ways.  You can work with people who know about horses.  You can go to school for it.  You can buy books, tapes, and videos to learn from, etc.

     Can you learn as you go?  Yes...to a point.

     You must be careful with a green horse if you're just starting out.  After all, if you don't understand how to "work with" a horse you could mess him up.

     So what do you do?

     As I mentioned earlier you could have someone help you.  When I first started I called a friend to help me break a colt.  I was honest and told him I don't know what to do.  He gladly came over.

     He had me stand outside the round pen while I observed.  I observed a lot of hours worth of training. 

     After each session I'd ask "why did you do such and such?"  He'd tell me and soon it all began to make sense. 

     The more I learned from him the more I sought books on the subject and read them voraciously.  I became a good student of horse training.

     The thing I didn't like about my learning experience is this.  I did not find any one source that was a complete A to Z "How to train your horse" course.  Like most people, my learning experience consisted of pulling from hundreds of sources and piecing it together.

     That made it a little difficult to know if I was on the right track.  I kept questioning myself, "Is this right?  Should I start here?  Should I do this next?"

      The more I struggled to learn the better I got.  I think what made the biggest impression on me was understanding horse behavior for training purposes.

      For instance, if you're working with a nervous horse that spooks often you don't want to push that horse towards the object or situation in question.  Many people make the mistake of thinking their horse is being willful and therefore unwilling to comply with the handler's request.

      But the horse is actually being controlled and taken over by his instincts.  He isn't purposely thinking, "I ain't doin' what he wants me to do!" 

     Nope.

     If you have ever had the experience of being so frightened by something that it consumed your mind and you could think of nothing else....that's a glimpse into the horse's mind when he's frightened.

     A horse's perception is wildly magnified by his imagination.  And since he cannot reason like us humans, he only knows what he knows.  In his mind, the object inspiring his fear has the potential to consume him and cause him pain...perhaps his life.

     And since his mind can be  compared to a child to a great extent, all he knows is he's gotta get away before he gets hurt.  It is NOT an issue of disrespect to the handler - unless the horse has learned he can get away with what he wants due to mismanagement.

     So, to calm a frightened horse, there are proven things one can do.  One is to caress your horse in key places on the body and talk to him assuredly while he's experiencing fear.  It helps reassure him and gives him confidence. 

     Think of it this way.  If you have kids you'd know how they get scared of things.  Often, a child is scared of what's in his closet at night.  If you talk abrasively to him and force him to get out of bed to see for himself there's nothing there...and you slap him upside the head for not minding you...his fear will explode.  The stress he feels from that would be damaging.  Plus, he learned he can't depend on you to help him.  He has no confidence in you.

     But treat the same kid in a kind and understanding manner, and you have an entirely different picture.  For instance, if he's scared you talk to him in a soothing and reassuring manner.  You grab his hand and say "Let's look in your closet together.  I'll show you there's nothing there.  C'mon...I'll be right with you the whole time.  Nothing will hurt you."

     Big difference, isn't it!

     Thus, if you ride your horse past a bush waving in the wind and he spooks from it, that's the time to relax him, caress him, and talk to him soothingly.  Don't force him to the bush but give him confidence to go up to it.

     Those that misunderstand horse behavior may boot the horse forward and push him to that bush.  If the rider is wearing spurs he may get frustrated and thus mad. Then he may poke the horse with his spurs to try to force the horse to the spooky object.

     The horse is now experiencing fear from the bush and associates the bush with pain (the spurs digging into him).  He also associates an abrasive tone of voice from the rider and who knows what else. 

     The next time that  horse goes by the bush he will remember that experience and likely be even more fearful.  And if the rider continues his incorrect handling, the horse's fear will soon explode out of control.

     Now, had I known this when I first started working with horses, I could have saved a lot of time and frustration.  If there was a way I could know the information I NEEDED to know, it would have been great.  Instead, I just kept stumbling around learning what seemed appropriate. 

     Years later I discovered a way to know a lot - FAST!  I stumbled on information that I wish I would've found when I first started because I would be much farther ahead. (Not that I'm complaining)

    The information I'm talking about is Jesse Beery.  Be sure to read about it.

Jesse Beery -See our accidentally discovered 108 year old horse training manual