Always and Never...

From Jim: There are a few things that are absolute. Slaughter of equines is always wrong. You should never beat a horse. Stuff like that, obvious and worth the big DUH. There are also a lot of wobblers. They get a soft blurry "sometimes". Training techniques fit the maybe/maybe not category, depends on the horse and the trainer. I know it's sure better to know what you're doing and feel confident with it, than to try the latest and greatest and hope you get it right. New skills and ideas are wonderful and we should all try to be life-long learners. We owe it to the horses to take the time to master the technique and practice it before we switch up on the animal. That means slow and easy, with an eye on making few and little mistakes and backing off when we see we're not getting where we want to go. Horses are pretty good at letting us know when we're communicating effectively. That's always on us! It is never the horse's fault! Patience, time, and practice. Slow, deliberate, sequential steps. Review and reteaching. Gentle, firm insistent demands. Quick reward and immediate appropriate reprimand. Checking for understanding. These are the bits and pieces of working with horses-no matter which technique. The bad old days of busting horses is gone-hopefully forever. We still get horses that have been abused terribly, covered with scars and sweeneys, lumps and bumps. The folks that did that aren't horsemen/women. They're just abusers. Abuse is never OK. Safety is always a priority. Horses live a long time. If you're not up for a long period of training and teaching, you might want a gold-fish or a canary. Horses have great memories. They learn well and retain for a long time. They will also try you out. It's their way. Be steady, consistent, and clear in what you want and, generally, they'll go along. Get angry or upset or, worse, afraid and it will be a step backwards. Remember, they are always a horse, never a human.