Summer 2009 Newsletter

I returned from America in May, full of enthusiasm as always for the work that I do with horses, whether teaching or taking horses in for training. As Joe Wolter says “The learning process never ends”, which is why I want to share with you a taste of my learning in America which enhances the work that I do with horses here in England. I’m very thankful to Joe and Harry for the knowledge they have passed onto me while they too, continue to learn.

 (Click on photos to see them full size)

Here (above left) Joe has just stepped onto a colt for its second ever ride. In Joe’s words, some of what he is doing here is “Helping this youngster to gain confidence while getting something done and presenting things in a manner that fits the individual horse”. As an observer, I enjoyed the way Joe constantly offered horses a feel to follow through his hands, his body and his manner. I chose both of these pictures because they show the softness in a horse which is possible when they understand what we are asking of them. In the second photo the 2 year old filly is learning to follow the feel of the lariat around her neck. The filly is learning this after Joe lassoed her off the colt on his second ride.

When I was a child I remember my Grandad saying “Anna it’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it”. I have always kept this in mind in my work with horses and here in these two photos, what impressed me, was just that. It’s not necessarily what Joe is doing that is impressive but the way that he is doing it. Both of these horses gained clarity, understanding and confidence in what Joe was asking of them.

"Let what we want feel really good to the horse".

Here, Tuff the palomino, is trying out his options, regards to loading into the trailer or not. Buck, his owner, has set up a situation for Tuff to realise that being in the trailer feels good to him. In situations like this it’s interesting to see how far away a horse can search for the trailer and then line out straight through their body and load themselves.

Above right, Chris learns more detailed information from Joe about lassoing cattle.

I spent the week partly returning to subtleties in the way I ask things of a horse such as working on things like getting our horse’s attention without picking up a rein or halter rope or asking the horse to rock their weight off each foot at a time without actually moving any foot. It’s this subtle communication that has always fascinated me. To add to this, Joe emphasises the importance of simply preparing a horse to do something, get him ready and then letting him do it himself.

Here are some of the things which I always try to learn more about and were confirmed during my time riding with joe Wolter:

Help a horse to get in the right frame of mind.

Build on the good in the horse, to build the relationship between horse and the human. Then in a troubling situation we have a place to go back to, for the horse to find comfort in us.

If we come up against a wall then we need to get with the horse’s mind instead of build in confrontation. This doesn’t mean let the horse take over though.

What happened before what happened happened? Asking ourselves why did a horse just do something. Then prioritise helping the horse to feel better about the situation.