In This Magazine Issue:
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1. You Can’t Blame It On The Horse (All The Time)
2. How To Know You’re Buying The RIGHT Horse
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1. You Can’t Blame It On The Horse (All The Time)
My friend and horse training guru Andy Curry gives us this report:
It’s common.
A horse won’t do somethin’ and it’s their fault.
Or is it?…
You know, a horse is basically perfect in every sense.
What I mean is…before we get our hands on ’em, they can already do what what we want them to do. (for the most part).
They already know how to back up, move forward, turn, etc.
But when you throw the human in the equation,…look out.
Everything’s different.
We think the horse oughta do what we ask because we know what we want…so why doesn’t the horse do it?
The lesson is, he “CAN” do it, but we just haven’t explained what we want and how we want it done.
That’s bascically what training is all about.
First, the horse has to know what you want.
And when you’re sittin’ there kissin’ to ’em, they’re trying to figure out what you want.
To make it clear what you want…
“Do everything you
can to set your horse
up to successfully do
what you asked.”
That means if you want him to, say, lunge to the left then you better give him a big, convenient opening so he can move that direction.
Make it so danged easy for him to go to left that he does it.
And when he does, let him do it.
Stop kissing to him so he “clearly” knows that’s what you wanted.
This is the case whenever you work with a horse.
Early on, horses don’t know their leads, don’t know how to balance under you, so it’s up to us to stay centered and squared so they can do their job.
This is one of the points Kenny Scott reveals in his DVD about controlling all four corners of your horse.
If you want to know more about Kenny, click on the following:
We must remember that if the horse didn’t do right,… whose fault was it?
Did we explain it well enough?
Does he really know what you’re asking?
Did you get in his way?
Who’s to blame here?
Our human egos get in the way and fool us into believing the horse is dumb.
“He should know that!”, we angrily say to ourselves.
But…should he?
If it was explained to him day after day through repetition… then yes!, he should know it as long as he’s been doing it.
Frankly, if your horse isn’t doing some- thing, it’s high time we look at ourselves.
I’m gonna tell you something you may not wanna hear. And that is this.
If your horse is doing something you don’t want him doing, or doesn’t do something you want him to do…
“The First Place To
Look To Correct The
Problem Is Yourself.”
Here’s a for instance.
I got an email from a subscriber who said her new horse was “great for the first 2 weeks.”
Slowly and steadily he became pushy and pinned ears at her, and so on.
After checking into it, this horse owner was not taking the leadership role.
She did a few things to kill her position as her horse’s boss and now the horse was boss.
Unfortunately, this horse owner should have read up on her subject and learned as much as she could.
Now, I ain’t sayin’ a horse’s problem is always the owner’s fault.
I’m just sayin’ that’s the first place to look to correct the problem.
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2. How To Know You’re Buying The RIGHT Horse
If you’ve been around horses for years, handled many, trained some, took care of ’em, etc…. then you most likely have a pretty good idea of what to look for in a horse.
You’ve seen many different horses with different dispositions and attitudes, seen sick ones, and probably rode many breeds and have a good deal of understanding about ones you’d like to have for your own.
Let’s face it – knowledge and experience is invaluable.
However, if you’re a little green and don’t know horses that well but you want to get your own…. how do you choose?
Even a better question… what questions do you NEED to ask and what considerations are there for picking the right horse?
My Dad used to say “You can make the right decision, the wrong decision or do nothing.”
Buyin’ a horse should not be a snap decision if you don’t know what you’re doing. Between less-than-honest sellers, lack of training, bad dispositions, sickness or lameness, etc… there’s LOTS of ways to make the wrong choice!
And, if you don’t know the costs involved beyond buyin’ the horse, you just might be in for a real surprise. Keeping horses isn’t cheap… even if you already have your own place to keep them.
Perhaps you’re a parent and your child keeps asking for a pony.
If you’ve decided to go ahead – how do you choose?
So how do you know you’ve found the right horse for your situation?
You start with some basic questions – asking yourself first why you want a horse, what you want to do with it, where you’re going to keep it, how much time you have in your schedule to care for it, etc.
You really need to answer those questions honestly before you proceed.
You then move into the next phase of gaining knowledge about horses, breeds, basic care, etc.
Don’t get me wrong… owning horses can be great. Millions have horses and love them. But a good percentage of the first-time horse owners wouldn’t make the same decision if asked. Mostly because they rushed the decision to buy and didn’t check the horse out enough before they brought ’em home.
If you have your heart set on buyin’ a horse then do it.
Just don’t do it blindly and hope things will work out.
The worst thing you could do is choose the wrong horse and be disappointed – or worse either broke or hurt.
We wrote our new book to help you along the way. This is no hard sell for the book. Buy I promise you that you won’t be sorry you bought it. Either you get 10 times the value from the book that you pay for it or I’ll refund your money.
Fair enough?
“How To Find, Select And Buy Your First Horse”
How To Buy A Horse
That’s it for today… have a good week.
Stay safe around your horses,
Charlie
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Just learning, or want to learn, to ride?
Here’s the best way to start before you mount for the first time. You’ll learn more in just a few hours than many times the cost of the book in lessons.
It’s not a substitute for lessons – it just gets you started before you start. Your instructor will be impressed with your knowledge… a nice position to be in!
Horseback Riding: The Complete Beginner’s Guide
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