Horses have led an amazing existence. Starting at the size of a small dog and hopping through the forests this incredibly adaptive being evolved to live and run on the plains.
Long legs, powerhouse at the back, exceptional vision and an amiable nature all led the horse to be perfect for domestication. It is thought in some circles that the horse actually chose domestication which certainly meant that the horse survival rate increased but at what cost? As a prey animal (one that is eaten and does not eat meat) and a born claustrophobe it begs the question 'do we keep it in appropriate conditions'?
Of course generally all who have horses love them and certainly want to do the best by them, but have we ever thought about how we actually look after them?
Do we give them what we would like? – (nice warm bed, lots to eat in meal sized portions).
Or what they like? – open spaces, 24 hour grazing and companionship.
In Cathy’s opinion much of what is done to horses these days is done just because it has always been done that way. This may have been acceptable in the past but in this day and age it is a little short sighted. Interest in behaviour has grown over the last eight years and it is now up to you to become the thinking horseperson. Cathy encourages questions, and believes that everyone should ask the question 'Why?' about everything they do. To understand the answer fully, ensure that it fits with the free and roaming horse and then make an informed decision as to whether to follow everybody else or step out on your own "for the good of the horse".
For example: haynets – many people use them, why?
For the good of the horse? Or for the ease of the human?
Horses should eat off the ground, which is how they were designed to eat. This helps with their musculature, state of the back, feet and teeth and indeed helps the respiratory system.
So how does domesticated behaviour differ from free natural behaviour?
- Put a born claustrophobe in a confined space and problems will occur.
- Take it away from friends and give it solitary confinement and problems will occur.
It is Cathy’s belief that behaviour problems occur through pain, fear or confusion, and in each of these categories stress is a main factor. Lower stress levels and the issue becomes less. Most behavioural problems that she has to deal with can be mostly eradicated by working with the horse from the ground. Problems such as: - biting, barging, rearing, bucking, not loading, spookiness (and the list goes on) can be greatly helped by the many easy techniques that Cathy uses.
When working with horses Cathy always considers the horse in its natural environment and when presented with a seemingly insoluble problem will always ask how the horse himself left in his natural state would react and cope with the issue.
Things to consider are:
- The horse is a flight animal
- He is a herd/family animal
- He is an 'into' pressure animal
- He is a trickle feeder
- Most problems stem from pain, fear or confusion
- He is vision driven - his sight is very different from ours
- His senses are more acute than ours
-
He responds to fear in one of 4 main ways
Flight, Fight, Freeze, Faint
Having a horse that will not load has to be one of the most frustrating problems for many riders, especially if they compete or have no local hacking. Yet it is also one of the most common problems, for which the general pool of 'advice' ranges from using lunge lines, brute force, feeding in the box and of course the chiffney. None of these methods is actually training the horse to load better, sure they may work on a one off basis, but generally the problem still exists the next time.
Cathy is well known for her abilities in 'training' horses to load, such that they will do it time and time again. She has had major articles published on this topic and has loaded 100's of horses. Again, the focus is not just on the horse, but on the owner, ensuring that they understand the methods used and can apply them where and whenever needed.
Cathy now has a new video out called ‘Helping Your Horse to Load’.
Horses that do not lead properly often become bargy, and this in turn can often be the root cause of many problems.
They often will not load and they can cause accidents.
The problem here is that they do not know where their boundaries are and like children, feel happier when they do.
They are allowed to pull their owner around one minute, and are reprimanded for it the next.
Of course, all the owner can do is try and use brute force but this is always going to be a losing battle.
Funny thing is, when asked, 99% of owners say their horse leads fine!!
Again, Cathy is able to train the horse and the owner with often dramatic effects. Once the horse is shown exactly where his boundaries are, he will lead beautifully. Once the owner understands why their horse did not know what was being asked of him, they can work with him to great effect, thus improving their relationship and making it a safer one.
This is probably one of the most important times in a horse's training and can set the tone for future schooling. Given that what we are asking of him is so significant (to get on his back), the easier we can make this process the better (for the horse) and the safer for everyone.
'Starting' as we like to call it (just consider what 'breaking' means!) should be a process which introduces horse to rider in a considerate, progressive manner allowing the horse to retain his confidence and balance. Using 'holistic' methods the time taken to start a horse can well be less than traditional 'breaking' methods. However, this does not mean that it is done in under 30 minutes. This should merely be part of a process. Whilst Cathy uses roundpen and other methods where appropriate, this is entirely dependent on the individual horse.
