I was once asked about my thoughts on winning and losing when it comes to training horses. The question came from another trainer who believed that you should never let a horse win.
I was visiting a friend who had a small child. The kid was speaking to her mum, “bufjad doowki cetlu.” I had no idea what it was saying. But her mum had no trouble and reached to pass the kid another slice of sweet apple. In what dictionary did those words come from????
A few years ago I was responding to a question on a horseman list on the internet. In response to one particular question I made an inadvertent and off-the-cuff remark to the effect that it wasn't my desire to have my horse "plodding around like an old pack horse."
I believe that to become a partner with our horse and work as a unit we need to understand the nuances of how a horse’s brain operates. As I have said many times, a horse is only a brain with four legs.
I notice that very many schools of riding and training continue to focus largely on how a rider sits. If a rider does not sit well a horse cannot move correctly and can’t balance correctly. Almost everything that is wrong with a horse’s movement and balance can be corrected by how a rider rides.
I spend most of my time with horses trying to help them view work with me as easy. I strive to make it something that causes them no more bother than to be standing in the paddock on a warm day. That’s my goal and what I work on every moment.
