Emotional bank accounts.

[spotnnotfarm]

You mean this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w02XWe6W-6A Rex Peterson?

I'm not trying to be critical of you, but I am very critical of Rex Peterson. I think he's barbaric. And his "sugar string" is just as euphemistic as "carrot sticks" and "magic wands," only much more brutal.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=qceVQJ...eature=related

I am sorry, I did not see anything barbaric here. I have only heard of him through the movies but really did not see anything that bothered me in that clip. Did I miss something?

[Horsie]

I am sorry, I did not see anything barbaric here. I have only heard of him through the movies but really did not see anything that bothered me in that clip. Did I miss something?

The guy seems to use his war bridles/sugar string like he uses halters. Which is to say, all the time, on every horse. I think it's inappropriate to use one on an unbroke baby while he's dealing with his first saddle. I'm not crazy about the yelling and constant shanking and the "Hurts, don't it!" when it's a frightened baby having an understandable reaction to something it doesn't appear he's had much if any preparation for. I think, based on this video, this horse had an awful lot thrown at him all at once, without a whole lot of sympathy or patience and I imagine he's brain fried. While I'm well aware the horse doesn't speak English and has no idea what the trainer's saying, I think his words show an awful lot of contempt for the horse ("What's the matter, Bob, guilty conscience?" "Now you see me whackin on this horse . . . ") It's also clear they've edited out more than one smack with the whip.

I also don't like the idea of muscling a horse into a bow with a war bridle. I was always taught to teach it with treats (so it's a voluntary behavior, not a forced one) and SLOWLY so the horse has the time to build up the necessary muscle.

[atr]

Yes, we all make mistakes, but damn, if we are moral beings, we should feel guilty about those mistakes and learn from them, not just shrug them off with an "oh well, horsies are so forgiving," and move on to the next one.

[pAin't_Misbehavin']

I do not, at all, understand the notion that one should/can expect a trainer/mentor/guru/whatever to guarantee that we will NOT make mistakes.

But that's been a truism for ages, hasn't it? I was told from the time I first started training dogs that "a trainer always ruins his first dog." Don't horse trainers say the same thing?

[Bluey]

But that's been a truism for ages, hasn't it? I was told from the time I first started training dogs that "a trainer always ruins his first dog." Don't horse trainers say the same thing?

Not that I have heard, also not with dogs.

The way I heard it was, each dog/horse you learn so you are better and better for each one after them.

That doesn't mean you "ruined" the previous ones, just that you do a better job with each subsequent ones.

[saultgirl]

Not that I have heard, also not with dogs.

The way I heard it was, each dog/horse you learn so you are better and better for each one after them.

That doesn't mean you "ruined" the previous ones, just that you do a better job with each subsequent ones.

I have heard a trainer say "You will ruin a lot of horses before you really learn to ride.".

I don't think that means *totally* ruined, as in never-going-to-be normal, or totally broken, just that you will make a lot of mistakes, and there will be a lot of things you could have done better, and unfortunately, it's the horse that suffers (to whatever extent).

As long as you are trying to do right by your horse, and you are learning from your mistakes and improving yourself, it's nothing to beat yourself up over.

[GaitedGloryRider]

So this whole "your first horse is your sacrificial lamb deal", wouldn't it stand to reason that as you progress in your training and knowledge that you would in turn be able to undo some of the damage you've done? Or are you just supposed to offload the horse after the damage has been done and move on to the next learning experience?

And really how hard is it if you're just starting out, have gotten yourself an appropriate beginner's horse and have chosen a decent instructor, to keep from "sacrificing" that first horse to your mistakes?

I'm asking honestly here because that wasn't my experience at all with my first horse. I even committed the cardinal sin of getting a green 3yo with known behavioral issues for my first horse (rearing and bolting and yes I knew he did it before I bought him but was too stupid/inexperienced to care), and didn't have a trainer or instructor. I surely could have done a lot of things better but I don't feel like I sacrificed him at all. I've still got him fifteen years later and don't think I could ask for a better horse even despite all the mistakes I made with him starting out.

I guess I got lucky and found one that didn't know he was supposed to keep track of how much I was withdrawing from the emotional bank account as we both went through the initial learning curve.

[rainechyldes]

I once had a very very good trainer say to me..

"the day you think you know it all - is the day you'll ruin a horse."

I've never forgotten that in 40 years of training and re-training horses.

In my humble opinion, of course horses have memories, call it whatever you will , it's a basic function of most mammals. I've seen it work against people and for them..

We all hear about developing a partnership.
that starts at it's most basic.. with a memory.
and builds from there into behaviour, expectations, etc etc.

[SonnysMom]

The overall idea completely makes sense to me.

You try to build up as many confidence-building experiences as you can to cover you if you ever have to accidentally make a withdrawal (missing a distance, or whatever).

If most of your cumulative transactions are confidence-shaking, you will untrain your horse. If most of your cumulative transactions are confidence building, you can make a mistake and have enough in the bank account to bounce back.


It is a little ridiculous to knee jerk hate the Parellis SO MUCH that you lambast even the rare stuff they do say that makes perfect sense. Even if they do express themselves weird.

This is what I got out of the blog. Guess what as we learn to ride we do inadvertantly take a toll on our horses. Especially when we are beginner riders, even with the best instructors. I guess none of you ever bounced too hard on pony's back when you learned to post, never got left behind over a jump and accidently snagged your horses mouth etc..

Just last week I was grooming my horses face, the brush slipped in my hand and the wood side of the brush kinda clocked him in the middle of the forehead. Would I intentially hit my horse in the head, no. Was he originally concerned, yes. Did he chill out pretty quickly and "forgive" me? Yes. Was my mistake a withdrawl? So to speak- it sure wasn't a positive experience for him.

Any riding we do is sure not in the best interest of the horse. No horse NEEDS to be ridden. We ride for purely self reasons not because we need to ride, with very few exceptions nowdays for cowboys or similar. As part of riding and training horses we will frequently need to push a horse outside their comfort zone a little bit, both physically and mentally. It can be as simple as "yes, horsey, you can be by yourself in the barn, you can learn to accept a bit in your mouth, you can walk through this water, you can suck it up and get fly sprayed, have your cut taken care of, get wormed"
These are all things that the horse doesn't under why we are doing them. Most of them are for our benefit.

I don't think the blogger thinks her horse will connect the time off prior to her Colorado trip as a reward. I think she understands that giving the horse the time off so she is fresh and rested for the trip is good for the horse. Yes the blogger would prefer to be training and perfecting her demo stuff before the trip. But she understands that the horse needs a vacation and a time to be a horse before being asked to do what the rider wants.