Training Philosophy

I came across this quote today and thought it summed up my training philosophy pretty well.  I do love each of these horses I'm so fortunate to work with.  Often I'll hear someone say that they "like a horse to be this way or that way".  While I definitely prefer that a horse has manners and won't, say, run me over when he gets distracted, it is really important to me to teach each individual horse in such a way that he keeps his own personality, rather than mold them all into something that responds the same way in each situation.

For example, Tao the haflinger who lives here thinks with his lips.  To really process an obstacle course he needs to snurffle all over it, sniffing, rubbing it with his lips, and then tasting it.  Same goes for new equipment and new people.  If he doesn't understand something, his first inclination is to stop and look at the human handling him.  This is how he tells me he doesn't "get it", and I need to explain it better, or differently.

Samson, my warmblood, requires a lot of personal space.  He doesn't mind being rubbed on the face, but generally he doesn't let people or horses touch him anywhere on his body, and he very rarely touches anyone else.  (He lets me do what I need to with him, though, he is willing to cooperate with me.) 

Major, one of my thoroughbreds is exquisitely sensitive to touch, whether that is tack and pad fitting, patting, or grooming.  If he doesn't like the curry being used, he will turn his head and stare at first me, then the curry.  If I don't listen he'll gently stomp a foot or take the item with his lips and shake it.  When he does like the grooming, he'll stretch his neck out as far as he can and lean into the brush.

June, a Quarter horse mare who was with me for a few years was all business.  She didn't want to be snuggled, groomed, or hand-grazed.  She wanted to come out, get to work, and when work was done be put straight away. 

Each of these horses is SO different, but I love each of them as they are perfectly themselves.  Tao and his snurffly lips, Major and his expressiveness, Samson and his respectful space, June and her work ethic.  I suppose if I liked every horse to behave a certain way, I would stick to only one breed and the horses who would succeed at my place would fit in that mold.  However, if all my horses ended up cookie-cutters of each other and I only loved the ones who fit the mold, really I would only be loving the reflection of myself I found in them.  This is part of what I enjoy about working with so many breeds, sizes, temperaments, and kinds of horses.  Each one teaches me how to be a better trainer and how better to communicate with them as individuals.