Did You Know...

Have the Attitude, to gain the Confidence, to acquire Knowledge, to earn Respect.

Joyce Fox

Your Horse

By Joyce Fox

Your horse has emotions just like people, and do parallel many of the same traits. Their brains however do not work the same. They experience trust, fear, and caution. They are not vindictive lying in wait to get even with you for something that happened yesterday. They simply learn what they can and can not do around you/people, and process from there. Their sense of feel is great, they tolerate, and overcome many injuries. However, they do not see, or hear like humans.

The way horses correct themselves in a herd is severe, and vital to their survival. The horses main defense is running from whatever is threatening them. Kicking and biting can provide them some protection but, it is mostly used to instill respect and maintain order in the herd or when they are left no choice but to fight. In domesticated herds today we as owners are responsible to make sure the weaker horses get fed, but in the wild they would be slowly weeded out by predators. Thus making the herd as a whole stronger. I believe the dominance trait is passed on from mares to their foals.

The horses brain isn't like the logical thinking brains of humans. They are simple thinkers. Most horses are not bad in the beginning but, are taught the bad behavior, and can be fixed but it will take time, consistency, and may never completely go away. Then there are others that are just bad for whatever reason and just should not be messed with. No horse is worth your safety. There are many, good horses out there. Find one you like, and then make your relationship work by investing in educating yourself, so you can communicate with the horse you have now, and many more horses down the road.

Each horse is a little different in abilities and will make you learn new ways to teach them the things you need. It has been said you never truly understand a subject until you are required to teach it. I believe this to be especially true with horse training. I also believe you are not a true horseman until you understand how to see the world through your horses eyes. There is a difference between understanding the principals of good horsemanship and being a true horseman.

Your horse is a reactive thinker. He is not vindictive nor will he plot and evil plan to get even with you. If your horse is laying in wait to get you, it is because you have taught him to. While this is a hard pill for some to swallow it is true, most horses and people for that matter are bad or poorly mannered because they were not taught to behave in a positive manner.
Your horses mind works like this: because event B followed event A,
event A must have caused event B.
Example: Say your horse is humping or jumping around while you are cantering him.
You are so scared you pull him up and stop him for a couple of minutes to gather yourself, or worse you get off.
What do you think you just taught your horse?
The answer: If I hump and jump around I will get to rest or she will get off me.
This also does something for your mind. This horse bucks and I can’t ride him.
First of all if he did not buck you off. He was just checking to see what he can get away with,
because when your 1200 lb horse truly decides he is going to buck you off, trust me he will!
Just like when your 1200 lb horse decides he is going to pull away from you, he will.
Taking away his need to do all these things is truly our goal as horsemen and women.

We don’t want to break his spirit, or have to ride him for 5 miles to get him tired enough to respect us. We want him to trust us to be his leader, and want to be with us. Horses instinctively follow and follow willingly. So lets go back to our horse who was checking out the consequences of humping or jumping around a little while we were cantering. What we want to do is make the thing that follows the humping so uncomfortable/difficult for your horse, he doesn’t want to try that again and is happy to simply canter along. The correction can be anything from pulling your horse around in small circle and kicking him, scolding him with your voice, slapping with your reins, or spurring him, depending on your riding ability, but stopping is not an option. The feet must keep moving, putting that energy to positive use. Much of this correction should remind him of his ground work when you were beginning his training and making corrections to his behavior then. When your ground work is done correctly everything is used as building blocks for the rest of his Education.
The first block is trust, the second block is respect, and the third block is willingness.
You must earn each of these blocks before your horse will start to respond to you.

Going At your Horses’ Pace

Joyce Fox

Every person learns at a different pace. Horses are the same way except they can’t tell you "I don’t understand you're going to fast, I’m confused", or can they???

Picture a young child who has never been away from his mother or home, going to pre-school the first day. A sight many of us as parents have experienced first hand. It can be traumatic for them, and certainly does not put them in a mental state to learn grand lessons.

When we get a new horse or start a young colt, it is traumatic for them just like the preschooler. The separation from his buddies, new environment, and then a human making all kinds of strange movements. It is easy to get in to big a hurry and rush your horse, because we want to ride. While your horse can not speak to you in English, if you pay attention he can certainly tell you how he is feeling, and what he understands. His head is the most prominent communication tool he has. If it is up and tense he is not comfortable even if he is standing for you. Keep working until his head is relaxed. Be sure that you don’t move on to the next lesson until the first one is learned and the horse is comfortable with the new skill. Like our preschooler it wouldn’t make much since to teach multiplication to a child that doesn't know his numbers or how to count. We as horse trainers must learn to communicate through a language that you and your horse build over time with practice, patience, and a promise from you to go at a pace that is your horses.

How Horses See

     Horses do not see like humans. The equine eye is the largest of all land mammals. Whales, Seals, and the Ostrich are the only other animals with larger eyes. On the Snellen scale, used for human vision we consider perfect sight at twenty feet to be 20/20. Using this scale a horse would have 20/30 vision, a dog has 20/50, a cat 20/75, and rats have 20/300. This allows your horse to pick up on the slightest movements at father distances than we humans. Making windy days more interesting on young horses, with less training and confidence in their human leaders.
     Horses also have two types of vision Monocular which means that they can see independently all the way around them with either eye with very few blind spots. Thus the reason for the term “Make sure you train both eyes.” The second type of vision is used when horses graze or needs to look down his nose, and is called Binocular and allows both eyes to focus on the same area. While this field of vision is narrow, it is believed to allow for better depth perception. One reason you should flex your horses nose when asking him to cross a ditch, if his depth perception is used, he might not feel the need to rare back and jump six feet to cross a six inch ditch. A fun test for you to try is walk toward a wall with one eye closed and then open both eyes and you can see the difference two eyes can make. It is assumed that the horse can only use one type of vision at a time, and that is why you will sometimes see horses bobbing their heads up and down. They are checking to see which vision will give them the best view of whatever may be threatening them. Other indications that horses only use one type of vision at a time is, dressage horses practicing a freestyle routine have been witnessed cantering around the arena, on the bit, and collided head on because they simply could not see.
     The placement of horses eyes on either side of its head is also very important of your horses utilization of these types of vision. A horse with a big wide eye set will have better vision than one that is narrow and pig eyed. I believe the horses with the better vision are much calmer and easier to train because they are not startled as easily as the horse with poorer vision. Your horse does have some blind spots you should be aware of.

One is right in front of the forehead. One way you can tell if your horse is beginning to trust you during early training, is if he will stand relaxed for you to touch him in the blind spot on the forehead.
Another blind spot is directly behind your horse. The reason you should always speak to you horse as you approach from the rear.
The other place your horse can not see is the center of his back, if you the rider can not see either eye he can not see you.

     When you are training a horse to collect on the bit and you are having trouble getting him to willing do this, realize that when a horses head is flexed at the poll his head will be at right angles with the ground, which means that he can only see straight in front of him down his nose towards the ground. Recent research found that this blind spot is about the width of his body. This means that he must have enough trust in you to allow you to guide him around because he is basically working blind.
     How much detail and color can horses see? Since the horse can not tell us, just what they can and can not see, and their vision is bound to very from horse to horse, the only way we can tell is by research, trial, and error. Researchers using a method of placing rewards behind a trap door, tested how much detail a horse could see by placing stripes on the door. The horse was trained to choose the striped door over the plain one for a food reward. They varied the thickness of the stripes until they were so fine, the horse could not distinguish the striped door from the grey door. From the results, they discovered that horses can see detail as well as humans, perhaps better! The researchers were challenged when coming up with a way to test for color. To do this test they asked the horse to select a color on a grey background that they could vary from light to dark. They discovered that the horse could always pick out red or blue regardless of what the background was like. However, the horses would only pick yellow and green reliably when they were brighter than the background. If the brightness of the colors was equal to the grey background, some horses couldn’t pick these colors as easily. A few could tell the difference between the yellow and green while others could not, so the results were mixed. It is believed that most horses can see some degree of some colors. In my own experience, I had a horse that did not mind anything you wanted to do with a brown colored slicker, but if you did the same thing with a yellow slicker, he didn’t like it and would shy away from it. So I do believe there is some degree of either color or brightness that effects them.
     Night vision. Horses are most active in the day and don’t tend to roam a lot in the dark under normal conditions. Whether it is because of poorer vision or something else I do not know. I am sure that they can see better than humans in the dark, but horses eyes do not adjust very quickly between light and darkness. If you are asking your horse to load in a dark trailer or enter into a thick wooded path it may look like you are asking him to cross into a dark pit. It may require you getting off and going in first to show him he will live. Same thing in crossing ditches, if you don’t let him take a look, it may look like a bottomless cavern to him.
     Bare your horses vision in mind as you are riding and training your horse and maybe you will be able to see a better way to ride.

Your Rhythm is The Only Routine Your Horse Needs

By Joyce Fox

You are standing in line to board a flight. The lady in line in front of you is telling her child that everything is “ok” holding her hand as if she were going to break it off. Repeating herself over and over. The little girl is obviously getting more frighten the closer they get to the door, as she watches the person she has been trained to trust and respect as her leader and role model is scared to tears.

The point is you are the woman and your horse is the child. When ever something scary happens or something is making you nervous, you can transmit the same feelings to your horse, as well as other people. You have worked to build a relationship of trust with your horse. If every time something in your normal routine changes, you freak out, so will your horse. Which teaches your horse to relate to the situation with fear each time it occurs.

Because people anticipate problems, I see people who don’t go on a trail ride because they might have to go up a steep bank or cross a ditch. People who don’t want to show because their horse might act up and embarrass them, causing them to miss out on so much. Learn to control your own emotions and adrenaline, and your horse will be less inclined to react with his adrenaline. As I talked about in (“How Horses See” below) your horse can see movement much quicker than you and is very sensitive to your movements, even seem to sense your thoughts before you move. Whether it’s a twitch of your eyes, slightly leaning forward or whatever you do to prepare to ask for a change, a horse that is tuned into you will react so fast you can’t change your mind, even in a split second.

Then there are those who think they can keep there horse feeling safe by trying to bombproof them to every change or situation. While this is a good thing, you can’t possibly plan for every surprise. So as you are bomb proofing realize that you are also bomb proofing yourself. By gaining the confidence that you can work through issues with your horse, if you just look at things from his perspective, remain calm, and rhythmic.

It is very hard for most people to remain calm when their horse thinks there is a scary thing or feels he is threatened, but if you can manage to remain calm, your horse will soon learn to trust you and remain calm. Learn things to do to get your horses mind back between your legs. Learn not to anticipate what might happen and, in that anticipating, make it happen. Say you are going to catch your horse a cold windy morning. You know he is going to be fresh and might buck. You can bet that the horse will live up to your expectations if you are nervous and jumpy. If you act like it is just an ordinary morning no different than any other, you will communicate a feeling of rhythm and relaxation just like any other morning, and likely will have a much calmer ride.

That feeling of relaxation and rhythm is basic to everything else you want to do with him. The horse is going to relate his feelings about everything that happens to him to your feelings and attitudes. So pay attention to your attitude and keep it the same all the time. Keep your attitude and your body language in tune with the feelings you want to communicate to the horse. No matter what changes in your horses environment make sure you have the same routine with your horse, that allows him to respect your judgment, and you will see your horse trust and count on you to be the leader.

So the next time you're trying to figure out how to keep your horse’s adrenaline from surging when something startling happens, figure out what you need to do to keep your own adrenaline level down. You want to convey that feeling of “everything is routine and predictable” to the horse no matter what else is going on.

Energy
By Ken Jones, MyEquineNetwork.com Contributing Writer

Our level of horsemanship is measured by the relationship we have with horses. The results of our interactions and intentions with our horses are accomplished by the amount of energy received, and understood, by the horse. Our abilities to communicate intentions to the horse are key to the experience we enjoy. Leadership, knowledge and understanding allow for the flow of energy to our horses. The better the understanding, the better it is received, and the less energy required to get across our intentions.

I like for my students to think of themselves as in charge of the relationship, and that it is their job to transfer their intentions to the horse. In other words, the human is sending energy to the horse. Our relationship with our horses is about movement. Whether we are leading, riding or just moving our hand back and forth rubbing our horse, it is still about movement. Movement requires energy, and that energy has to come from the human to the horse. We want horses to be receptors of the energy and carry out our intentions with willing minds. I see this as the big lesson in learning to communicate with horses.

I think the mistake that most people make in the beginning is that they (the rider) try to control the horse’s own energy. If the rider takes on that roll, then they are already behind. In their mind, the horse is in charge and they are trying to catch up by taking charge of the horse’s energy and controlling it. Ask yourself the question, in that case, who is driving this interaction and who is re-acting? The rider is in the mental situation of having to get out in front of the energy and slow the horse down or change its direction. It’s like having a runaway car and controlling it by using the brakes instead of the gas pedal.

When we take the position of leadership, on the ground or in the saddle, and we have the confidence in ourselves and in our horses, we are sending energy to the horse - driving the movement. Through knowledge, respect and trust, the horse is responding to our intentions at just the right speed and direction. It is a more free and positive relationship than the other way around. There is no limit to how wonderful it can be. How all of this happens? That is what I call the pursuit of Horsemanship.

A Whispering Rope

By Ken Jones, MyEquineNetwork.com Contributing Writer

Ropes have long been a part of the Cowboy’s image and war bag. Ropes are essential to those who make a living around horses and cattle, but most people today who own horses are mystified, and sometimes intimidated, by a rope. I’d like to take away some of the mystery and encourage you to learn a little “ropesmanship” for the benefit of you and your horse.

Most of the time, your use of a rope doesn’t involve “roping” anything. I like to think of a rope and an energy conduit. The energy we create can be channeled and directed through the rope. The great thing about this is that ropes send the message, or energy, to our horses much better than we can alone.

I’d like to offer some simple exercises to help you begin to master the rope. Start with a lead rope. We all need a lead rope on our halter and we use it for leading, tying and desensitizing. It’s good to have a 12’ lead rope. That seems to be the perfect length to be an all around tool. Longer and the rope is very hard to manage, and any shorter severely limits our ability to create energy and funnel it to the horse. When I talk about “spinning” I’m talking about one length of rope, not a loop or hondo on the end, just a single piece of rope.

It’s also important to have a rope of the correct weight as we spin the rope in circles around us. We want enough weight in our rope to actually give itself energy. In other words, it helps itself around. When our rope is too light, it only spins as much as our arm puts out. If the rope is heavier, centrifugal force gives it power, and it amplifies in the direction we send it. Sometimes this weight is referred to as “body” where it has a little spring and creates its own energy when you move it.

When picking a lead rope make sure it is heavy enough to hang straight and true. When you spin it you can feel the power and energy in the end of it. There are several styles of Nylon Yacht braid that are wonderful for this purpose. In general, cotton and poly do not work as well.

Beginning the exercises, take the 12 foot rope and hold the middle of the rope in your right hand. Take that middle part and with your thumb and forefinger pointing to the end of the rope that is away from you, spin it in a clock wise direction over your head. Make sure the rope extends straight and true and that your hand doesn’t get ahead of the end of the rope. This will create a very even, rhythmical spin. When this is feeling comfortable aim the end of your rope, at the full extension of your arm’s spin, at the object you want to send the energy to. Start by using a fence post, rock or other inanimate object, until you master this. Repeat this in a counter clockwise spin.

After this becomes easy then change your grip and run the rope through your hands with your pinky finger closest to the end of the rope, and the end that runs closest to you coming out of your palm, through the forefinger and thumb. Repeat the spins in each direction, until you are comfortable and in control of the speed and direction of the spin.

It is important to repeat this with your “off hand” as well, until you feel coordinated and comfortable handling the rope. Once you can do this with finesse and control, it is time to take it to your horse and practice groundwork exercises. When you are directing your horse to the right, spin the rope in your left hand, and when you are directing your horse to the left, use your right hand. This sends the energy to the end of the horse and propels him in the direction you want him to go. A little effort from you can turn into big energy for your horse. It is important to control this because your horse will be reacting to it. Learn how much it takes for a walk, trot or canter in the round pen. It will be different for every horse, but it is up to you to learn how your horse processes the information and to act accordingly. Your core body position is also important in the round pen, but more on that later. Just learn to use the rope.

If this skill is new to you, it will improve your horsemanship by 1,000 percent.

Teaching kids is like training horses
MARY-ELLEN LANG:
CBC News Viewpoint

Mary-Ellen Lang delights in being a mom, grandma, writer, teacher, gardener, and equestrian, usually in about that order. She has been teaching since 1972, and writing since 1980. Two of her three (award winning, Young Adult) novels are published in many languages in Europe, the USA and Canada.

Years ago, I was newly single, raising three children on my own, unemployed, poor as a mole, and up in Campbell River, B.C., where I was trying to land a teaching job. "What is your teaching philosophy?" the interviewer asked.

Well, finally an easy question. How would I approach the task of educating teenagers? I had given this some thought; I followed the advice my first editor had once given me about writing stories: "Go with what you know."

"Teaching kids," I said, "is a lot like training horses."

Almost 20 years and several thousand students later, I still think this. The principles you apply to the training of horses are the very same ones you could apply to humans. What works for one works as well for the other.

First of all, anyone with a brain would want a horse to have an open, eager and honest attitude to the work. Otherwise, a miserable-minded, bad-spirited animal could easily kill you. In order to create a good attitude to begin with, your horse has to trust you, has to know you aren't going to do anything mean, incomprehensible or inappropriate. You encourage trust and good faith in a horse by treating it fairly, calmly and with purpose. Furthermore, you communicate clearly, so the horse understands what you want.

Same thing with kids. They can't or won't learn what you want them to if they don't trust you. If they're frightened, angry, confused, humiliated or bored, they won't invest themselves honestly in what you're trying to teach them. Trust is the bottom line in both horses and kids.

Out of trust comes courage. A horse will try to do just about anything you ask if it trusts you. Assuming you know your horse well enough to know what is and what is not within its talent and ability range, and will not ask something crazy of it (you wouldn't ask Muffy the pony to keep up with Big Ben), you can expect an honest horse to be brave enough to attempt the work. The horse knows its attempt will be respected. The trainer knows that after some attempts, the horse will acquire and then master the desired skills.

Similarly, students will develop and exercise courage, and attempt all sorts of tasks in direct proportion to the trust they place in an instructor.

Horses must learn enough self-discipline to stand while tied, without fussing or fighting. Soon enough, if handled right, the horse discovers that it is to its advantage to co-operate with its handlers. Horses get everything from new shoes to baths to backrubs while tied. Once they learn to be patient and stand quietly, all sorts of good things can then begin.

This point does not have quite the same easy transfer to human behaviour, especially small boy behavior. Sitting still can be hell. However, within reason, when a child is able to tolerate periodic stretches of quiet stillness, good things will follow. Good things such as story times, naps, cookies, listening skills and, later, concentrated and uninterrupted thinking.

Riding horses are typically "schooled" in enclosures, so they can safely learn necessary cues and skills from riders. Horses are taught to walk straight, back up, side-pass, trot, canter, circle, bend, collect and extend as asked. This sort of training is intensive, and eventually also incredibly boring to a horse. If overdone, horses become "ring sour." They're miserable, sore and cranky-minded. It's always the fault of the rider or trainer.

A ring-sour horse needs to go on some trail rides, needs to blow off steam, see the world, enjoy being a horse, and apply its training to some real-life situations. Why learn to side-pass, back up and bend? Because if you do, you get through the gate without hitting your hipbones on the rails. Oh, well now the training makes some sense. The horse's attitude is restored.

Same thing with students. Hit them all day long with worksheets, verb conjugation, comma faults and long division drills, and they get weary of it. Then they get cranky. Or bored. I don't know which is worse. They need experience applying their skills to situations that matter to them, and that are "real." This is not that hard to do, but may require some adventure outside the walls of the school.

Horses must learn to do as they're told. Accepting this is not some horrible assault on their self-esteem or self-determination. Rather, it's a necessary component of learning. The novice horse accepts that it doesn't know all there is to know and is willing to be instructed, is willing to be shown or "told" what to do. Most horses will accept this if they're handled with respect and care. So, if I want to stop at the stop sign and wait for the logging truck to go by, my horse had better do what it's told. Otherwise, we're dead.

Still, there are times when a rider out on a mountain trail will want the horse to use its own mind to decide the best thing to do. A good rider will know that sometimes the horse knows things he/she doesn't, will pay attention and allow the horse to call the shots. I remember times when my horse knew about a bear I couldn't see or hear, or knew about a collapsed trail or hidden pot-hole that I had no clue about. Since I trusted my horse as much as my horse trusted me, we both ended up safe. We were, ultimately, partners.

Much the same idea applies in many ways to the student-teacher relationship. Most students learn to follow instruction up to the point where the purpose of instruction is to foster independent and competent thinking. Then they're on their own, which after all, is the main goal of education.

I could go on. But you get the point. In any case, so many years ago, after chattering away about how to train horses and kids, I got the job.

I could not agree more with this veiw point. I see it all the time, attiudes change very quickly when a smart mouthed child is brave enough to climb on a horse. In 10 mins or less they are asking for help if they aren't alreay on the ground. Horses are funny that way. There was a comment on the page about the article that her veiws wouldn't work in England, because only rich people learn to ride horses. To that I say the person making the statement probably wouldn't be a very good horse trainer either. Joyce Fox

How Horses See

By Joyce Fox

Horses have two types of vision Monocular which means that they can see independently all the way around them with either eye with very few blind spots. Thus the reason for the term “Make sure you train both eyes.” The second type of vision is used when horses graze or needs to look down his nose, and is called Binocular and allows both eyes to focus on the same area. While this field of vision is narrow, it is believed to allow for better depth perception. One reason you should flex your horses nose when asking him to cross a ditch, if his depth perception is used, he might not feel the need to rare back and jump six feet to cross a six inch ditch. A fun test for you to try is walk toward a wall with one eye closed and then open both eyes and you can see the difference two eyes can make. It is assumed that the horse can only use one type of vision at a time, and that is why you will sometimes see horses bobbing their heads up and down. They are checking to see which vision will give them the best view of whatever may be threatening them. Other indications that horses only use one type of vision at a time is, dressage horses practicing a freestyle routine have been witnessed cantering around the arena, on the bit, and they collided head on because they simply could not see. A their riders were not paying attention.
The placement of horses eyes on either side of its head is also very important of your horses utilization of these types of vision. A horse with a big wide eye set will have better vision than one that is narrow and pig eyed. I believe the horses with the better vision are much calmer and easier to train because they are not startled as easily as the horse with poorer vision.

Your horse does have some blind spots you should be aware of.

One is right in front of the forehead. One way you can tell if your horse is beginning to trust you during early training, is if he will stand relaxed for you to touch him in the blind spot on the forehead.
Another blind spot is directly behind your horse. The reason you should always speak to you horse as you approach from the rear.
The other place your horse can not see is the center of his back, if you the rider can not see either eye he can not see you.

How much detail and color can horses see? Since the horse can not tell us, just what they can and can not see, and their vision is bound to very from horse to horse, the only way we can tell is by research, trial, and error. Researchers using a method of placing rewards behind a trap door, tested how much detail a horse could see by placing stripes on the door. The horse was trained to choose the striped door over the plain one for a food reward. They varied the thickness of the stripes until they were so fine, the horse could not distinguish the striped door from the grey door. From the results, they discovered that horses can see detail as well as humans, perhaps better! The researchers were challenged when coming up with a way to test for color. To do this test they asked the horse to select a color on a grey background that they could vary from light to dark. They discovered that the horse could always pick out red or blue regardless of what the background was like. However, the horses would only pick yellow and green reliably when they were brighter than the background. If the brightness of the colors was equal to the grey background, some horses couldn’t pick these colors as easily. A few could tell the difference between the yellow and green while others could not, so the results were mixed. It is believed that most horses can see some degree of some colors. In my own experience, I had a horse that did not mind anything you wanted to do with a brown colored slicker, but if you did the same thing with a yellow slicker, he didn’t like it and would shy away from it. So I do believe there is some degree of either color or brightness that effects them.

Night vision. Horses are most active in the day and don’t tend to roam a lot in the dark under normal conditions. Whether it is because of poorer vision or something else I do not know. I am sure that they can see better than humans in the dark, but horses eyes do not adjust very quickly between light and darkness. If you are asking your horse to load in a dark trailer, enter an indoor arena, or ride into a thick wooded path it may look like you are asking him to cross into a dark pit. It may require you getting off and going in first to show him he will live. Same thing in crossing ditches, if you don’t let him take a look, it may look like a bottomless cavern to him.
Bare your horses vision in mind as you are riding and training your horse, and maybe you will be able to see a better way to ride.

Conquering Our Fears

By Ken Jones, MyEquineNetwork.com Contributing Writer

Everyone has experienced fear interacting with horses. The sheer size and power of the horse is both inspirational and intimidating at the same time. The key is in learning to understand our fear, and overcoming it to improve our horsemanship. Wanting that special relationship with such a beautiful animal is a powerful incentive to overcome our fears and make a commitment to learning and creating a relationship.
Overcoming fear is a subject that has been discussed at length in the last few years. A person can make great strides by using a mentor and/or taking classes and clinics with people who have knowledge and experience with horses. In my mind the most important part of this human / equine equation is to use a horse that is mentally balanced and has a lifetimes’ worth of experience with people. Work with a horse that uses his thinking side of the brain. It can be yours or it can be a school horse. Learning to trust our horse is essential, thus the importance of starting with a horse we can trust!

Our reasons for being with the horse revolve around movement. Whether we are leading or riding or working our horse at liberty, it is about movement. We must take the responsibility for leadership. Presenting ourselves to the horse as a benevolent dictator, showing a calm and assertive demeanor is usually well received. Through our body language we present ourselves as non- threatening, respectable leaders who understand and respect our horse partners.
It is important to learn how horses think. We control their actions by connecting with their minds. We can’t win a physical contest with such a strong and powerful animal. We can rule somewhat by intimidation, but just like human relationships, we’ll never get the best out of them, nor can we completely trust them. Through intimidation there is always more of a chance they will react fearfully themselves, being a prey animal by nature.
Some people look at the horse / human relationship as us controlling their movement. I prefer to look at it another way: It is our goal as leaders to send our intention and energy through the horse to obtain the movement we want. We control the amount and direction of the energy we send to our horses. Every horse is different and we have to adjust accordingly. We want them to be a willing recipient of our intentions. Horses that can understand what we want in a non- intimidating, respectful manner will respond positively - if they respect us.
To deal with our fears and have it work to our advantage, we have to learn about horses; both how they think and how they react. We will become confident through interaction, while accounting for a certain amount of trial and error. We will make mistakes, but that’s okay. All the while we’ll be gaining experience and understanding and challenging ourselves to stay positive and be calm and assertive. We will learn from others and we will learn from our horses.

How to do this? We must have a plan. That’s next.
Keep your chin up and your heels down.

The Competitive Edge

Written by Anna Mitchell
Kids in Competition

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.” —Stacia Tauscherf

I had a great question this month from one of our readers regarding his child’s involvement in competitive cutting. This reader wants to know whether encouraging his young daughter’s participation in a competitive sport at an early age will have a positive developmental impact or whether it may have negative consequences. The short answer to this question is – potentially both, depending on the child’s level of development and the competitive environment.
As the youth divisions in our equine sports continue to expand and flourish, this particular question becomes increasingly important. Are we helping or hurting our children by exposing them to the pressures of competition at such an early age? While working with coaches, trainers, athletes and their families, I have heard strong arguments for both sides, so this month, I want to explore each angle to enable you, as the parent or trainer, to make an informed decision regarding kids in competition.

Kids in sports
A couple of key points that we want to keep in mind are: first, kids are kids. They are not just little adults and are different from us physically, cognitively and emotionally on a developmental level. Consequently, we need to be aware of and consider what is developmentally appropriate for each individual. Second, it is important to remember that positive and negative attitudes and experiences are not taught by the sport itself but rather through the deliverance of the sport by influential adults and peers. How are we portraying competition to our children?
Due to the complexity of this topic, I will cover these issues in two parts. This month, I will discuss how our attitudes and behaviors can mean the difference between our children experiencing competition as either a negative or positive addition to their lives. Further, I will offer suggestions on how to create a positive competitive environment for your child to promote enthusiastic participation and optimal development.
Later on, I will discuss in detail two developmental stages for children. With this information, I hope you will be able to make informed decisions with realistic expectations for your children depending on their stage of development and age-appropriate abilities.
Between the 1930s and the 1950s, there was a strong movement influenced by the “experts” to reduce or eliminate competitive sports in elementary and junior high schools (Wiggins, 1987, cited in S. Murphy, Sport Psychology Interventions, 1995, Page 39). School administrators and physical educators felt that competition during these age groups could be potentially harmful for the child’s psychological development. Instead, they recommended participation in noncompetitive physical activity for positive benefits. The community, however, did not agree, and consequently, numerous community-based sporting organizations were formed and flourished such as the YMCA, Little League Baseball, Biddy Basketball and 4H groups. The debate continues today on the potential harm or benefits of children in competition. (Murphy, 1995).

Potential
So let’s talk about some of these positive and negative impacts. There is no doubt that a child has the opportunity to gain a number of positive benefits from participating in any physical activity such as: health and fitness, hand-eye coordination, self-expression, increased stamina, flexibility, speed, strength and agility. However, participation in competitive sports offers the unique potential to develop a number of other vital life skills such as: problem-solving skills, cooperation skills, team cohesion, increased confidence and self-esteem, perseverance, accountability, anger management and stress management skills.
The key word here is “potential.” Each competitive situation has the potential for learning these skills, but as I mentioned earlier, the deliverance of the competitive environment can either help or hinder a child’s development. By deliverance, I am referring to the planning and organization, the level of encouragement, the delegation of tasks and positions, the stimulation of personal growth and opportunity, and the response to failures and achievements. Those of you who have had any contact with kids will probably be acutely aware of how susceptible children are to influence by those around them. So it is our job as the adults to promote a well-planned and age-appropriate competitive environment for optimal positive development.
I will talk more about what is considered age appropriate, but for now, suffice to say that any negative experience during this particularly vulnerable developmental stage can have long-lasting effects, particularly on a child’s confidence and self-esteem. Consider the potential harm from an overbearing, overly aggressive parent or coach who constantly and harshly criticizes a child’s performance with little acknowledgement of his or her achievements. Or consider the impact on a child who is often ignored or overlooked in favor of more skilled teammates.
Competition is healthy for all of us; it helps us push ourselves further than we might on our own. However, with competition comes failures, and it is how we deal with these failures that we develop an inherent positive or negative attitude towards the competition itself. Our ability to deal with stress and disappointments tends to develop over time, and young children often do not yet have the experience to handle failures as well as we might. It is our job to teach our kids how to find the positive in a negative situation and to view disappointments as a learning experience rather than a personal failure. We need to help children develop their coping skills by offering them opportunities through realistic challenges to experience the triumphs of achievements and the disappointments of poor performance. We need to hand over the responsibility to the children so that they can learn to be accountable for their own efforts and actions. We need to provide unconditional support and encouragement without pushing them beyond their abilities and causing fear or resentment.

Create a positive environment
How do we know how much challenge a child can handle? How do we know what he or she is ready for? First, listen to your child. Do not presume to always know what he can or cannot do or would or would not enjoy. If the child does not want to participate, support that choice and offer alternatives for physical activity. Do not try to force him into a sport because the rest of your family is involved. Second, be aware of age-appropriate developmental stages.
In her book The Mental Athlete (2003), Kay Porter offers some great guidelines to keep in mind when working with kids in competition and helping to create a positive environment:
• Allow your children to be interested in and want to participate in whatever sport they choose.
• Teach your child, through example, to respect authority figures such as judges, trainers, coaches and referees.
• Allow kids to learn from their own mistakes without judgment or criticism.
• Be light and supportive; promote the fun aspects of sport. Celebrate your child’s achievements (even the little ones). Accept your child’s abilities and limitations.
• Do not try to relive your youth through your children.
• Do not teach your kids nonaccountability by blaming others, the equipment, the horse, the weather or the judges.
• Do not push kids beyond their capabilities or interest. A child’s self-confidence is often extremely fragile and difficult to regain.
• Do not expect perfection or lay guilt on your child. He is not responsible for your ego or your reputation in the community.
The second important question on this topic is: What is developmentally appropriate for your child? I will answer this question next month as I address two stages of development, which can be loosely called: The School Years (approximately ages 7 to 11) and Adolescence (approximately ages 12 to 20). It is important for us as the role models to understand the developmental growth of our children from a biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial perspective during these stages in order to determine what could be considered age-appropriate exposure to competition.
Our kids represent the future of our sports. Through education and understanding, we can lay the foundation for a positive competitive experience that will help them develop valuable physical, emotional and social skills through enjoyment.

Kids in Competition – Part 2

“Fifty percent of sports participants drop out by the time they reach early adolescence.” —Institute for the Study of Youth Sports

In part 1 of Kids in Competition, we talked about the pros and cons of introducing children to competitive sports at an early age. Just to recap, common consensus regarding this issue seems to be that although physical activity is extremely beneficial for a child’s health and development, involvement in competitive sports can do more harm than good if not delivered carefully and appropriately.
We talked about age-appropriate expectations, and this month, I want to expand on this concept by exploring in further detail two developmental stages of childhood and adolescence. When considering what may be age appropriate for our child, it is important to consider what he or she is developmentally capable of handling – physically, emotionally and cognitively.
We, as the adults, have the ability to make a competitive situation either a positive or negative experience for the child depending on our attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. Consequently, it is our responsibility to foster a positive experience through awareness. We need to be aware of our own behaviors and expectations. We need to be aware of what kind of message we are delivering to the child regarding competitive sports, and we need to be aware of the child’s beliefs, expectations, aspirations and developmental capabilities.
So how do we know if our child is developmentally ready to tackle the intensity of competition? Children are individuals who develop at different speeds; however, most children follow a certain developmental order. For example, most crawl before they walk and learn individual words before sentences. There are always exceptions to these rules, but by understanding this order, we can predict what to expect next, although not always when to expect it. Extensive research has identified age-appropriate guidelines to help us with our predictions. Awareness of these guidelines will enable us to make an informed decision regarding our child’s competitive capabilities.
I want to divide our “youth” into two developmental groups; middle childhood (approximately ages 7-11) and adolescence (approximately ages 12 – 20). Each age group experiences very different developmental stages, which can have an enormous impact on their abilities to handle competition. When introducing a child to competition, we need to understand what else is going on in that child’s life in order to determine the best approach for that specific child. Some children respond well to pressure and an aggressive approach. Others react negatively and, unless taught adequate stress management skills, may experience an emotional aversion to competition in general.

Middle childhood
Middle childhood can be considered the learning period. This is the stage when children start to reduce their dependency on their parents as they explore themselves and their world outside the home. As children venture out to school or other activities, the expansion of their social worlds offers opportunities for growth and development. Although many have attended day care, preschool or community-based organizations, middle childhood is often the time when formal education surfaces any developmental or learning disabilities that may have gone undetected until now. Children start to compare themselves to others and discover that they are different in certain ways. This discovery helps them to begin to establish their own identities but may also create insecurities and confusion. These insecurities need to be considered when introducing the child to a competitive environment.
The human brain at birth is already 25 percent of its adult weight, by 2 years old, it has attained 75 percent of its adult weight (The Developing Person, K.S Berger, 2005). Although the human brain grows very quickly, it actually continues to develop throughout childhood and into late adolescence. As it develops, it enables the person to master increasingly complex cognitive and motor skills. Trying to pressure a child into performing physical tasks that their immature brain is not yet able to grasp can put the child at risk of serious injury and emotional trauma.
During middle childhood, the brain is just starting to be able to think logically. Well-known psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) refers to this cognitive skill as “Operational Thought” and is a crucial development that enables a child to think more systematically, objectively and scientifically (Berger, 2005). This level of thought is a necessary cognitive skill for strategic competitiveness.
It is at this level of cognitive development that the child develops moral reasoning. As children move from early to middle childhood, they must learn how to express themselves within their social context. Egocentrism and boasting is acceptable and even cute in preschoolers, but as children enter middle childhood, they learn social skills such as humility and moral reasoning that make them socially acceptable. These skills will be necessary for team cohesion in competitive sports.
Other cognitive developments that make a child at this stage better able to handle competition than a preschooler include an increase in speed of thought processing. Development of the brain enables the child to think and therefore react faster, which is often a critical component of any sport. Middle childhood introduces selective attention, enabling the child to stay focused on a specific task longer without being distracted, a crucial skill for successful performances.
During this particularly impressionable stage, peers become increasingly important; however, adults remain the main source of influence as they look to them for guidance and direction. Consequently, when introducing children in this developmental stage to a new sport or competition, it is important to remember that they are watching and often modeling everything you do and say. If you compete yourself, your child will be watching how you handle successes and disappointments, how you treat others and how you respond to stress. This is the time to teach your child to accept responsibility for his or her actions. Do you really want to hear your child blame his horse, the judges or his help when things go bad?

Adolescence
Sometime between the ages of 12 and 15, a child enters adolescence, signified by the onset of puberty. This can be considered the transition period from childhood to adulthood and is often a period of turmoil, challenge and extreme change. Unlike your sweet school child who looks to you for support and direction as they tentatively venture out to explore the world for the first time, your new teenager is likely to shove you away as he attempts to deal with an onslaught of hormones and a desire for independence.
Don’t be surprised if your once-dedicated little sporting hero suddenly loses all interest in practice and would rather hang out with his friends or hide in his room. The onset of puberty initiates enormous change for the adolescent – physically, emotionally and socially. Let’s look at each of these to see how they can potentially affect competition.
Physically, an adolescent goes through significant change as puberty prepares the body for sexual maturation. The timing of these physical changes vary depending on genetic, environmental and sometimes cultural factors and can have an impact on the adolescent’s emotional well-being. If a girl physically matures earlier than her other peers, she can become a target for teasing and ridicule. If a boy matures late, he may become a target for teasing and bullying. This social isolation, in addition to rapid hormonal changes, can be a deadly combination and is considered one of the main causes of teenage suicide.
During this period, the body goes through a huge, often uneven, growth spurt, which can have a significant impact on a child’s athletic abilities. Unlike prenatal and infant development, where the body develops from the inside out, the adolescent body develops from the outside in. The hands, feet, legs and arms grow before the torso, resulting in the characteristically gangly adolescent who looks all arms and legs (Berger, 2005). This systematic growth period can result in temporary loss of coordination and athletic ability as the adolescent grows into his new body and everything catches up. This is a crucial consideration for parents and coaches of young athletes to avoid injury through inappropriate expectations.
In relation to competitive capability, emotional and social changes should also be considered. One of the main priorities for adolescents is to establish their self-identity. They do this by trying out various identities to find the best fit. Consequently, your teenager may be an aspiring rock star one day and a Tibetan monk the next. This social confusion, coupled with an onslaught of hormones and physical changes, all act as a significant distraction from competitive dedication. Adolescents often experience an identity crisis, resulting in loss of confidence and insecurities as they try to work out where they belong in their social world. We all know confidence is a major predictor of competitive success, and their performance may be affected until they resolve this crises. We can help by making a special effort during this time to boost our adolescent’s self-esteem and being sensitive to the enormous changes that he may be experiencing.
There are many, many developmental changes that our children go through as they move out of childhood dependency into adulthood. I hope that by outlining some here you may have a better understanding and therefore better tolerance if during this time your children seems less committed to their competitive prowess.

Training the Young Horse – When Enough is Enough

By Ken Jones, MyEquineNetwork.com Contributing Writer

Horses in many ways are like people. They have a natural curiosity and an interest in communication and learning. Like people they get bored and lose their focus as well.
When we work with our young horses we should think of ourselves as teachers. What makes a good teacher? Think back to a good teacher in your life that has inspired you and created that energy that made you want to learn and please. Now think, what are those individual attributes that your great teacher exhibited?
First we need to have the communication down; it’s hard to teach if you can’t communicate. Second, we have to have our horse’s respect and we need to give it in return. Always ask yourself, ‘am I doing the right things to gain and deserve my horse’s respect?’ With those fundamentals, we gain trust and we are off to teach our horses what we want.
Getting back to the question, how much is enough? There has got to be recess. Horses can only take so much. There has to be fun, reward, variety, focus and, last but not least, there has to be a challenge. Teaching demands great lesson planning. Every horse is different; it is up to us to read our horses mind. We do this through body language. Our horses will tell us when enough is enough. If we put together a good lesson plan we will get a lot out of our horse, if we put together a great lesson plan, we will get more. If we don’t, we’ll get less.
When frustration sets in, teacher or student, it’s time to stop! It’s time for homework! Unfortunately, in horsemanship the homework is for the teacher, not the student. Now it’s time to think it out. Verbalize what is going on and what is wrong and make a plan to deal with it. Go back to the horse with a new and great attitude. Try again. If it doesn’t work, break the lesson down into smaller increments, and teach it in stages. Make yourself a good teacher and you’ll be a better horseman. In fact, if you are good enough, your horse may like going to school!

I can’t tell you how many minutes it will take, or how many days to train. My “horse watch” is broken. Like my old, great coach, I don’t want to physically wear them out or break their spirit. I don’t want to push them athletically or mentally, before their bodies are ready to be pushed. Respect the Equine mind and the body and your horse will be better for you. It all depends on what you are doing. Seek information from professionals in the discipline you are working in. Consult with the Equine Science department of a local University or ask your vet.

Learn to read your horse’s body language and stay aware of your own frame of mind.

Welcome to Twin Oaks Enterprises

"We train people for horses"