In the Arena

[glenatron]

So following on from my photo-report of a few days ago, which I posted a link to from the only horsey forum I'm a regular on ( until recently the most open-minded and interesting horse related discussion group I've been part of ) the "can only do things through positive reinforcement" bunny-huggers really laid into Tom's work and my pictures with the typical pompous rudeness, arrogance and religious zeal that makes people who mistake clicker training for horsemanship so irritating to me. I don't deny that clicker training can be a useful tool but you've got to have more than that.

Anyways, thinking about that gave me an excuse to post a quote I found earlier this week ( probably something that my overseas friends have had drummed into them from the cradle ) from a speech by an American politician:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride of slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are."

That's pretty much where I am in my thinking at the moment with regard to a whole selection of things.

Comments

[makoiyi.livejournal.com]

There's a fine line though, don't you think? I'm far from a bunny hugger but I do know that Maple - the nearly bought horse - plays aggression against aggression like a colt would. Not that it's stopped me whacking him with the popper of my lead rope when he's come at me. The difference between him and Everest is that Everest would come over on me in the beginning because he was frantic - I wasn't there in his mind at that point. Maple will do it to deliberately pin me. I never whacked Everest, I didn't need to once I'd 'explained' about not stomping poor sue into the ground, but Maple, totally different kettle of fish. Once I'd 'explained' to Maple via the end of a lunge whip that was completely unacceptable we don't have that problem any more. But E probably would have collapsed in a heap of jelly if I'd done that to him.

I've studied a lot of NH lately in my efforts to bring a confident horse out of E and I'm succeeding but I've had to re-think with maple, and Maple isn't a 'bad' horse. Cheeky, dominant, bossy, oh yes, I'm well aware but I actually detest whacking him. So it really is a case of knowing your horse, I think. So the philosophy of making yourself the leader is right for both of them but in very different ways. Definitely a case of being the one in the arena covered in dust. And we are allowed to make mistakes, so is the horse. It's learning from them is sometimes the hard part.

[harnessphoto.livejournal.com]

there most certainly is a fine line, and you don't want to be on either side of it. you can't man handle a horse. that would never work. they're bigger than us, and they're prey animals that don't do well with fear-training techniques. HOWEVER (as any good NH trainer will tell you) a horse needs to know its bounds. you are not a horse's herdmate. you are his leader. end of story. he needs to respect you. however, he also needs to trust you. how you establish that trust/respect varies from horse to horse and person to person... but the basic concepts are the same. some horses need a little more loving/coaxing. some need a little more reprimand/firm hand.

my horse respects me not because i bully him, beat him, or 'put him in his place', as some rough-handed individuals would put it, but because i'm just as stubborn as he is and don't give up. however, he also trusts me in ways that other people envy. why else would he willingly lay down for me? or come swimming across a pond that nearly killed him just to reach my side... and in his mind, safety in my hands...? we have our arguments, and there are days when i have full out hit him as hard as i can (which isn't saying much, since i'm all of 120lb, and it was open-handed), but in the end, he would follow me off a cliff if i asked him. there is a reason why i can ride a horse that professional trainers gave up on.

i am by no means a NH endorser, but i have been to parelli and clinton anderston clinics, and have learned a lot from them. while my methods lean towards the traditional, i pride myself on the fact that i have an understanding of horses that some would find uncanny.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Zorro wants to play colt games the whole time- the trick is to find a way to use your energy and his in a way that gets the job done and doesn't buy into the stuff he wants to do. The more I work at it and the more I learn with excellent trainers like Tom, the better I get at finding that balance.

[makoiyi.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly, and as harnessphoto has said it is that fine line between trust and beng aggressive. No, actually 'aggressive' is totally the wrong word - it's assertiveness. Standing there when a horse is coming at you, knowing when to stand your ground and when to get the hell out of the way, or to give back and be 'bigger'. The biggest thing for me has been understanding herd dynamics. Understanding 'why' a horse reacts in certain ways. Everest I pretty much 'got' from day one. It took time but he wasn't aggressive, just very uncertain so reacted out of fear. Maple couldn't take me being the leader initially. It was a shock to the system of a horse who has been brought up on this acreage and spoiled. Suddenly I said, you can't do that so he tried to dominate me. Totally 'got' me one day out in the pasture and cut me off from leaving, trying to herd me. I was so startled I didn't react as I should so he thought he could play me. Once I realised what he was doing I did react, but of course he'd learned he could move my feet, so I had to be stronger and that was hard after he'd made me nervous. I have to admit to tht nervousness before I can go forward with any horse. Once I do I can overcome it.

Oz sounds such a character and you've obviously done a wonderful job with him. And Zorro sounds a peach. They're more interesting aren't they when they show this kind of spirit. Annoy hell out of us some days, but I'd rather they were like this than shut down and boring.