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A trainer explains
how he learned to look beyond symptoms for causes.
Don't
work on the problem.
Work on what's causing the problem. |
I
watch people running into problems with their horses all
the time. When I talk to them, I can tell they are frustrated,
and they admit they are confused about what to do. The goal
is to get the horse to perform a complex maneuver. But it
gets to be a vicious circle. The people repeat what they
are doing, and the horses repeat what they are doing. Breaking
this cycle can be easy if you know what to do. Here's something
that's always worked for me.
We
all have heard the old saying about the weak link in the
chain being the first to break. In my mind, the links are
all the things the horse needs to know to perform.
One
link may represent a simple cue given by my hand, another
link a cue given by my leg. Put together, these links (cues)
help the horse to do something more complex.
At
any stage of the horse's training, I always try to work
on the weakest link. Even if the horse already can perform
a maneuver, he will perform it quicker, lighter, and more
correctly if the weak link is improved.
So,
if a horse can't do something you ask, you might have one
or more weak links. You might even be missing one.
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These
photos are a reenactment of how I discovered that
my whining could help me. This first shot shows
a horse turning around poorly. His head is pulled
around too far, thereby leaving his shoulder behind
and making for a bad spin.
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When
a horse doesn't perform a maneuver, I don't keep asking
him to do it over and over again. If you keep doing the
same thing, the horse continues doing the same thing. The
horse will then be very good and consistent at performing
a mistake.
For
example, if a car doesn't run, there is an obvious reason
why. You fix whatever keeps it from running; then you can
drive it again. The same is true for a horse. If he is not
performing, fix what's keeping him from performing. It will
be one of two things: a weak link or a missing link.
Continued
on next page >>
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