THE PROCESS

Author, Tom Bair

“I bought a horse.”

Like many, I don't attend church as often as I should. When I go, I attend a cowboy friendly service held at a training barn in the foothills. I did make it up there a couple weeks back and heard something that started me thinking. The speaker mentioned something about being saved then said that “getting saved is not an event, it's a process.”

Being who I am, I immediately thought about how that statement relates to horse ownership. Too many people who own horses think of them in the same terms they do their vehicle. Buy it and take it home. It will be functional at the same level all the time. If there is an issue just take it to the trainer to be 'fixed' just like taking the truck to a mechanic. They expect that once it is trained, it will stay that way. They ride it until it needs a tune-up then send it back to the trainer once in a while and once it leaves the trainer it's supposed to be push button.

It's possible to drive a car and have only the most vague idea about how it actually works. Not everyone knows exactly what happens when you push on that long pedal that makes the wheels turn.

In the same manner it is possible to ride a horse with no real understanding of what makes him work. It's possible to do a days work, even win ribbons with no idea why the horse does what he is asked. Or why he doesn't. It is even possible to make a living as a horse trainer with no real idea of how a horse works. A 'trainer' who had many buckles and wins to his credit told me once that “sometimes I'm up there just jerking and spurring and pulling with no real idea what I'm doing but he's so happy when I quit he's glad to do what I want.”

While it may not be imperative to know that when we push on the left pedal in our truck it moves a rod that pushes a piston in a cylinder that forces a liquid down several lines that exert force on pistons within cylinders at the end of each of those lines that, in turn, force the brake pads against the disc, causing friction that will stop the wheels from turning,,,, we do need to understand why the horse stops when we pick up the reins. We should understand why some horses get lighter on the bridle and others get heavier on the bridle with passing years.

Who has not seen the roping horse that refused to go in the box, or the barrel horse that refused to go in the arena? Or the pleasure horse that starts to run back to the arena gate, or flips out when asked to leave the barn?

How many of us know that roper who buys a new horse every few years because “He's burned out.” or “He's used up”? Or the barrel racer that sells her horse every three years or so because “He's slowing down”? Yet the teenager who bought the horse can't get him in the arena without a fight.

Why does that roping horses' owner not understand why that horse will no longer go in the box? Why does the barrel racer not think about why the horse won't go through a gate anymore? Or even care?

From a trainers standpoint, I want each of my horses to go home with someone who understands what makes him work, why he does the things he's asked, or why he won't. I am sure I am not the only, or even the first trainer who has picked up the phone to hear someone complain that the horse I started for them last year just bucked them off. Of course when I ask how often they rode that horse they confess that they had not been on him since he was unloaded the day he came home. It's a sad fact that many of the horses we train are going to go home with people who don't care why his horse performs, just that he will. They have no need to understand what motivates him, just that he does his job.

Here is where the 'process' comes in. We all need to never forget that every time our horse can see us we are training him. Good or bad, he is learning something. We should understand about how he relates to everything in his environment. We all should understand that if the roping horse refuses to go in the box it's because he knows he is going to get beat up. He will be jerked back, kicked over, his face yanked on, slapped with a coiled rope, or worse. I wouldn't go in there either. If the barrel horse is running as fast as he possibly can and making the turns as tight as he can, digging for all he is worth coming out of each turn, and yet there is a shrieking woman on his back, spurring him at every jump, jerking on that mechanical hackamore with the ridiculously long shanks. What is his motivation to go through that gate where he knows the pain begins?

The roper, the barrel racer, the trainer should realize that pain is only going to motivate the horse so long. If the trainer, then the rider use pain to push the horse to perform then continue the pain after he tries to do as he is asked, he will begin to reason that if he is hurt when he is not moving, and he is hurt when he IS moving, he might as well rest while he is being hurt. The horse stops being useful when the maximum amount of pain applied fails to elicit a response. Then he is branded 'burned out', stubborn', 'stupid', or 'incorrigible'.

While the rise in popularity of 'natural horsemanship' has unfortunately, brought us more than our share of goof balls and charlatans, it has served to make more people aware of the equine way of thinking. How is it then that those who think themselves so enlightened and considerate of the horse still hang onto the bridle when they ride, don't know to release the reins when the horse has stopped, or to stop bumping with the spurs when the horse starts to move?

We should know that saying “Whoa!” over and over again while we work around him on the ground makes that word meaningless to him. If you say “Whoa!” when he moves his head while tied to the hitch rail, or if he steps his back end over and you say “Whoa”. When he fidgets “Whoa!”, sets back “Whoa!”, calls to another horse or tries to take his foot away when we are cleaning it “Whoa!”. How is he going to associate that word with “Stop moving your feet forward”?

If our reining horse is changing leads a half step early do we understand that it's because we are giving the cue wrong or inconsistently, not because the horse is 'stupid'? It's easy to say simply that he is anticipating the cue, which may be true, or he could be reading the cue the rider unconsciously gives by our shift of weight in anticipation of the lead change. Each of us should be able to tell the difference. Every person who owns a horse should spend enough time watching horses interact with each other to be able to understand their way of communicating. We are supposed to be the superior race, how is it many of us have no clue what our horse is trying to tell us.

Every horse owner should know that when their horse is walking ahead of them when on the lead rope he is being disrespectful. If he steps on you, bumps you with his shoulder or rubs his head against you he is telling you that you are below him in the pecking order. While you may not agree and it may seem unimportant to you, you should understand how important it is to him. As a horse owner you should know how to change his perception of the pecking order without hurting him.

When your horse rubs his head against you, it's not affection, he is using you as a rubbing post. For that matter your cat is not being affectionate either, he is transferring his musk to your leg, he is marking you, somewhat like what your male dog does to the tree. The point is that the human perception of what our animals do is not always, perhaps never, accurate.

People talk about how much they love horses. That's why they own them right? After all, less than ten percent of horse owners need them in their daily work. So most of us own horses because we want them. If that is the case then take the time to understand them. You block out the time to clean their stalls, haul hay to them and fix the fences. Make the time to learn about them. There is much more to learn than just what to feed them and how to adjust a headstall. The process does not end if we stop learning, it just gets changed.

“I bought a horse!” Is just the beginning.