About
Some of you may be wondering about the creator of this site and the motivation behind it all. Well, Im your typical pleasure horse owner/rider. I currently own three wonderful but challenging horses. The first, is a 15.2hh bay standardbred, named Jack. Once a champion harness racer over in New Zealand (he boasts a brilliant track record which includes winning the Wellington Cup!) he is now my paddock pony and best mate. He is not ridden often, due to suffering from headshaking syndrome (a very difficult condition), but over the 4-5 years that I have owned him, he has taught me some incredibly important lessons. Jack is an independant fellow and is king of the paddock, does not put up with fools, yet is a complete sweetheart once you win him over. Next, there is Gizmo, or Gizzy - a 16.1hh chestnut thoroughbred. Despite being 15, he still often acts as if he is 3. He is hopefully about to be bought back in to work after many months off. Apparently he seems to think that the big wide world is a very scary place indeed, and most things are potentially about to eat him! Finally, there is my lovely little stock horse, Cotton. He is barely 15hh, is 16 years old, and my main riding horse at the moment. We have just started attending the local adult riding club, which he seems to think is terribly exciting being ridden amongst so many other horses. Plus being a stock horse/trail horse I really dont think he gets why everyone insists on going around in circles!
Basically, I began riding as a kid, on my cousins ponies, on their farm. However it wasnt until I was 16 that I finally had the chance to lease several horses, and eventually bought one my lease horses at 19. This particular thoroughbred mare however, decided I wasnt as smart as she was, so began to become very disrespectful on the ground, which gradually led to me being absolutely terrified of her as she became more and more dangerous to handle. Having limited experience, and limited help available to me, I was at a loss as to what I should do. Luckily a friend came to my rescue, who gave me my first lessons in 'ground work' and understanding horses. In the end, after struggling with this horse for a couple of years, I gave her to my friend as she was just too much for me at the time. I had come to the conclusion that I could never trust her. Wanting something quiet and reliable next, I bought Jack, a lovely little standardbred. However soon he became unwilling to move under saddle. And when I say unwilling, I mean he would not budge, and no amount of kicking or using crops would help. So again I had no answers. I figured he needed a professional, so found a trainer who appeared to be the answer. Wrong again! Another lesson - dont trust just anyone who calls himself a trainer. It was at this point that I decided I needed to educate myself, so that I could educate and understand my horse. So after scouring the internet I found Parelli Natural Horsemanship. It was one of the few systems that had a clear step by step program to establish trust, communication and understanding, and horsemanship! I discovered it was 'horsemanship' that I was lacking. Pony club and traditional local riding instructors, plus the standard 'How to Ride' books all taught the basic elements of kick to go, pull to stop and turn. No one had taught me ground work, no one had taught me body language, and no one had taught me how horses think or view the world. So is it any wonder I ran in to problems! This began my horsemanship journey and quest for every scrap of information I could find on horse pyschology and behaviour.
Whilst I have a solid foundation in Parelli, I still take bits and pieces from other horse trainers and their methods or philosophies. Im a huge fan of Parelli purely because it is one of the few systems that has the ability to really teach people how to understand horses, and you can learn it at home, wherever you are in the world. However I am also a huge fan of plenty of other trainers and their approaches. I am a firm believer of finding what works for you and your individual horses.
So this site aims to help other horse owners/riders just like me who need something more than the 'kick to go, pull to stop and turn' attitude that is so prevalent throughout the industry. It is for those seeking answers as to why their horses do what they do. Horses do not intend to make our lives miserable by misbehaving. They simply act and react according to how they feel at that particular moment in that particular situation. It is therefore up to us, to learn how to do what they need us to do, when they need it. I hope this site will help make more people aware of the fact that there is so much more to horses than simply getting on and riding them and 'making' them do things. It is possible to get a horse to WANT to do things for us and with us.
I also hope this site can bring as much information together as possible, in one spot, so that it makes information more easily accessible to horse owners/riders.
To all the horse professionals out there, and to those who wish to share their experiences which might help or inspire others, please contribute.
