it is more than just an emergency brake, it is a very valuable
tool that you can use to get your horse light, responsive, and willing in most
any situation.
I agree 100% with Ed. It is very easy to get your
horse to drop his head without a tiedown or martingale once he has learned to
give to pressure. Teaching your horse lateral and vertical flexion does just
that.
I had the pleasure of watching a true horseman
last year. His name is Ray Hunt. The man just puts the reins in his hand and
the horse drops his head, rounds up and is ready for work. Any work, under any
circumstance. Mr. Hunt's actions, and his horse's, spoke much louder than
words.
Mr. Hunt and his associate, Derek worked
extensively with my boy Dinero for 4 days. While the experience was humbling
for me, (Mr. Hunt kept pointing out how "spoiled" my boy was) it was an
education of a lifetime. Out of all the horses there for horsemanship that had
problems, (Dinero was in the colt starting class) Mr. Hunt never, ever once
advocated the use of gimmicks. Instead, he re-iterated over and over again,
start from the beginning. Take each step one at a time. If the horse is not
ready for the next level, don't move on until he is. If you don't have the
patience to do it right, don't do it at all. Let someone else who does, work
your horse.
A few years ago I took my little Odd Todd to Cris
Cox for a photo shoot with Genie. The article (it is in a Feb. issue of
AHTime, not sure what year) was dealing with teaching your horse to give to
pressure. Cris did things with Todd that were amazing. But Todd never really
learned to back.Well, I didn't know how to teach him) When you put a
hold on the reins, he would rear. Cris applied very little pressure and up
Todd went. Chris didn't release until Todd did what he was suppose to. Even if
it was just one step back. After about 3 rears and 10 minutes, Todd was
so soft and backing so beautifully, with his head in a nice position. He still
does.
Mr. Hunt is coming again in April to Tom
Curtain's place here in Florida. I would really like to take Dinero back for
the horsemanship class to see if we have improved. I was so embarrassed at the
last clinic that I still can't even talk about it ;\
However, I took my criticism seriously, (and also
gelded the boy) and went from there. I would hope that Mr. Hunt would be
pleasantly surprised at how well Dinero has done. All without gimmicks. I
certainly don't know everything about training but I do try to follow the
philosophies of Mr. Hunt, Leslie Desmond, and Bill and Tom Dorrance. (and Ed!)
I also believe that their ideas cross over into any discipline of riding,
including endurance. A fit, focused and relaxed horse can go all day. The
rider doesn't do so bad either.
