Re: John Lyons

[Horsestwo@aol.com]

Donnie or Sherie (you didn't sign your message):

I assume you are referring to the "Lyons on Horses" book.  That is an older 
one and I highly recommend his newer books "Communicating With Cues".  They 
are a compilation of all the training articles from all his "Perfect Horse" 
magazines.  They address almost every situation you could imagine and are 
well explained.

I actually learned how to trailer load on my own using the "Lyons on Horses" 
book.  That is what convinced me that his methods work.  Since then I have 
the great good fortune to have a certified trainer near me who has helped me 
with round pen, leading, and especially riding.  She had a basic 
understanding of how to train before being certified but now she is 
INCREDIBLE!  The biggest thing she has taught me is how to consistently focus 
on whatever cue I am teaching/doing and to ignore the distractions.  She is 
always PRECISE with asking for a specific cue (head down or lead exactly 
beside me, etc.) and ALWAYS expecting compliance.  Never does she let 
something slide.  This makes the horse consistent too.  Whenever she asks for 
something she has taught, she expects to get it and so the horse realizes 
that it is ALWAYS important.  If you allow your horse to *sometimes* pull on 
the lead rope (to get to some grass for instance) then the horse doesn't know 
when it is important to you that he NOT pull on the lead (such as when you 
are being vet checked).  This principle is important in everything you do 
with the horse.  If you pull back on the reins and allow the horse to brace 
against you and not slow down, even once, then the next time he will figure 
it's not important either.  Then we make excuses such as he's really fired up 
and just needs a few miles to settle down (runaway) or his buddy is leaving 
or whatever.  Or we decide to punish the horse after having let him get away 
with exactly the same thing numerous times before.  Is it any wonder that our 
horses get *goofy* on us?  I know this from personal experience!  It might be 
hard but the horse MUST learn that when you give him a cue you have taught 
him that you will ALWAYS ask the same way and expect the same response.  
Otherwise you are telling the horse "this IS different!"

All this is not to say to start with your goal.  Teach in steps and have that 
ultimate goal in mind (which for me is to have a horse that will respond to 
the bit on an endurance ride).  Teach the basics and then be 100% consistent 
and precise.  Add the distractions in little increments (as much as possible) 
keeping the above in mind.               

I explained a lot of the round pen stuff earlier this year and it should be 
in the archives.  If you need more explanation about something specific let 
me know.  Good luck and keep learning.

Melanie in AZ


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