At any one time, there are 2 or 3 active threads by riders, mostly trying to train their own horses, asking what to do with horses that do not want to go forward or go forward very reluctantly instead of willingly.
We have always maintained that good 'willing' forward impulsion is one of the most important things that any trainer needs to develop in every horse they ride, particularly young and green horses. An unwilling horse that a rider can barely drag around is no fun to ride and will never make any king of performance horse, even on a low level. The rider become a 'nag' and the horse gets more and more 'ill tempered'. They do not even make pleasant trail horses or recreational saddle horses. Constant resistance and a reluctance to willingly -- I mean 'cheerfully' --do what is asked just does not turn into a good ride for anyone. It is impossible to get any speed or quickness from a horse that does not have a good 'work ethic' and willing attitude no matter how much athletic ability or speed they possessed at birth.
Some horses are bred and born with a poor disposition and a poor work ethic. They come by it honestly. They have a pedigree with unwilling and unpleasant horses behind them. They have 'flunk-outs' with good breeding but bad training records behind them or they come from a long line of horses that did not 'ride' very well. They may have been bred for 'looks' (like halter horses) or bred for color, but were not specifically bred to be good performance horses or willing saddle horses. We see this a lot in 'unwanted' horses that someone later comes by and later 'rescues'. Then, if they are mares, and they can't be successfully trained to do anything they are bred and raise another unwilling horse. This is one of the biggest reasons that we advocate buying prospects from a reputable breeder that raises horses known to have good 'trainable' dispositions which includes being born with a good 'work ethic', good attitude and 'willingness' to cooperate. It has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with willingness and trainability.
Now, enter the other factor that cannot be ignored. The kind and quality of EARLY HANDLING. A lot of these unwilling horses that were raised or bought young (and not rescued later), have been handled a LOT and are very GENTLE. Can a horse be TOO GENTLE? Can a horse be handled too much? I think so -- unless that handling includes as much 'sensitization' as it does 'de-sensitization'. Handling young horses a lot, in and of itself, does not mess them up. Handling them a lot, petting and playing with them a lot, desensitizing them while requiring little or no quality responsiveness and teaching impeccable ground manners REALLY messes them up.
I find myself often saying "Trainers would rather train a wild, un-touched horse than a back-yard pet. This is why we hate them. They have been de-sensitized to a fault. For every hour you spend de-sensitizing a horse to things it might naturally fear, you better spend twice as much time sensitizing that horse to get it to 'lightly' respond to pressure and to develop responsiveness and quickness and willingness to do whatever the handler asks. If a horse does not have any of its natural fear of humans remaining, then it had better have a very healthy respect for its handlers. Hence, the reason many trainers would rather have an un-touched 'blank slate' than an overly gentle 'pet' type of horse.
When a trainer is brought a wild, barely touched horse or a lightly handled one, the trainer at least knows that horse will pay attention and will move from pressure. When a trainer is brought a very gentle, over-handled pet, they know they are likely to have to get VERY tough on that horse to even get its attention, much less its respect and get quick responsiveness.
Most of these pets never reach the full potential they could have reached had they been handled less or a LOT better. They seldom ever achieve the highest level of performance that their inherent ability could have let them achieve with good training and a lot less desensitizing.
Let me know your opinions. Cherie
We have always maintained that good 'willing' forward impulsion is one of the most important things that any trainer needs to develop in every horse they ride, particularly young and green horses. An unwilling horse that a rider can barely drag around is no fun to ride and will never make any king of performance horse, even on a low level. The rider become a 'nag' and the horse gets more and more 'ill tempered'. They do not even make pleasant trail horses or recreational saddle horses. Constant resistance and a reluctance to willingly -- I mean 'cheerfully' --do what is asked just does not turn into a good ride for anyone. It is impossible to get any speed or quickness from a horse that does not have a good 'work ethic' and willing attitude no matter how much athletic ability or speed they possessed at birth.
Some horses are bred and born with a poor disposition and a poor work ethic. They come by it honestly. They have a pedigree with unwilling and unpleasant horses behind them. They have 'flunk-outs' with good breeding but bad training records behind them or they come from a long line of horses that did not 'ride' very well. They may have been bred for 'looks' (like halter horses) or bred for color, but were not specifically bred to be good performance horses or willing saddle horses. We see this a lot in 'unwanted' horses that someone later comes by and later 'rescues'. Then, if they are mares, and they can't be successfully trained to do anything they are bred and raise another unwilling horse. This is one of the biggest reasons that we advocate buying prospects from a reputable breeder that raises horses known to have good 'trainable' dispositions which includes being born with a good 'work ethic', good attitude and 'willingness' to cooperate. It has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with willingness and trainability.
Now, enter the other factor that cannot be ignored. The kind and quality of EARLY HANDLING. A lot of these unwilling horses that were raised or bought young (and not rescued later), have been handled a LOT and are very GENTLE. Can a horse be TOO GENTLE? Can a horse be handled too much? I think so -- unless that handling includes as much 'sensitization' as it does 'de-sensitization'. Handling young horses a lot, in and of itself, does not mess them up. Handling them a lot, petting and playing with them a lot, desensitizing them while requiring little or no quality responsiveness and teaching impeccable ground manners REALLY messes them up.
I find myself often saying "Trainers would rather train a wild, un-touched horse than a back-yard pet. This is why we hate them. They have been de-sensitized to a fault. For every hour you spend de-sensitizing a horse to things it might naturally fear, you better spend twice as much time sensitizing that horse to get it to 'lightly' respond to pressure and to develop responsiveness and quickness and willingness to do whatever the handler asks. If a horse does not have any of its natural fear of humans remaining, then it had better have a very healthy respect for its handlers. Hence, the reason many trainers would rather have an un-touched 'blank slate' than an overly gentle 'pet' type of horse.
When a trainer is brought a wild, barely touched horse or a lightly handled one, the trainer at least knows that horse will pay attention and will move from pressure. When a trainer is brought a very gentle, over-handled pet, they know they are likely to have to get VERY tough on that horse to even get its attention, much less its respect and get quick responsiveness.
Most of these pets never reach the full potential they could have reached had they been handled less or a LOT better. They seldom ever achieve the highest level of performance that their inherent ability could have let them achieve with good training and a lot less desensitizing.
Let me know your opinions. Cherie