From: "True Horsemanship Through Feel” By Bill Dorrance and Leslie Desmond
Q: Are there any problems that can't be fixed with this approach?
Bill: This approach will fix any horse or any human being with his horse. It will fix them.
It depends on how long it takes a person to learn how to apply feel [Pp. 318-322].
Anytime you run into something that bothers a horse, why you welcome that. There's an opportunity there for that horse to learn about the basics. When that life comes up in him and he's got real interest in being away from someplace, why that's a good time to get with the feel of that horse so he can pick up your feel. You wouldn't use any firmness [Pg. 322] to go against the life that comes up in him. No, that's when you'd flow along with what was flowing along inside of him, in terms of his energy and the way he's got it tied to his concern for self-preservation [Pg. 354].
Let's say that you come to a big ditch. You want to take him into it an an angle so the horse can learn to travel through it and then come out the other side, down a little ways. There's no rush for this. When you have a little time to work on anything that's bothering to the horse, why it's very beneficial. There'd be no speaking about punishing a horse if a problem came up for him, not by any means. This is what we're trying to stay entirely away from.
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Greetings. With regard to pg 277 'Are there any problems that can't be "fixed" with this approach' I was reminded of something Leslie alerted me to. It was to be careful of my expectations upon meeting a new horse and to be sure to let that horse know that I understood how he/she knew to respond, what he had learned. I did make such a mistake with one horse, so I have never forgotten about that. I now wait to find that moment with my interactions when there is an opportunity to feel of the horse feel the timing and offer a release. I have noticed a response, an interest and build upon that to see what amount of curiosity manifests. Just the simple task of putting a halter on and off opens the door to offerings. I cannot help but feel inner excitement when this happens.
Recently a 19 yr old cob mare came to live with me. It became clear she had towed people on the ground if they got behind her shoulder and she had another idea. I saw how her previous and fearful owner lead her away with two hands grasping the back of her head collar nose band. She said all she would do was wrap a rope around her nose. I understood the woman's ways were about self preservation and fear. I understood the mare's responses were about self preservation but without fear. It went very deep indeed. She was adamant! The mare later told me how she had tried to understand what humans wanted and in interesting language explained how their timing was out when they asked her to turn. This made me so appreciate True Horsemanship Through Feel. This made me appreciate even more how many horses must be dealing with this very scenario.
Going back to the basic connection through feel with the putting on or off a halter, this mare had her own thoughts on that. As we connected she would agree to some lateral bending but then would toss her head, throw the nose band off the end of her nose with a flick, and straighten her head with the expectation of moving off. It did make me chuckle because she was so adept at it. All I had to do was help her change her point of view. Time went on. If I got a bunch of paper and crumpled it all up with gusto and a dose of frustration this would probably well describe what occurred as I began to realize that the change in freedom and scenery for this horse I had bought to trail ride was to uncover a huge number of arthritic processes in her feet and lower joints and hence a physiological attack on the mare. I guess I had hoped my care and environment would give the mare a new lease of life.
The above describes a human woe is me scenario. I eventually realized I was in battle with myself. So I decided to make humble crumble deep within that internal oven. This changed everything. The mare who placed her ears back , remonstrated with her head etc then seemed to relax. That was the day when she agreed to offer to help me put on her halter and wait with me a wee while before I released her and then relaxed waited for our next step. we thought that pretty neat.
This post brought a smile to my face, Rick.
I watched Bill handle a lot horses over the course of several years. He was seated in a low bench, often in a heavy coat with a blanket over his legs for warmth. As inconceivable as it may sound — his mastery of subtlety, without exception, worked wonders in a short time on very anxious and rebellious sorts of horses.
Remarkably, even at 91, Bill was considered the last hope and last stop for some people who had reached an impasse with a wide variety of horses.
After watching a more than a dozen training and gentling sessions it was clear that this statement is unequivocally true. Now, 23 years later...I have a little different perspective but still feel the same. Only more so.
"Anytime you run into something that bothers a horse, why you welcome that. There's an opportunity there for that horse to learn about the basics." P.277
In my work with many rescue horses, I have found that when a horse first realizes that you are trying to communicate with feel, they will respond quite quickly. Many rescue horses have been abused, poorly trained, or neglected and have developed behaviors to protect themselves that are dangerous or undesirable to humans. When they sense a confident, understanding, and clear communication from a human, often for the first time in their lives, It draws their curiosity and interest.
Going back to the most basic communication establishes rapport with the horse. Asking for one step forward or back, leading without pulling, flowing from leading to sending, moving with the horse when they need to move, and other slow basic movements create sureness and peace of mind for the horse.
"This approach will fix any horse or any human being with his horse. It will fix them."
So far I have found this to be an "actual fact"