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I love it when you can wake up a normally lazy horse and they're super amazing to ride.
My gelding, Google, is kinda lazy sometimes. However, I will never touch him with a dressage whip because he will be wired for the rest of the ride, and very tense and nervous. There was one time when I had a chance to speak with his previous owner... she told me that she hired her neighbor to feed her horses one day and unblanket them. Well, Google wasn't letting her take the blanket off, so she did some ' natural horsemanship' crap she saw on TV and chased him around the field with a whip!!! He is a nervous boy because of his previous abuse (not from lady I met!) and I can't imagine how much that must have terrified him. That being said, he is ok with a jumping crop... I have to use one a lot... lol. But I don't use dressage whips ( and mine is really pretty <3).
It's not crap, me and most everyone I know use it a lot. I do that with Dezi. I think all people should use natural horsemanship. If it was Google's first time, then he probably didn't know what to do. When Dezi won't let me catch him, I chase him so he knows that I am his herd leader and I am the boss. By chasing him, I push him out of the herd. If he wants to re-join the herd then he has to come in to me and let me catch him. If he begins showing signs of wanting to be with me instead of being outside by himself, lowering of the head, chewing, looking and listening to me, then I will stop driving him and turn around. If he comes to me and lets me halter him, then we are joined up, if he doesn't come to me, that means he just wanted to stop, not be with me. Then, I will drive him away again until he fully decides that he wants to be part of my herd. You should try this with Google. It doesn't hurt the horse at all, no actual hitting with the whip. We call it a stick. It is a long, stiff stick with a loop on the end for a string the length of the stick. You just point it at him, slap the ground if you have to but NO hitting (my 4-h leader says hitting helps, but i say it makes things worse). Stand tall and keep a dominant posture. Keep behind his drive lines (invisible lines from his legs to you). Point with your free hand in the direction you want him to go. When you get ready to turn him, you want him to turn to the inside, towards you, not to the outside, away from you, because that means he isn't focused on you and he's thinking about whatever is out side of the pen. To turn, step back, switch the stick to the other hand, and cluck/kiss to him, waving the stick for him to turn around and go the other way. Now, if he turn away from you, towards the fence, quickly jump in front of him and turn him back the way he was going, making sure he knows he's done wrong. After a wrong turn, keep the pace up fast until he turns the right way, then make sure he knows he's done right and slow the pace. When he shows the signs of wanting to come in, drop the stick, turn around, and look at the ground. You may have to move around a bit, but if he;s really ready, he will come in to you and follow you around the pen. Make sure he knows he's done right if he joins up with you, that way, he will always want to stay with you. You may think this is crap, but it is NOT, it's getting to the horse by being a horse. In a real herd, this is what would happen. You want the horse to want to be part of your herd and be with you, instead of just off doing his own thing. When a human rides a horse, they shouldn't need whips, spurs, harsh bits, or any other form of forcing a horse to do something, heck, when you use natural horsemanship, and you use it right, you shouldn't even need a saddle or bit. Ever heard of Pat Parelli or Clinton Anderson? They use natural horsemanship methods, and it WORKS. Ever heard of the Parelli's 7 games? Or the Clinton Anderson method? If you haven't you should check them out.
About the abuse part, Dezi is scared silly from the abuse he got, and round penning is helping him come out of it, helping him learn to trust humans again after what some terrible people did to him. I never hit him with the stick. I've even started round penning with no stick, just using my body language to drive him. ( Stomping, clapping, posture, voice, hand signals, etc.) It's not safe to ride a horse that doesn't respect you, and round penning gains you respect from a horse. As my 4-H leaders like to say, "All horses buck, kick, bite, and rear" which they do. All horses have the ability to do it, some are just more inclined than others. Round penning shows the horse that you are his boss, the boss, the leader. How I see it is, riding is a game of follow the leader, you can be the leader, or the horse can. Round penning and joining up puts you in as the leader naturally, instead of you being the leader because you have bits, spurs, whips. Make sense? There are lots of people who would back me up on this. If you really think about it, this way IS better, if you still think natural horsemanship is a load of crap, then I suggest you read this again. If that lady only saw it on TV and didn't get it right, it might have scared him some, but if you do it right, the way I said, then he won't be scared. Even if he isn't your horse, if you regularly ride him, you need to join up with him.
I really hope this gives you a clearer view on natural horsemanship.
My gelding, Google, is kinda lazy sometimes. However, I will never touch him with a dressage whip because he will be wired for the rest of the ride, and very tense and nervous. There was one time when I had a chance to speak with his previous owner... she told me that she hired her neighbor to feed her horses one day and unblanket them. Well, Google wasn't letting her take the blanket off, so she did some ' natural horsemanship' crap she saw on TV and chased him around the field with a whip!!! He is a nervous boy because of his previous abuse (not from lady I met!) and I can't imagine how much that must have terrified him. That being said, he is ok with a jumping crop... I have to use one a lot... lol. But I don't use dressage whips ( and mine is really pretty <3).
It's not crap, me and most everyone I know use it a lot. I do that with Dezi. I think all people should use natural horsemanship. If it was Google's first time, then he probably didn't know what to do. When Dezi won't let me catch him, I chase him so he knows that I am his herd leader and I am the boss. By chasing him, I push him out of the herd. If he wants to re-join the herd then he has to come in to me and let me catch him. If he begins showing signs of wanting to be with me instead of being outside by himself, lowering of the head, chewing, looking and listening to me, then I will stop driving him and turn around. If he comes to me and lets me halter him, then we are joined up, if he doesn't come to me, that means he just wanted to stop, not be with me. Then, I will drive him away again until he fully decides that he wants to be part of my herd. You should try this with Google. It doesn't hurt the horse at all, no actual hitting with the whip. We call it a stick. It is a long, stiff stick with a loop on the end for a string the length of the stick. You just point it at him, slap the ground if you have to but NO hitting (my 4-h leader says hitting helps, but i say it makes things worse). Stand tall and keep a dominant posture. Keep behind his drive lines (invisible lines from his legs to you). Point with your free hand in the direction you want him to go. When you get ready to turn him, you want him to turn to the inside, towards you, not to the outside, away from you, because that means he isn't focused on you and he's thinking about whatever is out side of the pen. To turn, step back, switch the stick to the other hand, and cluck/kiss to him, waving the stick for him to turn around and go the other way. Now, if he turn away from you, towards the fence, quickly jump in front of him and turn him back the way he was going, making sure he knows he's done wrong. After a wrong turn, keep the pace up fast until he turns the right way, then make sure he knows he's done right and slow the pace. When he shows the signs of wanting to come in, drop the stick, turn around, and look at the ground. You may have to move around a bit, but if he;s really ready, he will come in to you and follow you around the pen. Make sure he knows he's done right if he joins up with you, that way, he will always want to stay with you. You may think this is crap, but it is NOT, it's getting to the horse by being a horse. In a real herd, this is what would happen. You want the horse to want to be part of your herd and be with you, instead of just off doing his own thing. When a human rides a horse, they shouldn't need whips, spurs, harsh bits, or any other form of forcing a horse to do something, heck, when you use natural horsemanship, and you use it right, you shouldn't even need a saddle or bit. Ever heard of Pat Parelli or Clinton Anderson? They use natural horsemanship methods, and it WORKS. Ever heard of the Parelli's 7 games? Or the Clinton Anderson method? If you haven't you should check them out.
About the abuse part, Dezi is scared silly from the abuse he got, and round penning is helping him come out of it, helping him learn to trust humans again after what some terrible people did to him. I never hit him with the stick. I've even started round penning with no stick, just using my body language to drive him. ( Stomping, clapping, posture, voice, hand signals, etc.) It's not safe to ride a horse that doesn't respect you, and round penning gains you respect from a horse. As my 4-H leaders like to say, "All horses buck, kick, bite, and rear" which they do. All horses have the ability to do it, some are just more inclined than others. Round penning shows the horse that you are his boss, the boss, the leader. How I see it is, riding is a game of follow the leader, you can be the leader, or the horse can. Round penning and joining up puts you in as the leader naturally, instead of you being the leader because you have bits, spurs, whips. Make sense? There are lots of people who would back me up on this. If you really think about it, this way IS better, if you still think natural horsemanship is a load of crap, then I suggest you read this again. If that lady only saw it on TV and didn't get it right, it might have scared him some, but if you do it right, the way I said, then he won't be scared. Even if he isn't your horse, if you regularly ride him, you need to join up with him.
