Some things can't be found in a book

Often Facebook conversations are short and to the point, here is a recent post that shows “not everything can be learned from a book.”

Sasha: Can anyone recommend a concise and comprehensive book on draft horse psychology for a beginner? Thanks!

Stephen Leslie “Think Like a Horse” by Cherry Hill—Storey Publishing

Sasha L. Salayda Thanks!

Christine Barensfeld I think you can sum up draft horse psychology in two words, “More food!”

Rickey Glen Thomas The Nature of Horses, Stephen Budianski

Carl B. Russell I would recommend that a beginner not get distracted with equine psychology. If you are looking for guidance on behavior response then many of the published trainers have good books, Parelli, Roberts, Miller. I always got great info from Lynn Millers books when I was starting out.

The fundamentals of horse behavior are pretty simple, and usually are found in the details of broader texts about more comprehensive material. Many people tend to try to use human thought process to figure out horses behavior, and I have found that to be at the root of many of their “problems”.

Horses will respond positively to a leader that is present and treats them as horses. A person distracted with trying to figure out a human correlation to the interaction is not present with the horse, and therefore will be cultivating difficulty getting the animal to follow their lead.

There are a few passages in The Man Who Listens To Horses, by Monty Roberts, that go a long way to describing this disconnection, as well as having a reasonable description of the basics of equine behavior.

Sometimes simpler is better. Instinctively you will know more than you can read. Clear the slate. Wipe away the expectations and preconceptions, and don’t worry about anything that happened in the horses previous life. I have found that it has less to do with what I know about the horse, and more about letting go of what I thought I knew about myself.

Rickey Glen Thomas One reason I use the Nature of Horses in my classes is that Budiansky looks at the natural history of the horse versus trying to dissect behavior from a strictly human perspective. As well, the sections on the neurophysiology of how horses see and hear is absolutely enlightening when connected to training techniques and active observation from a keen teamster.

Sasha L. Salayda Thanks Carl and Rickey.
Carl, can you share more about letting go of what you know about yourself?

Carl B. Russell Sasha, we are taught to use our intellect to “figure” things out. It is a valuable skill, but it can lead to “over-thinking”, and habitual internal conversation. We are conditioned to reason out the process of what we are working with, and what we need to do to work with that. Is there an equation? Is there a series of facts that we can combine to create a map of activities to adhere to as we move forward?

Horses are a lot simpler than that. They are intensely present, reacting specifically to immediate stimuli. We do much better if we clear out the plans, the facts, and the equation, and just observe the reactions to our actions. Our own action and reaction is exactly our contribution to the conversation.

If we filter our reactions through preset expectations, our communication (with the horse) is rigid and too complicated. The horse can be stand-offish no matter how skilled and knowledgeable we are about how they think or act. When we are fluid reactors, responding in kind to the reactions that they show us, then we are communicating in a way that they can understand, and the communication will be open to growth.

My first lesson in this was years ago, when I had horses for two years. I had a lot of ideas about why they do what they do, and was spending a lot of energy trying to be more clever than them. I had a mare that had been mistreated and allowed to get away with some really nervous behavior. I was trying all kinds of things to work around that. One day I had 85 year old Floyd Fuller come to float her teeth.

Now, she was nervous with simple activities like harnessing, so I figured that getting rasps stuck in her mouth would really set her off. As Floyd approached her I braced myself, but was completely taken back as she physically relaxed. He looked her in the eye, put his hand on her nose, and just started filing her teeth…. no twitch, no drugs, just an old man and a horse.

He didn’t care about what she had gone through before. He didn’t care about what I thought would be the problem. He didn’t care about anything but how she reacted to him. He reacted immediately, consistently, continuously, and very nearly invisibly.

I didn’t mean to suggest that these are easy concepts to master, nor that as Rickey Glen Thomas suggests, that some basic understanding is not necessary. I just know there is a tendency to try to understand the behavior, rather than to focus on reacting to it.

It is this tendency to “understand” as the basis of strategy, versus learning to react on the surface of the moment, that I refer to as what I thought I knew about myself. In the long run it is the refinement of reaction that builds effective communication.

Sasha L. Salayda Thanks Carl, this is very insightful and simple.

Sasha L. Salayda Are there resources to learn how to conduct myself in a way that demonstrates clear communication?

Carl B. Russell Mentors….

Ian Snider This gets to the heart of our discussions eh Carl B. Russell?

Carl B. Russell Sorry Sasha, I was off and running when I posted that one word response. It is the truth, and I really have never run across much written reference to that. I personally just picked it up by absorbing through observing my mentors, and putting myself out there through repeated attempts. Most of the “language” I learned, I saw in action.

Sometimes one would make a comment that would sink in slowly, and take shape over time, like “If you want to drive a horse across a bridge, drive the horse across the bridge”. On the surface this seems like an over-simplification of the endeavor, but there is an active intelligence there underneath. “Figure it out” and “Don’t take short-cuts”, and “There are no tricks, only effective communication”….. and “It can be done”.

You can also see the tendency may be to figure out why the horse won’t cross the bridge, or what you might be able to figure out about the barriers preventing the desired activity. The quote does not mean to force the horse across the bridge either.

There is a way to communicate effectively with horses. It is an active communication that has thousands of years history. Truly more intuitive than many things in our modern culture, and each of us is capable of figuring it out through practice. It isn’t magic.

I was told to buy a horse and go logging. In today’s culture we recommend that folks take classes, and apprenticeships. Getting training is valuable, to learn techniques and practices, like line tension, safety, hoof care, harnessing, etc., but I can assure you that becoming an effective demonstrator of clear communication will only come from hands-on practice.

Sasha L. Salayda Thanks Carl, and don’t apologize- it’s a busy time of year! The reason I have asked for additional resources is that I am in the position now to acquire a single draft to perform light work, and also take the opportunity to further build and refine my skills. I have taken numerous workshops, and have had some hands on time with some local farmers. I know I am very much a beginner, but I believe I have the foundation to get started. My concern is that I am starting my own farm enterprise this year, and also working off farm. Between those two things, I know that most likely I will not be able to attend many more workshops this summer, and I don’t know if I could count on calling up local horse farmers in my area if I needed help or pointers. So I am wondering if there are any resources, even videos, that could help me with the basics.

Carl B. Russell I think any material that can help you expand your understanding of how horses react to pressure. I have seen folks over the years use round pen work well for joining up, or conditioning response, but I have always thought that it’s greatest value would be the exercise of pressure/release-based communication. Sometimes I think we get caught up in the details of tasks, and don’t always step back to see the bigger context.

When we have an idea of what we want the horse to do, it is an intention. Presenting that intention to the horse constitutes pressure. Horses innately respond to pressure in a certain way. Understanding that, and learning how to read the response while applying the pressure, so that we can modify our own response to the benefit of the “conversation”, will advance the initiative.

Unfortunately I have pieced my own perspective together through years of observation, video clips here, passages in books there, conversations with other teamsters, and just plain practice, so I personally cannot turn you to just one text.

However as I mentioned above, I have often thought that the real benefit of “round pen training” was not the join up, or the conditioned response, but the development of foundational pressure/response dialogue that can be drawn out into all other work with the horse. I have read some of both Parelli, and Roberts, and found good descriptions of equine behavior, in language that I could understand.

The challenge is always going to be finding the material at the time when you are prepared (your own experiential perspective) to understand it within the context of what you are working on. That is why the actual mentor thing works so well. Go out and try something….. Go back and watch your mentor, and ask a few more questions (or even the same ones over again)…… Then go back and try it again.

I have found that static resources like books and videos are locked in time and space, and of course have plenty of information, but they are not as malleable as real life experience……although I know more than one of us has a book covered with smudges, with ripped covers, from being propped up on a stump as a field reference…..

You are a thoughtful, intelligent, and courageous young woman, with good foundational exposure. Those are solid building blocks to start from.