The Evolution of training the horse.
This picture came up on my phone. This is Charlie, a 3year old. He was the first horse that I ever backed. It reminded me of how much my training methods have evolved over those years.
I have been training horses for half a century, that makes me sound really old, I really don’t feel it!!
It is fascinating how methods of training horses have evolved in the 50 years.
It is no wonder that training has changed when you look back on how the horse/human relationship has transformed.
There are now very few horses on the payroll of industrial, transport or military businesses in the UK and the western world.
Nowadays most of us enjoy our horses for leisure, sport, fun and therapy. It is noticeable how the horses that we breed have changed too, many less heavy horses, most are bred with the thought of competition success in mind, whether this is the right direction is another debate!
I was not around in the days of the working horse, however when I was an apprentice, many of the training methods were still shaped by the days of the equestrian military and the workhorse.
Looking back 43 years to Charlie….
Amazingly we walked this lovely 3 year old horse 3 miles each day to the local indoor school to be backed (or broken as it was know then!) this included crossing the A38, a main road, through a village and leading him up a steep winding country road. (Not recommending that you try this now!)
I had a very good mentor, who helped me to back Charlie
I remember being taught to teach the horse to lunge on a circle, until he understood the voice cues for stop, walk and trot, then after getting him accustomed to the saddle, bridle and side reins, we leant across him, that went well, so I was legged up and lead around. I sat quietly and hoped for the best!
The next stage was to be sent out on the lunge and spun around, in walk and then trot, I had a lot of trust the person holding the lunge line in the middle, that she would hang on to the line whatever happened. If she let go, as the jockey, I was in real trouble! Thankfully, for me , that didn’t happen and it all went very smoothly.
In those days, before backing, we didn’t long rein or even train the horse to understand what the pressure of the reins really meant. The only pressure that the horse had on his mouth from the bit was the side reins. Looking back now, that pressure from the side reins seems so meaningless!
Since backing Charlie, I nave backed many horses of all shapes and sizes, for various disciplines. My methods have evolved through experiencing different horses and owners needs, the facilities available then learning from each situation.
These days, I teach them so much more before I get a rider on.
The time factor has changed too, instead of 4 to 6 weeks, it now takes as long as is needed, often saving time in the long run.
We aim to build strength, fitness and tick every box before proceeding to the next task. Allowing the horse clarity of what is required of him/her. These days I do little to no lunging, most of a young horses initial education is done in straight lines to help balance, symmetry and straightness throughout their body in preparation for carrying the rider.
All this enables the horse to understand the process and minimise confusion, fear or injury, therefore aiming to keep horse, rider and handler as safe as possible, after all we want to build solid foundations for the horses future.
Getting on them for the first time should be the easy bit, although there are no guarantees! However if you have communicated with the horse enough to help him to trust, understand, and get used to what is required of him as a riding horse. It is also important to remember that this is just the start, they may be backed but there is still lots to learn and muscles to build.
Backing horses and bringing on youngsters is not for everyone, you need to have enough strength and balance in your body, have the knowledge, feel and ability to give clear independent cues.
You need to be confident, have patience, be consistent and able to listen and look out for the subtle signs that the horse is struggling to understand or is uncomfortable in his body or mind.
Although I no longer take in schooling and backing liveries, I do help a lot of clients on their journeys with their young horses from foal to backing, schooling their young horses and sometimes backtracking to help the horse to work out information that perhaps she/he hadn’t quite understood, to improve behaviour and performance.
It may be an appropriate option to send your horse away to a professional to be backed. If you are able to, I recommend watching as many schooling sessions as possible. Then when your horse returns home, you can continue the training on the same page as the professional, allowing as much consistency and clarity as possible.
After backing Charlie, my circumstances meant that we had to sell him, he went on to successfully ‘whip in’ for the local hunt however I continued to school and exercise him for the owner and a few years later Charlie and I were lucky enough to enjoy a a season Eventing together, in fact my debut season at BE.
In those days there were no BE80, BE90 or BE100m classes, you went straight into BE Novice at 110m. During that season, we won two Novice Events, gaining 19 BE points.
I am very grateful to Charlie for teaching me so much, he gave me good foundations to build my education, helping to improve and enhance the way I communicate and train horses.
I am so thankful for all the many horses that I have trained over the years, each one has taught me something, I will continue to be open minded, to learn and look at any new ideas that come my way.
Scientific evidence based training is becoming more available and social licensing is encouraging people rethink the ‘traditions’ in horse training, which has to be good for the horse.
As trainers I believe it is important to keep an open mind, question ideas, find the reason why things are done as they are and go with your intuition rather than what everyone around you is suggesting or doing!
Be able to adapt methods to suit each individual horse needs but keep a positive attitude and believe in yourself and your horse!
I have been training horses for half a century, that makes me sound really old, I really don’t feel it!!
It is fascinating how methods of training horses have evolved in the 50 years.
It is no wonder that training has changed when you look back on how the horse/human relationship has transformed.
There are now very few horses on the payroll of industrial, transport or military businesses in the UK and the western world.
Nowadays most of us enjoy our horses for leisure, sport, fun and therapy. It is noticeable how the horses that we breed have changed too, many less heavy horses, most are bred with the thought of competition success in mind, whether this is the right direction is another debate!
I was not around in the days of the working horse, however when I was an apprentice, many of the training methods were still shaped by the days of the equestrian military and the workhorse.
Looking back 43 years to Charlie….
Amazingly we walked this lovely 3 year old horse 3 miles each day to the local indoor school to be backed (or broken as it was know then!) this included crossing the A38, a main road, through a village and leading him up a steep winding country road. (Not recommending that you try this now!)
I had a very good mentor, who helped me to back Charlie
I remember being taught to teach the horse to lunge on a circle, until he understood the voice cues for stop, walk and trot, then after getting him accustomed to the saddle, bridle and side reins, we leant across him, that went well, so I was legged up and lead around. I sat quietly and hoped for the best!
The next stage was to be sent out on the lunge and spun around, in walk and then trot, I had a lot of trust the person holding the lunge line in the middle, that she would hang on to the line whatever happened. If she let go, as the jockey, I was in real trouble! Thankfully, for me , that didn’t happen and it all went very smoothly.
In those days, before backing, we didn’t long rein or even train the horse to understand what the pressure of the reins really meant. The only pressure that the horse had on his mouth from the bit was the side reins. Looking back now, that pressure from the side reins seems so meaningless!
Since backing Charlie, I nave backed many horses of all shapes and sizes, for various disciplines. My methods have evolved through experiencing different horses and owners needs, the facilities available then learning from each situation.
These days, I teach them so much more before I get a rider on.
The time factor has changed too, instead of 4 to 6 weeks, it now takes as long as is needed, often saving time in the long run.
We aim to build strength, fitness and tick every box before proceeding to the next task. Allowing the horse clarity of what is required of him/her. These days I do little to no lunging, most of a young horses initial education is done in straight lines to help balance, symmetry and straightness throughout their body in preparation for carrying the rider.
All this enables the horse to understand the process and minimise confusion, fear or injury, therefore aiming to keep horse, rider and handler as safe as possible, after all we want to build solid foundations for the horses future.
Getting on them for the first time should be the easy bit, although there are no guarantees! However if you have communicated with the horse enough to help him to trust, understand, and get used to what is required of him as a riding horse. It is also important to remember that this is just the start, they may be backed but there is still lots to learn and muscles to build.
Backing horses and bringing on youngsters is not for everyone, you need to have enough strength and balance in your body, have the knowledge, feel and ability to give clear independent cues.
You need to be confident, have patience, be consistent and able to listen and look out for the subtle signs that the horse is struggling to understand or is uncomfortable in his body or mind.
Although I no longer take in schooling and backing liveries, I do help a lot of clients on their journeys with their young horses from foal to backing, schooling their young horses and sometimes backtracking to help the horse to work out information that perhaps she/he hadn’t quite understood, to improve behaviour and performance.
It may be an appropriate option to send your horse away to a professional to be backed. If you are able to, I recommend watching as many schooling sessions as possible. Then when your horse returns home, you can continue the training on the same page as the professional, allowing as much consistency and clarity as possible.
After backing Charlie, my circumstances meant that we had to sell him, he went on to successfully ‘whip in’ for the local hunt however I continued to school and exercise him for the owner and a few years later Charlie and I were lucky enough to enjoy a a season Eventing together, in fact my debut season at BE.
In those days there were no BE80, BE90 or BE100m classes, you went straight into BE Novice at 110m. During that season, we won two Novice Events, gaining 19 BE points.
I am very grateful to Charlie for teaching me so much, he gave me good foundations to build my education, helping to improve and enhance the way I communicate and train horses.
I am so thankful for all the many horses that I have trained over the years, each one has taught me something, I will continue to be open minded, to learn and look at any new ideas that come my way.
Scientific evidence based training is becoming more available and social licensing is encouraging people rethink the ‘traditions’ in horse training, which has to be good for the horse.
As trainers I believe it is important to keep an open mind, question ideas, find the reason why things are done as they are and go with your intuition rather than what everyone around you is suggesting or doing!
Be able to adapt methods to suit each individual horse needs but keep a positive attitude and believe in yourself and your horse!