Coming from different parts of the world and arguing about one subject, not always means, that we are talking about the same thing. Talking about equestrianism can be very different for each of us. But talking about horses should be the same.
What I want to say, is that the behavior of the horses all over the world is the same until they will be handled and educated by humans. The approach differs from culture to culture, from how the horses will be used in sports and events, how sensible the people are to the needs and rights of animals. It differs from each country in Europe, and maybe even from one state to another in the United States, Australia, Africa, Asia.
So if we argue about violence, abuse, taming, breaking, education, respect, authority, willingness, partnership, tolerance, we all might have a slightly different idea of it.
In the United States one will find methods of training a horse very different from some European countries. For example, at least in he northern pert we don't use to “break” horses, we don't expect to put a saddle on a young horse in half an hour. Usually it takes much more time and the horse should get used to it in a very gentle way, as we don't have free living heards as the mustangs that are caught in the wild. As a consequence, the method proposed by Monty Roberts, is very far from my understanding of gentile treating of a young horse introducing it to a saddle or carrying a person. So I am asking myself, why one has to reach everything in such a short time. Who is running after us ?
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Horse Behavior and Training
Who is running after us - factor "time"
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I use the word "break" loosly, as I have NEVER broken a horse, but that it the word used mostly around here for training a horse. I gentle them and teach them, and take my time about it. Every horse is different, some seem ready from the start, some take a long time, just depends on the horse, but I am in no hurry, it will take as long as it takes. I have been told I take too long, my horses dont respect me, and I am too easy on them when I should be tough. Well, my horses dont FEAR me, they DO respect me, and I want them to do what I ask because they WANT to, not because they are afraid not to. I want them to look forward to the next time, not dread it. So far, after many years and many horses, it seems to work. So I agree, why hurry?
Cristina
I always love you reasoning. You are right that there are so many different ways of teaching/training a horse. The term breaking a horse was actually how they did that horses by trying to break their will/spirt so they would do what was asked of them. While this was a very harsh method, that did not mean that the owners did not care about their horse, they just figured they were animals that were tp be used as beasts of burden.
As far as putting a saddle on a horse in a very short period of time, say one or two hours on a wild horse, to me that demonstrates the ability of the handler to convince the horse that he is not going to hurt him. More and more western trainers are using join up or a form of join up that allows them to proceed at such a fast pace. Could I do that, I doubt it very much, nor would I want to but it is not a bad way to train a horse either. The old Californio horsemen had enormous respect for their horses but they also were very harsh in training them. The finished straight up in the bridle horse was a thing of beauty but the and was a very intelligent horse, but the way there was very harsh. Because of people like Monty and others that has changed for the better.
It is easy to see that your horses respect you and behave in a most generous way. To me that cannot be accomplished by brute force or in a hurry, but the reward for taking your time are well worth the effort.
Arguing with horse people is lie trying to convince a mule that he can fly! You don't get anywhere!
Cheers and hope to see more of your videos
Yes I agree Christina that there are so many different ways of breaking a horse and the process tends to differ slightly from country to country but I guess the horses are basically the same. I think it is amazing that Monty can do what he does with horses in such a short time. I guess it demonstrates his skill and the ability he has to gain the horses trust. If we have the time to spend with our horses then I agree the slower approach is better for us non experts as we lack Monty's skills and experience. When I was still working I knew that I didn't have the time to break in Tricka so just handled her each day before I fed her. picked out her hooves, trimmed her hooves etc. When she turned four and I still didn't have her broken so I started looking for breakers that may suit me and her. It was a hard decision as I wanted to know exactly what happened to her during her breaking and most of the breakers I contacted would not have owners around. My farrier managed to convince me to try myself as she was so quiet so I did. I resigned from work so that I would have more time as I figured that it was time for me to retire anyway. Even so it has taken me two years to break her in and to get her to the stage that she is almost ready for low grade dressage competitions. I thought she was at this stage last year but then we both had a number of serious injuries during the year so lost most of the year. Soo .. I think if we have the time then slow and steady is best. Well done Ronda with My Star as she certainly seems to need the very slow, steady approach given her background. Tricka probably didn't but it suited me to go that way. I noticed in the series "Access all Areas" even Monty knew he couldn't cure the kicking horse in the time he had but could only start the retaining process.
Monty does say in his book that the time it takes for different horses can vary a lot, even for him - some require only four Join Up sessions, others as many as ten sessions, and this is from a man with sixty years of honing and refining his skills and sudying the nuances of the language. If you watch the programme on Horse & Country Channel on his work with the racehorse Blushing ET, it took a phenomenal eighty days for Monty to make him comfortable with entering the starting gate.
It all looks so easy and quick in the videos and lessons, but we should also remember that often in order to demonstrate something in particular they need to use a horse that they believe will respond to Monty in a reasonably short time, otherwise you would have a lot of Uni students sitting at home watching hours and hours of footage. It's same at live demos, the horses are assessed beforehand (but I must stress that Monty doesn't have any contact with them at all before they go in the round pen)so they can best work out how to get all of the required problems demonstrated in front of the audience in the timescale available.
For those of us working at home with our horses, the 'amateurs' if you like, the videos and lessons are a fantastic resource and starting point, but every horse is different and you have to adjust yourself to your horses personality and attitude, slowing down or stepping up the pace as required. And of course, the biggest thing to remember is smile and have fun while your working with your horses, even when things don't go to plan!
Great comments emlaw so thanks for posting them. They make a lot of sense and help us understand why the videos run so smoothly.
The more experience I get the more I think that we can take all the time we want to go forward with our horses, there is absolutetly no hurry.
Rudi
Very well said emlaw I completly agree!