Michael's amazing way with horses has
come from years of close study with some of the leading horse trainers
and behaviourists in the world as well as his own acute detection of
what the horse is thinking and reacting to at any moment.
He doesn't really offer quick fixes to horse problems, and although
many people are looking for an a, b, c of what to do to solve a particular
problem, what is of longer term benefit is to understand how the horse
thinks.
For example, many people will have faced the problem of a horse that
won't move past some scary object in the road (that frightening crisp
packet in the hedge). The commonly given advice is to persist and persist
to get the horse to move past with ever increasing use of the whip or
legs. Seeming knowlegeable folks will sagely say 'if you give up now
the horse will have won'.
Michael explains this is not how the horse thinks. It's looking to
you to help solve its problem - you may be able to get it past this
problem by sheer brute force and you think, 'yes we've overcome that
one', but the reality is the horse has built up resentment about this
situation. Next time you go down the road the horse will be apprehensive
and looking for the scary object. In severe cases this can lead to a
horse that won't even leave the yard.
A better way would be to dismount and lead the horse past the problem.
The horse learns that this isn't such a great problem after all and
more importantly doesn't build up a resentment about the issue. It also
doesn't think any the lesser of you for getting off and helping it to
overcome the obstacle.
I've been fortunate to see Michael working at close quarters and his
skill when dealing with a horse that was nervous about taking a saddle
was immediately evident. The situation hovered for a while on a fine
line between panic and acceptance on the horses part. Michael's concentration
and reading of the horse second by second kept what could have been
a very tricky situation safely under control. (Some weeks after this
one session the horse had improved dramatically; accepted a numnah and
lunging roller quietly and was fitted for a saddle.)
He now has a new book and video out called 'Think Like Your Horse'.
You might like to download the following pdf files which
explain more of his work.
More details can be seen on Michael's own site -
Think
Equus.
