Anyone Else Interested In Horses And Horse Training?

[Curiosity101]

I've always been interested horses, riding, training etc but have never had either the time or money to take it anywhere. I asked for a load of training books/dvds for my birthday though and have just generally been reading up/ watching stuff on the internet as well.

I'm looking into lots of different types of NH and also clicker training. I had an idea a couple of weeks ago to ask if anyone would let me loan/work with their horses and have actually had quite a few responses so looks like I'm going to get to practice alot this summer

Just wondering if anyone else has an interest in/experience in this kind of thing? I'm really interested in the types of NH other people have studied cause I've only looked into a few so far and would like some recommendations.

Also I'm just wondering if anyone has any general tips...

 

[Cazgar]

I used to have horses & always wanted to make it my career, but unfortunately a bereavement stopped me.
Go round all your local yards, ask if they do a recognised work experience programme, or even volunteer to help out, even if it's just mucking out or turnouts, you may make a connection through that
However to make a career for yourself, you will have to gain a BHS certificate, in either stable management or behaviourist, some sort of qualification is essential
Look at your local colleges, they may have connections with local yards, back in my day we had the Nvq, there may be something similar now

 

[Curiosity101]

I'm not after doing is as a living. At the moment I've just finished my 3rd year of a 4 year degree in Genetics.

This is just a Summer project cause I only work part time outside of the university year. I'm really excited for starting though. I already have 3-5 horses lined up

 

[Curiosity101]

It's never going to be too late if you have the time by the way...

All I did was stick a few adds up on horse sale/loan websites and I got alot of people responding who were really interested. You could always take it up again as a hobby

 

[Cazgar]

At my age it is too late for a career.
I have started riding again though, just for fun, reminds me of what I missed.
Good luck, there are many people who have busy lives that need to horse share

 

[MBOU]

I used to ride, the pony i used to ride was put down 2 weeks ago at the grand age of 32. The other is too small at 13hh lol though im only 5ft, im no lightweight.

There is a horse over the road that hardly gets ridden, but she has a rep for being an utter fruitloop and in the field you have the companion shetland biting your bum and the minute you take your eyes of the mare she'll get a good kick in! However she responds so well to me that im almost tempted.

I havent ridden in.... 6-7 years if not more, always missed it but i have damaged my lower back, possibly bulging disc pressing on my sciatic nerve and its agony and if it goes, i will just fall off. We shall see!

I'm being thick but what do you mean by NH?.. i keep rereading your post and i still cant figure it and im going to feel an idiot when you tell me!

I'm more interested in TTOUCH and Join Up side of things, behaviour, though horses are generally a bit beyond me, their size is intimidating and i dont care what anyone says, i've been kicked enough times to know it really hurts!

I looked into becoming a TTOUCH practitioner, id honestly love to! But at that price??? I think not...

To get just your first certificate out of 3-4, you have to sign up to 6 sessions minimumk at £570 each no wonder they charge what they do! Just trying to cover training fees!

When I worked on the farm with alpacas, we used a McTimmony practioner too, that was interesting to work with, though more like physio than anything. MY boss also used Reiki a lot and although i saw it work every bloomin time, i cant get my head round something so wishy washy! lol

 

[Curiosity101]

Wow 32 thats a hell of an age

Sorry I didn't even consider that people might not know what NH stands for. I meant natural horsemanship. Join up is probably classed as part of that, I think it was introduced with parelli?
Parelli is great although I hate how commercialized it's become. Clinton Anderson does something similar from what I can tell but tends to charge less/give more.

I had forgotten about TTOUCH! Thanks for reminding me, it's some sort of massage/relaxation thing right? It sounded pretty interesting. I can't believe how much they're charging though! Wow...

I worked on an alpaca farm too by the way lol. What're the chances

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Me! Before I moved to the UK I spent 90% of my waking hours on a horse or around them lol. I swear by NH techniques myself. Who have you been reading up on? I recommend John Lyons, Monty Roberts and Pat Parelli. These guys all work under the "western" style which you don't see much of in the UK but horses are horses, right!? Yes, especially when most of this stuff comes down to behaviour and also translates into any specific discipline you may want to focus on. For example in pretty much any equestrian sport there are going to be times when you need your horse to lower his head and collect himself...

I once attended a John Lyons clinic before he retired his famous partner Bright Zip who actually went blind at the age of 19. They had such a close bond they were still able to work together on his training tours. Fantastic stuff. There's LOADS of youtube videos of all of these trainers and they all have books.

Good luck and have fun! Much of NH is actually training your own body movements/reactions - just the subtlest movement from you is a big cue to the horse but at the same time they will quickly let you know when you aren't being clear lol. Don't get frustrated and keep at it!

 

[ZoddyZod]

I am interested......if you have any tips for the 4:15 at Ascot?

 

[Curiosity101]

I have looked into all the ones you mentioned Alm0stAwesome, I even read up/watched up to level 1 of Parelli as I had a friend who had bought the whole training set. I think I'll look into John Lyons and Monty Roberts again when I have time.

At the moment though I'm learning about Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling and Carolyn Resnick. And focusing on clicker training as taught by Alexandra Kurland. I'm planning on systematically making my way through lots of different styles though.

At the moment I'm trying to work out how to make myself a round pen (although when I say round I mean square). I'm thinking a couple of electric fence posts and some barrier tape.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I did a little bit of clicker training but I mostly focused on the round penning stuff. When it comes to a round pen you really do need something with proper walls IMO - there are moments when everything can get a little fired up and crazy and you want something solid that is low enough to the ground so that legs don't easily slip underneath and high enough so there's no temptation to "check-out" lol - my instructor was famous for sorting out "problem horses", ya know, the totally psychotic ones...and a good sturdy pen, just in case of that eventuality is a must. You may plan on keeping things low-key and not dealing with high strung horses but you never know and if a horse gets screwy on you, you need to be prepared to ride it out and let him lap the pen a few times if he needs to.

 

[Curiosity101]

That's a fair point.

And no I'm not planning on working with any 'problem' horses. Mainly cause in terms of practical application I'm a complete beginner with any type of NH.

I might buy the stuff anyways though, some of the horses/ponies I might be working with are in fields with other horses with no real workspace. Even if it doesn't work as a round pen then it'll at least keep any nosey horses at a distance (I hope). It should only cost about £15 for the tape and a couple of electric fence poles so I figure it's worth a shot.

I'm really excited about one of the ponies, a 4y/o 14.1HH Welsh Sec D. He's barely had anything but the basics done with him and is apparently going to waste (busy owner). He's had a headcollar on, petted/cuddled, had a bridle on and someone on his back (not sure if with or without a saddle) but that really is about it.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Oh yeah for sure, they all seem to crowd round when anything is going on lol you'll def need something to make a barrier. From my experience with arenas that were inside of a pasture - sometimes the other horses would start razzing around the outside, like if you were working on the lunge line or something. But that just adds to the training opportunity! You just may end up working on something other than you planned hehe.

That does sound really exciting, a chance to really make some progress! I was lucky enough to raise my horse up from the day he was born going through the total experience with him. I was probably 14 when he was born, it was so much fun and we had a really special bond - I miss him but he's still in the family, he's happily living on my aunt's horse farm and I get to see him when I'm back home visiting. He's living the good life and retired at a young age after developing ringbone, it's a genetic problem his dam had it so he probably should have never existed but he was an "accident" lol. His mom was kind of a floozy.

 

[Curiosity101]

Wow that really is awesome. I can't wait till I have the chance to own myself. When I do get the chance I'm hoping that everything I learn over the coming years will come in handy cause I would absolutely love to be able to bring on a youngster from around 2 y/o.

I was actually talking to someone about a very flirty horse the other day. It was a mare she had which was a gorgeous brood mare that genuinely wanted to be a brood mare. She sold her onto a stud farm cause the female (as adorable and soft as she was) was an absolute nightmare when it came to any proper work.
She prewarned the farm (that was a proper professional place with massive fences), they laughed it off until the point a few months later where she cleared something like 3 or 4 paddocks to go and be serviced by a stallion

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yep! That was TJ, honestly she could not be contained lol. Her registered name was TJ's Shady Lady, how appropriate!

She wasn't mine, she had a kind of absentee owner who just paid the bills. Whenever she got pregnant her owner just gave the foal to the owners of the stud, which is why I wonder how "accidental" some of those babies were. I started looking after her because by the time I started working there she was very bad off with her feet and that's why her owner gave the foal to me, on the condition that we put her to sleep when he was weaned, she really was severely disabled, I think if her owner had taken more preventative measures she wouldn't have never got to that state and she could have lived a long happy life but there you go... She was a gorgeous leopard appaloosa with liver coloured spots and all of her previous foals had spots of some kind (one was a dark bay with a white blanket like he had reared up and someone poured paint down his back...

) so I eagerly waited in anticipation for the painted wonder that would emerge and when my boy was born there wasn't a spot to be seen! Haha, oh well I loved him all the same.

Sorry, I don't get to talk horses much these days!!