What Is "Trainability"?

Are you supporting your horses ability to be trained?

Trainability refers to the ability for your horse to process the education your are providing. It requires a willingness and desire to work together as you both progress.

It is unfortunate that many training techniques actually discourage “trainability” - although these techniques will continue to state that they get results.

I agree they can get results:

• Sometimes that result is a horse that has been bullied into submission, and has no way of communicating his lack of understanding.

• Sometimes that result is a horse that has been forced to shut down emotionally, because they are constantly exposed to adverse situations and then expected to not respond in any way.

• Finally, sometimes that result is a horse that is deemed ‘unsafe’, ‘unsound’ or dangerous. Sometimes that result is another horse on the doggers truck.

It’s not always doom and gloom. Some horses come through traditional training programs and can do well.

But so many horse’s don’t thrive in traditional training methods - and neither do their owners.

This is why Trainability became such an importance focus for me, and it is why I will always put the concept of first do no harm in the fore-front of any work I do. It is why I work so closely with Katie - to give more horse owners the capability, knowledge and skills to change the world of their horse.

When we open our horses up to becoming trainable, we open them to a whole new world. A world that allows them:

• To openly communicate with you, express their confusion or understanding to the task at hand;

• To understand that we are the leader, but we are not going to punish them for something they didn’t understand, but will help them through until they do;

• To feel confident and safe enough to be curious, instead of being reactive to new stimuli;

• & to show their personality in a totally new light.

Even more than that, it teaches us, as people:

• To better understand our horse;

• Methods that we can apply to our horse regardless of education level;

• & how to be a better horse person.

That is why Katie Boniface has put together the Holistic Horse Handling Program . It is a selection of exercises, activities and theory that shows you, step by step, how to work through the challenge of making your horse more trainable.

Let the way you train your horse reflect the love you feel. Sign up to Holistic horse handling program waitlist today

Some notes about horsemanship...

Some notes about how a relationship is strengthened and how a horse learns:

·       Always work from your heart

·        If you want to be part of their herd, they need to be part of your family

·       A relationship is defined by its hard times. How you guide your horse through difficult times will shape its behavior in difficult situations.

·       Don’t become emotionally engaged in an argument. Work through the frustration and find a resolution, instead of fighting.

·        Take the lead

·        Be consistent with establishing manners

·        Follow through

·        Develop your skills well enough that you trust in yourself around the horse.

·        The horse learns from the release of pressure, not the application.

·        Use your voice and use the same words and pitch for the same things. Horses can pick up on words the same way as dogs can.

·        Use positive reinforcement

·        Don’t be afraid to discipline your horse if it intentionally hurts you. Knowing how you will discipline is important and also what works for your horse. Finding the level of pressure best suited to your horse is key. You want to find the point just past ignorance, but before reactivity where I call responsivity. This sweet spot is different for every horse and rider combination.

·        Listen to how they respond to cues. Do they understand what you are expecting of them?

Attention + focus = connection

Connection is key. Not only do we need to learn how to keep our horses relaxed attention and focus on us but so do we have to keep our relaxed focus and attention on them. How many times have you gone down to the yard with the to do list, the shopping list, the conversation with your boss, the argument you had with a friend all jumbling around in your head only to come away feeling worse because you’ve had the worst training session?

If you join our free facebook group we have a free training in there on exactly what to do to start building a connection with your horse today!! What a great way to spend the holidays!