WooWoo Ranch

How to work with a fearful horse…

// August 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Trainers

This is a wonderful example of how to win the trust of a fearful horse. Apparently “Pony” had come from the racetrack with major headshy issues making it extremely unsafe for people as well as the horse for a halter to be put on or taken off. Even the sound of the lead rope snap separating from the halter, if a halter did get on him, caused him to panic. This story and video shows how Robin Gates won the trust of this horse after years of panic and pain, using Carolyn Resnick’s method. At just 1:09 into it you can begin to see the tender effect that Robin’s show of respect had on the horse when he showed the slightest bit of fear or concern.

In contrast to the methods some trainers use for bridling issues, expecting to turn around emotional trauma in minutes or hours, Carolyn’s method takes days, weeks or months. But it doesn’t just solve one specific behavior problem, it solves the need for all problem behaviors. Her method works first on creating a trust and a bond that is so deep that the negative behaviors just no longer need to be expressed. Creating and maintaining the trust and bond is a higher priority than figuring out ways to deal with every possible negative behavior. If we abuse the trust or lose the respect or slack off on maintaining the bond, we can expect to see negative behaviors again…unless, of course, we’ve succeeded in turning the horse into a robot that’s given up because we were the predator who never let up. But that’s a topic for another post.

What I love about Carolyn Resnick’s method is the mindset she uses in working with horses. She approaches it less as a problem solver and more as a trust and bond creator. After that, the horse becomes an eager, willing partner.

Think Centaur

// August 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // Trainers

I am fascinated with Mark Rashid’s training, especially his emphasis on how important a rider’s breathing is, and I found a wonderful blog about his work and clinics at AYearWithHorses.blogspot.com. The author has followed Mark’s 2009 and 2010 clinics and has written about the pairs of horses and riders who participated in them. I just read through most of her clinic notes and learned tons. There was one point at which Kate, the author, made an important observation that Mark confirmed…essentially that as you ride, ride as if the horse’s feet are your feet, and his body your body. There are a lot of things we do as riders that block the flow of a horse’s motion and balance even when we think we’re helping. There were many comments throughout the clinic notes about this. This is the place to start if you want to read about 2 years’ worth of clinic notes.

Clicker Training Example

// August 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // Trainers

I had to laugh when I read this blogpost about clicker training because the author describes my horse when he was 3 and 4 years old. I could definitely relate to the “100% effective training” her pony used on her to get her off his back! I wish I’d read this then. I had the same questions she did about how it would work on an unmotivated horse but she tried it and I didn’t. She got much faster, better results.

Dancing by choice

// April 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Trainers

I’ve just begun working with my horse using Carolyn Resnick’s Waterhole Rituals to create the relationship that allows this video example of interaction and relationship. I’m getting so many offers of companion and connected behaviors from my horse, that it’s the most amazing, rewarding experience with him to date. Carolyn’s method allows the horse to choose to leave at any time so the creative challenge and fun for the human is in figuring out what keeps the connection interesting and alive for each horse (and no two are exactly the same). I’ve seen so much evidence that once established, this connection elevates the act of riding to a freer, more voluntary level; no metal required. Carolyn Resnick’s Waterhole Rituals teach humans and horses to experience their highest harmonious relationship. The video below is of Robin Gates, a certified trainer in Carolyn Resnick’s methods.

Shannon King, Cle Elum, WA

// October 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Trainers

Shannon King has a way with horses. In my case, she had a way with a 5-year old rescue horse that had become relentlessly challenging, pushy, biting, bracing, squirmy, defensive, unmotivated, and spoiled. Very social, his games for attention were endless, yet it was clear he wasn’t mean. Where other trainers gave up waiting for him to grow up, she quickly assessed his issues, then set about to help him through each one, reducing his games, and need for them, a little more each day.

Simultaneously, she trained me in the groundwork exercises she was teaching him, how to recognize and reward every try, and how to keep his short frustration fuse from igniting. She told me when I was not seeing important clues he was giving or responding in critical ways, and she was great at teaching us both in languages we understood.

What normally takes 3 months, took 5 with Dodger, but the net result is a trail horse that is not only a perfect gentleman but a horse with soft eyes, who nickers when he sees me, and eagerly walks over to lower his head into the halter I hold open for him. He wants to go play, and the best part is, he wants to go play with me. On our best-day-ever graduation trail ride, it became clear to me that Shannon not only uncovered, but nurtured—in my once-neglected and earnestly delinquent horse—a confident, capable, fun-loving, unflappable, adventurous spirit.

Carolyn Resnick

// October 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Books, Trainers, Visionaries

Carolyn Resnick grew up in the desert in the 1940s with her own horse (with whom she had an amazing bond), few fences and a herd of wild mustangs roaming nearby. The book she wrote about her story of intently watching, and ultimately being accepted into the mustang herd, Naked Liberty, starts you on the path of understanding herd behavior. Her longing to be accepted into the herd was ultimately met with fascinating results. With her intimate working knowledge of herd behavior, she went on to develop and teach a method known as The Carolyn Resnick Method for many years. Out of this method came her popular Waterhole Rituals which create the strong, foundational connection between a horse and its human so that further training efforts are maximized. The Waterhole Rituals are rapidly spreading throughout the horse world via a successful teleseminar series and the help of YouTube videos. This is just a snippet about Carolyn from her site, which I highly recommend for further exploration! I learned so much from her Waterhole Rituals teleseminar I give it 5 stars, no question!

Her life with horses began in Indio, California in the 1940s. Riding alone in the desert as a child, she nurtured an intuitive bond with horses. In the beginning of what would become a lifelong passion for developing innovative horse training methods created from her interactive studies with wild horses, Carolyn spent three summers of her childhood gradually becoming accepted into a community of wild horses culminating in her riding the lead mare of the herd, bareback and without bridle.