Review
Fear-Free Horse Training
Every Step of the Way
By
Neil Davies
We live in a Hurry Up Quick
world, moving a million miles a minute.
We are inundated with information, a constant barrage of data, so much
detail, in fact, that there isn’t really enough time to stop and think about
what we’re hearing and seeing.
The result of all of this is
that, understandably, it takes quite a bit of glitz to get our attention. We want to be entertained – the more
eye-popping the entertainment, the better.
And, because we are short on time, we often look for the quick fix.
And what exactly does this
have to do with horse training?
Go to any equine event. Watch the “famous” trainers – jumping picnic
tables bareback and bridle-less – causing the crowd to ooh and ah and wish they
could do that; promising the fast and simple solution to all of our horse
related problems. Just buy their videos,
books, special equipment, and you, too, can achieve miracles without putting in
any of that pesky hard work.
Then there are the contests –
a group of these famous trainers get together and compete against each other to
see which of them can “break” a young, untrained horse the fastest. These contests generally take place in one day. Think about it – one day to take a frightened
horse that has never been handled and teach it to accept a saddle and
rider. On the surface, at the end of the
day, it may look like they’ve succeeded.
But I’d really like to see how that horse behaves on day 2 or 3 or month
2 or 3.
I learned of Australian
trainer Neil Davies’ new book Fear-free Horse Training Every Step of the Way
from my friend Colin Dangaard, owner of The Australian Stock Saddle Company in
Malibu. Thank goodness for Colin who is
pretty much responsible for introducing the Australian Stock Saddle to
America. I confess right up front to
being heavily biased in favor of his saddles, wouldn’t ride in anything else,
but that’s the subject of another story.
Fear-free Horse Training
Every Step of the Way by Neil Davies is unique.
Why? Because it tells it like it
is. There are no quick fixes, no tricks,
no games in horse training. Sorry about
that.
On the surface, Mr. Davies’
training methods appear simple. One step
at a time, advance and retreat, repeat, repeat again. Keep the lessons
short. Don’t frighten the horse.
The mantra is never frighten
the horse. That means no chasing the
horse around a pen, no waving objects to “desensitize” this gentle animal.
The basic tenet of Neil’s
philosophy is teaching a horse to be calm and confident. It is the foundation for all other
training. And it is achieved by
teaching the horse that it is a pleasure to be with you. Sounds simple, right? No tricks, no games, no fancy special
equipment – just a lot of good rubs.
The book is filled with
photographs showing each step of the training process.
Although much of his
discussion addresses starting a young horse, I believe there is no reason you
cannot begin again with your own horse.
The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert, a horse whisperer,
or famous to follow Neil’s lead. What
you do need is patience and the ability to slow down. After all, what’s the rush? Hopefully, you are building a life-long bond
with your horse, one that can only be enhanced by teaching without fear.
Which brings me full circle
back to my early comment about our desire for eye-popping entertainment. My concern is that people will not take the
time to read a book written not to entertain but to teach. It seems deceptively simple on the
surface. No one is jumping picnic
tables. But whether your goal is a quiet
trail ride (me), a fast gallop in the Malibu mountains (Colin, again) or to one
day jump a picnic table, you have to build the foundation. Neil Davies can show you how to do that.
I do feel the need to address
two issues that could potentially bias the American reader.
The first appears in Chapter 11. Neil indicates that
when the horse is relaxed and moving forward, he introduces a rubber garden
hose 2 feet long to tap the horse’s rump. He states that rubber hose is
less severe than a conventional crop or stick. I cringed when I read that
so I ran it by several of my horse loving friends and their reactions were
identically negative. This may be a cultural difference. In the
U.S. we’ve all heard the stories about suspects being beaten with rubber
hose. I would hate to see readers turned off the book because of this.
I personally have never tested the rubber hose against a conventional
crop but, after reading his book, it is obvious that Neil Davies would not
inflict punishment or pain on a horse.
The
second is found in Chapter 15, page 150 – “It’s very
difficult to gain the confidence of a four or five year old horse that’s
frightened of people, or has been left unhandled. There may be exceptions but
mostly it’s not worth the effort…..”
He does go on to state that it is
irresponsible to leave a horse unhandled until it is four years old. And with that, I agree. However, for me, personally, I cannot accept
the statement that it is not worth the effort to attempt to gain the confidence
of an older horse that is frightened of people.
Yes, your job will be much more difficult. But I have seen enough instances of what
miracles can occur when a loving and patient rescuer is willing to put in the
time with the older horse who has come out of a bad situation.
That said, I heartily recommend
this book to horse loving people everywhere.
Go sit close to your horse and read it all the way through. Better yet, read it aloud to your horse. It can’t hurt.
Check out Neil’s
website Fear Free Horse Training. com for details.
