Relationship
I believe in putting the relationship between horse and human at the heart of things. It is my firm belief that, by putting the relationship first, success will follow in whatever you want to achieve with your horse, from relaxed hacking through to competing.
Getting FIT stands for:
Being FIT is about both horse and human being mentally, emotionally and physically FIT to do the things you want to enjoy doing.
Rather than following a fixed "programme", I am inspired by certain individuals within all areas of horsemanship (be it natural, classical, western or traditional), just so long as the emphasis is on treating and training the horse without fear, force or intimidation; maintaining respect and dignity for the horse in everything that we do. Not all people who call themselves "natural" horsemen treat horses without fear or force; equally there are "traditional" trainers (think classical, for example) who have been applying "natural" principles long before that phrase came into popular use. Positive Reinforcement training can be a great tool when applied with skill and knowledge - and yet it can also be mis-understood and mis-used, sometimes to the point of dominance.
FIT, then, is also FIT for purpose, what works for you and your horse, within the boundaries of maintaining mutual respect and dignity.
My own ponies have guided me increasingly down the path of liberty training, of subtle two way communication and finding harmony together, an amazing journey that leads you towards being able to do things with less and less pressure, at liberty if you want to, with a truly motivated horse who wants to be with you and is highly motivated to do things together, of his/ her own free will, without ropes or coercion and with personality and enthusiasm.
Who and What inspires me
At this moment in time, what inspires me the most are:
- The books and lectures of Lucy Rees, equine ethologist, who has spent many years studying wild horse herds and uses this to help us understand our domestic horses better.
- Elsa Sinclair's "Freedom Based Training" methods, which are the first truly new and fresh look at horse training that I have seen in decades.
What joins up the work of both Lucy Rees and Elsa Sinclair is the core belief that horses' primary desire is to be in harmony with the herd and, by extension, us, their human partners. This was a big "aha" moment for me, as I have been feeling for quite some time that, despite having owned what I believed to be 2 "alpha mares" over the years, and despite what we see of "dominance" and "aggression" in domestic horses and domestic horse herds, my own experience was that it was very possible to communicate in a much more "polite" and subtle way between horses and humans and that my own ponies actually appreciated and preferred the "polite" conversations that we enjoyed together, over pushing each other around with "dominance" and "aggression". When I saw Lucy's work and realised that wild horse herds don't have a hierarchy and don't display the "dominance" seen in domestic horses it all fell into place. Yes, the horses really do prefer to have a polite conversation, rather than a pushy one - it's in their wild DNA! When domestic horses act in ways that are pushy or aggressive, it is entirely driven by un-natural competition for resources or by confinement into enclosed spaces that deprive them of the room needed to defuse tensions in more natural, more co-operative ways.
Horse Husbandry
My ponies are barefoot and live on a hybrid track system, maximising their space to roam and using the features available to enrich their environment as much as is possible. In the summer they are on a grass track, sized to restrict their grazing (good doers), whilst maximising movement and variety. In winter it becomes more of a cross between traditional and "Equi-central", as the wet clay soil will not support track living. In winter they have access to larger areas of "standing hay" i.e. grass that has been growing/ resting since around May and comprises tall, fibrous, stalks and largely empty seed heads. I supplement the sparse grazing with some hay in the summer to reduce their consumption of stressed grass and try to not feed much hay in the winter, in order to promote natural, seasonal weight loss. I am not a purist, only a few can financially or practically afford to be. In 2018, I temporarily moved the ponies to a nearby livery, where they spent 6 weeks in a large barn, with no outside turnout other than some leg stretching in an arena, because their own field ended up in knee deep mud and standing water with not a single dry area. But I did manage to house them together in a single barn - not shut into individual stables. I believe in practical and creative solutions to give them the best environment that I can, within the constraints that I have.
Background
I started riding when I was 12. I got my first pony when I was 14. She came from a local riding school and was labelled "naughty" because she would kick other horses and she would lie down on the ground with little children on board. The riding school owners put her on the lunge until she got down on the ground and then beat her with the lunge whip, in an attempt to persuade her not to get down in the first place. She was a feisty one and they never broke her spirit, she never gave in. I loved her spirit and I made her a promise that we'd never, ever do boring schooling work and she was the best hacking partner anyone could wish for. At the grand old age of 19 she wasn't able to carry me anymore but we went for long walks in hand and she enthusiastically and willingly started a new career as a driving pony :-)
I didn't like the typical training methods of the time, as I simply didn't agree that ponies were "being naughty" nor that they needed to be hit with whips and "told who's boss".
When "Natural Horsemanship" started to become popularised, I found a training system that was not punishment based and I ended up doing alot of training through Kelly Marks Intelligent Horsemanship (Monty Roberts) and through the Parelli Programme, as the relationship that I have with my horse on the ground is, and has always been, just as important to me as the relationship in the saddle. However, I am no longer comfortable with the higher levels of pressure that I see put onto horses under "natural horsemanship" and in trying to work with less pressure I ended up moving away from NH again. However, I did learn an awful lot from these programmes, and am forever grateful for the way in which they have changed people's attitudes to horse training around the world. I might never have reached the place where I am now with my horses, had I not learned the lessons of "Natural Horsemanship" first. Having been through the programmes also lets me understand the methods and the language and that helps me to connect with those of my clients who are still very much in the NH programmes. I am more than happy to work with this and can "speak the language" and hopefully we can take a journey towards less pressure and more harmony together :-)
When I became uncomfortable with the pressure of "Natural Horsemanship", which is predominantly (but not exclusively) based on "negative reinforcement" training aka "pressure and release" training, I started an exploration of Positive Reinforcement training. I had already and very successfully been doing alot of reward based work with the ponies, combining reward based work with liberty work for very powerful results. But I had been using the reward element in a fairly simplistic way. By exploring the area more fully, I learned alot about the importance of training the horses emotions in positive reinforcement, not just training tasks. I discovered nuances about what works best for specific problems, which positive reinforcement "tool" to use for which situation. And I learned a whole lot more about the down sides of positive reinforcement, some of the unintended side effects and how, if you get the emotional side wrong, you can end up with an unhappy or an overly "needy" horse. Positive reinforcement done well can deliver amazing (and amazingly fast) results and I have found it to be an incredibly powerful tool for helping traumatised horses to overcome their fears and regain their emotional balance. Done poorly, it can amount to coercion, not that far removed from the coercion of pressure based training methods.
With my own ponies, my blend of training is alot of liberty work, freedom of choice, even when on a lead, seeking out the lightest amount of pressure needed to ask for something, reading and responding to the horse in a 2 way conversation, coupled with appropriate delivery of rewards, primarily a blend of scratches, food and harmony with the horse. This is also, generally, my starting point if working with a client horse, unless requested otherwise or unless the situation suggest otherwise.
I offer pure positive reinforcement training, for those who wish it, including, but not limited to, clicker training and target training. I am knowledgeable in this area and comfortable with this as a training method.
I am happy to work with clients in natural horsemanship programmes, providing that you are willing to work with low levels of pressure alone. If you think that escalating pressure is required for training your horse then my training methods are possibly not for you. This includes emotional pressure, as well as physical pressure - I am sometimes amazed at what people perceive to not be pressure for the horse. I am not critical of the journey, having been through it myself, I simply wish the opportunity to demonstrate a lighter way of communicating.
I believe in putting the relationship between horse and human at the heart of things. It is my firm belief that, by putting the relationship first, success will follow in whatever you want to achieve with your horse, from relaxed hacking through to competing.
Getting FIT stands for:
- Fun and Friendship: for some people a childhood dream, our horse as our best friend. In practical terms, having a great relationship with our horse, with the horse as a confident and willing partner to the activities that we chose to do together. Fun is also about confidence, without confidence it's hard to have fun!
- Insight: helping our understanding about why the horse behaves as he does and how to maximise effective communication between horse and human.
- Trust: the cornerstone of a great relationship. Building trust between horse and human to increase confidence, enjoyment and success in the activities you do together.
Being FIT is about both horse and human being mentally, emotionally and physically FIT to do the things you want to enjoy doing.
Rather than following a fixed "programme", I am inspired by certain individuals within all areas of horsemanship (be it natural, classical, western or traditional), just so long as the emphasis is on treating and training the horse without fear, force or intimidation; maintaining respect and dignity for the horse in everything that we do. Not all people who call themselves "natural" horsemen treat horses without fear or force; equally there are "traditional" trainers (think classical, for example) who have been applying "natural" principles long before that phrase came into popular use. Positive Reinforcement training can be a great tool when applied with skill and knowledge - and yet it can also be mis-understood and mis-used, sometimes to the point of dominance.
FIT, then, is also FIT for purpose, what works for you and your horse, within the boundaries of maintaining mutual respect and dignity.
My own ponies have guided me increasingly down the path of liberty training, of subtle two way communication and finding harmony together, an amazing journey that leads you towards being able to do things with less and less pressure, at liberty if you want to, with a truly motivated horse who wants to be with you and is highly motivated to do things together, of his/ her own free will, without ropes or coercion and with personality and enthusiasm.
Who and What inspires me
At this moment in time, what inspires me the most are:
- The books and lectures of Lucy Rees, equine ethologist, who has spent many years studying wild horse herds and uses this to help us understand our domestic horses better.
- Elsa Sinclair's "Freedom Based Training" methods, which are the first truly new and fresh look at horse training that I have seen in decades.
What joins up the work of both Lucy Rees and Elsa Sinclair is the core belief that horses' primary desire is to be in harmony with the herd and, by extension, us, their human partners. This was a big "aha" moment for me, as I have been feeling for quite some time that, despite having owned what I believed to be 2 "alpha mares" over the years, and despite what we see of "dominance" and "aggression" in domestic horses and domestic horse herds, my own experience was that it was very possible to communicate in a much more "polite" and subtle way between horses and humans and that my own ponies actually appreciated and preferred the "polite" conversations that we enjoyed together, over pushing each other around with "dominance" and "aggression". When I saw Lucy's work and realised that wild horse herds don't have a hierarchy and don't display the "dominance" seen in domestic horses it all fell into place. Yes, the horses really do prefer to have a polite conversation, rather than a pushy one - it's in their wild DNA! When domestic horses act in ways that are pushy or aggressive, it is entirely driven by un-natural competition for resources or by confinement into enclosed spaces that deprive them of the room needed to defuse tensions in more natural, more co-operative ways.
Horse Husbandry
My ponies are barefoot and live on a hybrid track system, maximising their space to roam and using the features available to enrich their environment as much as is possible. In the summer they are on a grass track, sized to restrict their grazing (good doers), whilst maximising movement and variety. In winter it becomes more of a cross between traditional and "Equi-central", as the wet clay soil will not support track living. In winter they have access to larger areas of "standing hay" i.e. grass that has been growing/ resting since around May and comprises tall, fibrous, stalks and largely empty seed heads. I supplement the sparse grazing with some hay in the summer to reduce their consumption of stressed grass and try to not feed much hay in the winter, in order to promote natural, seasonal weight loss. I am not a purist, only a few can financially or practically afford to be. In 2018, I temporarily moved the ponies to a nearby livery, where they spent 6 weeks in a large barn, with no outside turnout other than some leg stretching in an arena, because their own field ended up in knee deep mud and standing water with not a single dry area. But I did manage to house them together in a single barn - not shut into individual stables. I believe in practical and creative solutions to give them the best environment that I can, within the constraints that I have.
Background
I started riding when I was 12. I got my first pony when I was 14. She came from a local riding school and was labelled "naughty" because she would kick other horses and she would lie down on the ground with little children on board. The riding school owners put her on the lunge until she got down on the ground and then beat her with the lunge whip, in an attempt to persuade her not to get down in the first place. She was a feisty one and they never broke her spirit, she never gave in. I loved her spirit and I made her a promise that we'd never, ever do boring schooling work and she was the best hacking partner anyone could wish for. At the grand old age of 19 she wasn't able to carry me anymore but we went for long walks in hand and she enthusiastically and willingly started a new career as a driving pony :-)
I didn't like the typical training methods of the time, as I simply didn't agree that ponies were "being naughty" nor that they needed to be hit with whips and "told who's boss".
When "Natural Horsemanship" started to become popularised, I found a training system that was not punishment based and I ended up doing alot of training through Kelly Marks Intelligent Horsemanship (Monty Roberts) and through the Parelli Programme, as the relationship that I have with my horse on the ground is, and has always been, just as important to me as the relationship in the saddle. However, I am no longer comfortable with the higher levels of pressure that I see put onto horses under "natural horsemanship" and in trying to work with less pressure I ended up moving away from NH again. However, I did learn an awful lot from these programmes, and am forever grateful for the way in which they have changed people's attitudes to horse training around the world. I might never have reached the place where I am now with my horses, had I not learned the lessons of "Natural Horsemanship" first. Having been through the programmes also lets me understand the methods and the language and that helps me to connect with those of my clients who are still very much in the NH programmes. I am more than happy to work with this and can "speak the language" and hopefully we can take a journey towards less pressure and more harmony together :-)
When I became uncomfortable with the pressure of "Natural Horsemanship", which is predominantly (but not exclusively) based on "negative reinforcement" training aka "pressure and release" training, I started an exploration of Positive Reinforcement training. I had already and very successfully been doing alot of reward based work with the ponies, combining reward based work with liberty work for very powerful results. But I had been using the reward element in a fairly simplistic way. By exploring the area more fully, I learned alot about the importance of training the horses emotions in positive reinforcement, not just training tasks. I discovered nuances about what works best for specific problems, which positive reinforcement "tool" to use for which situation. And I learned a whole lot more about the down sides of positive reinforcement, some of the unintended side effects and how, if you get the emotional side wrong, you can end up with an unhappy or an overly "needy" horse. Positive reinforcement done well can deliver amazing (and amazingly fast) results and I have found it to be an incredibly powerful tool for helping traumatised horses to overcome their fears and regain their emotional balance. Done poorly, it can amount to coercion, not that far removed from the coercion of pressure based training methods.
With my own ponies, my blend of training is alot of liberty work, freedom of choice, even when on a lead, seeking out the lightest amount of pressure needed to ask for something, reading and responding to the horse in a 2 way conversation, coupled with appropriate delivery of rewards, primarily a blend of scratches, food and harmony with the horse. This is also, generally, my starting point if working with a client horse, unless requested otherwise or unless the situation suggest otherwise.
I offer pure positive reinforcement training, for those who wish it, including, but not limited to, clicker training and target training. I am knowledgeable in this area and comfortable with this as a training method.
I am happy to work with clients in natural horsemanship programmes, providing that you are willing to work with low levels of pressure alone. If you think that escalating pressure is required for training your horse then my training methods are possibly not for you. This includes emotional pressure, as well as physical pressure - I am sometimes amazed at what people perceive to not be pressure for the horse. I am not critical of the journey, having been through it myself, I simply wish the opportunity to demonstrate a lighter way of communicating.