Support Group For Equestrians Overcoming Rider Fear

dog-shrink 273 post s 21-Jun-2008 4:39 AM	This week I helped out at a Monty Robert's demo here in France. It was fantastic to see the man himself desensitize scared horses and start a couple. There were a dozen or so of us volunteers and my job was to present the books people bought for him to sign. We had quite a chat over the whole day and I learned a lot. ---------- Bitless - not witless!
FreshStart 12 post s 21-Jun-2008 7:19 AM	Ooh, lucky you, dog-shrink. ---------- Fresh Start "Safety First"
demelza 44 post s 21-Jun-2008 7:37 AM	I'd be interested to hear what you learned. Any words of wisdom?
dog-shrink 275 post s 21-Jun-2008 9:24 AM	I'm not sure if it is wisdom but he talks about speaking to the horse in it's own language and letting him make decisions. For example, he was trying to load a horse into a trailer, the horse did not want to go. He uses a dually halter and starts walking the horse towards the trailer then reversing. A few steps forward and then reverse. Each time he gets a bit nearer the trailer. OK so one foot on the ramp and back again. At one point the horse just stopped and Monty was holding the lead rein. He just stood his ground and because the horse was pulling back it was uncomfortable on the dually. He just waited till the horse made the decision to come forward and thus release the pressure on his nose. After 15mins the horse wanted to go in. Monty didn't let him, just kept backing him up. Shortly afterwards the horse went in on his own. Then he was brought back out then he did it off rein. Just walked in. Fantastic! I learned that there is no need for shouting or coaxing just a lot of patience and doing it the right way. ---------- Bitless - not witless! Last Edited on 21-Jun-2008 9:25 AM
LC 63 post s 21-Jun-2008 12:23 PM	I'll have to try that with Zack some time. He wouldn't load into a trailer if his life depended on it!! When we moved yards, after about 3 hours, 2 doses of ACP and lots of rope burns on OUR hands, he was ridden to the new yard. :0/ Megan
AceLoved 48 post s 21-Jun-2008 5:25 PM	Dogshrink, What a deal! I think that the important thing about Monty's work is he dared to use methods that were new to people. When I think of some of the methods we used when I first started riding I feel ashamed of myself. Harsh Bits and spurs and other cohersive methods were common. Thank the Lord for people like Monty who have changed our way of working with our horses.
PB 647 post s 22-Jun-2008 9:26 AM	I bet that was a lot of fun and interesting! I was watching a trainer and it was interesting that he gives the horse the opportunity to make a decision. Whether right or wrong. If right then the pressure is taken off. If wrong the pressue is kept on till the right decision is made. PB
Holly's Hero 2 post s 26-Jun-2008 5:07 PM	At one point I too got to see "The Man". He was inspirational, fantastic, amazing in all senses of the word! I cannot, will not believe that he "just does it". It is truly a gift, I hope that one day we might follow in his footsteps.
DixieMom 404 post s 29-Jun-2008 1:38 PM	Dog-shrink, what did Monty say to do if the horse that is being led starts pulling back? Maggie does that with me, and what I've done is a variation on pressure/release. Instead of slowing Dixie(the animal I'm riding) down, I ask Dixie to step out. Maggie usually has to break into a trot and then as soon as the lead rope slackens, I give release by slowing Dixie back down. I don't have a horn on my saddle, so I have to hold the lead rope into my hip to anchor it. If she pulls back when my son is leading her, he takes a loop around his horn and just jerks her until she softens, which is usually immediately! However, I can't do that. My technigue seems to be working. Does Monty have any other suggestions? The other thing is that when we are in the desert with lots of cactus or on a narrow path, I let the rope out so Maggie can follow right behind, not to the side. As a former pack mule, I think that is what she is used to. But then she'll sometimes try to cut corners and I almost had the situation the other day of me and Dixie going around a 4 foot high cactus, and Maggie trying to cut the corner on the other side of the cactus. Somehow getting 2 animals tethered on opposite sides of a cactus doesn't look like a very pretty picture! Any ideas? ---------- Dixie Mom "The art of riding: Keeping a horse between you and the ground!" Last Edited on 29-Jun-2008 1:40 PM
dog-shrink 281 post s 1-Jul-2008 2:19 AM	I didn't see Monty do the leading, the poneying workshop was just a local thing with some of us on the riding club. From what I've gathered so far you need to control the pace of the horse being led either encouraging on or holding back, not that easy. I think that if you need to go single file through cactus or whatever that's harder. I guess the horses get used to doing it together and the led one just follows. I'm nowhere near that yet! ---------- Bitless - not witless!
DixieMom 412 post s 1-Jul-2008 5:43 AM	So I guess my question is how to "encourage on" if the ponied horse is trying to pull back. Did they demonstrate some techniques to do this? ---------- Dixie Mom "The art of riding: Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
dog-shrink 286 post s 2-Jul-2008 5:16 AM	I put the horse being led on a Dually halter which gives you much more control. I'm also starting with someone walking beside and encouraging him on at the same time as me. ---------- Bitless - not witless!

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