Starting a Young Horse
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Tellington TTouch Training: Starting a Young Horse Starting a Young Horse (or Reeducating a Horse) - Part 1 by Carol Lang & Robyn Hood The various ways to "break" a horse usually are very GETTING TO KNOW THE HORSE effective. You can buck'em out, snub'em up, sack'em out, throw'em down and desensitize them, dominate them into A preliminary step to riding is to allow the rider-to-be and submission, use tack-less training, or any of the other the horse to get acquainted. A comfortable grooming ses - systems offered by professional trainers. Some of these sion, incorporating various TTouches, lets the horse experi - ways are better done by an experienced horseperson; for ence the handler as someone he can trust and gives the han - example, an inexperienced person bucking out a horse dler an understanding of the horse's body and attitude. might end up with injuries. However, any method that TTouch teaches the horse to stand quietly for grooming might lead to injury or pain or discomfort can be costly in without being tied as well as to accept being tied. time or money as well as physical well-being. Other methods require timing and knowledge that inexperienced How the horse reacts to being handled on the body can people don't have. The bottom line should be safety for often indicate his response to being ridden. A tight mouth horse and rider. may indicate tension in the body or an overly emotional tendency. Using the mouthwork on the bottom lip, upper lip Another consideration is the reason why people become and gums, both outside and inside, helps to reduce tension involved with horses: they like horses. Since that is the and change the horse's response to stress. Tapping the case, why should these people allow a training technique or tongue is great preparation for the bit. apply a method that doesn't feel right to them. LEG EXERCISES Linda Tellington-Jones, believes that how we relate to ani - mals is a reflection of how we treat other "two-leggeds.” It Leg exercises give you an indication of the horse's balance is a good idea to learn about all the methods of training so and help to improve it. If your horse picks his legs up very that you can make your own decisions about what to do or quickly as soon as you touch or stroke his leg, he may be what to allow. "How does it feel in your heart?" Linda nervous or lack groundedness. These horses may shy more. wants to raise awareness! If we have a lack of connection Doing the Octopus and Python Lifts on the legs help to with the animals then we can permit techniques of soring, ground a horse. When a horse is nervous, the blood is of shutting off impulses or responses, of violence or of drawn away from the extremities to support the heart and treating horses without respect or compassion. But she lungs, triggering the sympathetic nervous system and put - strongly feels that there are ways of achieving partnership ting the horse ready for flight. Stroking the legs, mindfully, with the animal so that the best is brought forth from horse from the shoulder to the hooves and then tapping systemati - and human. cally over the entire hoof promotes circulation to the feet and legs and helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous "I don't want to judge because the people might not know system that triggers relaxation. any better. Besides, I've been there. I want to offer alterna - tives. That's what interests me. What can I do to help? I feel TAIL TTOUCH that it is okay to care about animals, and the Tellington TTouch Method offers some tools to achieve partnership Check out the amount of tension in the horse's tail. A tight with them," said Linda to clinic participants. tail often goes along with tension in the hindquarters and concern about things from behind. The tail TTouch can TTouch offers another way to start a horse under saddle. help alleviate these concerns and relax the horse. Once the Rather than break the horse so that he gives his will to us, horse accepts the tail work, you can repeat it again when TTouch aims to educate the horse so that he knows what the horse is saddled. Consider that the nerves run just under we want. We want to develop his capacity to learn. the skin and tension can cause pressure on the nerves reduc - Furthermore, TTouch is a method that a non-professional ing the "feeling" a horse has from the hindquarters to the can use. These are the reasons for the many "tools" of front. Add the saddle and then the girth and there can be a Tellington TTouch Method for Horses: TTouch, the learn - "disconnection" between the horse's front and back end. ing exercises from the ground in the Confidence Course, Using the Bodywrap over top of the saddle and doing some and the "joy of riding.” Copyright 2004 Linda Tellington-Jones 1 Tellington TTouch Training: Starting a Young Horse TTouch on the tail when the horse is saddled will help this tremendously. All these steps allow the handler to get a bet - ter sense of the horse's level of concern about each step of the training process. TTouches on the body gives the handler yet another way of connecting to the horse and helping him to get a clearer self-image. The Lick of the Cow's Tongue TTouch all over the body helps the horse relax and connects the belly to the back. This TTouch also alerts the handler to possible reac - tiveness in the girth, back or flank area. If you find this to be the case, use lines of connected touches along the back and barrel. Belly lifts, Abalone Touches and Python Lifts in the girth area also prevent breath-holding and tension that can lead to bucking when the horse is saddled. (For more information about xcellent resources that explain the Photo 1: Leading under wands, held in an arch, is great TTouches see #1.) preparation for mounting as it helps a horse get comfortable with something above his eye level. The handler should THE CONFIDENCE COURSE AND THE stop the horse before the wands, ask the horse to wait while PLAYGROUND OF HIGHER LEARNING the handler steps under the wands, and then ask the horse to come forward with the handler positioned ahead of the Before riding a young horse, TTouch recommends that the horse, but on her own track. horse and handler go through the TTouch learning exercises using ground poles and “obstacles.” The idea is that both This horse is a little hesitant as shown by his posture; so handler and horse move as a team, halt and stand quietly stroking the neck, chest and front legs would help to lower and confidently and in balance. his head at this point. When a horse appears nervous or concerned – snorts, freezes, shows a high headed posture or Because we want a horse to be able to cope with various increased respiration, etc. – stroke with the wand on the situations calmly and because a young horse, while carrying chest and front legs before asking the horse to step forward. a rider, requires a new sense of balance, the TTouch Confidence Course presents a variety of activities to teach a Find a way of making the exercise easier, i.e., raise the horse to learn. We have the horse walk between walls of wands or take them away ("chunk" the lesson down) to plastic, walk over plastic, walk between people standing allow the horse to be successful. When the horse is com - above the his eye level, and under plastic (or wands or pvc fortable with the wands, they can be lowered so the horse pipe) held by people standing above eye level. ( See photos must drop his head to walk under them. Sometimes just 1-5 .) having a person standing above the horse's eye level makes him nervous so you may have to start with just one person The turns of the Labyrinth, the Pick-up Sticks and the Star and even have the person standing on the bale feed the help the horse learn to keep her body in balance when horse a bite of grain. asked to move forward or sideways or around comers. Varying the leading positions while going through these A good plan would include leading a horse through or exercises influences the horse in slightly different ways. between the plastic and under the wands several times. All these activities carry over to and are useful for work Notice the horse's response! Is the horse becoming more under saddle. relaxed or more concerned? Labyrinth A horse may even be calm the first time through an the bales (or plastic “walls”) and then get more anxious. If this is the case, make it easier for the horse by changing the distance between the pieces of bales or plastic. The second and third time a horse does something will tell you more about what the first experience was really like for her. This Pick-up Sticks awareness will let you adjust the activity so that the horse will be successful. Star 2 Copyright 2004 Linda Tellington-Jones Tellington TTouch Training: Starting a Young Horse Photo 5 shows another activity that encourages a horse to adapt to confined spaces and to things over his head. Photo 2 shows a horse who has progressed from walking under the wands to being driven from the necklines.