A running horse is a beauty to behold! Even if it is running away from you because it thinks you are a danger to it.Horse behavior is best understood from the view that horses are prey animals with a well-developed flight instinct. Their first response to a threat is to flee.

Nonetheless, humans domesticated horses thousands of years ago, and they have served humans ever since. Through selective breeding, some breeds of horses have been bred to be quite and docile, particularly certain large draft horses. Thus, they are not so flighty.

Perla is the Icelandic Breed – they are a pure breed because it is said that since the Vikings brought horses to Iceland – no other horse came into Iceland – For generations, this “Viking Horse” was used for every type of work and entertainment from draft to riding to companion to being a war horse to food – yes if a horse had a bad trait,such as too flighty, it was culled from the herd and used as food. The result is a breed, selectivley bred, that is more docile, smarter, and more trusting of its human partners then many other breeds  –  I am biased I know – but Perla is the best of the best!! Never the less, Perla is still a flight animal and will run when scared — I must be careful. A few years ago, in Texas,  my horse, scared by my hat being blowed off, ran right over me. I wore an arm cast and leg brace for weeks to prove it. But, I love to see Perla run – look at the photo of an Icelandic “Tolting” above — is that not a beautiful sight! Oh, what is tolt, u say?  “tolt?” is one of the Icelandic’s gaits – about the speed of a trot, but perfectly smooth – perfect for my old bones –  and let me tell you I am learning how to comminicate to Perla that I want her to Tolt – it is a fun exercise – when we communicate clearly, we are a real team. Love it

Oh, did I say my kids are the best of the best too – on that I am not biased  – it is a fact!

Back to horses — Most light riding breeds were developed for speed, agility, alertness and endurance; building on their natural traits including the natural flight instincts to run fast! These natural instincts can also be used to create a bond between human and horse. Training techniques vary, but natural instincts are always part of the art of horse training.

Now, let’s look at training:  1. A 1,000 pound horse, 2. A tiny grasshopper, 3. A home builder

I am not a trainer of any of these, but I do try to get them to do what I want them to do it!!! And in each case, I think about  how I can use the natural instint to convince  them that they want to do it my way!!! This approach works well with dogs too – but do not try it on wives. – I did,  and Grandma still does it her way. I think “Blue Eyes” got that song from her – Hint for you young folks: “Blue Eyes” has the initials F. S. – And the song “I did it my way”

1.

Perla, on a windy day- lots of Icelandic hair

I have already told you of Perla’s way of thinking – my work techniques in the round pen are based on her natural instint to flee and then turn to see what scared her,  then return to me for leadership – as if to say “You saved me, kind human, now what shall we do”. I did not really train her – I just got her to trust that it was ok to do what I wanted — after that, communicating to her what I want her to do was the easy part.

2. Do you think I really trained this grasshopper? I got it to do what I wanted it to do- I wanted it to sit there while I photographed it. I was riding bike on St Johns trail yesterday when I saw this guy sitting in the road — got off the bike – took out my iPhone – walked back to Mr/Ms grasshopper – naturally it hopped away. Say I to me — open road is scary to GRASSHOPPER – every time I got near – even if my shadow got near, it hopped away – could not get a photo – Say  I to myself “I have here a tiny flight animal”  It needs some grass to protect it, then it will trust me-  so, I got a clump of grass and set it where I thought the next hop would be – lo and behold – it was – Mr/Ms hopper landed on it and it allowed me to take many photos – even if the iPhone was only inches away from it. Did I train it or just convince it that it was safe and it was ok to just sit there for the photo shoot?

3. Told you one of my jobs was to convince the builder that he wanted to solve our wate problem – we have taken the first steps with success. Technique here is a little different – I think the flight here is to run toward success (money (in case you did not know, home builders love money), builder reputation, respect ) – still working on this one.  I am convinced I can not train him but I know I will find a way to convince him that he wants to solve my water problem — at mostly his expense.

4939691Hey Grandkids, did you smile as you handled today’s challenges?  I tried to smile as I handled mine — was not easy! – but, I did it!