Learning From Horses

My family instilled in me that dogs learn fast, horses can too, and most animals seem to learn faster than humans. It was this idea that caused me when I was a child to understand that I needed to develop my ability to learn from horses so I could be on par with them.

Both sides of my family were horse lovers. The big joke in my family is that they were bound and determined to raise me to have an interest in horses, as if they could have stopped me. It is hard to say if my parents’ intentions were to support my interest or that they purposely shaped me to love them as I do today.

My mother was a wonderful dog trainer; her greatest dog was a dog-named Ibliese, a miniature French poodle with a nickname Chicken Harry because he liked chicken. Chicken Harry could do all of the tricks the dogs in the Lassie movies could do, as well as being able to give direction to a stranger in a car without my mother being in the car, if Chicken Harry had been there before. He could dive down in water over 10 feet to retrieve anything. If my mother asked him to wait by himself, he would wait for any length of time and never move.

He was an intact male and would breed a female only if he had my mother’s okay. Everything my mother taught Chicken Harry was formed from the friendship he felt for her. My mother, when asking her dog to perform, spoke in a soft loving voice and would only have to speak to him once and her dog would spring into action.

My dad was gifted with horses and was very careful to keep me safe around them. His guidance led me to the connection I share with horses today. He shared stories in what to do and what not to do. I remember my dad telling me a story in how he did something unthinkable when he was a child that got him in a lot of trouble. He said he was being lazy and a smart alec at the time and he tied the horses to his back suspenders, thinking he wouldn’t have to pay attention to his job while leading the horses in from the field. That night the horses took off on the way back to the barn. That stupidly almost cost him his life. You can imagine that I heard that story a lot from my family, wanting me to be careful and to think before I tried doing anything nnovative with a horse, especially if it had to do with ropes and tack. My dad always preferred I work with our horses without ropes and any form of tack because of his experience as a child. I communicated with my horses mostly at liberty and rode bare back in the beginning. Not using tack to train a horse developed my skills in the communication and training of horses for competition as a junior rider. The horses I competed on were horses that I trained myself.

Because my family gave me freedom and cultivated my innovative nature, I began communicating with horses like my mother did with her dogs. I saw that my mother did not base her dog training on rules, orders and signals but more on the relationship she shared with them. I followed her example by training horses from the companionship I shared with them like she did with her dogs.

My life as a show horse trainer was quite enjoyable and spiritually fulfilling for the horses and me. Because of the deep relationship I had formed with them, they were my best friends. To create a winning performance in a horse I needed to establish a deep bond of trust before we began training. The winning performance came from the relationship and working bond we had built together. This is the secret to true performance in unity.

Carolyn Resnick
Liberty Training for Your Horse