Went to the North Wales one on Wednesday.
Max worked with three horses: seventeen month old colt; 12 year old mare and his formerly unrideable-better-shoot-him horse Jo.
In his introduction, Max mentioned that he became a 'natural' horseman after realising that the 300 year old military handbook that he was trained by and whose methods he taught for eight years, were ineffective. There was a none violent, faster way to get a safer horse.
Max talked about his training pyramid, with your goal at the top. Your goal can be to hack safely, have a polite pet or competitive success. The base of your pyramid is the foundation work that is needed for all horses, regardless of your final goal. The better your foundation work is, the more likely you are to achieve your goal. Max showed that by using the same techniques and building on them, from youngster to advanced competitor, you solve problems from fidgetting and barging to serious ridden problems and loading.
The young colt, according to the owner, had just started pushing her around and nipping. Within seconds of attaching a long lead rope, the horse was standing quietly at Max's side. Max demonstrated how visual, tactile and emotional pressure are used to move the horse around and earn his respect. He talked a lot about communication between herd members and stressed that your behaviour must always be black and white and that you have to be firm and consistent.
The second horse was fidgetty when groomed and wouldn't load quickly. Max asked Alice's owner to bring her grooming kit and show how Alice behaved: ear flattening; pushing into the owner; trying to nip. Max then used advance and retreat to show how to retrain the horse to stop her trying to nip when you touched her chest. He did the same groundwork exercises that he had used with the youngster, to move Alice's hindquarters and teach her to move out of or come into his space.
After the break, Max taught the owner how to load her. He did no more work with Alice himself, but told her owner exactly what to do, after he had told her why what she was trying to do to load, wasn't working: leading from the shoulder, then standing to the side of the horse, ahead of her on the ramp, looking into the trailer, pulling on the lead rope, when Alice stopped at the foot of the ramp. Within minutes of changing her posture and position and following Max's instructions, using his thin rope pressure halter and long rope, Alice walked into the trailer. After that, he showed the owner how to teach Alice to back out - straight. He pointed out the importance of taking the horse out and reloading so that it becomes easy for the horse, and of keeping up the practice.
Alice didn't want to leave the arena, as Jo had been brought in before she left.
Jo, a Dutch Warmblood, had become dangerous to ride as he panicked in the company of other horses, he was terrified of working in a warm-up area and he was dangerous - everywhere. Jo is now eventing successfully.
Max got members of the audience to demonstrate the training methods he had already shown us. He showed his volunteer, who had never used single line circling as he did, where to stand and what to do with Jo to get him working on circles, with cadence and a light footfall. He placed a rope cirlce around the volunteer and told her that every time she stepped outside of it, she owed him a beer.
Following Max's instructions to change pace, speed within the pace and direction, Jo showed his amazing ability. Max didn't get any beer and congratulated the volunteer on her body language. I smiled when he said, "You are very centred." It seemed that Max didn't know he had chosen Centred Riding instructor Lisa Pritchard,
www.themodernhorse.co.uk, as his volunteer!
Max's next volunteer was for longreining. The first lady couldn't stand behind him as he long reined Jo, as she got dizzy. His second volunteer had also never longreined before. As he worked explaining his method and rationale, he got the volunteer to stand alongside him and take up the outside rein. Once she got the feel of it, she took up the inside rein as well. Obviously nervous as she'd never longriened before and Jo was a big boisterous lad, she soon relaxed and showed just how easy it was, following Max's instructions, to change his pace and even direction.
Max, meanwhile, was pointing out to the audience the benefits to the horse and why you achieved so much more that you could make use of, training from the ground, before you got on the horse's back.
The next volunteer was to ride Jo. A young lady named Joy, who had never been so high on a horse before, did an admirable job. It was easy for Max to demonstrate, that the same movements taught in early groundwork, could now be use to stop and start this large fit horse, though it wasn't until Max rode him, that it was evident why.
Max removed Jo's bridle and used a rope round the neck instead. He showed exactly what he meant by 'moving the horse's head by pressure on his neck,' to help control Jo's direction. He also moved Jo's hindquarters to make him stop - dead from a canter in one instance.
That for me was the new thing I learned on the night. I had never realised that if you press on the horses lower neck in front of the shoulder, he turned his head. I must have had a sheltered life, or not been keeping my eyes open! Next time I put pressure on my horse's shoulder, I won't think, "Isn't it cute, he's turning to look at me." Another myth shattered, but another lesson learned. Thanks Max.