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Post by Kelly Marks on Jan 5, 2012 21:21:44 GMT 1
Layman's term but non patronising explanations of the benefits of Intelligent Horsemanship please!
Or even what IS Intelligent Horsemanship or intelligent horsemanship and how could it benefit a person to start to learn a bit more about it?
Any of your own personal stories would be great! The best post gets a mystery prize!
Thanks for your help it's appreciated!
Kelly xx
P.S. I'm currently writing a page on 'My Dreams for Horsemanship for 2099'.
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Post by rifruffian on Jan 5, 2012 21:36:16 GMT 1
Kelly I'm getting in early here with a question.......what IS a normal rider, as opposed to an IH rider.....?
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Post by misty on Jan 5, 2012 21:54:53 GMT 1
Good question rr. In all my years with horses the different types of riders is huge. Lots do IH without even knowing it, I call it common sense. Some are indoctrinated by organisations to use a ridged set of rules but even this has changed now as lots of people seem to be self taught, or go it alone after a few lessons.
Riders range from the ones who are so strict with their horses the poor horse is petrified to the ones who are so soft and airey fairy their horses are dangerous. I think the strict riders would be easier to discuss things with as the soft ones would think IH was cruel. Also IH isn't new, I think a lot of good horsemanship got lost over the ages when horses were needed quickly and in quantity, no time to take time then. Of course there is also 'macho man' to contend with!
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Post by tikkatonks on Jan 5, 2012 21:57:01 GMT 1
To me IH is about considering horses as inherently good and willing. If you think they are behaving badly its about considering whether they either ; don't understand, are not motivated or are upset by the way they are being managed.
I guess its about being really honest and first questioning yourself, your methods and your management before blaming the horse.
Its a bit like a science experiment, controlling the variables until you work out the problem and then looking for a viable solution.
Building a trusting relationship with your horse.
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Post by rifruffian on Jan 5, 2012 22:14:47 GMT 1
Yes tikkatonks, interesting viewpoints, your post confirms to me the idea that IH is about training humans rather than training horses.
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Post by jennyb on Jan 5, 2012 22:14:53 GMT 1
A way of handling and training horses which is non-violent and
takes into account their nature and natural methods of communicating with each other.
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Post by ladyndibs on Jan 5, 2012 22:18:29 GMT 1
Because of the way IH is explained and demonstrated it allows me a far greater understanding of the horse thought process and hopefully allows a better and deeper partnership through that extra level of understanding.
I can't remember where I read it but recently there was a thread about a pony who'd been at his current home for a couple of months and there were several behavioural issues. In order to get a bridle on the pony a piece of wood had been used to hold the pony in a corner so that they could tack up, the owner had commented that surely by now the pony would know the owner wouldn't hurt it.
One of the replies was along the lines of ' if the police grabbed you held you down in the corner and then gave you a packet of sweets would you feel safe?'
This may be extreme but it definitely made the point, I'd be scared s**tless and I can speak their language, god knows what the pony thought.
Recently Liz Pitman helped me with my mare, within two days of her looking at some videos and emailing me some tips and suggestions my lovely girl had regained a lot of her confidence in me and what had been a 15min job to try and get her head collar on because I couldn't get close to her became 5 and 4 of that was just making a fuss and saying hello, she's not quite at Pie's level but after we've said hello she follows me to her field shelter every day and stands and waits while I get her head collar and most days will lower her head and turn her nose into it, this is a horse who a few weeks ago had to have a rope sneakily laid across her neck before she would even entertain the idea of a head collar.
Not world changing stuff to most people but to be able to touch her without her shaking or running off is fantastic.
All thanks to IH and Liz Pitman.
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Post by sunnylynn11 on Jan 5, 2012 23:58:40 GMT 1
OK, Intelligment horsemanship as described by Emily (who will be 9 next week)....after watching Kelly on H&C TV; "I dont want to be a showjumper like Ellen Whittaker anymore, I want to be like Kelly Marks"... Me; "why Emily?") "Because I want to help horses not to be scared"  Emily & her pony, Charlie ("teaching him not to be scared")   Charlies first time on the beach....    |
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Post by ladyndibs on Jan 6, 2012 0:00:54 GMT 1
OK, Intelligment horsemanship as described by Emily (who will be 9 next week)....after watching Kelly on H&C TV; "I dont want to be a showjumper like Ellen Whittaker anymore, I want to be like Kelly Marks"... Me; "why Emily?") "Because I want to help horses not to be scared" SAYS IT ALL |
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Post by shan on Jan 6, 2012 0:31:14 GMT 1
It's sometimes hard to explain to people the concept of something other than what they've always known. Maybe not hard to explain, rather hard for people to get their heads round as it may be a completely new set of ideas for them. I think the best way is to just let them see IH in action. A lovely lady at our yard said to me a while back "it's so nice for Sandy to have someone who actually gets her". It's often easier to explain to non-horsey people because they have no preconceptions about it all, 'normal' riders sometimes don't like to be told their ways are 'wrong' even if nobody's saying they are, so each person has to be judged individually as to how to state the case, I think. |
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gillmcg
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Post by gillmcg on Jan 6, 2012 5:55:11 GMT 1
OK, Intelligment horsemanship as described by Emily (who will be 9 next week)....after watching Kelly on H&C TV; "I dont want to be a showjumper like Ellen Whittaker anymore, I want to be like Kelly Marks"... Me; "why Emily?") "Because I want to help horses not to be scared" Emily & her pony, Charlie ("teaching him not to be scared") Beautiful. |
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Post by donnalex on Jan 6, 2012 7:17:56 GMT 1
Teaching the handler or rider to read and communicate with horses in a way that is easy for them to understand and makes them want to please. So that we can get the best out of them without resorting to violence.
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joflo
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Post by joflo on Jan 6, 2012 7:57:20 GMT 1
Hi Kelly. This is very relevant for me right now. and I agree, in my case as a poor verbal communicator, with Shan that 'being the change you want to see' is the best way.
My environment is currently full of disenfranchised, unhappy horses which affords me a deep level of anguish. I bang my head on the wall regularly in despair and frustration.
I'm not saying I'm the world's best horsewoman, or my 3 year old is absolutely flawlessly behaved but there's a 14 year old at my yard, who is at pretty much the same level of experience, and enthusiasm, that I was at her age, who has recently had an epiphany just by handling/working with Flo, and then the other horses and she feels the difference. Am I making sense? I told you I was a poor communicator lol Of course we discuss and debate things and I'm always telling her she should decide for herself 'which way is best' but she's attuned enough to hear what the horses have to say for themselves...
Anyway - off topic but are we not having any demos this year up norf? My dream for horsemanship 2012 is that we get the Northern Training HQ that we really need up here!!!! ;D
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Post by KimT on Jan 6, 2012 10:18:15 GMT 1
To a 'normal' horseperson I would just say it is a different way of looking at horses.
When people ask me about it, they often don't want a great long speech and I actually found that I had been so used to defending my IH ideas that as soon as I was asked about it I would give a whole great long speech with all the reasons its good.
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Post by jen1 on Jan 6, 2012 10:28:58 GMT 1
OK, Intelligment horsemanship as described by Emily (who will be 9 next week)....after watching Kelly on H&C TV; "I dont want to be a showjumper like Ellen Whittaker anymore, I want to be like Kelly Marks"... Me; "why Emily?") "Because I want to help horses not to be scared" Emily & her pony, Charlie ("teaching him not to be scared") Charlies first time on the beach.... this should go in the ih mag for sure, my answer to the question as always and i doubt it will be answered , is why explain it,? i mean isnt going to want to be able to be kind and informative to a horse already inside us, and we all came across things like IH etc because of interest or necessity ? |
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