23/01/2024
It’s ok to say no!
Read this twice, three, four, multiple times. 🐴
You have every right to say “no thank you, but thanks for your time” at any point you feel someone offering a service to you and your horse is not aligning with your values.
Over the years with training my rather challenging horse, I’ve had professionals tell me the following (and so much more);
“You need to give him a couple of hard smacks and then he’ll do as he’s told”
“You’re not firm enough with him, he’s being naughty”
“He needs to be able to accept the use of a whip”
“Take him for a good blast, make him really tired, and then he’ll listen to you” — even though he was high off adrenaline all the time.
And I’m not going to lie, there were points where I was very “soft” with him, and I let him “get away” with an awful lot… but it was important that he was able to express himself, I could see his reaction and adjust my reaction accordingly. Different saddle, different bit, release his muscles, more strength, a few days off… there are so many reasons why a horse may react in the way they do, and responding with anger and force is not the way these are solved.
I have put my hand up in training sessions before and said “this isn’t working for us, but thank you”, because I’d rather leave with my horses trust than the trainers. How he feels, and how he wants to be trained is far more important to me than letting someone down, or someone thinking I’m too soft.
I spent so long getting my horse to trust me and my judgement, and he knows I wouldn’t ask him to try something that I don’t think he wouldn’t be capable of. Even when pushing outside of his comfort zone. And I learnt early on that just because someone trains their horse in that way, doesn’t mean it’s right for mine, and the trust lost or damaged by trying is heartbreaking.
Horses can be tired, in pain, distracted, sad, excited, blocked before the word naughty and evasive should ever be used. Trust your gut 🐴
