How do horses learn?

Horse Case Study

The Safety, Sanity & Success 3S© method believes that horses learn in a circular pattern of:

Respect –  is critical not just for the persons safety but for the horses sanity.

Cooperation –  is important for the person and the horse sense of trust and fun.

Obedience –  is required for the persons safety but also the horses safety.

Partnering – This comes after everything else and leads to the partnership that provides a Safet, Sane and Successful relationship.

Each of these pieces are crucial to attaining the Safe, Sane &  Successful Horse©. 

If you do not follow this process you will get cooperation that is based on when your horse feels like cooperating, willingness when your horse feels like it and the illusion of partnering.  All of these will crumble under stress creating the opportunity for injury to you and your horse. 

Many methods are the opposite, they start with partnering.  Unfortunately, so many times this gives the illusion of safety and the shock comes when something unexpected happens and your partner (your horse) doesn't come to you for leadership.  The result of not coming to you for leadership means that you are now on top of a 1,000+ lb. animal with the IQ of a 9-10 year old who is deciding what to do to save themselves.   The shock to the horse and rider leads to bad decisions that result in injury and/or death of either the person or the horse. 

The famous last words that indicate that you don't have a partner are "he's never done that before", as you are loaded into the ambulance.

Note:  More horse back riders are injured per mile than motorcycle riders - Denial isn't  just a river in Egypt. 

Overview:

Safety, Sanity and Success © starts with an evaluation of the horse. By focusing on behavior when handled on the ground then the horse is evaluated under saddle.  After these evaluations are complete they are compared to what the owner wants to do with the horse.  The final stage of the evaluation is to create an outline of what will have to be done by both the trainer and the rider to get the horse to where the owner wants the horse to be.

After the evaluation the trainer creates a lesson plan that supports the 4 stages of learning starting with respect  on the ground, moving from cooperation to obedience and then into partnering.  Because this is a circular process the sequense is repeated as new skills are added, for example lounge lining over jumps.

The same process applies to riding your horse, first you establish respect then move to cooperation  followed by obedience and into partnering.  As the horse progresses it is continually challenged to maintain partnership behavior.

This isn't a quick process, but it is a dependable process that will give you superior results if you are a serious rider not matter what the discipline is.

Horse Case Study

History of Frank Sinatra (Frank):

I purchased Frank in May of 2008, he was 5 years old although he had the attitude, temperatment and skills of a 3 year old.  Frank came with baggage he was a bucker not your normal young horse crow hopping or kicking out with a heel every now and then but a roaring, spitting, all four feet in the air "get off my back" bucker!!  After having successful dumped me several times I began to wonder what I could do to get him past this issue.  I needed to decide whether I would try to tackle this horse or not.  If I decided not to atempt to figure him out I was going to have to make a tough decision, either take him somewhere to see if a cowboy could buck him for the rodeo as rough stock or put him down.  In short the horse was very dangerous and I could not in good consious sell him.

I began working Frank extensivly on the ground, making certain my leadership skills and his submissive attitude were clear and in good working order.  When I started working him under saddle I paid careful attention to how he was responding.  For instance, Frank was very "cold backed" meaning not that his back was literally cold, but that he required warm up time that was suitable for him, not only for his body but for his mind.  He needed to be lunged and flexed and saddled with his issues in mind.  Which does not mean run him in circles until he is tired.  Frank needed to be micro managed to give him security and a job to do.  He also needed time to get his brain into a learning and reponsive mode. 

During this process I continued to ride him and we came to a somewhat rocky truce.  I became quite good at being able to feel when Frank was going to blow up.  Frank mostly behaved and I mostly didn't get bucked off.  Not what I really wanted out of him and definately he wasn't happy. 

I had been riding him as my Precision Drill Team horse with the Menomonie Saddle Club.  Frank however had other ideas, the excitement of so many horses and people going different ways at a high rate of speed was very hard for him to deal with.  Frank would see other horses coming towards him during a drill move and he would get very scared and take off bucking and running.  It was a dangerous situation not only for me but my team mates.  Frank was not always able to stop himself from acting out quite dramatically. When he didn't or couldn't concentrate on his job his fears and uncertainties reasserted themselves with a vengence.  We were six weeks into the drill season and had only another 6 weeks or less to go before our major competition at the Minnesota State Fair. I would not be able to compete with Frank if I couldn't get him under control

I spoke with my business partner Ellen and we formulated a training plan which included coaching from Ellen in my arena.  As Frank began to adjust and respond to his new routine he showed quick improvement and the skills we mastered during our sessions I used everywhere I rode him.  He began to quiet down and try to listen to instruction and began showing his potential.  At this point he was still having melt downs but they were much less violent and he was learning to calm himself.

I did take Frank to the MN State Fair over labor day '08 although I did not ride him during the Precision Drill Team Competition, I did however ride him in the Coloseium, in the warm up pens and through the crowds at the fairgrounds.  Frank and I continued to work on all our riding skills during the four days at the fair.  I can honestly say that there is no better experience for a horse than to go to an event like the fair it includes not only standing in a stall for four days, having thousands of people around, being excersised in different environments and having to be on one's best horse behavior.  There is nothing that can prepare a horse for this experience but going through it.  Frank came home with a  much better attitude he understood his job better and he realized he could live through a very stressful exciting time without "loosing his mind".

In October of '08 I took Frank to Mondovi and competed in the first Extreme Cowboy Challenge of our career. Frank did me proud we won the Open Divsion and have found out niche in the horse world.

Plan on seeing Frank and me competing in many more such challenges in the future.  My program for Frank worked and I will never regret the time and thought I put into this amazing horse.  

Chris and Frank at the Kansas EquiFest Extreme Cowboy Challenge.