New Article

I realize I haven't written anything for a while, and I really like writing, so I am using this rainy weather to motivate me to put some of the many things in my head down on paper. I am working on four topics: The Art of Praising (horses), The Lazy Horse, and two on training techniques, which are common, but I find questionable.

The first one is tying a horse's head to one side to teach it to give to the pressure of the bit: http://www.compassionatehorsetraining.com/TOpinionTyinghead.html

Thank you to Chance for being my demo horse for this article.

The next well be on the training technique of leaving a horse tied for hours to "teach it patience."

As you may guess, neither of these things are done at Hillside in the name of training!

If anyone can think of a training technique that is fairly common, but that you consider possibly questionable, let me know and I may cover it in a future article.

As horses become more and more expensive to keep, they are going to be considered more of an "elite" thing, and I forsee that the general public will come down hard on cruelty or perceived cruelty in the industry (which is a good thing). You can already see it happenning in the US with the anti-horse slaughter bills being passed. People generally judge things they consider to be enjoyed mostly by the "elite" harshest and future trainers are going to have to be one step ahead of this trend.

Added...I just finished this too: http://www.compassionatehorsetraining.com/TOpinionsTiedHorse.html

Karen