Training horses in a body that struggles daily with post-hypothermic limbs, chronic fatigue & pain (from a fatal car accident 1984) I discovered my slower gentle approach (for my body) streamlined my training efforts.
I was raised a crank and spanker from the dressage world, but discovering my slow gentle approach and NO BITS, turned troubled horses into willing companions quickly and easily. Add the language of a herd leader through my discovery of how to invoke a horse’s natural instinct to recognize me as their herd leader and voila I had problem and dangerous horses turning to me with a lowered head saying “awe you are the herd leader, what would you like me to do?” No fear, no exhaustion, no chasing, no food, just using my Wholistic Joining which mimics a compassionate herd leader that easily invokes a horse’s natural instinct to recognize ME as their herd leader.
Once your horse recognizes you are their herd leader, you now have the mind and heart of that horse! Training becomes fun with play without YOU being exhausted, frustrated, angry or in pain.
Training the WHOLE Horse® also takes into account the physical and emotional wellbeing of the horse. Since I’m a living expert on chronic pain I found 98% of the horses that came to me for training were IN PAIN! That pain was causing dangerous behavior so it was imperative to get to the SOURCE of the PAIN which is part of working with the WHOLE Horse. My motto is “Problems are NOT Always Training Issues”, which means problem and dangerous behavior typically has a source in pain whether physical or emotional. And MOST of the time emotional pain is a big component for a horse that has physical pain because they probably have been abused due to their behavior.
Many horses are recipients of incredible violence due to their dangerous behavior that simply could have been avoided if someone had paid attention to the first nip or kick or buck which was how the horse was trying to tell someone, ANYONE, they were in pain!! Too many horses have suffered under the obsolete paradigm of dominance which seems unconscionable knowing what we know about herd language and the sentient nature of horses (they think, they feel, they have a sense of loyalty, family and friendship).
Why would anyone use violence, force, pain and devices to control a horse? The answer is FEAR – fear is the driving force of our dominant culture. Fear is a natural instinct that I respect, but I DO NOT respect the use of violence to teach and that’s exactly what is going on in horsemanship from the earliest ages of our children in 4-H to Olympic level trainers and riders – this is a sad yet telling view of the horse industry. And let’s not forget the racing industry oi………….
The good news is the abuses of the horse industry are under scrutiny by the public now more than ever. More horse owners and potential horse owners are seeking authentic relationships with horses which is contrary to the dominance programming of the past. People are embracing the desire to be gentler with their horses and to understand the behavior before arbitrarily applying discipline. A NEW Gentler path is being forged so I have decided that sharing my gentle horse training videos freely is far more important in these times when people are seeking authentic relationships and a gentler side of horse training.
Become a TEAM Member and gain access to my Training the WHOLE Horse® and Starting Under Saddle video series (over 7 hours of DIY Holistic Natural Horse training), downloadable lessons, resources, so much more. Learn more >> HolisticHorseAcademy.com
Let me know if I can be of support to you in any way. Email Info@HolisticHorseAcademy.com or text/call (888) 406-7689
Holistic Natural Horse Trainer Missy Wryn 