Hooks said:
they laid that horse down to work with him
i dod this to evrey horse that comes here
it has a major calming effect on them when it's done correctly
I've seen this done & have been told the same thing about the calming effect. Not to start an arguement, but that seems to run against the grain of a horses defense mechanism. A horse is a animal of flight & I would think that layin one down would frighten it even more. Maybe there's something I missing here, but I honestly don't understand the logic to this method.
Ever watch Discovery or one of the channels with the animal shows? When the lions get a grazer down, they quit struggling and just become passive to what is happening to them.
Same thing in a horse, but instead of eating him, you show him you won't hurt him, so he can learn to trust you. It's also a dominance thing.
As said before, it needs to be done correctly.
Kind of like the round pen training. Too many just think all you do, is run them around and around and a miracle happens. You need to understand wht is going on and the why's and wherefores of the method, to get good results. Otherwise your just teaching them to run in mindless circles.
I've roped lots of feet on my horses and taught them to yeild to pressure, so when/if they get in wire, they don't get scared and cut themselves up. But it has to be done correcdtly or it will cause more harm than good.
If dnen properly it establish's a relief from pressure result, to set up all the basics for the training to come.
Too many people watch these clinicians and don't really understand what is going on. I have studied it for years and still have trouble making all this stuff work consistently. 'Course, I'm kind of slow. But it's gettin better. :wink: