I recently saw a YouTube video from a guy saying to stop round penning our horses. He says roundpens are overused and are unfair and and we are using them to dominate our horses. He said we should be partners with our horse instead of running them until they become submissive. Well, I suppose this could ruffle a lot of feathers. I wonder what John Lyons thinks of this guy, after having built his whole career on round pen methods. I dare to say that it would be hard to find many people who think John Lyons is abusing horses.
Any of you who know me know I use roundpenning myself quite extensively. While, sure, roundpenning could potentially be overused and abused, I think it is a very important part of the training process. In an ideal world, we would love to be totally equal partners with our horse. No one loves and respects horses more than I do. However, this is not an ideal world…..this is the horse world. The fact of the matter is, in the horse world, one horse is always the dominate one. If you are not the dominate one, who is? There is a big difference in being dominate and abusive. In fact, the horse is looking for someone to follow. If she respects you and trusts you, she will be more than happy to let you lead.
This may be one of my more controversial topics. People drive by and see me doing this to green horses and sometimes they get upset. I even had the authorities called on me once. An elderly woman was watching us out her kitchen window and felt she could witness this atrocity no more and turned me in.
So what is this cruel and unusual punishment, and what is the purpose of putting my horse through this?
The terrible act that got me turned in is tying my horse to the hitching post. I’m not really sure why it upset the lady so much, but this is amazingly effective in curing a variety or irritating habits.
A spooky horse
an anxious horse
one that won’t stand still to be saddled or groomed
one that is a challenge for the farrier or vet
a horse that won’t give to pressure
a horse that is impatient
a bully
a buddy sour horse
a horse that won’t lead
These horses can all benefit from time standing tied to the hitching post, a fence or even a tree. What is this teaching your horse? Mainly, patience and giving to pressure. She can pull all day long and that post is not going to give. The horse is left there to figure things out on her own. Soon it will hit her that the best way to handle any situation is to stand still. This goes against every instinct the horse has. We all know that at the first sign of danger, the horse wants to break free and fun for her life. After many hours of trying things her old way, she will come to find that relaxing and giving into the pressure that she feels from the rope is really the solution to her dilemma. Now when you pick up the lead rope, she will give to pressure instead of resisting and pulling the opposite way. When the farrier picks up her foot, she won’t be so quick to rip it out of his hand. And when that scary demon squirrel darts between her legs, she will stand still and wait for the danger to pass.
Carolyn Resnick posted on her blog a story about a horse that refused to cross a bridge that he had crossed many times before. The sudden change occured after a stork flew from underneath and spooked him. they tried several training methods to work on the bridge problem to no avail. Finally, on the advice of Resnick, the rider took him to the bridge, tied him nearby where he could watch, and told the horse, “you stay here and I am going to go see if there is a stork under there” She went down, looked around and then came back up and told the horse there was nothing there. He then walked right over the bridge with no problem. I loved this story. I know the horse listens to me when I talk. I alway thought it was funny when during a clinic, I say, “Now the horse will turn and face me.” When she does turn and face me, everyone is amazed, but I am thinking, of course she does, she just heard me say so. One reader of the blog commented that it had more to do with the anxiety of the rider, not the horse. Resnick assured this reader that it wasn’t the rider, because there was obvious change in the horse’s demeanor. That reader was definitely on to something, however. Maybe not in this case, but it is often the rider stressing the horse out. Horses are herd animals with flight instincts. If she senses you are thinking of fleeing, she will be preparing herself to break and run at the slightest cue.
Maybe some of you have heard of Professor Jesse Beery, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Firstly, for those that know me, does that picture not remind you of something I would do?? They say he would train the horse the same day and then after it’s laying down, have someone walk around him banging on pots and pans. Professor Beery would travel the country during the turn of the century demonstrating his horse training methods. In fact, he had an entire course on Horse care. Now, thinking of tactics over 100 yrs ago, you might shiver at thinking what owners might do to their horses, but Prof Beery was way ahead of his time here, too. His methods were very similar to the natural horsmanship trainers of today. He got cooperation from his horses willingly without the use of fear and dominance. (Another way he’s like me.) His teachings have now been adapted to an ebook. You might want to check it out here. These are time-tested ideas that I think you can apply today and do some of your own training.
Reading the following article about Papa Jack, made me realize I didn’t have any western wear links for you to shop. (I do now) Western wear is getting harder and harder to find locally, but it will always be found online. I bet you could even find some Rockmount Ranch Wear clothes here.
JACK “PAPA JACK” WEIL, LEGEND IN AMERICAN WEAR
28-3-1901 — 13-8-2008
AMERICAN Western clothing pioneer “Pappa Jack” Weil, who at age 107 was believed to be the oldest working chief executive officer of a company, has died at his home in Denver in the United States.
“He was to Western shirts what Henry Ford was to cars,” according to his family.
Weil, who founded Rockmount Ranch Wear in 1946, popularised rodeo wear across the US and internationally long before other clothiers jumped on board. He was also credited with inventing the bolo tie.
He initially ran the store with his son, the late Jack Weil jnr for 54 years, and then with his grandson Steve.
Weil’s design — a sawtooth pocket and diamond snap design — is the longest continuous shirt style produced in the US. It has a place in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
I put a short video up showing me tying a cowboy halter. I know I sound like a hillbilly, but lots of people ask me how to tie them, so I wanted to put something up. It’s hard to see parts of it, I know, but I think it shows an important point about the knot coming loose. Lots of people who even say they know how to tie them, will tie them upside down.
