| For starters, they're beautiful and graceful and a bit | | | | how horses are usually trained any more. If you've |
| mysterious. But there's more to it than that. | | | | read the "Horse Whisperer" you know that some of |
| Riding a horse is freedom, power, and speed. It's sitting | | | | the old time horsemen resisted the change from |
| high above the world, looking down. And when a girl | | | | "breaking" to gentling a horse, and you also learned |
| has a special horse who thinks she's special too, it's a | | | | that the new way is better. |
| friendship and a bond that no human relationship can | | | | Now, a young horse is trained almost from birth. He or |
| match. | | | | she is handled by humans, taught to wear a halter and |
| Some people feel power and freedom by driving a | | | | walk quietly alongside a person. Later, training includes |
| fast car - or a huge truck. But to control a powerful | | | | working on a long line and learning to walk, trot, gallop, |
| animal who has a mind of its own and can choose to | | | | and stop on voice commands. Patience and |
| obey or not obey, is a feeling beyond description. You | | | | persistence have become more important than brute |
| know that the key to success is your trust in the | | | | force in horse training. |
| horse, and his trust in you. | | | | When the horse is old enough, he's taught to carry a |
| When you learn to communicate with a horse and gain | | | | saddle and wear a bridle. Some people use ground |
| his willing cooperating, you've accomplished something | | | | driving to teach the horse to respond to commands |
| not everyone can do. | | | | from the reins before anyone ever gets on its back. |
| Not all girls will want to admit to another, somewhat | | | | To do this, long reins are attached to the bridle and run |
| hidden reason, and that is this: Sometimes it's also the | | | | through stirrups or a special apparatus around the |
| joy of being able to do something better than the boys. | | | | horse's barrel. That keeps the reins up closer to where |
| It's having "one up" on the boys - because horses | | | | a riders hands will be once he is ridden. |
| respond to kindness, gentleness, slow movements and | | | | So, before the horse ever carries a rider, he is used to |
| soft speech. Some boys can master that, but only | | | | the equipment, knows something about what's |
| some. Usually it's the girls who can calm a frightened | | | | expected, and has no fear of humans - as long as |
| horse or teach him to respond to subtle commands. | | | | he's been treated gently and calmly. |
| This is a sport where size and muscle don't really | | | | Once the horse is being ridden, the fine points of |
| matter, so girls can beat boys and young people can | | | | training begin, and that's where gentleness and |
| beat adults. It all depends on the individual person and | | | | patience really pay off. Sometimes you have to repeat |
| their love of horses. | | | | a lesson dozens of times before the horse "gets it." No |
| You may watch old Western Movies and think that | | | | amount of yelling or brute force will make him learn |
| horses are trained by tying them down, putting on a | | | | any faster. |
| saddle, and riding until the horse gives up the fight. It | | | | I'm not trying to say that boys can't do this - I'm saying |
| used to be. I'm sure plenty of cowboys suffered | | | | that what really counts in horsemanship is your attitude |
| broken bones in the process, and breaking horses | | | | - not your gender, age, or size. If you can be patient, |
| became a task for only the big, the strong, and the | | | | and gentle, and soft spoken, and persistent - you can |
| brave. Or maybe the dumb, I'm not sure. | | | | learn to train a horse so that he will trust you, and you |
| Maybe because we're not in such a hurry any more, | | | | can trust him. |
| and maybe because we don't generally capture our | | | | And then you can ride like the wind! |
| horses from wild herds, already grown, but that's not | | | | |