Hidy Folks,
I'm Pat Hooks of Texhoma Oklahoma. I'm a day working cowboy, teacher and trainer. I appreciate the time you are taking to learn about your horse. It's my honor to share a series of articles with you readers. My intentions are to shed a little light on horse training, beginning with a little philosophy. Hopefully you will receive my opinions with a little humor, and eye opening honesty. I didn't invent the wheel, I just try to keep it greased.
My role in the midst of all this horse-ology is to help folks find the freedom to think for themselves. I try very hard to remain true to a slogan I share with folks, "There is one bit that works on all horses, a bit of knowledge". I challenge you to trace back in history the horse training phrase "jáquima to freno." Follow the different languages, spellings and meanings of the words and see where it takes you! You will travel to a time when your life depended upon a well trained horse, and horses were a necessity. You will read of cowboys, vaqueros, warriors and knights. You will even discover a horse stable fit for a King. The man that owned the stable was quoted saying "There is nothing new under the sun".
"OH NO Pat, I DON'T BELIEVE that fellow said that. You CAN'T POSSIBLY mean this horse-whisper-ology stuff isn't new? I just watched these trainers on TV last week and they said..."
I've had the honor of being on TV myself, but I base my teaching and training on what I feel is the oldest common sense exercise known between horse and man. I call it "rear end under, front end across". In the articles to follow I will be sharing with you some tools to use that are all based on the theory of rear end under front end across. The tools are the round pen at liberty, the neck rope, the snubbing horse, the long line, the first few rides. They all mean the same thing to the horse. It depends on when, where and how they are presented. You will read or hear me say often "fix it up for the horse". With that phrase I'm trying to convey to folks to set up situations allowing the horse to make its own decision. I have a friend that said it a little different. Mr. Ray would say "Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult". Either way, fix things up so the horse can make the decision to find the easy way out.
I will start with a hypothetical situation very similar to what I have seen happen to folks that have fallen prey to super-kal-a-fragil-istic-x-pee-ala-doshus horse training techniques. And before you read the story, you need to understand I have trained some mustangs that went on to make very nice horses. This is simply an example. Even though this is true story. The names have been withheld to protect the horse. He didn't want anyone to know who owns him.
This owner/trainer has two horses, same age, same gender. One is domesticated, imprinted, halter broke, and hand fed daily. The other a BLM mustang. It's only experience with a human is to be gathered into a trap, run through a stock shoot, tattooed, halter&drag line, and a 1500 mile trailer ride.
The trainers goal is to hook these horses up, sack them out, and get them under saddle. First let's say the trainer round pens at liberty the domesticated horse. Most likely they would move the horse around in the pen using a few turns to the inside and as the horse gets bored, curious, and out of breath, it hooks up on them. The owner rubs on it a little and presto, the horse-whisper is once again a brilliant, outstanding, magnificent trainer.
Same trainer, same pen, BLM mustang. The real world has just arrived and this trainer/owner will soon discover this video and expo stuff ain't a working real well. The trainer removes the drag line and halter, turns the horse loose in the round pen. This one didn't even crash an burn into the pen while the trainer was chasing after it. Horse seems smart, longevity is unbelievable. After about an hour of work, because it is out of air, the horse stops, looks dead in the eye at trainer. The trainer's head swells with pride. The trainer approaches the mustang as to say "not to worry Pilgrim, I will not harm you, trust me". Then just when they reach out to get in a rub, the horse runs off. The trainer continues to use round pen methods and makes the mistake of letting the mustang form the habit of turning to the outside. OOPS, where the head goes so goes the mind, eyes and attention. The trainer continues to round pen the mustang for several hours out frustration and aggravation. The horse by now is used up, stops and looks at the trainer once again, looking dead at the trainer with both eyes, giving the trainer one last chance of the day to feel foolish. As the trainer approaches, the horse blows, snorts, flags it's tail and retreats. The horse whisper is now at their wits end. The horse will stop and look at them but it can't be touched. The trainer gives up, feeds and waters the horse in the round pen because they have no way to catch it, much less move it. This situation continues for about eight days. On the eighth day the mustang finally lets the trainer get almost close enough to touch him with their hand. Then out of survival instinct the horse strikes out with a front foot, knocks the trainer down and cow kicks the trainer for good measure as it retreats once more. The trainer decides to go inside to the air conditioning, and watch that video one more time. The trainer ended up with more than their feelings hurt and is afraid of the new purchased horse, and not real sure if they want any more of this or not.
The mustang figured out pretty quick like there was no longer a need to long trot twenty miles for food and water. It learned it could out run the human, find food and water in the same circle, and never leave home.
In this case the trainer could have left the drag line or long rope on the mustang while in the round pen and had the mustang hook up using the long rope as an optional tool rather than work at liberty. Once the horse was caught and sacked out to human touch, they could have continued with their round pen at liberty.
If the trainer had developed their roping skills before hand they could have roped the horse, developed a neck rope on the horse and saved about seven days of emotional and physical stress to the animal and had the mustang hook up using the lariat.
Another option or tool would have been to use a snubbing horse. The snubbing horse sometimes can help settle the un-broke horses emotions by building a herd instinct. However, I have seen a snubbing horse cause a wreck. Most especially if the un-broke horse feels crowded. You must read the horse, you never know what you are getting in the pen with. Don't place yourself in the middle of a three way pecking order.
No matter which tool a person decides to use or has to use, the principle of rear end under, front end across to get the horse hooked up and sacked out will still apply. Stick around for the upcoming articles I will share how to get some different ideas working for you and your horse. Please, learn how to read a horse, and apply different approaches to different situations. It will take experience. That is something that has to be earned, no one can give it to you. No matter which individual helps you discover new ideas and approaches to horse training, God and the horse will eventually be your best teachers.
Until next time may the good Lord bless you, your family, and your livestock, and always remember "There is one bit that works on all horses, a bit of knowledge".
God bless,
Pat
Pat still day-works as an American Cowboy. Along with his wife Terri and son Zach, they own an work a ranch in Texhoma, Oklahoma, located in the North West panhandle of Oklahoma and Texas. There Pat teaches an apprenticeship program, raises, trains and sells their private stock of working ranch horses, border collies, and black angus cattle.
Pat's knowledge trickles down from the legacy of legendary horsemen, Bill and Tom Dorrance, and Ed Connell. Pat appreciates the knowledge he has received from horsemen Bill Black, Ray Hunt, and Doug Milholland. Pat has been teaching colt breaking clinics since the 80's. He has given clinics at national horse expos, private ranches, university's and colleges. Pat has taught 4-H, college courses, adult education, and prison reform. His private students range any where from making a living, to students that have gone on to be world champion exhibitors alike.
Keep an eye for Pat's new DVD series "Fix It Up For the Horse" and upcoming TV episodes on Horsecity.com TV. Click here to buy books by Pat Hooks.
You may contact Pat through his web site www.hookshorseranch.com or email pathooks@ptsi.net.
To get more tips from Pat Hooks, visit the HorseCity.com Store to order '101 Ranch Horse Tips':
horsecitystore.com.
