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Recently there has been a renewed interest in
training horses. This revival movement has mostly been spurred
by "horse whisperers" and "naturalists" that generally appeal
to the riding public. Because little emphasis is placed on
training horses to stand for shoeing or trimming, many horse
owners and farriers have had disagreements about how well a
horse is trained. A horse may be well- trained to ride, but
can't stand still for a shoeing job. Farriers are frustrated
that the horse isn't properly trained and horse owners can't
understand why their "trained" horse isn't cooperating.
Horse training is not new. A hundred years ago,
when more people were truly "horsemen," training horses to
ride, as well as stand still for shoeing, was commonplace.
Over the years, real horsemen perfected techniques that were
safe for owners as well as for horses. These techniques were
based on principles, taking into consideration the horse's
nature. Today, many horses are treated as pets and several
training techniques do not take into consideration the fact
that horses do have a wild nature.
These masters of horse training understood the
importance of training a horse to shoe as well as ride. Most
of these trainers began their training process with
getting horses to submit by taking one of their feet away from
them. Ed Connell who became famous for advocating the
California vaquero style of horsemanship through his books,
Hackamore Reinsman and Bridles and Bits, taught
that the horse's hind foot should be tied up first before any
other training is done on the horse. This teaches the horse to
stand on three legs and to give up one of his defense
mechanisms, providing a much safer atmosphere for the handler.
An untrained horse is not inclined to give up his feet as it
restrains their flight and fight response. They cannot run and
they cannot kick. The only thing left for him to do is to
submit and trust the person next to them. As the horse becomes
more relaxed, hangs his foot and licks his lips, he has
submitted and he should be untied immediately to reward
him.
Kell B. Jeffery, an Australian horseman who
became famous for his methods of training in the early 1900s,
also thought it important to pick up a hind foot before ever
mounting the horse. He taught that the handler should hold the
foot for an instant and give it back before the horse has a
chance to take it away. This teaches the horse that the
handler is in control of the horse's feet, not the horse. The
interval of time for holding the horse's leg up becomes longer
and longer, starting out with only a few seconds working up to
a few minutes. If the horse does struggle, the handler should
hold onto the foot and only give it back when the horse is
relaxed. If the foot is given back when the horse pulls it
away, the horse has learned a bad habit and will continue to
pull it away and with greater force since he realizes that he
has had results with pulling it away in the past. If the horse
does not get his foot back when he pulls it away, he will soon
stop trying.
John Rarey, a famous horseman from Ohio in the
mid-1800s, perfected a technique in which he would tie the
horse's front leg up with a front-leg hobble or a "Rarey
strap" as it came to be known. He taught the same principle as
Jeffery and Connell that a horse is much easier to handle when
his legs are taken away from him to begin with. Rarey's
preferred method had him tying up the front leg and letting
the horse work it out until the horse submitted or gave up
after a short fight. When the horse had relaxed, he would take
the strap off and give the foot back to the horse. Rarey
taught that because horses are so strong (up to ten times
stronger than a human) it is impossible for a human to outdo a
horse in strength by trying to hold up a leg. The only way to
train the horse then was to make it work against its own
strength with a front leg hobble. His training method then was
to "break" the horse with psychology rather than with physical
strength. Once the horse learned that there was no purpose in
fighting the hobble, he would give up and stand still.
It is interesting to note that the term "horse
whisperer" actually comes from a horse trainer named John
Sullivan from Ireland, who employed just such training
techniques of tying up horses' legs in the 1800s. He had great
success with problem horses and was often called upon to train
bad actors. He would agree to take the job, but stipulate that
no one could see his method. He would enter a stall, tie up
the horse's legs until he submitted, remove the restraints and
then emerge from the stall with a better behaved horse. When
people asked him what his "secret" was, he would simply tell
them that he had whispered to the horse and reasoned with him
to be a better animal. His gullible audience ate it up and
spread the word. It wasn't until later, when Sullivan
confessed his trick to a priest, that his secret was revealed.
The term "horse whisperer" was originally a joke, yet people
still hang onto the term and continue to believe in
it.
Many of these restraint training techniques have
slipped through the cracks over the years because people have
been led to believe that they are cruel or because people
simply don't know how to use them anymore. Often times, the
reason the methods are considered cruel is because
people don't use them correctly.
Judgment is a key ingredient that is left out of
much of today's training. When using these training
techniques, there should be precautions taken and specific
equipment used. A soft cotton rope that is ½ to ¾ inch thick
and 25 to 35 feet long should be used when tying up a hind
leg. Thin nylon ropes can burn or cut a horse and should never
be used. Also, a leather strap called a "pastern collar"
should be used to prevent the pastern or fetlock from being
burned. Because horses are so powerful, many precautions must
be taken to prevent them from hurting themselves. The pastern
collar should be 2 inches wide, 10 inches long and have two
thick D- rings on either side. A series of loops is thrown
over the collared foot to prevent the horse from cutting the
circulation off to his foot and to prevent burns.
To tie up a front leg, wide leather hobbles
(about two inches wide) work best. Using a regular hobble made
of nylon or of thin leather is unwise because a horse can get
burned by the nylon or cut by the thin leather.
When tying a hind or a front leg up, it is
extremely important to have a safe area to work in. A round
pen with a sandy bottom is ideal so that if the horse throws
himself he won't get hurt. While the horse is working out his
problems it is important for the handler to control his
movements with the lead rope to keep him from running into a
fence or any other object. When an experienced handler uses
these techniques properly in a safe area, the horse has a much
better chance of having a good learning experience. Problems
arise when inexperienced novices attempt to employ these
techniques and do not follow proper procedures. Unfortunately,
those that are inexperienced give the training method a bad
name.
It is important to mention that the age of the
horse should be considered when tying up a leg. A horse should
never be tied up until they are physically mature. Bones in
the leg do not finish ossifying until horses are two years of
age. Even so, horses should not have their legs tied up until
they are at least three to ensure that all bones are fully
ossified or hardened. Tying up a horse that is too young can
be detrimental and it should be avoided. Teaching a young
horse to stand for shoeing can be accomplished with the use of
imprint training or holding up the foal's legs for a little
bit every day.
A horse that is old or has problems with
arthritis should not be tied up. If an older horse has
problems standing for shoeing, it is more likely because he is
uncomfortable rather than untrained.
If the proper tools, techniques, principles and
judgment are used, a horse can be trained to stand for shoeing
relatively quickly. An important part of training is
repetition, so it is vital that these techniques are used
often in order for them to have a lasting impression on the
horse. The most important part of this type of restraint
training is that the horse learns to trust the handler to be
in charge of the feet. Not only will it make it a more
pleasant working experience for the horseshoer, but it will be
safer for the horse.
A few years ago, we had a horse that caught his
foot in a fence. He had been trained with restraint training.
He had learned to submit and to stop fighting when restrained
and to wait until a human came to his rescue. A neighbor
called and told us that the horse had been standing with his
foot caught in the fence for quite some time and never even
struggled. Because he learned to not fight the soft cotton
rope, he already knew what to do when it was a thin wire fence
wrapped around his foot. He waited patiently, until we found
him and released him. Had he not been trained with these
techniques, he would have fought wildly until he had made the
situation much worse. Restraint training not only teaches the
horse to stand still for shoeing but also to stand still in
potentially harmful situations.
© Doug Butler Enterprises, Inc. No part of
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